[O29] After Sept. 24 -- Time to turn up the heat
Peter Cook
pseacook at comcast.net
Fri Sep 30 19:08:29 PDT 2005
300,000 March on White House Dec. 1
<http://nodraftnoway.org/public_html/rosa1.gif>
What's Next After September 24?
Dec. 1 - Rosa Parks Anniversary
National Strike Against Poverty, Racism, and War
* <http://www.troopsoutnow.org/dec1endorse.shtml> ENDORSE the
December 1 Rosa Parks Anniversary National Strike Against Poverty,
Racsim, and War
* LIST <http://www.troopsoutnow.org/dec1endorse.shtml> your
local activity
* <http://www.troopsoutnow.org/dec1endorse.shtml> VOLUNTEER to
help build the Strike
* <http://www.troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml> DONATE to help
build a movement against war & racism
On September 24, Washington, DC saw the largest antiwar demonstration
since the war beginning of the war against the people of Iraq, with
more than 300,000 people flooding the streets of the capital demanding
"Troops Out Now!" The massive march on Saturday was followed by civil
disobedience in front of the White House on Monday in which 370
people, including Cindy Sheehan, were arrested.
Beyond the size of the demonstrations, there was a tangible new level
of energy and enthusiasm among those who came to protest. Many of
those who came had never marched in a protest before, and many veteran
protesters felt that the tide is turning in the struggle against the
war.
Part of this new energy is the result of the more than 12,000 people
who joined Cindy Sheehan, mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, in Camp
Casey, Texas. The month-long roadside encampment near George W.
Bush's country estate inspired activists across the country. The
Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC) organized "Camp Caseys" and solidarity
rallies in dozens of cities across the country.
The demonstration also took on a new sense of urgency following the
massive destruction and loss of life resulting from the government's
criminal neglect in the region impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The
winds of Katrina exposed the brutal racism and greed at the core of an
unjust system as thousands were left to die simply because they were
poor and Black.
The Troops Out Now Coalition organized a large "Katrina Solidarity
Contingent" for the September 24 march, which received an enthusiastic
repsonse. TONC is also working to support local organizers in the
impacted area.
The massive turnout for the September 24 demonstration was a clear
indication that the tide is turning. More and more people are opposed
to the war and they are inspired to take action to bring the troops
home. The challenge for the antiwar movement is to bring this new
energy back to every neighborhood, workplace, and school to build a
grassroots movement to end the Troops Out Now Coalition
<http://nodraftnoway.org/public_html/0233-GOOD-LizG.jpg> occupation.
Next Step: December 1
The movement to build a truly massive Rosa Parks Anniversary
Nationwide Strike Against Poverty, Racism and War is gaining momentum.
Following the phenomenal success of the September 24 antiwar marches,
the December 1 strike is a necessary next step to keep the pressure on
and broaden the movement that has been reborn.
The time has arrived to take our struggle to a higher level. Let us
work together and organize a Nationwide Strike against Poverty, Racism
and War on Dec. 1, 2005, the 50th anniversary of the day that Rosa
Parks helped launch the modern civil rights movement - no work,
school, or shopping - continued protest through Dec.2 and 3 - and a
Mass March on Wall Street in New York City. It is time for the people
to demonstrate that they can stop business as usual coast-to-coast
when justice requires the people to do so.
We owe it to the victims of Katrina, to poor and working people, to
the world and to ourselves to find the way to help turn the outrage
over Katrina into a mass grassroots movement for social justice, the
likes of which this country has not seen for some time. Moreover, it
is vitally necessary, and much more possible now, to forge real unity
on a phenomenal scale between the movement against the war and the
movements of African Americans, people of color, and poor and working
people in a struggle for economic, social and political rights.
