Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap
***Build the Movement: June 8 Mobilization!!! Gap Campaign 2004!!! +++ ***
Posted by Mary Bull (chalicenew@earthlink.net)
Saturday, January 31, 2004
Greetings, Earth Defenders and Social Justice Activists Across the Globe!
We thought they'd never come to San Francisco, but they are: The closest
thing we may ever have to a Global Summit in SF is happening here in June
when the BIO-TECH INDUSTRY descends upon the City. Organizers across the
continent are making this an occasion to BUILD COALITIONS, UNITE OUR ISSUES,
and SHOW OUR MASSIVE RESISTANCE to CORPORATE CONTROL OF PUBLIC POLICY--from
Energy, Water, and the World Food Supply to the Invasion & Occupation of
Iraq, from the ruination of our natural resources and regional economies to
the gutting of education & social programs, from the mass exportation of
jobs & exploitation of workers to the burgeoning racist prison-industrial
complex!!! We'll also use this opportunity to DEMONSTRATE SUSTAINABLE
ALTERNATIVES to the Corporate Regime, starting with the GREENING OF SF in a
series of massive, fun, and effective eco-actions and workshops aimed at
getting us OFF THE CORPORATE GRID, from fossil fuels to factory farms.
Creative neighborhood outreach, actions spotlighting community struggles,
and a series of remarkable teach-ins that brings us all up-to-speed on each
other's issues, local and global, and their solutions, are also in the
works!!! Since the Bio-Tech Industry most imminently threatens the WORLD
FOOD SUPPLY, there will also be special events focusing on FOOD SOVEREIGNTY,
GMOs (Hurray, MENDOCINO COUNTY for getting your anti-GMO initiative on the
ballot!!!), & CORPORATE CONTROL OF FOOD! All this and more will build to a
DAY OF MASSIVE DIRECT ACTION on June 8!!! At the same time that the bio-tech
industry is meeting in SF, the G8--that INFAMOUS GROUP OF EIGHT NATIONS led
by the US, who run the world and whose policies, according to the UN,
extinguish the lives of 19,000 children a day--is meeting on the EAST COAST
on a private island off Georgia near Savannah. CHOOSE YOUR COAST, but begin
organizing NOW!!! Let's build those coalitions and EXPAND the Global Justice
& Ecology MOVEMENT--until it becomes the better world that we envision!
...Read on for how to plug into these mobilizations, the latest on Save the Redwoods / Boycott the Gap Campaign, the status of our Civil Rights Class-Action Lawsuits and the Domino Effect they are creating(including MIAMI!), info on the Corporate War on Workers and the SAFEWAY STRIKE, an AWESOME line-up of 2004 actions and events you can be part of, and more! ...In this newsletter:
-June 4-8, SF: MASS MOBILIZATION to Reclaim Democracy & End Corporate Rule!!!
-Call to form a Bay Area GREEN BLOC affinity group for June 8 & Beyond!!!
-Call to form a NEW ENGLAND GREEN BLOC Cluster for the DNC, RNC, and Beyond!!!
-Racial Justice: Civil Rights Class-Action Lawsuits from California to Miami!!!
-Forests: The Dead-End of the Courts, Public Process, & the FSC!!!
-Gap Campaign 2004: Articles, Ads, & Actions!!!
-Stop the Closing of CA Schools: Join the Ed-Not-Inc Campaign!!!
-Sacred Places Pilgrimages: Connect with Nature in the Wilderness!
-Action Calendar Highlights (short blurbs with dates of organizing meetings!):
--->Jan 31, Oak: Community Forum to Stop the Closing of Oakland Schools!
--->Jan 31, Oak: Safeway Strike Solidarity Action!
--->Feb 1, Oak: Planning Meeting for Bay Area Anniversary-of-Invasion Actions!
--->Feb 2, Ber: Planning for Bay Area Delegation to Juarez & Local Actions!
--->Feb 2, SF: Planning Meeting for Bay Area End-the-Occupation Action!
--->Feb 3, SF&Oak: Planning Meetings for June 8 Mobilization!
--->Feb 14, Bay Area: Non-Violent Direct Action Training with Starhawk!!!
--->Feb 14, Nat'l: Women of Juarez Solidarity Actions!!!
