Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap
Boycott the Gap: L.A. Campaign Kickoff! Upcoming Actions! Sexy Green Undies!
Posted by Mary Bull (chalicenew@earthlink.net)
Wednesday, February 9, 2000
Forest Defenders and Human Rights Activists Around the Globe!
We just got back from a weekend of TERRIFIC demos in L.A., officially
launching our Save the Redwoods - Boycott the Gap Campaign in that
INCREDIBLE METROPOLIS! In this update:
-The GREENING OF L.A.: PART ONE!!!
-The NEXT Series of Actions in L.A.: A PLAN for Enlightenment!!!
-Feb 12, Eureka. BIG GAP PROTEST: The CUBES Will Be There!
-Feb 12, San Jose. State Democratic Convention DEMO AGAINST GORE!
-Keep the WTO Out of the UN: Phone Campaign!
-Stop Mountain Top Removal Mining: Write/Phone Clinton!!!
-Join the Global Unity Movement Caravan Going to D.C. in APR!
-Farewell to Our Wonderful Bennington Interns!
-For Valentines: A Green/Living Wage Alternative to Victoria's Secret ;-)
(Plus Other Sources of Green, Fair Trade Products!)
THE GREENING OF L.A. -- Part One!
*******************************************
We officially launched the Save the Redwoods - Boycott the Gap Campaign in
L.A. with a TERRIFIC weekend of DEMOS! Most WONDERFUL were the
environmental and human rights L.A. ACTIVISTS who... OPENED their homes to
15 of us, DONNED CUBES and DANCED with us, STRIPPED for the REDWOODS and
WORKERS RIGHTS, and otherwise helped us with our demos!!!
THREE ***MIGHTY*** CHEERS FOR L.A. ACTIVISTS:
LEONE, KEVIN, GENE, SARA, BRET, HILLARY, TRACY, DEAN--
& A DOZEN OTHER *G-R-E-A-T* FAIR-TRADE-NET ACTIVISTS!!!!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!
*****VIVA COALITION!!!!*****
We participated in three demos--The FIRST was organized by the Southern
California FAIR TRADE NETWORK (LEONE HANKEY, Coordinator). Between 200 and
300 people showed for this impressive rally on Saturday at the 3rd Street
Promenade in Santa Monica. There were spirited speeches given in English and
Spanish (approximately HALF the population in L.A. is Hispanic or Latino)
addressing exploitation of garment workers both here and abroad. I spoke
about Fisher family deforestation. The weather was glorious and Angelinos
were out in force!
We Cubes--with our red satin Zap-the-Gap flags waving high--made a grand
entrance, marching from the beach to 3rd Street, chanting "For Redwoods! For
Workers! Boy - Cott - Gap!" Our CUBE DANCE, which spelled out "Save
Redwoods," "No Sweatshops," "Boycott Gap!" and "Gapsucks.org," to Gap's
popular TV ad tune "I Can't Get Enough of You!" (with modified lyrics: "Gap
Can't Get Enough Money!") delighted everyone, and our spectacular banner
("Gap Just Can't Get Enough...MONEY!"/"We'd Rather Wear Nothing Than Wear
Gap!") led the march to Banana Republic that followed. Angelinos were
amazingly receptive to our leafletting efforts following the rally. ...THEY
ARE READY!
DEMOS TWO and THREE were staged by us--with help from our new L.A. activist
friends! They took place on Sunday at the Gap in Westwood Village and the
Gap on Main Street in Venice. The Cube dance and strip action addressing
both the deforestation and sweatshop issues were wonderfully well-received,
especially in Venice, where there were LOTS of people, a farmers market,
sidewalk cafes, and so on (next time we'll know to hit Westwood later in the
day to intercept the crowds).
The West L.A. cops, to whom we'd given a heads-up, had assured us that the
stripping would be cool (no arrests) and went on to say that in any event
"indecent exposure" warrants a citation at the most. However, when we got to
Westwood, Captain Hillman and his troops were all over us (a couple of them
ridiculously DRESSED IN CAMOUFLAGE--I hope someone got a picture of THAT!),
THREATENING ARRESTS & BOOKINGS from the GET-GO. They asked if we had a
permit, to which attorney and fair trade activist Leone Hankey responded,
"Yes, The First Amendment." Sgt. MacDonald kept admonishing us to meet them halfway, but it was pretty clear that "half-way" meant standing there with tape over our mouths...
