A.N.S.W.E.R. ACTION PLAN, UPDATED

Based on the discussion and feedback from the May 17-18 anti-war conference and afterwards, the ANSWER coalition has expanded its action plan. The conference, attended by 850 organizers and activists from around the country, and international delegations, was an important meeting of people who have been organizing against U.S. militarism and empire and for social justice at home. The conference included far-ranging analysis and discussion of the most pressing issues in the struggle. It included information sharing about strategies and tactics and was the beginning of a multi-faceted discussion on how to further build the movement in the coming period.

One of the most important elements of the conference were the breakout groups where organizers and activists from around the country - who have assumed responsibility for mobilizing both local and national actions during the past year and a half - met with each other for information sharing and discussion. During these discussions organizers proposed next steps, discussed a national action plan, and began charting coordinated local organizing initiatives. New ideas were raised, and the process of deliberation and consultation has continued in the past weeks. This email update reflects the power of the collective process that will strengthen all of our efforts for the coming period. The action plan includes a national summer education campaign as well as various national actions and nationally coordinated local actions. Some of the actions and activities are initiated by the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition, others are events that A.N.S.W.E.R. supports and endorses that are initiated by other groups and coalitions.

While there are many important actions coming up, we believe that it is most important to keep the focus on the U.S. government's war against the world, including against economic, social, and political rights at home.

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Friday, JULY 4:
THOUSANDS WILL MARCH TO PROTEST GEORGE W. BUSH IN PHILADELPHIA

George W. Bush has been invited to the opening of the National Constitution Center. We need to be there to say No to U.S. Wars at Home and Abroad; No to Colonialism and Empire; End the Occupation of Iraq; No to Racism, Attacks on Civil Rights and Immigrants, the USA Patriot Act and the Shredding of the Constitution; and to Call for Funding of Social Programs - not the Pentagon's War Machine.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition supports this initiative brought forward by local Philadelphia organizations who have come together to issue a call for thousands of people to join in a national march on July 4 in Philadelphia protesting U.S. wars at home and abroad. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition urges its Organizing Centers and all people of conscience to be in the streets of Philadelphia. In addition to the July 4 national protest, a number of groups are sponsoring local and regional protests on that weekend. Philadelphia organizations involved in the local, regional and national protests include Philadelphia A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism), PRAWN (Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network), Minority Experience Network, Avenging the Ancestors Coalition (ATAC), Unite for Peace, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, and others.

**ON THE WEST COAST: Bush will be appearing at fundraisers in the Bay Area and Los Angeles area on FRIDAY, JUNE 27. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is organizing mass protests at both these locations. In San Francisco, buses will leave the East Bay and San Francisco to go to Burlingame for an 11 am protest at the SFO Marriott (1800 Old Bayshore Highway). Call 415-821-6545 to get posters sent to you or to reserve a seat on the bus. For information on the Los Angeles protest, please call 213-487-2368.

To download a pdf of the flyer for the Bay Area protest against Bush, go to:
http://www.actionsfbay.org/images/pdf-files/bushfullpage.pdf

To list your transportation to the July 4th protest:
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/j4/index.html#transp

To find transportation in your area:
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/j4/july4transp.html

To download a flyer for the July 4th protest:
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/resources/index.html

Student Organizing Form:
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/j4/index.html#student

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Saturday, SEPTEMBER 13

International day of actions supporting the convergence in Cancun, Mexico against the WTO.

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Saturday, SEPTEMBER 27:
GLOBAL DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST OCCUPATION AND EMPIRE,
& IN SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE WHO RESIST
FROM PALESTINE TO IRAQ TO THE PHILIPPINES TO CUBA AND EVERYWHERE

A.N.S.W.E.R. is organizing for mass U.S. actions that will take place in NY, Washington, San Francisco, L.A. and many other cities. September 27 is the third anniversary of the beginning of the second Intifada of the Palestinian people whose resistance against colonial occupation in the past decades has been the very center of the anti-colonial struggle throughout the Middle East. This will be a global action of solidarity with all of those who are resisting empire.

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Saturday, OCTOBER 25
MARCH ON THE PENTAGON
THE WORLD UNITES AGAINST U.S. MILITARISM

There will be an international march on the Pentagon on October 25, which will include delegations from countries around the world. Under the banner "The World Unites Against U.S. Militarism," the demonstration will also demand an end to the looting of social programs by the war machine and the vicious assault on working and poor people at home and worldwide. As we march on the Pentagon, banners from countries from all continents will represent the resistance of people around the world to the terrorism of the Bush Administration's hyper-aggressive "preemptive war" strategy which is rampaging against the people of the world. The Bush administration has also just won approval from Congress to proceed with the creation of a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons explicitly designed to be used, especially in the Third World in coming conflicts. The march will demand an immediate end to this new nuclear arms race. As the October 25-26 weekend is the second anniversary of the signing of the Patriot Act, we are starting at the Justice Department where representatives of cities and communities around the country who have begun non-cooperation campaigns will deliver copies of their resolutions. The demonstration will also be a political challenge to the assault on civil rights and civil liberties and the expansion of the system of repression in the U.S. and in countries around the world which have adopted new repressive National Security laws. We will march from the Justice Department to the White House to the Pentagon, the real "Axis of Evil."

To endorse this demonstration go to:

http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/o25/index.html#endo

To list transportation to the October 25 protest:

http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/o25/index.html#transp

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Thursday-Friday, NOVEMBER 20-21

In November, trade ministers from around the Americas, with the exception of Cuba, will gather in Miami for talks on the Free Trade Area of the Americas. There will be demonstrations opposing the FTAA in Miami, around the US and throughout the Americas on November 17-21st, 2003.

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Saturday-Sunday, NOVEMBER 22-23
Shut down the School of Americas. Annual mass action in Ft. Benning, Georgia, initiated and organized by the School of Americas Watch. http://www.soaw.org


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SUMMER 2004
Unite Against War, Racism, Repression and Exploitation
Mass Actions at the Democratic National Convention (July, Boston) and the Republican National Convention (September, New York)


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EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN

In response to requests from activists across the country, this summer, A.N.S.W.E.R. - on a national level - is in the process of producing new educational materials, including fact sheets, brochures, pamphlets, booklets, and more. We will focus on a wide range of issues, including (but not limited to) countries that the Bush administration is attacking, social service cuts versus military spending, racist repression at home, and the expansion of U.S. militarism globally. We encourage local organizers to use these resources to carry out mass leafleting and tabling campaigns in cities around the country. A.N.S.W.E.R. national organizers are available to speak at forums, teach-ins and community meetings.

* In San Francisco, committees in the weekly ANSWER meetings have begun planning the implementation of the educational campaign locally. Please join us on Tuesday evenings at 7pm at the ANSWER office, 2489 Mission St. Room 30, San Francisco.