--->Feb 20, Nat'l: Day of Solidarity with Muslim & Arab Immigrants!
--->Feb 24: Internat'l Day of Action to End the Occupation!!!
--->Mar 4, SF: Counter-Recruitment Campaign Kick-off!!!
--->Mar 19& 20: Anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq: Global Days of Action!!!
--->Apr 7, Oak: Return to the Docks!!!
--->Apr 15, Bay Area: Tax Day Action: Stop Military Spending!!!
--->Apr 22-26, DC: Protest the IMF & World Bank!!!
--->Jun 4-8: J8 MOBILIZATION - SF / G8 MOBILIZATION - Savannah!!!
--->Aug 29-Sep 2, NYC: Republican National Convention!!!
--->Sep 8-24, Sonoma: Earth Activist Training: You'll Never Be the Same!!!
--->Nov 3, Nat'l: Day-After-Election: Mass Demos for Democracy!
*** IN BRIEF: Direct Action to Stop the War (DASW) is the Bay Area's awesome
non-violent direct action mobilization to end the war and occupation, and to
bring down the corporate empire behind the war, and the other military and
structural violence so pervasive at home and abroad. Peace proceeds from
global justice and ecology--not corporate exploitation for profit! All are
invited to the DASW organizing meetings every other Sunday, alternating
between the East Bay and SF--or if you are not in the area, start a similar
mobilization in your town! For more info . See the Calendar section below for the great line-up of Bay Area anti-war/anti-empire actions that DASW is organizing and/or endorsing!***
***QUICKIE ACTIONS: The Corporate War against Organized Labor and All
Workers in the US is escalating: From the mass exportation of jobs to China,
and most recently high-tech jobs to India, to Bush's successful attack on
the 8-hour workday with the abolition of overtime pay (yes, he just got it
through the wimps in Congress by attaching it to a bill) and the dissolution
of thousands of federal union jobs; from 70,000 justly striking workers at
Safeway (CEO Steve Berd is on Bush's Homeland Security Board) to exposes of
Walmart's massive employee abuses! BOYCOTT SAFEWAY, Vons, Ralphs, &
Albertsons!!! To find out more about the SAFEWAY STRIKE and what you can do,
go to Add your name to the petition to reinstate overtime pay: STOP THE WALMART MONSTER that is destroying local economies: Never walk into another WALMART again!***
SF JUNE 8 MOBILIZATION !!!
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No matter where you are, join the SF J8 Mobilization!!! ***Add your vision,
creativity, and hard work to the mix to make this one of the most
successful, MOVEMENT-BUILDING mobilizations ever!!!*** We have four months
to lay the groundwork. No time to lose! To join the listserve, send an email
to (the Web Site is coming
soon!). To join a working group, contact the point-person below--or start
your own! If you are in the area, come to the Bay Area Visioning and
Organizing Meeting TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 7 PM, Black Cat Collective, 2852
Folsom (btw 24th & 25th Streets), SF. ***BE PART OF IT!!!!***
***GREAT NEWS: The Beehive Collective is supporting the mobilization
big-time--designing one of their AWESOME POSTERS for it, doing other
outreach, lending their incredible collection of banners and clip-art, and
joining in for teach-ins and actions!!! THREE CHEERS for those WONDROUS
POLLINATORS, who are also working hard to stop Plan Puebla Panama!!!!***
-*- Fundraising: BECKY beckytarbotton@yahoo.com 250-389-1536
-*- City Liaison: MARY chalicenew@earthlink.net 415-731-7924
-*- Visioning & Messaging: KORI awakenprogress@yahoo.com 707-874-9941
-*- Trainings: STARHAWK stella@mcn.org 415-640-5872
-*- Media: EILEEN, eileenr@sonic.net 707-523-4304
-*- Outreach: MEDDLE meddle@riseup.net 707-579-8911
-*- Education: PIGEON HAWK paddrix@yahoo.com 707-888-2404
-*- Scenario: EILEEN eileenr@sonic.net 707-523-4304
-* -MAJOR PROJECTS working groups:
--Greening Convergence Space/Infrastructure: STARHAWK see above
--Movable Permie Playground: MEDDLE see above
--Eco-Village for the Homeless: STARHAWK see above
--Reclaiming Public Space/City Repair: MARY see above
--Community Actions: MARY see above
--Really Free Market (Plant Give Away, Seed Exchange, etc.)
