‘Two Weeks! Twooo Weeeeks!! Twoooooo Weeeeekssss!!!’
Friends,
Have you seen the movie Total Recall? The title of this is a quote from
the movie. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as both the hero and the
unwitting pawn of Corporate Forces. His memory had been manipulated, but
he was waking up into the nightmare of his real life which involved collusion
between the government and large multi-planet corporations, where the air is
unsafe to breathe, and the government turns off the fans which circulate the oxygen
in order to suppress the area of town which is organizing against the
oppression. It is his awareness and involvement with the activism of
others that winds up saving Arnold,
and also the entire planet (of Mars).
I am counting on every one of you to be a part of our collective wakening that
we will demonstrate on January 31st. If we don’t wake the slumbering
beast, we will hibernate through the death of our liberty. We prove the
Great American Experiment to have been a failure. If we don’t organize
ourselves and successfully resist our enslavement to this fascist regime, then
the idea that we can successfully keep ourselves free if given the power to do
so will have been proven false. We will have shown that we can be so
easily lulled to sleep by orgies of consumption, constant media distraction,
and focusing only on the nuclear family unit that we become so disinterested in
our own freedom that we won’t fight to keep it.
I do not believe we have lost. I believe that we are the ones we have been
waiting for. I believe in the sanctity
of LIFE, LIBERTY,
and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. I know that there are enough of us in the
majority, and we ARE the majority, to protect these sacred things. Here
is an MSNBC poll to back that assertion up:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/
and here is another series of polls, and an article from afterdowningstreet.org
detailing how the Washington Post has been bombarded with demands for polls
about impeaching Bush, but have refused:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/polling
The neighborhood I canvassed tonight was very interested in having a
neighborhood State of Emergency party, and is organizing for January 31st.
The community aspect of this event is so important. If we can’t get
together as neighborhoods and communities and stand against fascism, then we
won’t be strong enough to weather the next few years without losing much of
what we hold dear. But if we can stand strong together, they will
never be able to take our freedom away!
That is why I am calling on you to step up and help either host a neighborhood
party, or lead a neighborhood march. Ideally, we will have 8 march leaders
and at least one party per neighborhood.
The neighborhood parties are very simple. All it takes is passing out
flyers and talking to your neighbors, and inviting them either to your house,
or to a meeting place in your community at 5PM. Then at 6PM, grab your
drums, pots and pans, and chant, sing and shout to DROWN OUT BUSH’S LIES as he
tries to use the State of the Union address to push forth his administration’s
radical agenda at home and abroad.
Leading a neighborhood march is simple, too. These marches originate from
Pioneer Square.
March Leaders will be given a map and a simple route beforehand. (Those
crossing the river will use the light rail train (MAX) as a group) At the
appropriate time, the March Leaders will go to designated areas in Pioneer Square, and
hold up a sign that will indicate which quadrant of Portland that March Leader will be heading
to. That way, the crowd will know who to follow to their area of town.
The march will end at 7PM at a destination to be announced, where the
marchers can celebrate with each other having participated in a significant
demonstration. They may then discuss plans for February 4th. The marchers will be advised beforehand to
park near the Final Destination and take public transportation in, if they are
able to. Or better yet, take public
transportation the whole way, and conserve some oil!
I imagine a scenario where “Mortimer” is inside watching King George
on the babblebox, and upon hearing the clatter outside, he goes to the window
to see “Marge” leading a march comprised of some of his neighbors
right by his house. “What are you doing Marge?” Mortimer would
ask. “Waking you from King George’s spell! Join us, won’t
you?” Marge would reply. And the march would grow even more.
We are going ahead with renting out Pioneer
Square from 4:30 PM to 6 PM, though the plan is to
have everybody out of the square soon after 5:30 so they can be marching in the
neighborhoods by 6. The Sandpeople are confirmed as the Music Act. They are a local wonderfully conscious and
danceable Hip Hop band. There are
several speakers under consideration. We won’t have more than 2 speakers.
If you have any ideas for bands or speakers, speak up now! Again,
however, the focus will be on the events in the communities, and the Marchers
from Pioneer Square
will ideally meet up with the Neighborhood Parties as they march through that
area, and they will march together Bringing the Noise and DROWNING OUT BUSH’S
LIES and growing in size and volume all along the way.
There are already people buying tickets to Washington
DC for the weekend of February 4th to March on
Washington,
and take our demands to the White House. The cheapest and quickest thing
to do is to buy plane tickets as soon as possible online. On cheaptickets.net and other
similar discount airfare sites, a roundtrip ticket leaving friday and returning
Sunday costs right around $200. (Last week they were $175) Also
rideshares can be arranged through Craig’s List. Please contact me by email at portland@worldcantwait.org or call
Portland Can’t Wait at (206) 666 – BUSH if you plan to go so we can help
to coordinate. Accommodations are being taken care of by the Washington DC
office. There are several churches which have donated space. You
can contact the DC office at (202) 536 – 4313 for further details about
coordinating accommodations.
The schedule of the weekend is as follows:
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4th
11am: Rally Gathers at 17th & Constitution
2pm: March Around the White House
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5th
11am-4pm: National organizing meeting in Washington DC
to plan our next
steps to drive out the Bush regime. More details to come.
Get regular updates on what World Can’t Wait volunteers in Washington DC
are up to at http://worldcantwaitdcvolunteers.blogspot.com/
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What you can do to help:
Download the flyer I made tonight, make as many copies as you are able, and
distribute liberally around town at grocery stores, community boards, on
telephone poles, and in windows. I will link as well as attach the
pdf. http://www.ecotv.org/pdf/J31flyer.pdf
Call as many media outlets as possible and start asking about the event to
create a buzz. You can start with the attached list that Heather
compiled. I’ll also include it in a P.S.
Post announcements on internet sites, blogs, and boards.
Contact your friends and neighbors and tell them about this event and
activate them to talk to others and bring as many people as possible.
DONATE and RAISE MONEY (
Locally, we still haven’t raised enough to pay for Pioneer Square, or
local newspaper ads to announce the event.
Nationally, they need to pay for the New York Times ad
coming out this week as well as office staff in DC.
If you want to donate money, or want to direct someone to donate money to
the local effort, they can do it online at www.ecotv.org by clicking on
the “Donate” button located on the right side of the website about
half
way down. I run EcoTV (along with A. Citizen) and 100% of the contributions
that
come in are going directly to Portland Can’t Wait until Feb 1.
If they want to contribute to the national effort, they can go to:
http://worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=4&Itemid=4
or send checks to:
World Can’t Wait
305 Madison #1166
New York NY 10165
Contributions of $100 or more may be made tax-deductible if the donor
sends a check made out to World Can’t Wait, 305 W. Broadway #185 New York
NY 10013. The Alliance
for Global Justice sends out the IRS required
receipt for donation of $250 and more in January. At this time, online
donations are not tax deductible.
The Alliance
for Global Justice, a 501(c)(3) organization, is the fiscal
sponsor of World Can’t Wait. AFGJ will acknowledge contributions in
writing, and furnish evidence of its status as an exempt organization upon
request. Their latest financial report is available at their offices, 1247
E Street SE, Washington, D.C.
In solidarity,
Cyd