September 17, 2007

Schedule for the Strike for Peace

THIS Friday, September 21st, is the Strike for Peace in Duluth. DON'T work. DON'T go to school. DON'T spend. DO educate yourself about what it will take to end this war and bring justice to our world. Below you will find a detailed schedule of the day's events. Also, you will find a compilation of workshop descriptions at the bottom. Come to as many as you can or, preferably, all of them. Encourage your friends, co-workers, neighbors and classmates to do likewise.

The Strike for Peace is sponsored by the Northland Anti-War Coalition and endorsed by the Duluth Central Labor Body, Veterans for Peace, Duluth Area Green Party, Loaves and Fishes Catholic Worker Community, and Socialist Action. Also, Third Street Bakery is shutting down for the day to support the strike. (Thank you!)
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MORNING WORKSHOPS

-Counter-Recruitment, 9:00 AM, Building for Women

-We've Been Hijacked, 10:00 AM, Building for Women

-Slides and Stories from Iraq, 10:00 AM, Building for Women
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MARCH & RALLY
Gather at the Clayton, Jackson, McGhee Memorial [2nd Ave. E and 1st St.] at 11:30am for a march to the Civic Center, where there'll be a noon rally.
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AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS

-Engaging the Christian Right, 1:30 PM, Building for Women

-No War, No Warming, 1:30 PM, Building for Women

-How to Make a Revolution, 2:30 PM, Building for Women

-Network of Spiritual Progressives, 2:30 PM, Building for Women

-Resisting Illegitimate Authority, 3:30 PM, Building for Women

-Organizing Sustainable Community, 3:30 PM, Building for Women

-Impeachment, 4:30 PM, Building for Women
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FUNDRAISING CONCERT

7:30-11:00 PM, Building for Women
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WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS:

1. Counter-Recruitment – Jay Newcomb and Joel Kilgour

The Armed Forces spend millions of dollars of our taxpayer money on sophisticated ad campaigns and recruiting to get our young people to sign on to the military. Recruiters often use pressure tactics, misleading statements about benefits and sometimes outright lies to prey on the young. They are almost always allowed in our schools without question, and thanks to No Child Left Behind they have access to most kids' personal information. Find out how to counter the efforts of the military to recruit our kids to use as cannon fodder.

2. We've Been Hijacked – Sue Dailey, Unitarian Universalists Peace and Justice Committee

We've been hijacked. Our elections, our Constitution, our foreign policy are no longer serving the American people. Has our compassion and can-do spirit been hijacked, too? We're all in this together. How can we take back our country? Come join the discussion.

3. Slides and Stories from Iraq - Daniel Fanning

4. Engaging the Christian Right – Roger Cragun

There is a gulf of misunderstanding in this country between progressives and religious conservatives and fundamentalists. But is the gulf really all that wide? This workshop will discuss strategies for engaging members of the Christian Right in productive discussion about the critical state of our world.

5. No War No Warming: Sustainable Solutions to Corporatocracy – Lorena Rodriguez and Emily Slagle, College of St. Scholastica Amnesty International

This workshop will analyze the often unchallenged role of corporations in global decision-making by looking in depth at corporate interests in Iraq and in the Global South. We will explore an alternative global economic system that breaks free from the corporatocracy by working towards self-sustaining economies and a more peaceful and just world.

6. How to Make a Revolution – Mike Rogge, Socialist Action

What will it take to stop this war and future imperialist wars waged by the United States? How do we create a truly peaceful and just society where everyone's needs are met? With never-ending war, poverty, injustice, social disaffection and environmental crisis plaguing our world, it has become clear that a fundamental change in government and society is needed – in short, we need a revolution! The good thing is it CAN happen here. This workshop will discuss the root causes of all these problems, what real revolution looks like and what it will take to make it happen.

7. Starting a Network of Spiritual Progressives Chapter in Duluth – Hal Bertilson, Ph.D., Network of Spiritual Progressives

The Network of Spiritual Progressives proposes an ethical way to end the war in Iraq, consisting of three points: 1) The war is wrong, and repentence of our elected officials before the U.N. is necessary; 2) U.S. and British forces in Iraq should be replaced with an International Peace Force acceptable to the Iraqi people; 3) Rebuild Iraq by launching a Global Marshall Plan. Find out more at this workshop, which will include an option to join the Network of Spiritual Progressives and begin a new chapter of the group in Duluth.

8. Resisting Illegitimate Authority – Frank Kroncke, Minnesota 8

The story of the MN8 8 is the story of youth resisting illegitimate authority in the 60s. We thought we could resist and then get on with our normal lives. History teaches us differently; the warring culture continues and deepens its grasp. The goal of this workshop is to broaden the view of resistance from a singular event or even multiple events, to building Resistance of illegitimate authority as a Lifestyle. While I will start with my own experience from the MN 8 trials and my time in prison for it, I seek to elicit the various stories of Resistance of participants, even if just fragmentary, so we can move forward.

9. Organizing Sustainable Community – Ronald Miller

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Austrialia met to attempt to find common ground between 19 nations on greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Meanwhile, small groups in Wisconsin have been seeking ways to reduce emissions. In this regard, Duluth city council passed a resolution regarding planning for a sustainable community in May, 2006. This workshop will relate to these efforts in conjunction with a concern about how the American experiment in constitutional self-government has been altered by special interests in ways that make the achievement of meaningful goals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions more difficult.

10. Impeachment – Rev. Edward Thompson and Andy Anderson, Veterans for Peace Chapter 80

What is impeachment, and how has it been used historically? What purpose does it serve as stated in the Constitution and how did the Founding Fathers intend for it to be used? There is overwhelming evidence in favor of impeaching George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, so why does Congress refuse to do anything about this runaway criminal Administration? Find out what we can do now to make impeachment happen.

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