--Organic and Sustainable Farmers Market
--Mass Guerilla Gardening Actions
For SONOMA GREEN BLOC's inspiring call-to-action, check out
Call for a Bay Area GREEN BLOC Affinity Group!
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The Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign has been working for ecology,
justice, and peace on many fronts locally and globally for over five years.
We've had several awesome Core Affinity Groups who have bottomlined
roadshows & mobilizations and whose dedication and creative street theater
has put a host of critical issues at the fore-front of public awareness!
However, much of our work has been about BASIC PUBLIC EDUCATION and DAMAGE
CONTROL: making people aware of the issues; encouraging people to be more
discriminating about our consumption; pressuring corporations to be a little
less greedy, to save a few trees, to treat a few more people with dignity;
pressuring law enforcement and the criminal justice system to be less racist
and more accountable; pressuring governments not to drop the bombs, and so
on.
We are at a cross-roads. It's time to put as much energy into CREATING THAT
BETTER WORLD as we have been putting into RESISTING and TEMPERING the ILL
EFFECTS of the EXPLOITATIVE ONE. We are now calling for the formation of a
new Core Group modelled to some degree after the Sonoma Green Bloc, which
creates and/or demonstrates sustainable alternatives wherever it goes!
(check out for their awesome
exploits!)
***We need to show people how they can get off the corporate grid, exercise
democracy outside of party-driven, corporate-funded electoral machines, live
sustainable lives and create sustainable, just, and thriving communities
along side the unsustainable, unjust corporate-controlled world--until
eventually WE achieve critical mass.***
Affinity doesn't happen overnight. It's magical. But we can try to catalyze
some of that magic! The Green Bloc affinity group we're proposing would make
sustainable alternatives a priority, along with coalition-building, and any
particular passions its members espouse, like saving our redwood eco-system!
If you are interested in becoming part of the BAY AREA GREEN BLOC AFFINITY
GROUP which will work primarily in the Bay Area and Redwood Coast, on
roadshows, and at mass mobilizations, please contact us OR FORM YOUR OWN! chalicenew@earthlink.net or pirohuck@mcn.org! The JUNE 8 MOBILIZATION will be a great time to stretch our wings and demonstrate our scope and vision!
Call for a NEW ENGLAND GREEN BLOC Cluster!
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From Logan:....i am working with a couple of greenbloc groups that are
mobilizing for the DNC and RNC here in new england this summer. we are
looking to form a new england green bloc cluster. . one of our major
projects right now is to put out a call for a really really democratic
convention (modeled after the really really free market that happened in
miami) for the convention in boston and then taking it to the streets in new
york! So, If you are in New England, please contact LOGAN about forming a
New England Green Bloc Cluster!!!
Civil Rights Class-Action Lawsuits: Status Report!
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CHALK ONE UP FOR CIVIL RIGHTS & RACIAL JUSTICE!!! In 2000, we filed a civil
rights class-action lawsuit to stop abuses pertaining to strip-search
practices aimed at dehumanizing and humiliating arrestees at the Sacramento
County Jail, though they'll bluster on and on about security and how their
sadistic acts are "for your own good." Right. We won that lawsuit, changed
those despicable practices, and are engaged in settlement mediations to
determine the compensation for the thousands of people whose civil rights
were so egregiously violated. In 2003 we filed a similar class-action suit
against the San Francisco County Sheriff's Department that was expanded to
include their illegal and outrageous use of cold-room torture to coerce and
punish arrestees. After a RAFT of PUBLICITY, the SF COUNTY JAIL voluntarily
changed its illegal practices; however, we are going for an injunction that
will mandate they do so, because, otherwise, they can just as easily
re-instate them. These class-action suits have triggered similar lawsuits in
other counties in the state. And now our awesome civil rights attorneys are
taking on similar abuses that occurred in MIAMI during the mass protests
against the FTAA last November!
These lawsuits are as much about RACIAL JUSTICE as they are about civil
rights: Though anyone entering the system can be transgressed, the people
who are most affected are already the most vulnerable and victimized by our
society, the poor and poor people of color--groups that already suffer from
pervasive inequality in education, public services, and public policies, and
the resulting poverty and ill health that this STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE
perpetuates. The WAR on the POOR and social services is an integral part of
CORPORATE RULE, and the self-imposed mandate of the POWER-ELITE to get
richer and more powerful at any cost.
