In preparing for our national meeting next weekend, these are things I’m thinking:
We need to really understand what a big first step November 2 was.
Thousands of people came out around the clear demand to DRIVE OUT THE
BUSH REGIME. The youth, especially the high school youth, took the
streets in a way not seen for a long time in this country, usually in
the face of threats and actual repression. Prominent voices in society
stepped out for this demand, putting out PSA’s, doing interviews and
tapes, and supporting the movement in many other ways. New alliances
were formed, people from all parts of society came out, and everyone
talked about the spirit and diversity of these demonstrations. In short
something new was born that day. We touched not only the thousands who
participated, but the thousands who sympathetically watched; and we got
our message out to millions more through the coverage of the day.
This was a real beginning. But it was just that – a beginning. A lot
of people have told me that they were inspired by the day, but also
wondering why it wasn’t bigger. We have to keep both those points in
mind when we plan our next step – going up against Bush’s State of the
Union address in January.
We have to keep our spirit. That means a lot of things, but I think the
biggest thing it means is keeping the spirit of our Call front and
center. Jim Oberg has written a lot about the importance of this, and
I’m hoping that people will have had a chance to read this – and to go
back over the call again – before we get together. The call provided a
solid foundation, and we need to keep that as the foundation as we add
on. It grounds people in the urgency of driving out this regime – NOT
waiting, or going for something less. Keeping the spirit also means
defending the high school students who are now facing repression, and
working with them to spread their determination to drive out the regime
through society.
Finally on this point, we have to develop plans at our upcoming
conference that maintain the boldness of November 2 and raise it to
another level.
At the same time, and to really get to that next level, we do have to
get bigger. I know that a lot of folks are frustrated with the size of
our turnout, and we are going to have to grow to drive this regime out.
And the fact is this: the regime still rules and still does terrible
damage every day. We cannot rest content until it is gone.
That too means many things. We have to develop our organizational
capacity a thousand-fold. One big part of that has to be raising funds.
Another big part is going to organizations all through society and
enlisting them in this fight. We have to get the word out on this much
more broadly – for instance, publishing our call in major media, having
big programs and events going into the State of the Union, and other
ideas that people are cooking up and getting ready for the conference.
There are many people who would respond to our message, but we have not
yet even reached them. At the same time, we very much need to learn
better the things that prevent some people who have heard our message
from diving into this, and speak to their questions more powerfully.
There’s huge potential to do all this. There’s a lot of anguish and
disgust with this regime and what it is doing, and a lot of agonizing
over what to do about it. Again, our call is right: “millions and
millions are deeply disturbed and outraged by this” regime. The
demonstrations on November 2 have caused a lot of those eyes to turn
toward us, to think about getting into this. We have to marshal them
for this next step.
There are really big stakes. Everything we said about the Bush Regime
in our call remains true, including the fact that, “People who steal
elections and believe they’re on a ‘mission from God’ will not go
without a fight.” We can’t wait for someone else to do this for us. Our
call points out that “history is full of examples where people who had
right on their side fought against tremendous odds and were victorious.
And it is also full of examples of people passively hoping to wait it
out, only to get swallowed up by a horror beyond what they had ever
imagined.” On November 2, we began to become the first kind of people.
Now, as we go forward, the conclusion of our call is even more apt:
“The future is unwritten. WHICH ONE WE GET IS UP TO US.”
See you at the meeting next weekend! Debra Sweet