Our decision was to strip naked if there was TV coverage. Since no TV
cameras were present (Channel 2 said they'd cover it, but ended up with no
available crews), we just stripped down to our underwear, which we had stuffed with oversized money (Gap just can't get enough of it, after all!). Even so, the police AGAIN THREATENED to ARREST one of us, claiming that too much had been revealed--they really made me LAUGH! Leone feistily interceded on our behalf, and they backed off (she's so tiny and tough--what a gal!). Needless to say, I'll never give them another heads-up again!
GAP SECURITY **FOLLOWED US** (we got 'em goin', folks ;-) from Westwood to
the Gap on Main Street, Venice, and tipped off the LAPD, who also warned us
against total nudity... It was a GREAT, FUN, WELL-RECEIVED ACTION none the
less!
MEDIA COVERAGE. Due to the airplane crash, media coverage of our events was not optimal. However, we did manage to get some, including a ten-minute KFWB AM radio interview, L.A. Free Press article (coming out this week), UCLA Bruin article (I JUST heard from the FREEP journalist that WE MADE FRONT PAGE OF THE BRUIN yesterday--this is great with ~30,000 students reading the headline!), a possible photo/caption in the L.A. Weekly (this would be a real coup--one of their photographers covered both actions), a full video interview with Direct Action Media, and a mention on CBS radio.
HATS OFF TO THESE TERRIFIC FIELD ACTIVISTS WHO
***MADE IT HAPPEN***: LON, JEAN, CHAD, TREE, SASHA,
ROSIBEL, MEGAN, AL, CAIN, JED, WES, ISABEL, & KERMIT!!!
And to Off -Site Support: MARY PJ (outreach, housing, press releases) and
BOB (funding--$200)!!! THANK YOU ***ALL*** FOR A GREAT SERIES OF ACTIONS!!!!
WE WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK---AND SOON!!! Which brings me to....
THE GREENING OF L.A. -- Part Two!
******************************************
A plan to BLITZ L.A.: Visualize ...a series of Gap demos--4 per day for 4
days: THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE THERE--THOSE GAPTIVISTS ARE EVERYWHERE!!!
We'll elude Crap Security! No one will know where we're going to pop up
next! People will be asking each other, "Did they come to your neighborhood
yet??!!" We'll win L.A. over, community by community, in this fashion
(according to veteran activist and our anti SLAPP advisor, Anna Marie
Stenberg, this strategy is what gained so much support in L.A. for the
Forests Forever Initiative)! We'll CAP the BLITZ with a FULL STRIP for
REDWOODS AND WORKERS RIGHTS!!!! A well laid out radio campaign will precede
the actions, whetting Angelino palettes for environmentalism, human rights
activism, and fun!!!
***I am convinced that we may well accomplish in 4 days, more than what we
have accomplished in the entire preceding year of outreach!***
What do you think? And--more important--will YOU be part of it???
Feb 12, Eureka. BIG GAP PROTEST: The CUBES Will Be There!
*************************************************************************
A Gap store opened two weeks ago in the Eureka Bayshore Mall, Humboldt
County, mobilizing local activists to ACTION! The Assembly of Concerned
Citizens, a coalition of human rights and environmental groups, are
organizing a DEMO this Saturday at 11 AM in the mall protesting Gap, Inc.
SWEATSHOPS and Gap Fisher DEFORESTATION!!!
THE CUBES WILL BE THERE: So far, 7 of us will join local activists, 15 of
whom have volunteered to be Cubes and/or help with the Cube action!!! THEY
WANT TURNOUT, and are currently expecting ~50 PROTESTORS.
WE HAVE ROOM FOR 1 or 2 more in my car! SLEEPING BAG SPACE WILL BE PROVIDED!
For more info: Contact me 415-731-7924, chalicenew@earthlink.net or Allison of the
Assembly of Concerned Citizens 707-822-0670, revolveinunity@hotmail.com .