Forests: COURTS, PUBLIC PROCESS, & the FSC!
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A lawsuit is the last recourse the public has to make corporations,
government agencies, or individuals accountable, in this case, timber
companies. When for political reasons (read campaign contributions), the
Governor has directed state regulatory agencies to ignore environmental law,
as has been the case with the CA Dept of Forestry, the public has the burden
of attempting to enforce the law through the Courts. We expended a lot of
resources in Court last year on a return-to-judgement lawsuit. Briefly, the
Gap Fisher's logging company ignored a watershed ruling in our favor back in
May 2000. So we took them to Court, but could not find a Superior Court
judge in the whole of Mendocino County who had not worked for the company or
their predecessors--they all had to recuse themselves! That's what we're up
against in Mendocino County! So, we took a chance on one of them who had, under duress, finally ruled favorably for Jackson State Forest (for more on this awesome campaign to stop the logging of our public forest, see www.jacksonforest.com!). He couldn't kick us out on the merits of the
case--they were obvious--but with the help of Big Timber lawyers he did
manage to find a technicality as a basis for throwing out the lawsuit. We
could pursue it, but we have decided that the Courts, like the agencies, are
a cul de sac.
In addition, organizations such as the timber-dominated FOREST STEWARDSHIP
COUNCIL (FSC), like the World Trade Organization, have UNDERMINED PUBLIC
PROCESS & the LAW. The FSC has falsely deemed logging companies sustainable
regardless of their legal record or their unsustainable logging practices. The "certification" process is a private process from which the public is barred. In the FSC system, the public also has no right to the information that informs an FSC decision. Timber companies pay FSC certifiers directly for their seal of approval, and FSC certifiers compete with each other for timber company business; needless to say, such a system is not conducive to the enforcement of tough standards--just the opposite. BIG-BUSINESS-DOMINATED ENVIRO GROUPS like the WWF (mining, timber, and water interests reside on their boards, and they also accept MILLION-DOLLAR contributions from companies like CHEVRON) and the NRDC (co-founded by the CEO of the Southern California Edison utility company as "an environmental group that Wall Street can live with, " the NRDC was pro-utility deregulation, nuclear bail-out, NAFTA, and Big Oil in Ecuador; Bob Fisher also sits on its Board) do the FSC's MARKETING, which amounts to greenwashing & false advertising for many if not all FSC customers. For more information on the FSC, see
Members of the California State Legislature are discussing fast-tracking timber harvests by FSC-certified Timber Companies, which is expressly against FSC guidelines. The Fishers are FSC certified. At the same time they were buying their certification, they were talking with state and federal agencies about obtaining a license to kill endangered species and destroy their habitat on their entire holding for the next 80 years (Incidental Take Permits). They have applied for their ITPs. Please send letters from this web site to protest this outrage. Stewards of the Land, indeed. BOYCOTT THE GAP, BANANA REPUBLIC, & OLD NAVY!!!
***Obviously, we cannot rely on the integrity of big timber, oil, & mining companies nor the big-name enviro groups who accept money from them!*** It's up to us to BOYCOTT REDWOOD and wood products from all endangered forests, use 100% post-consumer recycled, tree-free, or non-watershed paper products and building materials, stop unsustainable slash & burn agricultural practices, and stop the conversion of watersheds to tree farms (which destroys ecosystems), but instead to promote the cultivation of production trees on traditional farmland. We can do this with our shopping dollars.
GAP BOYCOTT CAMPAIGN Staregy 2004!!!
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Bye-Bye Courts and Public Process, and Hello...
...ARTICLES! We will continue to reach out to the PUBLIC to hold this corporation and its ruling family accountable for their many abuses. However, in addition to demos, bumper stickers, and CRAP t-shirts, we will make a concerted effort to PUBLISH ARTICLES to get the word out to more people. ***Please let us know any likely venues big or small, online or off, in your community!***
...ADs! As soon as we raise the money, we will run an ad in Variety to EDUCATE CELEBRITIES about Gap abuses and urge them to stop hawking sweatshop goods for ecosystem destroyers. While we were all busy with the war, Gap launched three celebrity ad campaigns to get people to start going back into their stores- Madonna was the latest--and unfortunately it worked. Gap sales are on the rise again--but not for long!
