Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap
***Stop the FTAA-->Transform the World Now!!!<--Boycott the Gap***
Posted by Mary Bull (chalicenew@earthlink.net)
Saturday, November 8, 2003
Greetings, Global Ecology & Justice Activists Around the World!
As you know, the precarious world situation and the US government's
nefarious role in it is exceeding monstrous proportions. But the Resistance
is growing, too--and stretching for the critical mass to radically transform
this! We have an opportunity--a focal point--to demonstrate to the world,
and most especially to the unpoliticized American public, that there is a
powerful movement for peace, equality, justice, and ecology in this country
and globally that can and will turn this situation around!!! That focal
point is the upcoming Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) hemispheric
meeting in Miami November 19--21. This is BIGGER than the FTAA--which will
most likely fail, given our victory against the WTO last month--we're aiming
at a TREMENDOUS COLLECTIVE ACT OF RESISTANCE against the whole disgusting
ball of wax--as well as PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATIONS, skills-shares, and
workshops focussing on that BETTER WORLD we are creating!!! The country is
mobilizing for an event BIGGER than the WTO mass protests in Seattle in
1999!!! There are CONSULTAS to plan our actions in Miami happening in cities
across the nation, including the Bay Area this weekend! ***IT IS GOING TO BE
AWESOME!!!*** This mobilization needs you--the world needs you now more than
ever! You Know It! BE PART OF IT!!! ...In this email:
-Sat, Oct 18, Oak: West Coast Anti-FTAA Consulta: PLUG IN!!!
-THE GAPATISTAS RIDE AGAIN: Join Our Roadshow to Miami!!!
-Contact Your Federal Reps NOW (especially if you've never tried it ;-)!!!
-PLUG INTO the Miami Mobilization: FTAA Info sites!!!
WEST COAST ANTI-FTAA CONSULTA
***********************************
WHEN: Saturday Oct 18, 10am to 8pm. Possible breakout planning sessions on
the morning of Sunday the 19th. Fundraising party 9pm, Oct 18 (details
below)
WHERE: HERE Local 2850 Union Hall, 548 20th St (between Telegraph and San
Pablo) Downtown Oakland (a block from 19th St/Oakland BART), California
WHAT: Activists from across the country have converged at Consultas in
Pittsburgh, Chicago and Denver to plan coordinated actions, street tactics
and creative disruptions in Miami. DASW, Anti-FTAA Action, and Action for
Local/Global Justice invite activists throughout California and the west
coast to participate in a Consulta to plan nonviolent direct actions for
Miami that will send a message loud and clear to the world that the
movements against war and empire are alive and well in the belly of the
empire. The Consulta will include Reports from an on-the-ground Florida
organizer and the Pittsburgh Organizing Group, initiators of the "Padded
Bloc" call to direct action in Miami.
Proposed Consulta agenda items:
* Updates from organizers on the ground in Miami
* how we can support local community struggles in Florida
* Direct action tactics for Miami
* Padded Block actions & updates from other Consultas
* Preparation of legal and medical strategies for Miami
* Formation of a communication network to be used on the ground in Miami
* Jail support and solidarity
* Teach-in, legal march and rally and other activities in Miami
* Sustained anti-FTAA and other related campaigns
* Ongoing anti-war, anti-corporate globalization, anti-empire networking
* Outreach
REGISTER NOW!!!! We strongly encourage you to register for the Consulta.
Please contact us (sfconsulta@riseup.net) ASAP with the name of your group
(if applicable), number of people attending, as well as any other special
needs. To get help with housing, please send an additional, separate email
to consulta_housing@yahoo.com with the number of people in need of housing.
FUNDRAISING PARTY!!! WHEN: This Saturday, Oct. 18; 9:00 pm. WHERE: 5300
Manila Ave, Oakland (corner of Clifton near Broadway/Rockridge intersection.
About 7 minutes from Rockdrigde Bart. Walk down College toward Broadway from
BART, Manila will be on the right at the corner of Hudson Bay Cafe). WHAT:
Fundraisin', booty-shakin', empire-shatterin' good time to raise money for
the anti-FTAA mobilization in Miami this November. $5-$20 sliding scale at
the door (no one turned away for lack of funds). Great videos, spoken word,
dancing & company. Some drinks provided, but you might also want to bring
extra... Bring your friends! Great T-shirts also for sale. Contact
sfconsulta@riseup.net for details.
