Valentine's Rally Analysis

Valentine’s Day Rally
By Jonah Zern

In just 16 days we organized an amazing event yesterday! Hundreds of people gathered and demanded "Books not Bombs, Schools not Jails". How did we get hundreds of people in just over two weeks?: An amazing commitment of so many people and the support of so many groups, a powerful movement of people who want deep change in US and worldwide policy and an Oakland community that came together to make yesterday's rally happen, from bringing food, making free copies, donating paper, confirming permits, endorsing, posting, donating, and speaking out.

Listening to the coverage of the rally in New York City today I hear calls for "Books Not Bombs". We are part of spreading a message that we cannot stop a war on Iraq without addressing the war being waged on working people, people of color and poor people of the United States. We cannot stop the war on Iraq and go home and forget that there are 2 million people in prison in the United States, that one in three black males between the ages of 20 and 29 is in prison, jail, on probation or parole. We cannot deny the conditions of poverty, lack of health care, lack of quality education under which people of color and poor people live. We cannot deny the role that the United States government and US corporations play in the oppression and abuse of the people of the world for their own economic gain and power.

We must see the connections. We must see that the media dehumanizes black people, Latino people, the same way they dehumanize Iraqi people and Muslim people. We must realize that the people of the world are our brothers and sisters, as are the people of every inner-city community in the United States. We must build a global community that does not justify sweatshops through "competitive advantage", does not justify a war on a people because of the belief that one human life is more valuable than another.. We must recognize Einstein's quote that one cannot simultaneously prepare and prevent for war, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s statement that unless their is a change in the malady of spirit in the United States that we will be marching against the same war for generations to come.

We must ask why there is such enormous wealth in our community right next to such immense poverty, and we must demand that it be distributed or we must seize it ourselves. Now is a great time of change in the world. It is essential that we chose to speak out and take action, for peace, equity, environmental preservation, and justice. We must be willing to take brave and bold actions, and we must demand nothing less than equity. We must search for truth and shun those who deny it for their own personal gain. Now is a time to speak out!





http://www.indybay.org
http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1726~1182251,00.html
http://www.indymedia.org

Announcement Posted:
http://www.sfbg.com/37/20/x_alerts.html
http://prisonactivist.org/
http://www.falloutshelternews.com/Actions.htm
http://www.sfbayview.com/021203/whatsgoinon021203.shtmlhttp://www.criticalresistance.org/index.php?name=events
http://www.bapd.org/notices.html
http://www.poormagazine.com/
http://www.socialistworker.org/Calendar.shtml
http://www.tricitypeaceaction.com/page10.html