• Resistance Mounts to Bush Reaction
November 2 Actions
• Drive Out the Bush Regime!
Converge on Fort Benning: Nov. 18-20
• No SOA “Solutions” to Social and Political Problems!
• 3 Days of Remembrance & Resistance to Close the SOA!
• Speaking Tours to Get Ready for November!
Resistance Mounts to Bush Reaction
Across the country, Americans continue to show their determined and militant resistance to the Bush regime and its brutal and violent reaction all down the line. Following a summer with thousands of actions against war and occupation and for the rights of all in towns and cities in every state, the fall has also seen thousands of demonstrations, vigils, student walk-outs and more. Standing by their own experience and refusing to be intimidated by police and government officials, everywhere people are organizing themselves and building up their own independent forces, including independent media.
Numerous websites are being developed to represent the resistance of the people. Many are now providing the means for reports, photos and comments from all those engaged in struggle for their rights. Various sites are also popularizing the actions of others, reflecting the growing drive for a united force in action together.
The latest round of actions are also bringing to the fore the participation of the youth, especially from the high schools. The “Drive Out the Bush Regime” campaign saw students in high school after high school walk out of school and reject efforts to stop their participation in political activity. What has clearly emerged is that it is the necessity for the people to rely on themselves and step up their efforts to empower themselves, through building up their own organizations, their own media, their united actions to block all reaction.
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Drive Out the Bush Regime!
Top: New York City; Middle: Chicago; Bottom: Cleveland
On November 2, anniversary of the 2004 election fraud, the “World Can’t Wait, Drive Out the Bush Regime” campaign held actions all across the country. New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles saw major actions while many other cities also held spirited rallies and marches. These included Honolulu, Hawai’i, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, Boulder, Colorado, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Springfield, Missouri, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Boone and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Austin, Houston and San Antonio, Texas, and Hampton Virginia.
The actions were characterized by the participation of large numbers of high school students, who walked out of class despite numerous efforts to stop them, including school lock downs. Banner drops at rush hour, street theater and drumming also expressed the energy and militant spirit of the protests. Below are reports from some of the actions, compiled based on reports submitted by participants (see www.worldcantwait.org for more reports and information.)
Chicago, Illinois
An activist reports, “Colombia College 11am: The front lobby of the school had been turned into a sign-making operation – neon green attached to sticks. People gathered, as a bullhorn started listing the crimes and atrocities of this regime. Suddenly a cheer went up as people arrived in a bunch – walking out of several classrooms to join in. Off we went, about 200, loud, for the main Chicago convergence – the buildings echoed with “The World Can’t Wait—Drive out the Bush Regime” and “Join Us!”
“Students defined the character of the rally – young, spirited, intense. There were lots of people who had never been to a rally before. Prologue/Winnie Mandela, an alternative high school on the south side, was in the house. Student leaders from Clemente made it just in time, after being locked down for hours. And Oak Park River Forest High School received a shout out when their arrival was announced. Columbia College, Harper College and the University of Illinois at Chicago were all there in force. One political science major from University of Illinois Chicago said he saw the march go across campus and just couldn’t go to class – he had to come along.
“Federal Plaza was filled with at least 2,000 people and real energy – despite the attempt by a double row of cops in riot gear to threaten. One man who had been in the marines for four years said he could not sit by any longer, as did a woman whose son is in the Navy and a family with home-schooled kids who said ‘what happens to our sons if the government brings back a draft?’
“The march wound in a great loop through downtown Chicago taking the entire breadth of the streets on a weekday.”
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, which borders on Chicago, saw a second demonstration after the main downtown Chicago action. As a participant reports, “It was going on 5pm and we were still high off that amazing noon rally in Federal Plaza in Chicago,” which included large numbers of Oak Park High School students. Back in Oak Park demonstrators decided to keep going and organized to do so. The report continues: “A student leapt atop the 15 foot obelisk at the entrance of Scoville Park and planted the huge globe flag and World Cant Wait sign there for all to see. Other students gathered on foot and bike below, some of them telling us of being met at the door of the high school that morning by security guards who ordered them back to class. ‘You should have been more determined and gone to another door!’ we retorted. ‘We did and there were more guards there!’ they insisted.
