By
Jamilah Hoffman
Hang up your tie-dye shirts and love
beads folks; this ain’t the 1960’s anymore! In fact, there’s
more at stake today than 40 years ago. The Bush regime is
setting into place a program of endless war and torture abroad and further
cementing repression inside its borders. Many people are looking to
the elections and the candidates to stop all of this.
However, the same people telling us that
they will make this country better are the ones who have gone along
with Bush’s program of war, torture, and repression. While Obama
and McCain have some differences of approach and tactics than Bush,
their proposed programs uphold the essentially the same goals, views,
and policies of this disastrous regime. None of the madness of
the Bush Regime will stop unless there is resistance.
Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible
What kind of world do you want to live
in? I know that I want to live in a world where when the people
say, “No Attack on Iran!” their leaders actually listen. Instead
we have these people telling us that they are not only willing to obliterate
Iran, but that all options are on the table and that those options include
the use of nuclear weapons.
I want to live in a world where young
people are allowed to learn and flourish at their schools and in their
communities. Not one where military recruiters are allowed to
stalk students, with emphasis low income students and students of color,
in the school halls or at the mall; filling their heads with stories
of being a hero or the goodness of serving their country all the while
glossing over the torture, rape and murder that goes along with it.
I want to live in a world where the chains
that hold us down are broken and the barriers that keep us apart are
torn down so that we can relate to each other as freely associating
human beings. Not a world where the hanging of nooses go
unanswered, immigrants are hunted down like animals and a whole culture
of greed, bigotry, ignorance and intolerance is promoted.
Full Tilt Boogie
The reason why I wanted to come to the
Bay Area for the Summer of Resistance in the first place was that the
action was in Berkeley, and I wanted to be where the action is.
But as I was counting down the days before I was to leave, all sorts
of doubts crept into my head. One was whether or not what we do
here will work. Another was whether it was worth all the sacrifices
I was making to come here. Another revolved around whether I knew
enough information and was competent enough to make a difference.
Since I already bought plane tickets and took a leave of absence from
work, there was no going back! So I had to think about what it
is I was doing and why. I hoped this would help me to put things
into perspective.
I am in Berkeley because I want to create
resistance, spread that resistance and transform the world. Berkeley
gives us an opportunity because of what has started this past spring
with student protests surrounding the Marine recruiting station, as
well as growing support around getting U.C. Berkeley law professor John
Yoo fired, disbarred and tried for war crimes. But we can’t
be satisfied with this limited, though inspiring outpouring. This resistance
has to grow and spread all around the country so that we experience
the mass resistance needed to stop Bush’s program and prevent any
future leaders from acting on the premise that because Bush wasn’t
stopped gives them a green light to pursue his imperialist program.
But we need people who are going to take
stands and not back down. Who inspire and challenge others to take on
the responsibility to drive out the Bush regime. We need people,
who, because they have right on their side, are willing to go full tilt
boogie and not stop until we have changed the world. And while we are
waiting for someone, somewhere to jumpstart this resistance, we need
to realize that the person we are waiting on is staring at us in the
mirror.
Jamilah Hoffman is a young World Can’t
Wait organizer from Houston, who is
“determined to leave this world a better place than she found it”.
Mass resistance won’t become a reality until the crimes of the Bush Regime begin to affect allAmericans, and those crimes begin to affect them in such a way that none of the “spin doctoring” which has been done to disconnect the American people from this ugliest of political realities won’t be able to overcome the reality of the situation, and each American will be forced by these unique historical circumstances, which have never before occurred on such a massive scale in our nation’s history, whether they like it or not, to take a stand, either on the side of justice and peace or of oppression and tyranny.
It will also mean that we must confront our fears, particularly the fear of “losing” that which we believe to be valuable (the love of family, friends and the approval of bosses, co-workers and others who possess some type of authority), and the fear of our own death. When you have right on your side, you can face opposition, and risk your life to participate in the fight because you have freely chosen to align yourself to higher principles; the principles of truth, justice and peace, and in so doing, you will have made a tremendous contribution (even though you may not think so) to the establishment of a better society, nation and world for future generations.
But too often, we are unwilling to take the risk of taking a stand because we fear losing those who are nearest and dearest to us, we fear losing the “respect” of our neighbors and co-workers, we fear that if we take a principled stand, that we’ll be rejected by those whom we depend on for emotional support. Our sense of self-interest appears to be located firmly within the narrow confines of the present moment, and too many of us are willing to embrace war in order to “justify” our desire to remain helpless “victims” who eagerly await a “messiah” to change the world for us, while failing to realize that the power to wield the decisive blow in favor of justice, peace and true liberty was within our hands all the time; we simply failed to seize the power which was within us… and after we die, what will our deaths procure for future generations? Will our deaths procure them nothing but pain, misery, oppression, torture and endless war or the opportunity for them to know peace, justice, true freedom and liberty, and the blessings which come with them? Ultimately, the choice is ours, but time is running out, and if we don’t make the choice now — that choice will be forced upon us.
I was one of the “Hippies” in the ’60’s that marched on Washington many times. Don’t tell me that protesting doesn’t work. I am convinced that it played a huge part in making the general public aware of the atrocities and helped getting the US out of Vietnam. I think protesting against this war in Iraq and ultimately the entire Middle East will help get the facts out to the public so they will understand that we are not in Iraq to “free” the Iraqi’s nor to stop terrorism. Where is the new generation of young Americans willing to stand up and speak out against a government that is ignores the Constitution, starts a pre-emptive war, tortures detainees etc.?