Friends,
Today: May Day events nationwide
As Veterans for Peace wrote in their blog, "Why Should Veterans Support Occupy May Day?":
"We are all united: the system that declares unionized workers bad for business is the same system that decides human beings are a commodity. ... May 1 marks the coming of Spring: a time of rebirth and new possibilities. For over a century, May Day has been known as International Workers Day, a day where the 99% -- workers throughout the world, and that includes veterans -- have united to fight their common exploitation by the 1%."
The 1% is aware of the connections between the movement against banks and the movement against militarism. A director of none other than Pinkerton is advising banks during the NATO actions:
"Banks are preparing for Occupy demonstrations at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Chicago summit on May 20 and 21 by sharing information from video surveillance, robots and officers in buildings, giving 'a real-time, 360-degree' view, said [Pinkerton's Brian] McNary, who works on the project."
Find a May Day action near you, and join the movements against militarism and exploitation!
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As we celebrate International Workers' Day this May First, the Fellowship of Reconciliation is joining with other organizations to envision and work for a NATO-free future.
Join us in Chicago to build a future without militarism
More than 50 heads of state will be participating in a NATO summit in Chicago May 20 and 21. Their agenda:
- Keeping the U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan until at least 2024.
- Spending billions more to finance the government in Afghanistan, in particular its military and police forces.
- Reaffirming NATO as a global military alliance, and preparing for "New Strategic Concept" wars like the disastrous Libyan war.
- Increasing military spending by member countries.
In response to this meeting, FOR is joining with many other organizations for a Counter-Summit for Peace & Economic Justice on May 18 and 19 in Chicago. FOR's executive director, Mark Johnson, Program Team director, Shauen Pearce, and Middle East program director, Leila Zand, will participate together with many members of FOR's Chicago chapter.
In plenary sessions and 28 workshops, we will share analysis, conduct trainings and feature campaigns to bring the troops home, to move the money from the Pentagon to meet real human needs, and to create a more peaceful, just and secure world.
With leading and grassroots activists from across the U.S. and around the world, the counter-summit will provide rare and critically important opportunities to learn from one another, to network and to build more integrated peace, economic and social justice movements.
A partial list of speakers includes Phyllis Bennis, Medea Benjamin, Tom Hayden, Kathy Kelly, Vijay Prashad, Peter Lems, Sarita Gupta, Tobias Pflüger, Suraia Saha and more.
Please join us in Chicago on May 18 and 19!
Can't make it to Chicago? Attend the G-99 at Camp David, Maryland
 As you may remember, the NATO and G-8 summits were originally proposed to each happen in Chicago this month, but with opposition mounting, the G-8 retreated to rural Camp David, Maryland.
Undeterred, activists will gather for a "G-99" counter-summit in Frederick, Maryland on May 18 and 19.
Hosted by Occupy Frederick, the people's summit will include workshops on May 18 wealth inequality and ending poverty, confronting exploitative trade agreements, "drop the debt" initiatives of Jubilee USA, food and water security, and building a democratized economy. On May 19, a rally and march is planned to highlight the contrast between the G-8 and the 99%.
View the people's summit agenda or join the event on Facebook.
Help fight military recruitment wherever you are
Can't make it to Chicago or Maryland?
Tomorrow, FOR is offering a free online workshop on fighting military recruitment of children in our schools.
The workshop will feature Pat Elder and Sam Diener. Pat has researched the use of required military testing and opt-out techniques, successfully passing state laws to limit the military's access to private information. Sam Diener has used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain key information on military recruitment practices. In this webinar, Pat and Sam will help us learn the skills to push back on the military's targeting of young people in our communities.
Register for the free webinar on Wednesday at 2:00 PM Eastern/11:00 AM Pacific. The webinar is filling up quickly, so register now.
Happy May Day from the Fellowship of Reconciliation! |