Feb 12, San Jose. State Democratic Convention GORE DEMO!
**********************************************************************
If I hadn't already committed to the Gap Demo in Eureka, I'd definitely be
going to this!!!
...Don't forget the U'WA and the fact that Gore owns A HALF MILLION DOLLARS
of OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM STOCK (OXY is planning to destroy an indigenous
culture--the U'WA in COLOMBIA--by illegally drilling on U'WA land, SO their
FAT-CAT SHAREHOLDERS CAN GET A LITTLE BIT RICHER. I have a couple of
Gore-tailored placards that you can borrow if you're going! If you can't
make it to the demo, call Gore's Campaign HQ (603-622-8303) and tell him to
use political and personal pressure to stop the Oxy travesty--tell him what
you think about free trade while you're at it!
Following is the Call to Action from Michelle of Art and Revolution, Santa
Cruz:
The demo at the state Democratic Convention will be on Saturday,
February 12 from 8 to noon, in order to have the most impact, because Al
Gore is speaking at 9am. This is shaping up to be a multi-issue protest
with many different groups coming to call the Democrats on the fact that
they are not dealing with any "real" issues in this campaign.
Environmentalists, anti-WTO folks, peace activists, anti-racism
activists and Free Mumia folks are a few of the groups in this
coalition. Speaking at the demo will be Steve Kretzmann, who is one of
the founders of Project Underground, the premier watch dog of the mining
and oil industries, and now works with Amazon Watch and is chasing
around Al Gore full time pressuring him on his connection to the U'wa.
McHenry Convention Center is at 150 W. San Carlos Street in San Jose. It
is between Market Street and Almaden Blvd., next to the Martin Luther
King, Jr. library.
>From Santa Cruz:
Take HWY 17 to HWY 280 South to the Almaden Blvd Exit (just past the
Bird Ave Exit) when you wind up on Almaden Blvd, head North on Almaden
Blvd (toward the left and the tall buildings). Turn Left on Woz Way
(before San Carlos Street) and park in the huge parking. Park close to
the corner of San Carlos and Almaden Blvd. Walk to the Hilton Hotel
which is at the corner of Almaden Blvd. and San Carlos Streets and take
a right. The convention center is next to the Martin Luther King Jr.
Library which is next to the Hilton. There is a fountain in front of the
Convention Center. If you take your parking ticket into the library and
get it stamped, you may save a couple of bucks.
>From the Peninsula:
Take 280 south, or 101 to 85 to 280 south and follow the above
directions.
Keep the WTO & FLA Out of the UN: Phone Campaign!
*************************************************************
From Antonia Juhasz, American Lands:
RE: The Global Free Logging Agreement at the United Nations?
Call the Clinton Administration Today and Keep Trade Attacks on Forests
out of the U.N. International Forum on Forests.
Because the WTO negotiations in Seattle were successfully frozen in
their tracks, those looking to expand trade in forest products and
reduce forest protections have had to broaden their gaze beyond the
WTO. They are now looking to other trade forums, agreements and
negotiating bodies to achieve their trade liberalization ends.
One such potential forum is the United Nations Intergovernmental Forum
on Forests (IFF). The IFF was created to write an international forest
protection agreement. Unfortunately, the process has been hijacked by
those who consider forests a commodity to be traded rather than a
resource to be protected.
The IFF is currently in its final days of negotiations in New York
City. As I write this alert, several governments are trying to include
free trade language that would threaten forests and forest protection
efforts in the text of the agreement. For example, one proposal reads:
"The IFF supports continued efforts by countries and the WTO towards
trade liberalization, and in that regard, encourages countries to
conduct environmental reviews of trade agreements, with special
attention given to removing remaining and emerging trade restrictions
which constrain market access, particularly for value added forest
products." Our translation: "The IFF supports the Global Free Logging
Agreement at the U.N."
Although the US Government has been very helpful in blocking
threatening trade language over the last few years, negotiations have
now entered the high-stakes final rounds where political games of
"chicken" are played and critical trade-offs are made with little
warning.
It is unclear what the US Government's bottom line is on the inclusion
of free trade language at the IFF. Therefore, we urge all forest
activists to call the Clinton Administration TODAY before the text is
finalized.
