DCStatehood-dcstatehoodgreen.org
September 29, 2007-Troops Out Now Coalition National Day of Action
September 23, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Greens set up camp in front of U.S. Captiol
Members of GPAX have set up camp, as part of the week-long encampment, in front of the U.S. Capitol by the reflecting pool. The Green camp is between Iraq Vets of War and Code Pink!
Echo Steiner will be the GPUS/GPAX MC and Jared Ball, who is seeking the Green Party nomination for U.S. President and who is also a D.C. Statehood Green, will be a speaker on the main stage on Saturday the 29th.
On Wednesday, September 26, DC Statehood Party leaders will lead a discussion on DC statehood, affordable housing, and preserving neighborhood libraries threatened with closing Wednesday night the DC Statehood Greens will be speaking and Malik is to speak on Katrina on Thursday. Everyone is encouraged to get over to the Encampment this week to help Greens have a continuing presence!
Next week in LA Greens will be at the rally on September 29th and Utah Green/GPAX co-chair Deanna Taylor will be speaking along with SKCM
Curry of the Green Party of California, who is seeking the Green Party nomination for Vice-President of the United States.
The encampment and rallies are part of the event organized by the Troops Out Now Coalition. The Green Party is an endorser of this action.
September 24, 2007 at 1:13 am
DC encampment photos
Elena writes from North Carolina about the DC Encampment:
Hey all — yesterday in DC was terrific. There was so much happening, and it was only the first day. I decided at the last minute to ride to DC on Sat at 6am and get the Green Party tent set up. Thanks so much to Dave Bosserman for helping out with that!
I took a bunch of pictures, but I left the uploading cord in DC (I drove back to NC this morning, so I could be at work tomorrow)…however!
Dustin from TONC took some pictures of us and they’re up on their blog now!
Also, now that we’ve got a good spot, front and center, we really really need people to staff it throughout the week. David set up an awesome form on our GPAX site, where people can sign up for shifts — so please spread the word and encourage people to take a shift!!
http://gp.org/committees/peace/
Can folks send that appeal out to their state and local listservs??
Thanks!
September 25, 2007 at 1:25 am
DC Encampment: Report from the Ground
Report from Ann Wilcox of GPAX:
The Troops Out Now Encampment is up and running – and Greens are an integral part of the gathering! TONC is set up along the Capitol Reflecting Pool (3rd St. & Const.). – Thanks to Elena Everett and David Bosserman, the Green Party tent was set up throughout the weekend, and we have a prominent place on the plaza. We have literature and fliers for distribution.
Today (Monday) at 3:00 pm, there was an opening press conference: Rick Tingling-Clemmons, Ann Wilcox and Joyce Robinson-Paul spoke of Green Party values, the war, and the 5 pm Weds discussion we are sponsoring on DC issues. Please join us Weds. to talk about libraries, affordable housing, and DC Statehood.
We can use help with TABLING: especially during the weekdays (Tues? Weds?); if you have some time during the day please stop down to help for a couple of hours. Contact Dave Bosserman to sign up.
Each night there will be cultural performances – we hope to have our local cultural performers involved (drummers, poets, Head-Roc and other artists). Then Saturday, 9/29 is the culminating March (meet at 11:00 am for rally and march). Dr. Jared Ball, GP candidate for President, will represent the Green party, and our Steering Cte member Sarah “Echo” Steiner is a co-emcee of the rally. Both Echo and Elena Everett of North Carolina will be in DC later in the week.
Please contact Ann Wilcox (202-441-3265) or David Bosserman if you have questions about the TONC encampment or our participation. Hope to see you there!!
September 26, 2007 at 1:44 am
DC Encampment: Greens Participate in Press Conference
Boston Troops Out Now Coalition <iacboston@iacboston.org> wrote:
A press conference was held Sept. 24 to announce the Encampment and the
mass march on Sept. 29. Larry Holmes of the Troops Out Now Coalition
opened the conference, saying, “The Democrats say they want to cut war
funding but they can’t get past a veto. We know this isn’t true. They
could simply make sure the funding question doesn’t get to the floor.