The war and occupation of Iraq and the Katrina outrage have
demonstrated to the world the urgent necessity for fundamental change
and a movement that is big enough and determined enough to achieve the
goal. Katrina has exposed the ugly truths about class and race,
poverty, war and militarism. Our solidarity with demands of the
survivors of Katrina must evolve from empathy, charity and symbolism
to a mighty social force to be reckoned with. Key to this mighty
potential will be the forging of a strong alliance with activists and
leaders within the African American community in the Gulf States,
taking direction from them regarding the kind of solidarity that they
need and the demands they are making. Our demand to end the war in
Iraq and to bring the troops home now must be backed up by the kind of
mass tactics that signal that we mean business.
Fifty years ago, Black people in Montgomery, Alabama were forced by
law to sit in the back of public buses, and give their seats to any
white person who demanded it. When Rosa Parks, a garment worker and
civil rights activist, refused to give up her seat to a white man, she
sparked the Montgomery bus boycott against segregation on public
buses, one of the most successful and truly mass boycotts in history.
The Montgomery bus boycott also introduced to the world a young
reverend named Martin Luther King Jr., who became the boycott's
principal public leader.
A Dec. 1 Strike Working Committee was set up at a Sept. 10 Natl.
Strategy Meeting of the Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC) attended by
more than 100 activists. The working committee will develop outreach
and building plans for the Dec. 1 strike.
Dec. 1 Nationwide strike against poverty, racism and war -- Initiating
Organizations: Troops Out Now Coalition, Million Worker March
Movement, Teamsters National Black Caucus, Michigan Emergency
Committee Against War & Injustice.
How Can You Help Build The December 1 Rosa Parks anniversary
Nationwide strike Against Poverty Racism and War?
- Set up a strike organizing committee or have your group serve as a
strike organizing committee on your college or High School campus - or
within the community that you live and work in - or at your place of
work; for the purposes of planning your December 1st event/s.
- Draft your own local December 1 strike leaflets, reflecting local
issues and struggles or download flyers from
http://troopsoutnow.org/flyers/dec1call.pdf
- Circulate a petition/ or introduce a resolution to your student
senate, union executive or delegates council, church or mosque, or
your city council concerning December
1st.
- Help Build the Rosa Parks Anniversary Nationwide Strike at the
Millions More Movement March, Sat. Oct. 15 in Wash. DC. If you are
planning to attend the Millions More March in D.C. on October 15, let
us know right away so that you can be a voluteer on one of the many
December 1st outreach and information tables that are being planned
for the event.
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/dec1endorse.shtml>
SIGN UP ONLINE TO VOLUNTEER
Some of the kinds of activities that are being planned for December 1
in cities and towns across the country:
- Signing pledge cards to take off work, or participate in extended
lunch breaks, or sick outs, are amongst the many creative methods that
are being planned to get working people involved in the strike.
- Student walkouts are being planned for Dec. 1st. Some students will
be marching to, or assembling at military recruiting stations for
rallies and demonstrations.
- Some local organizers or planning rallies in downtown shopping
areas, or in front of Walmart stores, to encourage shoppers to boycott
several or one major store on Dec. 1
- Some or planning a boycott of all public transportation on December
1, in honor of the Montgomery bus boycott
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/dec1endorse.shtml> LIST YOUR LOCAL
ACTIVITY
_____
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/dec1endorse.shtml> Endorse the December
1 National Strike Against Poverty, Racsim, and War
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/dec1endorse.shtml> List your local
activity
Volunteer <http://www.troopsoutnow.org/dec1endorse.shtml> to Help
Build the December 1 National Strike Against Poverty, Racsim, and War
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml> DONATE to help build a
movement against war & racism
Rosa Parks Background Resources:
- For a short essay by historian and author Horace Randall Williams on
the significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/statements/mntgbus.shtml
- For quick and easy reference to Rosa Parks try this website:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/rosa/index.htm
<http://teacher.scholastic.com/rosa/index.htm>
- There are a number of excellent and available film documentaries and
dramatizations of the Montgomery bus boycott including The Story of
Rosa Parks, starring Angela Bassett, and The Long Walk Home, starring
Whoopi Goldberg.
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/> Troops Out Now Coalition
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