...ACTIONS! We'll continue to promote grassroots activism, neighborhood by neighborhood! A strategy that served our causes well, with 22 consecutive months of losses for the Gap! This downward spiral was turned around only by the anti-war movement, when all of us turned our focus and energy on stopping the bombs. ***Please plan an action in your community, and register it on our Gap Fever Meter at the web site, where you can also get everything you need for your demo from the Action Packet!****
...HOLIDAY CAMPAIGN 2004--Buy Nothing Day November Kick-off! We will gear up for a no-holds-barred week of action to stem Gap holiday sales! The Bay Area will lead the way with some brilliant and sensational street theater to keep shoppers on their toes and away from Gap, Inc!!! ****Please plan one in your community (Over 200 actions around the world in 2001!!!)!****
...A VIDEO may also be in the works!!!
Stop the Closing of CA Schools: Join the Ed Not Inc Coalition!!!
****************************************************************
Please check out to find out about a spirited and
effective campaign to stop the closing of public schools and improve the
quality of education for ALL Californians. Join this awesome group or create
a similar one! If we are ever going to have racial justice, we must provide
quality education for all our children. The discrepancy in California's
public schools between those in poor neighborhoods of color and those in
affluent predominantly white neighborhoods is DAMNING: ***FIVE TIMES
WORSE*** facilities, books, and teachers in poor neighborhoods--the
neighborhoods that should have the best quality, the best teacher/student
ratio if we are ever to end chronic poverty and all it engenders! Meanwhile,
the State spends $35,000 a year to maintain a single inmate, while spending
only $7,000 a year on a public school student's education. Not only do we
need to keep our schools open, but we need to drastically improve their
quality in the neighborhoods that need it most! Join Education not
Incarceration Coalition!!!
SACRED PLACES PILGRIMAGES: Connect with Nature!
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From awesome activist and naturalist Charles, a skilled wilderness guide: I
will be spending the next year exploring and admiring our sacred world.
Hiking, canoeing, and snowshoeing through the mountains, deserts, forests
and rivers. I will search for the divine that is hidden deep in those wild
and remote places. This is a pilgrimage to eight holy sites for exploration,
ritual, and learning. Let's go together: April 21- 29 Beltane: In the
shifting light of the equinox we head into the canyon country; this will be
a backpacking trip into the Grand Canyon in Arizona (or Escalante canyon of
southern Utah; June 5-13 Summer Solstice: Together we will head into the
redwoods and doug firs wondering amidst the ancient coastal forests of the
Olympic Peninsula. July 22-Aug. 2 Lammas: For ten days we will paddle our
canoes deep into the wilderness of northern Minnesota boundary waters (or
possibly in LaVérendrye in Québec); September 20-28th Fall Equinox: We will
be traveling in the beautiful Algonquin wilderness in Ontario. November
6-8th Samhain: We will backpack through the southern Utah canyons of Comb
Wash. December 18-26 Winter Solstice: we head to the mountains of Wyoming to
dance with the wolves and elk under the starry sky. 8 people per trip, first
come, first served. Food, group gear, and itinerary will be provided along
with some logistical support around arrival and departure days. I am
requesting a donation of $200-$500 per trip ($300-$500 for canoe trips) for
food, permitting and assorted expenses. However, no one will be turned away
due to lack of funds. For more information on a trip you can e-mail me
(charles) at whoa9@yahoo.com
ACTION CALENDAR (short blurbs):
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Jan 31, Oak: Solidarity with Safeway Strikers!!!
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Last week's action at the Safeway on Market in SF was awesome, attracting
hundreds of protestors and deterring hundreds of potential Safeway shoppers.
We're doing it again this weekend in Oakland: Saturday, January 31rst,
Direct Action and Rally, Broadway and 51rst Safeway, Oakland, 1:30-5 pm.
