Dear Friends,
The tipping point for each of us is different. Was it the bombing of Libya, or the growing Pentagon budget while Medicare is on the table for cuts? Was it hearing of the woman who had to choose between cancer treatments and tuition for her kid, or news of the ballooning multi-million dollar bonuses for corporate CEOs? Was it the growing encampment of Occupy Wall Street and mass civil disobedience against the tar sands Keystone XL pipeline, or the Bay Area support gatherings sprouting near us?
Whatever moves you to act, we know it's now time to get out and do it together, and I write to highlight Bay Area actions that FOR urges you to support. Here's what we ask you to do:
- Right now, sign the New Priorities Campaign petition that urges redirecting military spending to domestic needs, ending the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, increased taxation of the rich and corporations, and investment in communities and jobs. The petition is a key tool in a campaign to mobilize local governments to press for these changes.
- Tomorrow, Thursday at 3pm, at the Federal Building at 7th and Market in San Francisco, join many others to protest and remember the tenth annivesary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. This is part of actions across the country, including the open-ended occupation of Liberty Square in Washington, DC to end this war that costs $2 billion every day for destruction with no clear mission and no exit.
- After the protest, from 5 to 8 pm at the University of San Francisco (map), come for a brief interfaith vigil and a reception for Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan, an art exhibit that shows through October 29. This powerful exhibit is being shared with the Northern California Islamic Cultural Center in downtown Oakland (map).
- Saturday, October 15, 1 pm, join community, labor, environmental groups, and students for a rally and march for Jobs Not Cuts, a broad-based mobilization organized by MoveOn.org, four Bay Area labor councils, FOR and others. The gathering begins at Laney College (near Lake Merritt BART), proceeds to the federal building where we will symbolically nail a list of urgently needed actions to the door, then gather at 3:30 at Frank Ogawa Plaza (12th St. Oakland BART).
There are a lot of activities in the Bay Area. This moment, however, calls us to connect with others and create something different, to forge alternatives to empire, war and inequality. I hope you will join me and other friends in this effort.
Peace out,
John Lindsay-Poland
FOR Research and Advocacy Director
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