I plan to head up to NYC Feburary 2nd for the following "IAC/I-ANSWER" event:
The International ANSWER Coalition - Act Now to Stop War and End Racism - calls for mobilizations on February 1 and 2 in New York City.
To endorse these events, contact the International ANSWER Coalition at ANSWER@afgj.org. For more information: ANSWER@afgj.org or call: New York 212-633-6646, Washington 202-543-2777, San Francisco 415-821-6545, Chicago 773-583-7728
· Declare war on unemployment, poverty and mass layoffs - not the people of the Afghanistan and the Middle East.
· Defend civil liberties.
· Money for jobs, education and health care - not war in Afghanistan and the Middle East and corporate tax cuts.
From January 31 to February 4, corporate bosses from the world's largest transnationals and political leaders will meet in New York City for their annual World Economic Forum. In past years they met in Davos, Switzerland, but massive demonstrations forced a change in venue. This year they'll be meeting at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in mid-town Manhattan. The World Economic Forum will celebrate war in Afghanistan and the Middle East, attacks on civil liberties, and corporate tax cuts. The International ANSWER Coalition calls for alternatives - jobs, health care, education, civil rights, and peace with justice - that reflect the needs of the vast majority of people. The corporate agenda wasn't welcome in Davos, and it's not welcome in New York City.
February 1:
Teach-in at Community Church, 35th between Park and Madison, starting at 9:00am
Featuring workshops on:
· War in the Middle East
· Civil liberties
· Immigrant rights
· Corporate-centered globalization
· Domestic economic policies
· Alternative visions from the progressive community
February 2
Mass rally at the World Economic Forum starting at 11:00am Park Ave., between 49th and 50th Bring signs, puppets, street theater, noise-makers, and your creativity.
· NO to war in Afghanistan and the Middle East!
· NO to corporate-centered globalization!
· YES to jobs, education, health care, and civil rights!
Since September 11, hundreds of thousands of workers from the travel industry, hotels, restaurants, and others have lost their jobs. Unemployment and mass layoffs are sweeping through all sectors of the world economy. Politicians, working for the interests of corporate elites, are providing billions of dollars in bailouts for investors and transnational corporations, but not a penny for increased unemployment insurance. The Congressional "economic stimulus" plan offers huge corporate tax cuts, but only pennies for working people. The lowest paid workers, especially immigrants and service sector workers, are suffering the repercussions of 9-11, while the rich get richer.
Immigrants and those who are struggling against the corporate agenda are in for a double whammy, as Attorney General Ashcroft curtails basic civil liberties and constitutional rights. Today the attacks are against immigrants - incarceration without charges and racial profiling. Tomorrow the target will be US citizens as Ashcroft pushes to legalize surveillance of religious and political groups.
Internationally, the Bush administration wages war in Afghanistan and encourages expanded war in Palestinian territories. Now Bush is preparing the public for prolonged war in Iraq and perhaps other nations. The deaths of thousands of civilians in the Middle East, both from direct military action and the resulting refugee crisis, is nothing short of state-sponsored terrorism. This is not the way to find justice for 3,000 civilians who died on September 11. And this is not the way to build a more secure and stable world.
We must respond to increasing attacks on our well-being by corporate-dominated politicians that bring us war, layoffs and increased poverty. At the same time as the ANSWER events in New York City, the World Social Forum will gather tens of thousands of representatives from every corner of the world in Porto Alegre, Brazil, to discuss alternative visions.
The events in New York and Porto Alegre will mark a new plateau in the people's capacity to organize, to reject old classist models, and to build a better world.
39 W. 14 St. NY NY 10011
(212) 633-6646
www.internationalanswer.org
Do we have any FReepers in Porto Alegre, Brazil?