Meet at Mosswood Park, MacArthur and Broadway for the march over. (near
MacArthur BART). Assemble 2:00 at Mosswood Park, MacArthur and Broadway: we
will march to the Safeway! Art-making: 12:00pm, Mosswood Park or 755 54th
St. if its rainy. Pre-demo meeting: 1:30pm also at Mosswood Park. ....This
action part of the Direct Action to Stop the War campaign supporting the
striking grocery workers and demanding healthcare rights for all. We are
dedicated to fighting the WAR AT HOME by standing up to the corporate attack
on our healthcare and social services. 70,000 workers in So.Cal are on
strike or locked-out, many of whom are having difficulty paying rent,
feeding their kids; many have even lost their homes due to the strike. This
action is part of the BOYCOTT SAFEWAY! campaign in Northern California. Help
make it a great one!
Jan 31, Oak: Stop the Closing of Oakland Public Schools
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Community Forum hosted by Education Not Incarceration Coalition Saturday,
Jan. 31, 2004 - 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Laney College, Student Center, Irma P.
Walker Conference Room, 4th floor, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Students,
parents, teachers and concerned community members. On the heals of
revelations that California's prison system has overspent its budget by $1.4
billion over the last five years, school districts across the state are
being decimated by cuts to education. California spends more money per
capita than any other state on prisons. The Education Not Incarceration
Coalition is holding a COMMUNITY FORUM to explore how Gov. Schwarzenegger's
proposed budget is impacting Oakland's school closures and the incarceration
of our youth. See for more info.
Feb 1, Oak: Planning forBay Area Anniversary of Invasion!
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6pm 755 54th St, just East of MLK, Oakland (8 blocks from Ashby BART) Help
brainstorm, organize and mobilize the first major nonviolent direct action
of the year. See March 19 & 20 listing for more info regarding the Global
Days of Action on the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
Feb 2, Ber: Planning for Women of Juarez Delegation/Action!
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7pm at Au Coquelet in the back room, Milvia and University, Berkeley. Meet
to discuss an event at the Mexican Consulate in SF on February 14th to
highlight the situation in Ciudad Juarez and/or a possible Bay Area
delegation to Juarez. See Feb 14 listing below for info regarding the issues
and Code Pink's broader campaign. For more info on local action/delegation,
contact Jane wibberkeley@yahoo.com
Feb 2, SF: Planning for End-the-Occupation Action!
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7:00pm at Global Exchange 2017 Mission Street @ 16th. See Feb 24 listing
below for details re the International Day of Action to End the Occupation
of Iraq. For more info, contact Jeff sideshowjeff@hotmail.com
Feb 3, Bay Area: Planning for June 8 Mobilization!
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Two meetings on Feb 3 to start planning this awesome mobilization:
3-5 PM. The Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street & 411 28th Street, Oakland CA
94609, Btw Telegraph & Broadway. From FOOD FIRST: This year, the bay area
will be playing host to the biotech industry's annual largest jamboree. June
6, 2004 marks the beginning of the annual International Biotechnology
Convention organized by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).The
convention will bring Corporations, Bankers, Industrial "celebrities",
investors and delegations from around the world to network and present
exhibitions about the Benefitsof biotechnology at "invitation only" events
at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. This International
Convention will have more 1,200 participating companies and organizations.
It will be the World's largest Biotech exhibit and networking forum of the
year. For more information on the Bio Conference go to:
7pm. Black Cat Collective, 2852 Folsom (btw 24th & 25th Streets), SF. See
article above from the Green Bloc and other members of Direct Action
community for call-to-action, organizing working groups, and other details.
Feb 14, Bay Area: Non-Violent Direct Action Training!!!
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With all the upcoming actions in the streets, please consider taking a
non-violent direct-action training for your increased safety and
effectiveness! Starhawk will be teaching. Place and Times TBA. Contact
chalicenew@earthlink.net if you are interested!
Feb 14, Bay Area & Nat'l: Women of Juarez Actions
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This is a campaign to stop the murder and disappearances of maquilladora
workers in Ciudad Juarez, bordering El Paso, Texas. Over 400 women and
children have been slain or gone missing. Life is cheap when it comes to
"free trade" and corporate economic globalization--the New World Order
responsible for these bordertown sweatshops. A delegation to Ciudad Juarez
is in the works; check out Code Pink's Women of Juarez Campaign at
Feb 20, Nat'l: Day of Solidarity with Immigrants!