Meanwhile, Bush is prepared to veto $30 to $35 billion for health care
for children.”
Holmes also discussed the serious threat of a new war on Iran: “Iranian
President Ahmadinejad is being demonized in the media, and we’re not
naive. We know that they are preparing the population for an expansion
of the war in Iraq to war in Iran. But the biggest terrorists are in the
world sit in the White House.”
Rev. Lennox Yearwood spoke about unity in the people’s struggle against
multiple wars: “I’m so pleased to see support here at the Encampment for
the struggle in Jena; I was pleased to hear, in Jena, people talking
about how the bombs in Baghdad are affecting people in the United
States. … If it calls for getting arrested, getting in the way, then
we’ll get arrested and get in the way. Our struggles will continue, but
we will win.” Yearwood was recently beaten by D.C. police at an anti-war
press conference.
Adam Kokesh, Co-Chair of the board of directors for Iraq Veterans
Against the War described his organization’s demands, including
immediate withdrawal of all forces from Iraq, “and when we say all
forces, we mean Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Blackwater,
Halliburton”; and full payment of reparations to the people of Iraq.
Nana Soul of Artists and Activists United for Peace, a TONC member
organization, described the weeklong concert that is being held as part
of the Encampment. “The movement needs cultural inspiration, talent and
creativity. Iraq may be the issue today, but we know that this isn’t the
first time that the United States has invaded a sovereign nation. They
use tools at home like not funding health care and education. We have a
chance to translate these actions.”
Rick Clemens, Ann Wilcox and Joyce Robinson-Paul represented the Green
Party. Clemens, a Vietnam War veteran, stressed: “This war is about
imperialism, about the exploitation of labor power and markets of other
peoples. There is no thing as ending the war without ending the economic
system that perpetuates war–capitalism.” Wilcox discussed the effects
of the war at home in Washington, D.C., where neighborhood libraries are
being closed and thousands of affordable housing units have been lost.
Toby Blomé of Code Pink Women for Peace described the two encampments
their group has undertaken at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s house,
after she refused to meet with them to discuss war funding for three
months. They plan on going to her office regularly during the Encampment
and will be fasting for the week as “another way to show commitment to
ending the occupation and bringing the troops home.”
Vernon Hoffman, who biked 4,500 miles with his family from Portland,
Oregon to join the Encampment, said he’d “rather bike for peace than
kill for oil.” He described how throughout the country, people took
opened up their homes for the family and their anti-war message.
Lastly, a young war resister described how he enlisted in the military
in 2005 because of limited career opportunities in his hometown.
However, he says, “I happened to join at the same time as Hurricane
Katrina, and I saw on TV the bodies floating in the streets. It really
hit home to me. I got out of training 25 weeks later and nothing had
changed. Despite all the rhetoric about homeland security and national
security, this government’s priorities are not for the people.”
Other actions at the Encampment today included an event on Pelosi hosted
by Code Pink, and an outreach sound truck caravan through the streets of
D.C. to mobilize for the march on the 29th.
–
*******************************************
Troops Out Now Coalition
Boston:
617-522-6626
iacboston@iacboston.org
http://www.iacboston.org
National Office:
212-633-6646
http://troopsoutnow.org
Friends:
Weds. 9/26 was an awesome day at the Encampment. Folks celebrated some good press: the Washington Post covered Tuesday’s Emergency March to the White House, to Stop War on Iran. The article described the week-long encampment, including quotes from Larry Holmes of TONC.
Weds. the DC Statehood Greens sponsored a discussion on local issues: DC Statehood and empowerment, the closure of neighborhood libraries, and loss of affordable housing in DC. We had a good pre-dinner crowd and excellent feedback on the dialogue. Later, Rick and Michelle Tingling-Clemmons spoke of their trip to Japan with the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Committee, as well as the broader struggle for peace and social justice.
