ANSWER speaker tells crowd:
'See you in D.C. on Jan. 18-19'
At the School of the Americas Watch demonstration,
volunteers from Washington, Atlanta, Miami Beach, and
Charlotte, N.C. helped get the word out about the ANSWER
Coalition's People's Anti-War Referendum and Jan. 18-19 mass
actions in DC against the war in Iraq. Almost half the people
in attendance at the rallies voted no to war, and many took
referendum sheets and information back to their cities,
promising to organize buses of people to be in the streets
of Washington. Following is a speech delivered by Sarah
Sloan.
I'm here representing the ANSWER Coalition --Act Now to Stop
War & End Racism-- as we stand in solidarity with the
people of Latin America against U.S.-sponsored terrorism. We
have been working day and night to build a movement in
solidarity with the people of Iraq, who have for the past 12
years been the victims of the terror of U.S.-led bombings,
sanctions and covert actions.
On October 26, 200,000 people took to the streets of
Washington DC in a demonstration that was historic in that it
was a massive outpouring of opposition to the war before it
started by people who believed it could be stopped. How many
people were on the streets of DC on October 26? [Huge cheers
and applause]
We represent the billions of people around the world who
oppose this criminal war of aggression. As others have stated,
George Bush does not speak for us. Congress does not represent
us. But we have spoken with an undeniable voice to say that the
people of Iraq are not our enemies, that they have a right to
determine their own destinies free of outside interference, and
that we, the people of the United States, need a war against
poverty, a war against racism, a war against unemployment and
cuts in education and social programs.
To help keep the momentum going, the ANSWER Coalition has
initiated a unique effort to combat any myth of consensus that
Bush tries to use the congressional and United Nations
resolutions to create. The People's Anti-War Referendum is a
campaign to get every person who opposes this criminal war to
cast a vote-a vote that, for once, will really count. You can
vote on the paper ballots that are being circulated here today
or online at www.VoteNoWar.org. Our goal is to gather 10
million signatures by January, when thousands will again
converge in Washington, DC.
On January 18-19 - the Martin Luther King anniversary
weekend and the 12th anniversary of the Gulf War-there will be
a massive march in Washington and the convening of a People's
Peace Congress that will stand as a counter to the U.S. War
Congress that does not represent the people. Buses will travel
from all over the South, East Coast and Midwest.
Both the Bush administration's threats of war against Iraq
and the School of the Americas are testaments to the fact that
Dr. King's statement, that "the greatest purveyor of violence
on the planet is the U.S. government," is as true today as it
was in the 1960s. What better way is there to honor his legacy
than to be in DC on that weekend in a massive show of
opposition to a new war in Iraq? And before you leave today
make your opposition to the war count by joining the People's
Anti-War Referendum.
Reprinted from the Nov. 28, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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