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Stop the abuse of basic civil and human rights of Muslim, Arab and Souith
Asian immigrants. For more information and to get involved, contact the Blue
Triangle Network. Call to action from the Blue Triangle Network: Please
e-mail or mail your endorsement of this call. Distribute, post & publish
everywhere! Funds are needed to organize for February 20. Please,
immediately send donations. All actions on February 20 should be publicized
and popularized. Write, e-mail or call the Blue Triangle Network with news
of activities in your area: P.O. Box 7451, Dearborn, MI 48121-7451; (313)
942-7187; E-mail: NationalOffice@BlueTriangle.org
Feb 24: Internat'l Day of Action to End the Occupation!!!
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Tues, February 24. United for Peace & Justice, among a host of other
national and local groups, invites you to participate in an International
Day of Protest to STOP the CORPORATE INVASION OF IRAQ! Check out
www.unitedforpeace.org for the
call-to-action and what's being planned in your area! In the SF Bay Area:
Meet at 12 NOON, Bechtel HQ, 50 Beale Street (btw Market & Mission), San
Francisco. Next Organizing Meeting: Monday, Feb. 2nd 7:00PM at Global
Exchange 2017 Mission Street @ 16th. Prop making party on: Saturday Feb.
21st 10 am - 4 pm at the Art and Revolution space at the Red Stone Building
(16th street and Capp), SF. More info: sideshowjeff@hotmail.com (415) 575-5552. Join us for a lively, legal, nonviolent action against war profiteering and in support of labor rights for Iraqis! ...Sponsored by AFSC, American Muslim Voice, Campaign to Stop the War Profiteers (Institute for Southern Studies),CitizenWorks, CodePink,CorpWatch, Democracy Rising, Direct Action to Stop the War, EPIC (Education for Peace in Iraq Center), Global Exchange, Global Women's Strike Bay Area, National Network to End the War Against Iraq, National Youth, Presente (DASW affinity group), Student Peace Coalition, Ronald Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane, United for Peace and Justice, US Labor Against War, and others.
March 4, Bay Area: Counter-Recruitment Campaign!
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KICK-OFF ACTION. The plan is under development: In coordination with the
National Student Day of action, have a rally and mass public destruction of
recruitment materials. The rally would combine a large public gathering with
a march to the military recruiting center. Civil disobedience to shut the
center is an option.Before the event, groups and individuals would conduct
an area wide scavenger hunt for recruitment materials, which would be
publicly destroyed/reused as part of the rally. A possible San Francisco
location is the route from S.F. State to Stonestown galleria, the site of a
major recruiting center. An Oakland March could meet downtown and march on
the nearby recruiting center. Coordination with other regional cities is
possible.
STOREFRONT GALLERY AND ACTION CENTER: from March 15th to April 15th. For
action against the war, we would operate a publicly accessible gallery to
document the realities of occupation and recruitment and offer people a way
to plug into the resistance. Very soon, we would put out a call for art,
public interventions, actions, and media documentation related to the
occupation in the experiences of soldiers. Some of these would appear in the
gallery, while others to be carried out in public or other locations
throughout the Bay Area. At the gallery, we would offer a daily opportunity
to look occupation in the face, and very regular opportunities for training
in direct action and counter recruitment (from high school presentations to
working on the G.I. hotline). Contact Carwil at fishe@igc.org to be part of
the organizing group for this awesome campaign!
Mar 19 & 20: Invasion of Iraq: Global Days of Action!!!
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Friday, March 19th, Demonstration & Mass Nonviolent Direct Action, 7am
Justin Herman Plaza (Embarcadero BART), SF. As part of the March 20th global
days of action against war, occupation, and empire, Direct Action to Stop
the War will organize nonviolent direct action as a central piece of the Bay
Area protests. We will celebrate the one-year of anniversary of the
successful shutdown of the SF Financial District by 20,000 outraged Bay Area
residents. Save the date, spread the word and help make it happen. First
Organizing Meeting: Sunday Feb. 1, 6pm 755 54th St, just East of MLK,
Oakland (8 blocks from Ashby BART) Help brainstorm, organize and mobilize
the first major nonviolent direct action of the year.
Saturday, March 20th, Mass Permitted March. United for Peace & Justice,
International ANSWER, and others are planning a mass march in San Francisco
on March 20th. Mark your Calendars! Details not available at time of
posting. Check the UFP and ANSWER web sites!