Call DAVID SANDALOW, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and
International Scientific Affairs at (202) 647-1554 and JAN MCCALPRIN,
Senior Forest Officer at (202) 647- 4799. Tell them that you support
the US negotiating team's attempts to block the inclusion of trade
liberalization language in the IFF text. You hope that the IFF process
will remain "Trade Free" with the soul intent of protecting forests
around the world. Thanks for your help!
For more information, contact Antonia Juhasz at
mailto:antonia@americanlands.org or (202) 547-9230.
Stop Mountain Top Removal Mining: Write/Phone Clinton!!!
*****************************************************************
THIS IS PRETTY INCREDIBLE!!!
...From Ami Grace ( cleanwaternt@IGC.ORG ):
TELL THE ADMINISTRATION TO ENFORCE THE LAWS
AGAINST MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL STRIP MINING
INSTEAD OF TRYING TO CHANGE THEM!
The Clinton Administration is considering both regulatory changes and
litigation positions that would undermine the laws that protect the
streams, mountains and forests across the country, including those of
Appalachia.
Mountaintop removal strip mining in Appalachia blasts off the tops of
mountains and dumps it into streams, burying them beneath billions of
tons of mining waste. Last fall, a federal court in West Virginia
ordered a halt to this activity finding that it violated both the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act's and Clean Water Act's
protections for those streams.
Instead of accepting the decision of the court and enforcing the law,
the Clinton Administration has filed an appeal and is proposing to
change one of the important regulations on which the court decision
was based.
The Court held that mining spoil is "waste" whose disposal in mountain
streams cannot be authorized by the Corps of Engineers under section 404
of the Clean Water Act. So EPA and the Corps are planning to change the
definition of "fill material" under section 404 to redefine mining waste
as fill material, thereby giving the Corps authority to permit the
wholesale destruction of Appalachian streams.
The Justice Department has also appealed the Court's decision. The
Justice Department's Notice of Appeal indicates it will take the
position that regulations implementing the Clean Water Act and the
Surface Mining Act allow the destruction of Appalachian streams, even
though the Court held that the plain language of the regulations
protects the streams. Instead of supporting regulations that were
intended to protect the environment, the Administration appears to be
preparing to argue that those rules should be read to actually authorize
the devastation of mountains, forests and streams to continue.
The Justice Department's Notice of Appeal also indicates that it will
appeal citizens' rights to sue state officials in federal court for
their failure to enforce federal environmental and other laws. A
Justice Department argument that the Eleventh Amendment bars such
citizen suits even when they are explicitly authorized by Congress goes
beyond even what the most conservative members of the Supreme Court have
so far been willing to do. If such an argument were to prevail,
citizens would lose one of their most important means of assuring that
federal environmental laws are enforced by the states. No responsible
administration would even threaten to take such a position.
WHAT TO DO:
Call the White House (202) 456-1414 and demand that the Administration
abandon its appeal and its proposed rule changes and instead join with
environmentalists in enforcing the laws that protect our stream from
obliteration by mining wastes.
Send a letter to the President and to the Attorney General asking them
to withdraw the appeal and not make changes to the rules to make these
illegal, highly destructive valley fills lawful. A sample letter
follows.
President Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
The Honorable Janet Reno
Attorney General of the United States
Main Justice Building
10th and Constitution Ave., NW
Room 5111, Washington, DC 20530
Dear Mr. President and Madam Attorney General:
I am writing to you to convey my concern about the destructive
mountaintop removal strip mining practices that are burying streams in
West Virginia in mining wastes. Last fall, a federal court held that
this method of coal mining violates both the Clean Water Act and Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act . Within days, Senator Byrd had
introduced an appropriations rider that would have overturned the
court's decision and provided an exemption from the Clean Water Act for
mountaintop removal coal mining wastes. I appreciate that you
threatened to veto Senator Byrd's dangerous rider and opposed allowing
the wholesale destruction of West Virginia's streams and mountains to
continue.
While the rider did not pass, this issue is far from over. Much of the
debate has moved to the courts and to the regulatory agencies, and I am
concerned that your administration now seems to be supporting efforts to
weaken environmental protections that apply to mountaintop removal.