MORE Miami Mobilization INFO: Bay Area organizing, sign on to the nowto
listserve: http://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/nowto
MIAMI & National organizing:
http://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/ftaa & http://www.antiftaa.net/ DASW
info: http://www.actagainstwar.org/
GAPATISTAS RIDE AGAIN: Roadshow to Miami!!!
********************************************************
JOIN US for the roadshow, Join us en route at any of our whistle-stops, or
join us in Miami: November 11-LA;12-Tucson;13-El Paso; 14-Austin; 15-New Orleans; 16 Tallahassee, 17-Miami (go to the top of the www.gapsucks.org home page for full details)!!! Contact us at 415-509-1188 Gapatista Roadshow to Stop the FTAA cell phone!***
We did two fabulous "Stop the War! Save the Earth! End Corporate Rule!"
cross-country roadshows last year with great media and public outreach, all
the way: One to the World Economic Forum in New York in Jan, and one to the
IMF/World Bank/Peace protests in DC in Sep. On the second one, we took a
VEGGIE-DIESEL truck and also promoted veggie-diesel ("No war or oil!").
NOW WE WANT TO TAKE THE ROADSHOW SOUTH!!!
Our Goal is two-fold: To educate the public about corporate
rule, how to resist it, and how to create an alternative world, and to
JUMP-START the GAP BOYCOTT CAMPAIGN, dormant all these long months of the
anti-war movement (they've gained ground!). The plan is to do six
actions at Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic stores in major burgs along the way
and end with a massive Gap action in Miami before the real fireworks begin
against the FTAA!!! We hope to get UNITE's global sweatshop campaign to join
us for the culminating action, as they did in DC--and early feelers out to
Eco Bloc and Green Bloc organizers indicate they will support such an the
action!!! HURRAY!!
WHY THE GAP????
Gap is a prime target for the global ecology movement, not
only because they epitomize the oil-driven, inefficient globalization model,
where every stage of production entails thousands of miles of shipping, but
also because their cotton consumption has contributed to the complete
destruction of the third largest fresh-water lake in the world, the Aral
Sea, and because the Fisher family turned around and took the profits they
made off the backs of sweatshop laborers and bought a quarter (~240, 000
acres) of the last remaining coast redwood ecosystem and are destroying and
developing it, as their hedge against inflation. As far as human
exploitation goes, the cotton-field workers in Uzbekistan are among the
poorest and most grievously exploited in the corporate economic model, and
Gap sewing sweatshops are notorious; Indonesian sweatshop workers called for
a boycott of the Gap last November. Meanwhile, Don Fisher, founder and
Chairman of the Board, was an advisor to Bush Sr. on lethal free trade policies,
and was/is a major force in the privatization of national parks (the
Presidio), public television (KQED), and public schools (the Edison
Project); he led the campaign against a living wage in SF, Gap was one of the 52
SF corporations that coerced the City into reducing their business taxes by
5/6, and also negotiated a sweetheart with Mayor Willie Brown that resulted
in the City subsidizing their new corporate headquarters to the tune of $18
million. And so on.
Another thing about the Gap is that we had them beat for over two years
running, including 22 months of consecutive losses; then, while everyone on
our network was busy with the anti-war movement, Gap gained ground by
slashing prices and launching three celebrity ad campaigns, most recently,
Madonna--Gap sales have risen 30% from oblivion as a result--so we also want
to jump-start the Gap Boycott Campaign with this series of actions.
We'll be bringing our Fisher redwood stump, among other great props,
banners, and street theater numbers, which was part of the Eco Bloc
in the Big March against the IMF/World Bank in Sep 2002, and will serve
us well in Miami!
PLEASE JOIN US!!!!
Contact 415-509-1188 Gapatista Roadshow to Stop the FTAA! cell phone!
Contact Your Federal Reps NOW (especially if you've never tried it ;-)!!!
