March on Washington April 27
'Money for jobs, not for war'
By Sarah Sloan
Washington, D.C.
Momentum is building for an April 27 mobilization to brings
tens of thousands of anti-war activists, workers, students,
labor unionists and others to Washington, D.C., to demand:
"Money for jobs, education, housing and health-care--not for
war and corporate giveaways!"
Initiated by the International ANSWER--Act Now to Stop War
& End Racism--coalition, the April 27 rally and march on
Washington will be the culmination of a week of mass actions.
That day, simultaneous rallies will take place in San Francisco
and many cities around the world.
ANSWER was formed in response to the headlong rush to war
and racist attacks following the horrific events of Sept. 11.
The coalition has the support and participation of more than
500 organizations and prominent individuals. And ANSWER already
has scores of organizing centers across the U.S. and around the
world.
ANSWER's national steering committee includes Nicaragua
Network, Mexico Solidarity Network, IFCO/Pastors for Peace,
International Action Center, Partnership for Civil Justice,
Kensington Welfare Rights Union, Middle East Children's
Alliance, Committee for Justice to Defend Palestinians, and the
Korea Truth Commission.
ANSWER's call for the April 27 march on Washington reads in
part:
"The U.S. corporate and banking establishment seeks to
maintain U.S. domination throughout the globe for its own
benefit. It is these corporate and banking elite who profit
from the exploitation of oil and natural gas resources in the
Middle East and South Asia, bloated military contracts and Bush
administration bailouts and tax breaks.
"With skyrocketing unemployment, evictions, foreclosures,
and slashing of welfare and health-care benefits at home,
people in the U.S. need billions to create jobs, improve our
schools and provide quality health care. Instead the Bush
administration is spending billions on bombing civilians and
military aggression.
"As the U.S. war and occupation of Afghanistan continue and
that country lies in ruins, the Bush administration is
preparing to widen its war against other countries."
The call voices opposition to U.S. threats against Iraq and
north Korea--both cited by Bush in his bellicose State of the
Union address on Jan. 29--as well as Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia,
Yemen and Cuba, and attacks on the people's struggles in the
Philippines, Colombia and Palestine.
The call continues, "As the war abroad threatens to expand,
the war at home against Arab, Muslim, South Asian and all
working people continues. So-called 'anti-terrorism'
legislation has legitimized and legalized racial profiling as
more than 5,000 young Arab men have become the targets of FBI
investigation. Over 1,200 people have been detained and college
administrations have been asked by the FBI to turn over names
and records of Arab, Muslim and international students.
"Bush and Ashcroft are reorganizing federal law enforcement
into a domestic surveillance police state that gives the
government license to listen to the public's phone calls, read
the public's email, execute covert searches, and target
political and religious groups."
ANSWER is calling on people to join the National Colombia
Mobilization April 19-22 in Washington the week before the mass
march on April 27. For more information see
http://www.soaw.org/colombiaMobilization.html.
ANSWER has put out a call for all activists to become
organizers for the April 27 National March in Washington, D.C.
To endorse and/or to become an organizer, email ANSWER@afgj.org
or call 212-633-6646. Check out www.InternationalANSWER.org for
more information about how to get involved.
Reprinted from the Feb. 7, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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Email: ww@workers.org
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