You appear to be considering both regulatory changes and litigation
positions that would undermine the laws that protect the streams,
mountains and forests across the country, including those of Appalachia.
Instead of accepting the decision of the federal court in West Virginia
that mountaintop strip mining is illegal, the Department of Justice has
appealed and is preparing to argue that our environmental protection
laws should be read to allow this devastation of mountains, forests and
streams to continue. Federal agencies are also contemplating changes
the rules that apply to mountaintop strip mining to give the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers authority to permit the wholesale destruction of
Appalachian streams.
I write to ask you to withdraw your appeal and instead intervene in
support of the citizens working to uphold the laws against mountaintop
removal strip mining and similar environmentally devastating practices.
I also ask that you ensure that federal agencies do not propose
weakening the rules that implement the Clean Water Act and Surface
Mining and Reclamation Act. These rules do not need to be changed;
instead, they should be enforced.
Thank you for your support for clean and safe water.
Join the Global Unity Movement Caravan Going to D.C. in APR!!!
***********************************************************************
This is a group of high-spirited young people with love in the hearts and
social change etched in their souls! A trip across country with them would
be AWESOME--the destination is D.C., where there will be MASS DEMOS
against Corporate Globalization aimed at the International Monetary Fund and
World Bank the week of April 11--17. Contact info: globalunity@home.com
510-496-6000 ex. 105 www.surfin-to/globalunity/
Farewell to Our Wonderful Bennington Interns!
****************************************************
Our WONDERFUL Bennington interns--SASHA, MEGAN, & ALEXANDRA--
who have been helping us save redwoods and stop sweatshops for the past six
weeks, including helping to organize FIVE Demos in Sacramento, L.A., and
Eureka, will be returning to Bennington College in Vermont next week! THEY
HAVE BEEN TERRIFIC & WE'LL NEVER FORGET THEM!!!
******THREE CHEERS FOR SASHA, MEGAN, & AL: HIP, HIP, HURRAY!!!!!*****
...And THANK YOU!
For Your Valentine: Alternative Undies ;-)
**********************************************
Finally---what you all have been waiting for--a green, living-wage
alternative to Victoria's Secret!!! (Of course, no activist has any
disposable income for this sort of thing, but our friends who do can think
of us on VALENTINES DAY!!!).
DEAN WALKER is one of the super activists we met in L.A. who helped with our
Westwood demo. His products are terrific--from the people who sew them and
make over $10/hour, to the cloth they are made from (hemp silk and organic
cotton), to the tree-free paper he prints his promotional material on! They
are also beautifully designed and the price is right: $12 to $16. Contact
www.pantyparlour.com sissy@pantyparlour.com 1-888-471-1935.
THREE CHEERS FOR THIS environmentally and socially conscious
BUSINESSPERSON!!!!!
ALSO! Get Co-op America's NATIONAL GREEN PAGES for a comprehensive list of
green, socially conscious companies: www.coopamerica.org 202-872-5307. I
plan to become a member, get my free copy, and share the info with the
network! Btw, CO-OP AMERICA seems like a great organization, and last year
they included info on the Gap Boycott in their newsletter--so, support them
if you can!
*******************
Cheers and Love!
Mary Bull
Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign, SF
_________________________________________
Other Contacts/Information Sources:
www.elksoft.com/gwa
----------------------------
Mary Pjerrou, Redwood Coast Watersheds Alliance
707-877-3405 pirohuck@mcn.org
----------------------------
Norman de Vall, Greenwood Watershed Association
707-877-3551 ndevall@mcn.org www.gapsucks.org
----------------------------
Redwood Mary
Plight of the Redwoods Tour redwoodm@mcn.org
http://sites.netscape.net/redwoodmary/redwoodmary
----------------------------
Mary Bull,
Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign
415-731-7924 chalicenew@earthlink.net
----------------------------
----------------------------
Gap Labor Exploitation URLs:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/01/14
/MN19190.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/01/20
/MN49132.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/01/22
/MN49806.DTL
http://www.house.gov/resources/105cong/democrat/cnmifin.html#contractlabor
----------------------------
http://sweatshops@globalexchange.org
http://www.globalexchange.org
"God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there..."
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