150-200 students gathered for a World Can’t Wait rally at Sproul Plaza at the University of California, Berkeley on the afternoon prior to the big Bay Area event at Union Square. The rally lasted for an hour and featured an exciting line-up of speakers and performers including Daniel Ellsberg, two professors from the University: Professor Kevin Padian and Professor Waldo Martin; and Taigen Dan Leighton, a professor at the Graduate Theological Union.
Professor Padian, a scientist known nationally for opposing the attacks on science by Christian fundamentalists described how Bush’s agenda was not driven by ignorance or stupidity but by lassiez-faire capitalism and Christian fundamentalism. Professor Martin made connections between the freedom struggles of the 60s and today. Daniel Ellsberg spoke on the NSA spying scandal and the lies and injustice of the war on Iraq. Taigen Dan Leighton, a Buddhist scholar and activist indicted the Bush administration’s policies on torture and announced a vigil to be held outside of the classroom of John Yoo, a professor at the University of California and former official in the Bush administration who authored the infamous memo justifying torture. A banner by students was unfurled at the rally announcing their intention to go to Washington D.C. on February 4th to demand that Bush step down.
The rally was followed by a teach-in where Daniel Ellsberg, Professor Padian, and Professor Ramon Grosfoguel of the Ethnic Studies Department further discussed the Bush agenda and wrangled over the means and possibility of forcing Bush to step down. After the teach-in, a small but spirited group of students and World Can’t Wait activists marched to Berkeley High School and then proceeded to Union Square for the big Bay Area demonstration.
UC Berkeley, California Chapter, WorldCantWait.ORG