April 7, Oak: Return to the Oakland Docks!
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Wednesday April 7th: No Police Brutality, No Union Busting, No War for
Empire at the Oakland Docks and SSA. Take action on the one year anniversary
of the April 7 shutdown of SSA and APL, which also marked the most violent
attack on the anti-war movement in the US. SSA, the U.S. multinational
shipping company, through it's close ties with the Bush Administration,
became a beneficiary of the war and corporate globalization in Iraq when
they were awarded the contract to control the port at Umm Qasar, Iraq. SSA
is a much-hated corporation locally for their bad labor practices and union
busting operations at home directed at the ILWU during their last contract
negotiations. SSA is also the target of an international solidarity campaign
against their attempt to privatize the port of Chittagong, Bangladesh, which
would bust unions, destroy jobs and working conditions. After holding closed
meetings with these corporations days before, the Oakland Police opened fire
on April 7 for two hours, injuring three members of the media, nine
longshore workers and 50 community members with wooden bullets,
metal-shot-filled bags, motorcycles, clubs and concussion grenades. 31
people were arrested, 25 of who still face charges (January 2004). Since
then the City of Oakland has abandoned an independent investigation that was
demanded and there have been no consequences to Oalland police or Mayor
Jerry Brown. As plans firm up, check
April 15, TBA: Tax Day Action!!!
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This is in the works--so mark your calendars. Money for Education and
Healthcare, not Occupation and Warfare! Northern California War Tax
Resistance has been doing tax day actions focussing on redirecting tax
dollars from military spending for 25 years. Since this is the first Tax Day
since Julia Butterfly Hill announced her $150,000 redirection, they are
planning to involve her prominently in whatever they do this year. Global
Intifada and other Direct Action to Stop the War affinity groups, as well as
Sustain, UFPJ, and other anti-war and Justice in Palestine groups would like
to participate, as well! Please contact susana@riseup.net and/or
elamine1@yahoo.com to be part of the organizing!
Apr 22--26, DC: Protest the IMF & World Bank!!!
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Call to Action for April 2004 Mobilization in Washington, DC. 2004 is the
60th Anniversary of the World Bank & the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Help end global economic injustice driven by the policies and programs of
international financial institutions! Visit for
details and updates; call 202-IMF-BANK (463-2265) * email: info@50years.org.
June 6-9: MOBILIZATIONS: J8 in SF & G8 in Georgia!!!
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JUNE 8, SF: Even though the call-to-action is for the days immediately
surrounding the bio-tech convention, there will be actions, events, and
projects in the weeks leading up to those days of mass action! See the
article above for how to plug in to the organizing! Web site is coming soon!
G8, Georgia (Savannah, Brunswick, Sea Island). Check out
for the exciting events in the works to
protest the Group of Eight meeting and how to plug in!
Aug 29--Sep 2, NYC: Republican National Convention!
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An opportunity to bring an anti-empire/pro-democracy perspective to the
protests and a systemic critique to opposing the Bush administration. Lots
of groups organizing! Join the New England Green Bloc Cluster (see above
article) and/or check out the following sites:
Nov 3: Day After Election Actions!
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Bay Area and nationwide day-after "Beyond Voting" actions to oppose war for
empire regardless of who is elected. This will be a space for popular
outrage if Bush is elected and/or if there is overt election fraud again. It
will be a space for celebration if Bush is defeated, but regardless of who
wins, we will go beyond voting to build a pro-democracy movement of
movements inside the empire. Check out for
details as the time approaches!
Sep 8--24: Earth Activist Training!!!
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For a life-changing combination of permaculture, activism, and magic
(earth-based spirituality), register for this intensive! Scholarships
available!
_________________________________
Planet & People Before Profit!!!
Human Need, Not Corporate Greed!!!
Looking forward to working with you for justice & ecology in 2004!
Mary
Mary Bull
Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap Campaign
252 Frederick, San Francisco, CA 94117
415-731-7924 chalicenew@earthlink.net
For People & Planet, Stop the FTAA!
For Global Ecology & Global Justice, End Corporate Rule!
For the SAD TRUTH about the Forest Stewardship Council,
Check out
For questions and comments please e-mail us!
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