“Students, passersby and homeless who half-live in the Park joined with organizers to post “Drive Out the Bush Regime” lawn signs along the perimeter of the park. Like the trail of crumbs Hanzel and Gretel left to show the way, the signs with the torture victim emblazoned on them led people right into the stage area. A sublime Miles Davis trumpet wafted out onto the streets of this very anti-Bush suburb, inviting more people in. And in they came!
“Some had taken part in the tremendous step forward that day at Federal Plaza or had their sights lifted upon hearing the news minutes before about the mass actions nationwide. We grew to 125 people at different times, as the speakers from the area stepped up on stage and began to speak under the lights and canopy reading, “No Lies, No War, No Bush!”
Cleveland, Ohio
“Cleveland rocked it out today! We began the day with banner drops over major freeways and roadways. 80 students, in two waves, walked out of Shaker High. About 15 broke out, then went back and called everybody else to join us and they did. Black and white, joining the main rally, and calling out to people downtown to join, and build it. 10 students came from Valley Forge in Parma. They got out before 10am —- then the cops circled the school and kept others trapped — or arrested them — we’re still finding out. 20 to 30 walked out of Cleveland State. Other schools represented were Ashtabula, Cleveland Heights High, Normandy High, Parma High, West Geauga High, Sheffield, Rhodes (Cleveland), Brush. The youth were fantastic — strong, determined, proud. Lots of them got on the open mic expressing all their reasons, dreams for a better world and determination to Drive Out the Bush Regime.”
“We got positive feedback from passersby, many who joined us, including a woman commuting who went off about the Bush regime and the need to drive them out. Students really took charge and were unleashed when we took the streets. We had an un-permitted march and at a main intersection we all lied down in the street. People walking by commented ‘good work.’ One woman told me how wonderful it was to see people of all nationalities together forging ahead into the future together.”
Springfield, Missouri
A protester writes, “Protests began at noon on the square and carried on past 5pm. The action was complete with radical cheerleaders, a mock hooded torture victim in the center of the square and various chants. Very colorful, very loud, and impossible to ignore. Turn out was high even though Springfield public schools imposed a Lock Down on all schools to pre-empt planned walkouts. Some students were able to make it at noon, but most were locked in their classrooms. After the schools released the students from their possibly illegal forced lock down, more students made it to the square. When the police began to intervene they were greeted with a “F*** the police state” chant. All this in John Ashcroft’s hometown.
Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Orlando: “Beginning at 8am protesters lined up ten banners reading ‘Drive Out the Bush Regime.’ This was a dramatic action, as all ten banners were successfully unfurled at rush hour. At noon a rally was held at Orlando’s City Hall. People stopped what they were doing to watch and a significant amount joined the rally on the spot. The twenty-five folks who started out soon became forty. And then a constant stream of newcomers maintained a presence at City Hall until 4pm.
Ft. Lauderdale: A Participant reports that “Wilma may have slowed us down but she didn’t stop us! 70 people marched through downtown Fort Lauderdale and demanded that Bush be driven out of office. Car horns were blaring and the people were on our side!”
Greensboro, North Carolina
“Greensboro was incredible today! We rallied at UNCG with about 30 students and drummers from Cakalak Thunder radical drum corps, and marched through campus, picking up people along the way. We marched through the History and English department building with the drums a-blazing and people left class on the spot to join us. It was incredible and loud and people loved it. Big smiles from professors and students. We marched through a neighborhood and got several youth to come out of their houses to join us.
“We kept on marching around downtown, with our drums and chants and banners, to all kinds of honks and thumbs ups, and I think we picked up a few people that way too. At the height of the rally, there were more than a hundred of us. People came from Charlotte, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh to join us. There were students from UNCG, Guilford College, Grimsley High School, Western Guilford High School, Page High School, Ragsdale High School, and Greensboro Middle College. A couple of people from Claremont Homes public housing came out, plus neighborhood activists, “sixties kids,” and radical youth too…And the energy ain’t about to die down!”