The evening concert was incredible: local artists including peace songstress Mary Shapiro, and Pam Parker and Luci Murphy of the DC Labor Chorus. The crowd sang along, well into the night!
Today (Thurs.) will feature a program on New Orleans recovery, with Malik Rahim of Common Ground (www.commongroundrelief.org) and others. Evening entertainment will continue, from 8 pm to 12 midnight; the nightly show is called “Rock the Rulers”! Tomorrow (Fri) we will have an evening vigil focusing on health care (joined by the cast of Michael Moore’s film “Sicko”), and folks will prepare for the big march on Saturday.
THURSDAY at the DC Troops Out Now Encampment featured the stories of Katrina/Rita Survivors. Films including “Welcome to New Orleans,” which depicts the racist military occupation of New Orleans following the storm, were shown. Participants also viewed a short film on the work of Common Ground collective, founded by Green Party member Malik Rahim: Common Ground has organized in the 9th Ward, rebuilding health clinics, community centers, and helping long-time residents return to their community. (www.commongroundrelief.org). Malik Rahim arrived at the encampment Thursday evening, and will be in the area for several days of meetings.
Also speaking were Brenda Stokely of the New York Katrina/Rita Solidarity Coalition and Katrina survivors from Mississippi. They spoke of government neglect in providing relief and rebuilding funds, as well as the lack of affordable housing in areas where evacuees have relocated.
Thursday evening the music and poetry of “Rock the Rulers” continued, well into the night. Some TONC participants went to the Warehouse Theatre in DC, for a special presentation of comedian Sherry Glazer’s one-woman show, “Breasts Not Bombs.” The show was a benefit for the Washington Peace Center.
Friday will feature more discussions, a student gathering, and preparation for the main rally on Saturday. Gather Saturday at 11 am, for rally and March to End the War at Home and Abroad.
October 2, 2007 at 1:33 am
Final Report from Ann Wilcox
Friends: Just wanted to forward a “final” blog from the Troops Out Now March against War at Home and Abroad, held on Saturday 9/29 in DC. The article below gives the Wash Post take on the day; we had at least a couple thousand people there, and the article fails to note that this march came at the end of a full month of anti-war activity in DC. But that’s to be expected!
Saturday was another sunny and beautiful day. Marchers gathered by the Capitol Reflecting Pool, forming a colorful crowd of students and people of all ages – protesting the war, Katrina, immigrant rights and other issues. A wide range of signs and banners were evident. Speakers including Jared Ball of the Green Party called on marchers to oppose the war, and all social & economic injustice. Sara “Echo” Steiner of the GP Steering Committee co-emceed the rally with her usual energy, and Malik Rahim of the New Orleans Greens and Common Ground also spoke. Reps of Iraq Veterans against the War, Code Pink and other groups also spoke. After a high-energy rally, we marched through the streets of DC, passing FEMA and ICE (customs immigration), bypassing the usual spots such as the White House.
The rally ended with over 100 students sitting in at Constitution Avenue, later blocking both Const. and Pennsylvania Avenues for over 4 hours! DC police stood by as students set up a “tent city” in the street, danced and chanted. Finally, with numbers dwindling slightly, the group decided to declare the protest ended and come back even stronger next time. By 10:00 pm, most of the tents and structures at the main Encampment were also dismantled. On Sunday, many folks attended a BBQ and fundraiser at the home of Maryland Green Martine Zymandis – a perfect end to a week of activism.
War Protest Draws Small Crowd
Participants Cite Public Apathy in Low Turnout
for Rally at the Capitol
By Carol D. Leonnig
The Washington Post, September 30, 2007
Hundreds of demonstrators, including students and
families, rallied and marched in downtown
Washington yesterday to protest the war in Iraq,
complaining that the Democratic-controlled
Congress has failed to do the public’s bidding
and bring U.S. troops home. Read the rest of this entry »
