The Joy of Resistance
Current News that Gives Reason to be Optimistic
Winter 2000/1
On August 26 between 10,000 and 15,000 people converged in Washington, D.C. to demand an end to police brutality and harassment in a march organized by the National Action Center.
The Missouri Prisoners Labor Union has initiated a boycott of all products produced by Colgate Palmolive. "This is a matter of Colgate Palmolive reaping immense profits for our incarceration." read a letter from MPLU, who demand a minimum wage for prisoners and the abolishment of forced labor.
- 8/28/00
In September and October, activists in the peace organization Pax Christie rode around in a bus called the Moneymobile to urge a reduction in military spending. Their document describes a widespread lack of health insurance and adequate child care for poor families as "a tragic consequence of a nation which chooses to spend only 6 cents on education and 4 cents on health care for every 50 cents it spends on the military."
- New York Times, 10/3/00
During October and November there has been a steady stream of protests by Jews in Israel against apartheid, the settlements, and other attacks on Palestinians The Jewish Alternative Information Center sends volunteers out in "human rights patrol cars" to prevent attacks on Palestinians by Jewish mobs. A number of initiatives by Jews in France, Israel, the UK and Canada oppose the actions of the Israeli government.
- 11/12/00
During Clinton's late-August visit to Colombia, countrywide protests erupted against the huge increase in US military aid to the government. "Clinton isn't here to support social investment but a military plan," said FARC leader Andres Paris. "We don't want to make threats, but the Colombian people have the right to take to the streets and protest against his visit."
- Manchester Guardian (UK), 8/31/00
Investigative reporters Steve Wilson and Jane Akre sued a Tampa, Florida Fox-owned TV station and its corporate owners for firing them when they threatened to report the station to the FCC for pressuring them to slant a news report about bovine growth hormone in favor of its producer, Monsanto, who is a major Fox advertiser. A jury awarded Akre $400,00 in damages.
- Tampa Tribune, 8/18/00
Thousands of demonstrators in Melbourne, Australia protested for three days in mid-September against the World Economic Forum, a meeting of global business leaders. Protesters prevented hundreds of delegates from entering portions of the forum.
- Reuters, 9/13/00
Nearly 2,000 people rallied in Washington, D.C. on September 23 to demand that the U.S. Navy get out of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.
Thousands of people from throughout Europe and the world protested the joint
IMF/World Band meetings in Prague, Czechlosovakia in late September. "It's hard not to be ashamed or angry at what's going on," said Ingrid Steinitz, 60, of Denmark. "People are not able to make a living or see their children grow up in the Third World because of [the World Bank/IMF's] structural adjustment programs." Many demonstrations were held elsewhere in solidarity with the Prague protests. Groups demonstrated in Portland OR, Louisville KY, Washington D.C. Hartford CT, Boston, San Francisco, Berkeley, Denver, Indianapolis and
Montreal. British anti-capitalists issued a spoof of daily Financial Times, calling it "Financial Crimes," with headlines such as "World Bank Terrorism - More Evidence," and "Economist Thugs Converge In Prague." In West Palm Beach, 50 toured the city's "monuments of greed." "I think there's enough money over there to finance another planet," said Leon Harris of the Florida Black Historical Research Project. "But that money is not shared."
- Corporate Watch; The Oregonian; Ohio Valley Independent Media Center;
Palm Beach Post, 9/27/00; Reuters, 9/28/00
147 protesters led by the American Indian Movement were arrested when they blocked the route of a Columbus Day parade in Denver, calling the slave trader who committed genocide a "walking plague" and an "icon of hate."
- Reuters, 10/7/00
Dozens rallied and marched in Detroit in mid-October to demand freedom for journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal (political prisoner on death row) and for a stop to police terrorism.
- Pan-African News Wire, 10/15/00
15,000 people protested in front of the United Nations building in New York on October 13 to decry Israeli violence against Palestinians.
- New York Times, 10/14/00
On October 15 in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Austin, demonstrators demanded amnesty for undocumented immigrants. "I'm tired of being illegal in a country where I make an honest living," said Jose Ramos from Mexico. "No one gives me handouts, but I have to live in fear of immigration workers."
- Associated Press, 10/18/00
The World March of Women, begun in March in Geneva, culminated in a Washington, D.C. rally in front of World Bank and IMF buildings Oct. 15 where several thousand marchers called for the elimination of poverty and violence against women. "I want to stop the violence and poverty around the world and that's why I came here," said umarsou Hadiza, a teacher from Niger. "This march is against the champions of patriarchy that deny the human, democratic and social welfare of women," said Ramesh Sepehrrad, spokesperson for the National Committee of Women for a Democratic Iran.
- Associated Press, 10/16/00
20,000 people in Dortmund, Germany protested Oct. 21 against hatred of foreigners and the extreme right, sending a signal of opposition to a planned neo-Nazi demonstration in that city.
- Associated Press, 10/21/00
1,000 people demonstrated in Los Angeles and 1,500 in New York on Oct. 22 as part of a national day of protest to stop police brutality, repression, and the criminalization of a generation, in spite of police attacks that illustrated
the problem they were protesting against. Over 12,000 people in over 70 areas across the country participated in Day of Protest activities In early November demonstrators took over the top of the Statue of Liberty and hung banners opposing US military operations in Puerto Rico's island of Vieques from the crown.
- New York Newsday
Attorney Alexander Pires of the Reparations Assessment Group won a $1 billion judgement against the US Department of Agriculture for the mistreatment of African-American farmers. 40 acres and a mule were promised to former slaves, but were never provided.
- DiversityInc.com, 11/7/00
1,000-1,500 people protested on Nov. 18 against the Transatlantic Business Dialogue, an annual conference of US and European business leaders who seek to eliminate international trade and investment barriers. "People Before
Profits" and "Corporate Crime Kills" read some of the demonstrators' signs. Participating groups included Food Not Bombs, Coalition for a Humane Economy, Black Bloc and Farm Labor Organizing Committee.
- Cincinnati Post, 11/18/00; Cincinnati Enquirer, 11/19/00; Ohio Valley Independent Media Center
Thousands of people protested the UN climate conference in the Netherlands in mid/late November. "Stop Climate Change!" "Stop the Oil Giants!" "Not Everybody Can Swim!" read their banners. 200 American students from Greenpeace fasted in protest of the US role. "A lot of leaders of a lot of countries are trying to duck their responsibilities and find ways to make it appear as if they are taking real action," remarked Frank Pennycook of the UK, as he worked on a mock dike while wearing a fish costume.
- Dow Jones Newswires, 11/18/00
6,500 people protested outside the Army's School of the Americas in Fort Benning, GA on Nov. 17, of whom 1,700 were arrested. More than 57,000 soldiers have been trained there in such courses as military intelligence, sniper
training, and psychological and commando operations, including notorious dictators Manuel Noriega (Panama), Gen. Hugo Banzer Suarez (Bolivia), Gen Lucas Garcia (Guatemala), and Roberto D'Aubuisson (El Salvador) Numerous atrocities have been linked to SOA graduates. A training manual used there advocated blackmail, torture and the arrest of anti-US politicians. Though the school changed its name earlier this year, it is still in operation --
- US Newswire, 11/6/00; Associated Press; Contra Costa Times, 11/19/00
Much of this information was gathered via the Florida Left News
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moderator@revolution.gq.nu.
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