********************************************************
People, Here's a sample letter addressing just a few of the current life and
death issues facing us. Please contact your Congresspeople: Call the
Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121, and/or email, fax or write them.
They need to be DELUGED with our demands!!!
Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign
Fax Cover Sheet
To: Senators Feinstein & Boxer, & Rep Pelosi
Re: No $87B! No Lozada! Protest Attack on Syria! Protect the Environment!
Fax: 415-393-0710, 415-956-6701, 202-225-8259
Date: October 17, 2003
Esteemed Federal Lawmakers:
The precarious world situation and the US government's nefarious role in it
is exceeding monstrous proportions. It's reaching an unbearable pitch, which
wakes me up at night.
--I hope that it is VERY NEEDLESS TO SAY, I want you to VOTE NO on an
additional $87 Billion to support the illegal US occupation of Iraq-when
state and city governments are near bankrupt, and the US occupation of Iraq
has proved so destructive and pointless. Don't use my tax money to further
fund this abominable sinkhole! Please rescind the Bechtel and Haliburton
contracts: Bechtel is proving itself completely ineffective in Iraq, and
they are both bilking taxpayers, as usual.
--Please do not support the Lozada Administration in Bolivia. It would be so
refreshing to have our government on the right side of an issue for a
change-the side of the common people, not the moneyed elite!
-- Introduce a resolution condemning Israel's illegal attack on Syria. The
so-called War on Terrorism begins at home: WE MUST STOP the US's criminal
acts of aggression and terror-and NOT CONDONE such acts in our allies, let
alone FUND THEM!!! According to our own Acts of Congress, we should NOT BE
SUPPORTING Israel because of its horrendous track record of blatant human
rights violations!
--Finally, no corporate destruction of national lands-not for timber (NO on
any variation of the Helathy Forests Initiative), not for natural gas
exploration! It is high time that the big businesses that rely on natural
gas shift to renewable alternatives!!!
Our federal government is worse than an embarrassment-it has become an
unleashed horror-and you lawmakers should be the whistle-blowers. Please do
your job for the good of the common people and the environment!!!
Mary Bull, Coordinator
San Francisco-based Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign (SRBG) is an
international campaign with tens of thousands of supporters-including
luminaries such as the late David Brower, Julie Butterfly, and Bonnie
Raitt-and an activist network of ~1500 individuals and groups world wide.
Through our public education program, including creative street theater and
high profile demonstrations, we have brought the issues of redwood
deforestation, Gap sweatshop labor, and related local and global issues to
hundreds of thousands of people. SRBG is a project of the Greenwood
Watershed Association, a public interest group that monitors timber
harvesting and engages in restoration and litigation to save our redwood
forests and watersheds--the ruination of which is a national disgrace.
PLUG INTO THE MOBILIZATION: WEB SITES!!!
****************************************
For People & Planet, Stop the FTAA! http://www.flfairtrade.org http://www.ftaaresistance.org http://www.ftaaimc.org http://stopftaa.org http://www.therootcause.org
http://www.mediamouse.org/fcaa/index.php
For Global Ecology & Justice, End Corporate Rule!
http://www.ifg.org http://www.canadians.org http://www.citizen.org
http://www.foodfirst.org http://www.globalexchange.org
_____________________________
Let's Rock This Country!!!!
Mary Bull
Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign
252 Frederick, San Francisco, CA 94117
http://www.gapsucks.org 415-731-7924 chalicenew@earthlink.net
For People & Planet, Stop the FTAA! http://www.flfairtrade.org http://www.ftaaresistance.org http://www.ftaaimc.org http://stopftaa.org http://www.therootcause.org
http://www.mediamouse.org/fcaa/index.php
***Join the Gapatista Roadshow to Miami: November 11-LA.;12-Tucson;
13-El Paso; 14-Austin; 15-New Orleans; 16 Tallahassee, 17-Miami!!!***
For Global Ecology & Justice, End Corporate Rule!
http://www.ifg.org http://www.canadians.org http://www.citizen.org
http://www.foodfirst.org http://www.globalexchange.org
For the AWFUL TRUTH about the Forest Stewardship Council,
Check out http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org
For questions and comments please e-mail us!
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