Because a sustainable future depends on the people willing to see the truth for what it is, and for those to stand up in unison in order to make a difference.
— Jake Edward Keli'i Eakin
Two critical issues are on the agenda for the week of March 16 to 23 with solidarity actions across the country. Each shows the worst of big finance capitalism – how profit comes before the planet and people. Participate!
Nationwide actions against the Tar Sands focus on the corporate profiteers behind the expansion of the planet-devastating mining of the Alberta Tar Sands and the Keystone XL pipeline which will bring tar sands crud to the Gulf of Mexico for processing and export. We seek to stop the most destructive environmental project on Earth to preserve any hope for a livable planet. The corporate strip-mining of our future for profit will only be stopped by widespread direct action.
Action is particularly important now because reports from this week’s meeting between President Obama and the Republicans indicate that Obama promised the Keystone XL pipeline will be approved. It will be up to the people to stop the suicidal actions of the bi-partisans in Washington, DC.
Earlier this week there was an inspiring action in Massachusetts where more than 100 climate justice activists, many of them college students, went to the Northeast TransCanada headquarters and held a “Funeral for Our Future,” that resulted in two dozen arrests. The video of their song to TransCanada, “They are digging us a hole. Six feet underground, where our future will go. We will lay down our bodies” is one we urge you to watch and share.
Get the facts! Order the new Tar Sands Occucard to to hand out to people during your action. Order today so the cards arrive in time.
To find a Stop Tar Sands Profiteers action or create one, go here.
The other week long action is “Strike Debt Healthcare Action Week: ‘Life or Debt.’” Medical debt is literally killing patients, providers and communities. It deepens the entrenched inequalities that divide races, classes, and genders. The U.S. healthcare system doesn’t make us well; it puts profiting from illness first, placing financial barriers between patients and access to care. In reaction to this system, Strike Debt’s Rolling Jubilee initiative will make a big announcement in March. It has bought and abolished a large amount of medical debt. While thousands will be helped by Strike Debt, 70 million Americans continue with the burden of medical debt.
Help use this moment to educate the country that there should be no medical debt and no medical bankruptcies. Indeed, the U.S. is the only developed country where this health care economic crisis exists; 62% of personal bankruptcies are linked to medical bills and illness and three-quarters of those people had health insurance when their illness began; and 86% of doctors begin their professional lives with medical school debt. A national single payer health system would end medical debt and bankruptcy. For more information or to list an action visit: rjaction@strikedebt.org.
While we participate in protests to put the planet and people ahead of profit, we want to bring to your attention to a hunger strike that is in its fifth week at the Guantanamo Bay prison. Witness Against Torture reports that more than half of the 166 men in the prison have been cleared for release, with no charges of terrorism or any crime, but they wait, lingering while the callous and dysfunctional U.S. government ignores their basic human rights. These prisoners choose to resist after 11 years of indefinite detention with no end to their suffering in sight in a “piece of hell that kills everything” as one now dead prisoner described the prison. Don't let their action go unnoticed - call the White House, write letters to the editor, organize a visibility action.
Let us know about actions you are taking so we can share them with others. We gain confidence and courage from each other, so let us hear from you.
In peace and solidarity,
Kevin, Margaret and October2011/OccupyWashingtonDC
Copyright © 2011 October 2011, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
October 2011
PO Box 102011
Washington, DC 20001
No comments:
Post a Comment