No More Divide & Conquer!
A Culture of Resistance is Born: the People United in an Independent Movement
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
The Occupy Movement that developed in 2011 profoundly shook the foundation of the 1%. Almost instantly a new form of political power was created, all truly grown from the grass roots, and handed the 99% some REAL political capital for the first time in decades, and installed the Occupy Movement as a force to be reckoned with…
How We Got Here: No doubt every occupier has their own story, this is ours. On December 16, 2010 we joined with Veterans for Peace and other organizations in an anti-war protest. The theme of the protest was developing a ‘culture of resistance’ in the U.S. Many of us spoke that day about the need for resistance, perhaps none more clearly than noted author Chris Hedges who said “Hope will only come when we resist the violence of the state. . . . those who resist here today with non-violence are the last thin line of defense between a civil society and its disintegration.” That day 132 Americans, mostly veterans, were arrested standing against the corporate-military state that the United States has become…
No More War! No War on Iran!
Where We Are Going: When we called for the Washington D.C. Occupation of Freedom Plaza in early June, we said this occupation would be “the beginning.” We saw the occupation of Freedom Plaza as a tactic, much like a lunch counter sit-in or Freedom Ride during the civil rights movement, designed to educate and mobilize people for a much bigger and longer effort to end a government dominated by money and militarism and shift power to the American people…
The Occupy Movement should stay independent of any corporate-funded parties. In Let the Trumpet Sound, the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. King is quoted as saying: “I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either…”
In the end, whoever is elected will need constant pressure from the Occupy Movement to put the people’s necessities first. So, our job is to build a strong independent movement in 2012 and beyond. (See the full article below.)
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers are organizers of Occupy Washington, DC at Freedom Plaza. They co-direct It’s Our Economy, a project seeking to democratize the economy. Margaret, a pediatrician, is Congressional Fellow for Physicians for a National Health Program, a single payer advocacy group. Kevin, an attorney, is co-chair of the cross-partisan anti-war group, Come Home America and president of Common Sense for Drug Policy.
Don’t let the 1% Divide Us –the 99%
1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, etc. 5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622. Email ja@malu-aina.org http://www.malu-aina.org
Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet (Jan. 20, 2012 – 539th week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office
