5 Weeks and Counting. Check out the Student and Youth Plans between now and the State of the Union Address. Chapters and individuals around the country should study and discuss these key tasks as part of concretizing local plans for the State of the Union Protests and developing plans and goals that need to be set now.
Set your Plans for Jan. 31st- to politically drown out the State of the Union address and demmand Bush Step Down and take his whole program with him. Send in your plans to info@worldcantwait.org. The State of the Union Protests must be a nationwide outpouring that is able to reach into all the levels of society, putting this demand–Bush Step Down–on the front page of all the local and major newspapers the next day and compel every force in society to respond to this demand. Begin Organizing Buses and Car Caravans for the National Mobilization Feb. 4th in D.C. Our plans need to be based on the key things that need to happen in this short period of time. What are springboards that will launch us to a whole different level and be in line with what we are trying to bring into being the night of the State of the Union?
The State of the Union Address Protests demanding Bush Step Down need to be a major leap towards driving out the regime and creating a different dynamic in society: a dynamic where independent political action is manifested in the streets by millions of people, that speaks the truth and is not bound by the paralyzing confines of politics as usual. A dynamic where we are not just responding to major events in the news, but where we’re part of them. A dynamic where we are making a real impact by making this demand real: Bush Step Down. Simply making this a question throughout society is falling way short. Frankly, this is already a major question in society and where things end up will largely depend on how we act and bring forward others around this demand.
It is easy to get stuck in the day to day grind of what is immeidately feasible right now without seeing the potential of how things can change quickly, sometimes overnight. We cannot simply allow the images of tsunami victims to wash away or forget the thousands of Katrina survivors still displaced with their faces illumintated by Christmas trees as they celebrate their holdiays in the tent cities that are scattered across the rural south. What future lies ahead for educators in Kansas who fear for their lives when they walk out to their cars or the torture victims thrown down a legal black hole unless the demand for Bush to Step Down is known by tens of millions of people and floods the streets with a massive outpouring of people that politically drowns out the State of the Union Address?
If we rest content with what we’ve accomplished so far during Winter Break our plans will be sunk. There is no one on campus, classes are not in session, but as world events unfold and Bush’s outrages continue to drive home WHY this regime needs to be driven from power, an impatient and determined spirit should fill our work. Each day counts. There needs to be cores of youth taking up the responsibility to get plans set in motion at a rapid pace, while establishing the means for lots of different people to take part in changing the course of history without going through a 12 Step Program. We need to be preparing right now to hit the ground running when school starts up again.
Here are some ways to make this happen:
— BEFORE campus is back in session, establish accessible, regular places throughout campus or town where people can pick up flyers or buy bus tickets. Contact different bookstores, cafes or places people hang out to leave stacks of flyers. At these stores, have a donation can, a sign-up sheet and a sign making it clear that the flyers can be picked up and distributed to others. This way people can write down how much they took and their email/phone number so you can reach them and see how it went. Also, see if these establishments will carry WCW materials for sale like Tshirts, rolls of stickers, bottons, etc, and see if they’d be willing to give some (go for all) of the proceeds to WCW.
–Throw New Year’s Eve fundraising parties. Have a sliding scale charge at the door to raise funds. These can be similar to the fundraising house parties but in a different context. Hang up pictures from Nov. 2nd, bring DJ’s/bands to play, make New Year’s resolutions of stepping up to lead thousands more people to take part in making history the night of the State of the Union and the following Saturday.
–Meetings should be set, planned for and promoted during winter break. We do not have the time to call for a meeting once school starts and then discuss what we are going to do when people meet. If people are scattered around the country communicate via email or phone and have goals and plans set.
–Contact professors and teachers during winter break to set up appointments and to schedule days you can go into classes to give presentations.
—Set goals. Be thinking in concrete terms of things like: how much money you need to raise and where will it go, how many classes you need to speak to in the first week of school, how many posters or flyers need to be posted around campus, how many businesses set up to have materials availble, etc.
–Have bus tickets printed up and ready for sale as part of organizing buses to go to D.C. Feb. 4th.
–Contact local newspapers and radio stations now to set up interviews and press releases for the State of the Union protests. See if you can get a major discount or a free full page ad with BUSH STEP DOWN filling up the page and include local plans for the State of the Union Protests and ways people can begin organizing right away.
–Find out if there is a local World Can’t Wait–Drive Out the Bush Regime Chapter ‘back home’ or search out progressive people you know from your hometown to distribute World Can’t Wait Calls and Bush Step Down posters.
–There is so much that can be done online. Post and email out plans for the State of the Union Protests everywhere and anywhere. Write articles that can be posted on the Student and Youth webpage or the latest articles section of the homepage. There is no shortage of the Bush Regime’s crimes to be exposed, plenty of capitulation and accommodation to be unearthed, and urgency for millions to find out about ways to take part in independent political action with the aim of driving out this monstrous regime.
–Establish a schedule for when tables will be set up and bold actions planned to hammer at the illegtimacy of Bush and find sharp and hard hitting ways to break through the paralysis of silence, accommodation and waiting for some magic pendulum swing.
–Have posters with the ‘Today’s Reason to Drive Them Out’ in the center of campus every day and have boxes of materials for people to take up and begin organizing for the State of the Union Protest and National Mobilization on the spot.
—BUSH STEP DOWN needs to be visible everywhere you turn on campus or throughout your High School. Stuff all the lockers and dorm room doors with flyers and posters. Banners could be found hanging in visible places and students can hang posters in their dorm room windows demmaning: Bush Step Down and take your program with you.
— No School January 31st! Classrooms need to be empty and the streets filled with youth organizing for State of the Union Protest that night. Flat-bed trucks with large banners proclaiming BUSH STEP DOWN and where people will be converging that night. Mobile squads fanning across the city making a giant push for people to Bring The Noise and politically drown out Bush’s State of the Union Address. More ideas need to be developed and plans made for students not to go to school Jan.31st.
These are crucial some things, but people can brainstorm a lot more about how to be up and running the FIRST DAY of class and sooner.