-
Call to Action: March 19th and 21st
Posted on February 2nd, 2009 7 commentsSix years of war and occupation of Iraq have come and gone. Lives left tattered amongst the ruins. The US armed forces and their co-conspirators in the military-industrial complex, along with their friends on Wall Street and K Street, continue to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan with impunity. Meanwhile, Obama mania has rendered much of the left fixated on electoral politics.
Clearly, we are at a crossroads in the US anti-war movement: we can put our faith in the newly selected President and hope for change, or take direct action to stop the war machine and send the message that we will not tolerate mass murder and occupation.
The Self Described Anarchist Collective (SDAC), a newly formed collective of anarchists and anti-authoritarians from across the eastern seaboard, is calling for two days of action against the war on March 19th and March 21st. On March 19th, the DC SDS will hold a Funk the War protest in the streets of Washington, DC. On March 21st the ANSWER Coalition, the authoritarian front group for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, is holding its semi-annual national march to end the war in Iraq. But ANSWERS’s dog and pony show will do little, save a 30 second sound bite on the evening news, to send a message to the men and women who continue to bring us death and deception in the name of US imperialism.
War and occupation and capitalism and imperialism are inextricably linked in the global race for the accumulation of wealth and power. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and their sister institutions have played a vital role in ensuring the preservation of that relationship. Shortly after the war in Iraq began, the IMF inserted itself into the war-torn land by imposing a series of Stand By Agreements to restructure the Iraqi economy. In predictable IMF neoliberal style, these agreements removed public subsidies on fuel and oil, causing the price of food and basic necessities to skyrocket. They also cut pensions for retirees, capped public sector worker wages while simultaneously firing hundreds of thousands of government employees, and privatized most state-owned enterprises. It wasn’t enough for the US to physically destroy and occupy Iraq; they had to bring in the banks and financiers to ensure that even after the physical violence has ended, economic violence and occupation will reign supreme.
Please join us in anti-capitalist blocs on March 19th and March 21st in
Washington, DC. Together we will throw a wrench in the cogs of the war machine.The SDAC hopes to strengthen the link between the anti-war and global justice movements. We strive to be not only a presence but a place for dialog between the two overlapping movements, as well as to foster a more militant force against the institutions of capitalism and for the creation of a more just world.
March 19th – please meet at 3:00 PM at McPherson Square. Look for the black flags.
March 21st – please meet at 10:00 AM at Farragut Square. Look for the black flags.
Spokes councils to be announced.
The SDAC is a regional organization with members from across the eastern sea board. SDAC embraces a diversity of tactics and have signed on to the Peoples Global Action hallmarks.
To contact the SDAC or endorse this call please e-mail Selfdescribedanarchist@riseup.net
http://www.selfdescribed.org
-
Endorsed by:
-Harrisburg Area Anarchists Collective
-The Dirty Hands Collective (Durango, CO)
-Animas SDS (Durango, CO)
-Unconventional Action – Frederick
-Kansas Mutual Aid Collective
-Boston Anti-Authoritarian Movement7 responses to “Call to Action: March 19th and 21st”
-
Re: fliers & posters
Perhaps this is weird, and I’m sorry if it comes off harsh but your promotional material is not going to work well as it is currently. It would be cool to have all the fliers as 8.5×11 (and/or 11×17) PDF’s available for download, because gifs can do weird things. Also there is a lot happening on them and it behoove the designer to rethink the layout of the text and graphics, “splashy,” graff stuff is cool and all but don’t sacrifice readability and meaning for subcultural capital. Also, a lot of the greys will become totally black duing the print and reprinting process.If you have the typeface helvetica, the easiest thing to do is use the grid on illustrator or indesign or photoshop (or whatever you’re working with–a lot Universities have open-access labs) and make the heading enormous. Something in 89 or 155 saying “DAWN (shift + enter) OF A (Shift + enter) NEW ERA” all justified left. and then your following text, possibly 34, 21, or 18 as the tag line of “anti-capitalist bloc” or whatever and then the dates either in a new block of text that repeats the same shapes and grid lines (think of squares inside of squares) or immediately flowing the first heading and tag line in a different way that stands out but does not immediately disrupt you from seeing the heading first” going from Black or Bold to Medium or Roman and then Light tends to work well.
Overall, the posters look pretty good but would really benefit from being refined.
Check out the site: http://www.papress.com/other/thinkingwithtype/index.htmm
it’s the online version of the book thinking with type by Ellen Lumpton. It’s incredibly helpful.
kisses,
-Liam -
Will there be housing boards for out-of-town activists? I’d love to come out and bolster the ranks (still itching after last summer’s action) but I don’t have a place to stay out there for four+ days.
-
I think you should make clear that this is NOT a call for a black bloc.
Also, I assume this April you will be working against the IMF/World Bank.
-
I do like the idea of having action separate from ANSWER but do not understand 2 main points of this group: 1-why have the action on the same weekend, I understand that it is going to be a relatively large march, probably smaller than in past years, but why not organize an entirely separate weekend of action. 2nd- the construction of the group as “closed” is a bit disturbing. It seems like this will turn in to, the pardon the negative tone, a typical anarchist demonstration of direct action that leads to a few broken windows and some arrests, at least at the past DC anti-war protests that I have been at. I hope the word can spread and I will do my part but a more inclusive organizational model may be needed. Good luck and I hope to see many represented in DC next month!
-
And looking beyond the March 19 and March 21 actions, anyone who is in D.C. to protest the WB/IMF’s spring meetings in April should take time out to attend “Earth 911: A Wake-up Call for Obama Nation” at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 25. Derrick Jensen and Mickey Z. will be speaking at the event, which will take place in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Va., one Metro stop across the Potomac River from D.C. Here’s a link to info on the event: http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/earth911
-
Tucker Waterson March 12th, 2009 at 06:46
My brother and I are coming from Pennsylvania for the 21st. We’re brining 3 or 4 friends and may need a place for for them to stay. My brother and I have a friend with a small apartment in Arlington but he may not have room for everyone. I know St Stephs is an option but is there anything else available?
Thanks and as far as JP”s and Nic’s comments above; I think it is a good idea to keep these actions seperate but on the same date as ANSWER’s activities. ANSWER for better or worse will draw media and public attention. I also do nto believe this should be a black block action but I do believe in direct action.
We voted for the President on the basis of a number of promises. So far, it does not look like he is making good on those promises. If he intends on leaving 50,000 troops in Irag indefinatley then this in not “change”. Thousands more to Afghanistan? What is that?
-
housing boards? interested in coming but i need a place to stay!!
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment. -