Los Angeles, California
“Determined to Drive out the Bush Regime, thousands of high school students walked out of schools all over L. A. county today and made their way to World Can’t Wait convergence points all along Wilshire Blvd. Many of them risked suspensions, expulsions, and even arrest, while some had to break out of locked down campuses and past school administrators, locked school gates, and police threats.
“At a rally at the Westwood Federal Building, thousands of people crowded the lawn in front of the stage. The rally was followed by a spirited march of 2000-2500 people through Westwood Village, where they were warmly greeted by onlookers.”
The report continues with the a list of high school walk-outs and the difficulties faced by students as administrators imposed lock downs. Below is a partial list:
• L. A. High: almost entire school walked out; someone driving down the street saw a crowd of 500 Black and Latino students in front of the school with signs, chanting against Bush, fists in air.
• Belmont HS: a student was passing out leaflets yesterday before school; jumped by cops, pepper-sprayed and arrested; today, at least 75 students and some teachers walked out
• Downtown Business Magnet HS: over 100 students walked out
• Marshall HS: over 100 students walked out
• Montebello HS: all week long, students have been wearing WCW armbands. Today, 40 students didn’t go to school but gathered close by the school and had a march down Whittier Blvd. in ELA, carrying signs and chanting “Ya Basta” “Bush Lies, 1000s Die” “Queremos Paz, Quermos Justicia.” Then they got on buses to go to Alvarado; when they told the bus driver what they were doing, she let them all ride for free.
Honolulu, Hawai’i
“By 6am this morning large World Can’t Wait banners were hanging over four freeway overpasses; by 8am an Action Center covered with banners was set up in a city park — to the delight of passersby. Within 15 minutes of setting up an elderly veteran of three wars drove his wheelchair to the tents and quietly passed a $50 bill to an organizer saying: “I fought three wars; this one is completely illegal. Here’s a donation to help build the movement.”
“By 9:30am about 50 students had gathered on the central University of Hawai`i mall. A noisy march through campus called more people out, and the numbers swelled to about 100 for a rally, die-in, and poetry. About 50 then jumped an open-air tourist-style trolley standing off-campus and headed for the Center bristling with signs and rocking to drums. By noon they were downtown calling on downtown business people to join them. About 15 people did, one well-dressed business woman carrying a handmade sign quickly made from a banker’s box top.
“By 1:30 the group had moved to the Army and Marine recruiting center. The Army recruitment center was redecorated with big posters. Radical Cheerleaders led a spirited performance, followed by a die-in. Three women then stepped to the doors of the recruiting station with a large chain and padlock, and firmly locked the center down. A sign reading ‘Closed by the People’ was put up and a press conference was held.
The crowd that came out was mostly young with students from at least five high schools represented.
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Converge on Fort Benning: Nov. 18-20
No SOA “Solutions” to Social and Political Problems!
On November 18-20, 2005 thousands will gather at Fort Benning, Georgia — one of the largest military bases in the world and home of the notorious School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC) — to confront injustice, to speak out for truth and to change oppressive US foreign policy.
This is a very important year to come to the vigil and this year is different than other years. Due to the fact that we will have a vote this spring or summer to close the school, we need to have a stronger presence at the gates of Fort Benning than ever before to send a powerful message to Congress to close the school. This is the year we need you to be with us.
We are in a period of great change. We are going to close this school that continues to create death and suffering. Justice is within our reach when we stand up in numbers too big to be ignored — turning the tide by putting our bodies on the line.
(Reprinted from School of the Americas Watch, www.soaw.org)
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3 Days of Remembrance & Resistance to Close the SOA!
On November 18-20, 2005 we will gather at Fort Benning, Georgia --one of the largest military bases in the world and home of the notorious School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC) -- to confront injustice, to speak out for truth and to change oppressive US foreign policy.
The SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. Just after the Zapatista uprising began on January 1, 1994, the number of Mexican soldiers at the School of the Americas (SOA) escalated sharply.
Graduates of the SOA have played a key role in the civilian targeted warfare. At least 18 top military officials involved in the conflict are SOA graduates.
Throughout Latin America, SOA graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against the poor and to maintain a racist system of greed and violence. Among those targeted are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor.
Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced to become refugees by those trained at the School of Assassins.
We are in a period of great change. Social justice movements throughout the Americas are mobilizing tirelessly. Civil society is increasingly more vocal and we are going to close this school that continues to create death and suffering. Justice is within our reach when we stand up in numbers too big to be ignored -- sending a powerful message by putting our bodies on the line.
Visit www.enoughisenough.de.vu for more information on the Enough is Enough Project and the Zapatistas
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Close the School of the Assassins
Speaking Tours to Get Ready for November!
Speaking tours are traveling across the country toward the Vigil to Close the School of the Americas (SOA) November 18, at Ft. Benning Georgia. Catch an event and spread the word about the SOA in your community!
Father Roy Bourgeois
Hear Roy Bourgeois, founder of SOA Watch, speaks powerfully and from personal experience about why the SOA/ WHINSEC must be closed. Roy will be in Georgia, Iowa, California, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. (see www.soaw.org)
Bus Tour: Journey for Justice
Carlos Mauricio, who along with two other torture survivors successfully sued two Salvadoran generals for torture and human rights abuses, is organizing a bus and speaking tour. This 2nd annual tour will start in San Francisco in early November and travel through the Southwest, arriving in Georgia on November 18 to participate in the vigil at Ft. Benning. If you are interested in hosting the tour or would like more information about the event, contact Carlos at stopimpunity@cs.com or 415-314-0389.
East Coast Puppetista Tour: When the Levee Breaks
Once again Cardboard Chaos hits the road in its annual tour to help shut down the SOA. This November, Cardboard Chaos presents a brand new circus, When the Levee Breaks. The show features Uncle Sam’s Little Global Circus and their provocative mix of circus, puppetry, political satire and original music. When the Levee Breaks looks at the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Katrina in the context of race, class, the war in Iraq and the lies of the Bush administration. The traveling road show plans a short East Coast tour on November 10-15. For more information or for booking — or if you have a small van or bus that these hardworking but underpaid Puppetistas might use for their journey — please contact Jake Weinstein at 203-562-1471.
Economic Justice & Grassroots -Democracy Tour November 2-20
Putting food on our tables sustainably today and tomorrow, without exploitation or repression. Globalize abundance!
Agricultural Missions, together with the Presbyterian Church USA Hunger Program and the Beehive Collective, is organizing two teams of speakers who will be touring from November 2-20, 2005, converging at the SOA Watch Vigil. Selfa Sandoval, a banana worker union organizer from Honduras and Alfonso Morales Jimenez, an agrarian organizer against free trade and commodity dumping in Guatemala, will be joined by US-based farmer and farmworker representatives. Connections will be explored between corporate-led policies that dominate domestic agricultural and the link between SOA-style violent repression of peoples’ movements. To host an event or receive info about tour stops, please contact Stephen Bartlett by calling 502-894-9308 or email sbartlett@ag-missions.org.
Beehive Design Collective’s Fall 2005 Cross-Pollination Tour
The Beehive Collective is a wildly motivated all-volunteer, art-activist workshop that has gained international attention and participation for its collaboratively produced graphics campaigns.
With a huge portable mural of an elaborately illustrated poster, a six-foot tall fabric storybook, and an engaging narrative, the Bees will take you on an interactive visual tour of the connections between colonization, militarization, and resource extraction in the Americas. The Bees will expose the agendas of the Free Trade Area of the Americas and Plan Colombia, and celebrate resistance in Mesoamerica to Plan Puebla Panama. Help bring the Bees to your town! Contact them at graphics@beehivecollective.org.
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