Merging the struggles vs. war, racism and corporate
globalization
The main auditorium at Fashion Institute of Technology was
jammed the night of Feb. 1 as people of many nationalities and
struggles came together for the International ANSWER
coalition's program "Merge the Struggles Against War, Racism
and Corporate Globalization."
Earlier the same day, ANSWER had hosted a teach-in at the
Community Church. Following are some quotes that highlight
these two events.
Saikou Diallo, father of Amadou Diallo, shot 41 times
by New York cops: "I invite you to commemorate the anniversary
of my son's death. Continue to stand together for peace and
justice--together we can make it work."
Asha Samad-Matias, Muslims Against Racism & War:
"The forces that try to divide us obviously have not succeeded.
They try to keep our movements apart but we haven't fallen for
it. We have to bring the message to our friends and co-workers
that we have to talk to each other, not to the bosses. Once we
are together, then we can talk to the bosses."
Peta Lindsay, School Without Walls, D.C.: "Organizing
young people to take action and make change is not an easy job.
The youth recognize the issues but in order for them to even
form their own opinion they have to break through a mountain of
barriers systematically set up to stop them from thinking."
Larry Adams, Labor Against the War: "We in this
country have the responsibility of fighting our own ruling
class that exploits the world. The war is just the policy of
globalization in a violent form. If you hate globalization, you
must oppose this war. It's an excuse to further the far-right
agenda."
Tom Hansen and Macrina Cardenas, Mexico
Solidarity Network: (Cardenas) "Before 9/11 there was a great
debate in this country about legalization for undocumented
workers. It seemed that finally the politicians were
recognizing their great importance. Instead, we've started to
see immigrants as the prime suspects in acts of terrorism."
Ron Daniels, Center for Constitutional Rights: "There
are now more people who understand what the IMF, WTO and World
Bank are because of this movement. One of the most important
tasks we face is to broaden this movement to demand
change."
Gloria La Riva, Brother Joel Magellan and
Judi Cheng. La Riva of the Free the Cuban Five
Committee of the International Action Center: "George Bush Sr.
gave a presidential pardon to Orlando Bosch, a CIA terrorist
who bombed a Cuban airliner. I know many of you support Cuba.
We want to free the five Cuban patriots held in U.S. jails and
end U.S. terrorism against Cuba." Brother Joel Magellan
of the Asociacion Tepeyac: "Census 2000 said there are more
than 9 million undocumented immigrants in this country. Many
are fighting for a general amnesty for all undocumented. They
are fighting against their fear and for their rights. You are
our voice. They are working very hard. They work 80 hours a
week and make about $250."
Monica Moorehead, Odessa Gatewood and Rev.
Curtis Gatewood. Rev. Gatewood, president of the Durham,
N.C., NAACP: "The wounds of slavery were never given the
surgical stitches of reparations or the painkiller of justice.
Uncle Sam used his brother, Willie Lynch, and his cousins Jim
Crow and Cointelpro, in the unyielding terror of racism in
America. So don't tell us that we must drop bombs on
Afghanistan or Iran to stop terrorism. The first terror attack
to reach this shore came around 1492."
Rev. Lucius Walker, IFCO/Pastors for Peace: "The
people meeting at the World Economic Forum are the leaders of
world capitalism. They're the new slavers, attempting to
enslave the Third World. They have expanded and sophisticated
the concept of slavery and have exported it around the world.
It's our responsibility to haunt them and defeat everything
they stand for."
Carl Messineo and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard,
Partnership for Civil Justice: "The USA Patriot Act is a
vicious assault on civil rights and civil liberties. It's an
attempt to shut down political dissent--and we're not going to
let them do it. Racial profiling is nothing new. Demonstrate at
the jails where the detained are being held. Tell them these
rights are our rights and they can't take them away. People
died for better working conditions, a better life. The
Confederacy-loving Atty. Gen. Ashcroft thinks he can sweep away
these decades of struggle."
--Quotes excerpted by Bryan Pfeiffer and Deirdre
Griswold.
Reprinted from the Feb. 14, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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