End torture, indefinite detention & war - March 20th, Montgomery BART

Friends and fellow-activists,

Act Against Torture's "visual takeover" of the Montgomery & Market Street
intersection - outside U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein's San Francisco office
- will unfold at 7am on Monday March 20th, the third anniversary of the
U.S. invasion of Iraq.

We're pretty sure that you'll want to be part of it.

Much more than a march, not just another rally, we'll be using dramatic
props - banners, giant puppets, cages, Gitmo-like orange jumpsuits, hoods,
symbolic coffins, the Brass Liberation Orchestra, recorded testimonials
given by detainees who have been released, and much more - to call on each
and all (including Senator Feinstein) to take action and responsibility
for ending the U.S. government's ongoing practices of torture and
indefinite detention in pursuit of its endless so-called "war on terror."

With a boost of energy and many additional hands coming out of our first
public organizing meeting, we're preparing this week for an art &
prop-making extravaganza on Sunday afternoon, March 12th. We've reserved
a great space and we'll have a lot of materials, so an enthusiastic
turnout is the crucial ingredient needed to make our plans happen. See
below for time & location...

Montgomery & Market (Montgomery Street BART) is the place to be at 7am on
Monday, March 20th. Put it on your calendar today and avoid that sinking,
wish-I'd-been-there feeling when you watch the evening's news & read the
next morning's papers...

Details on times & places follow, below ... along with a little context
for those who didn't read through to the end of our last e-mail.

Please join us for the art party on the 12th, and we'll see you outside
Senator Feinstein's office on the morning of March 20th!

- Act Against Torture
ActAgainstTorture [at] riseup.net
http://www.ActAgainstTorture.org

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Action
---------------
* Monday, March 20 @ 7am, Montgomery & Market, SF
a visual and dramatic takeover of a central downtown intersection

The Planning
------------------
* Art / Prop / Propaganda making party
Sunday, March 12, 2-5 pm
Cell Space, 2050 Bryant St. (@18th), San Francisco

* Final Preparation Meeting / Art & Prop Party
Sunday, March 19, afternoon
Time & Location TBA

What You Can Do
-------------------------
* Help us make art, props, and propaganda on Sunday, March 12th, 2-5 @
Cell Space
* Help out with last-minute preparation on Sunday afternoon, March 19th,
time & location to be announced
* Participate in the action! March 20 @ 7am, Montgomery & Market, SF
* Recruit friends, neighbors, comrades, colleagues, and affinity groups to
plan, create, and participate
* Let us know how you'll join us by e-mailing ActAgainstTorture [at] riseup.net
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For the record (no need to read this if you already saw it last time
around...):

Act Against Torture was first incarnated late last year as Ten Against
Torture, and is now merged with Spark the Resistance - the former Saturday
Group. You have received this e-mail because you are an active member of
our group, or because an active member added your e-mail address to our
contact list. If you got this e-mail directly from our group (rather than
had it forwarded by someone you know), and don't want to receive (fairly
infrequent) e-mail from us, please reply to ActAgainstTorture [at] riseup.net
and type "Remove from database" in the subject-line of your e-mail.

Plans for March 20th have evolved out of an ongoing dialogue about how to
build an anti-war movement that is inclusive, radical, strategic, and
effective. In the past couple of years, it seems that many progressives in
the Bay Area have stopped actively opposing the war; many people we've
talked to feel powerless to fight the Bush administration. Through this
action and others beyond it, we intend to remind our community that the
war hasn't ended; the U.S. government continues as a matter of policy to
violate moral and legal principles fundamental to all who value justice
and equality; people are trapped and dying in parts of the world where the
U.S. has undermined or destabilized infrastructure necessary to safety,
health, progress, and democracy; and all this is likely to continue until
we can realize an effective strategy for resisting it. By planning this
action for the anniversary of the shutdown of downtown San Francisco on
the day after the U.S. began its invasion of Iraq, we also mean to remind
people of our power to disrupt the war and the culture of passivity that
allowed it to begin and allows it to continue. The Bush administration and
the occupation of Iraq are no longer "untouchable"; we absolutely have the
power to end practices of torture and indefinite detention - and the
occupation itself - if we can resist the powerful urge to tune it out.