Portland: People’s Summit Against U.S.-led War

Portland, Oregon

On June 8, as U.S. warships docked in Portland’s Willamette River, a wide spectrum of anti-imperialists, representing more than 30 organizations, convened in a local middle school for the People’s Summit against U.S.-led War. 

The U.S. Navy was in Portland to celebrate Fleet Week, a jingoistic display of militarism, before heading to occupied Hawaiʻi for The Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. The People’s Summit was held to rally the community for an end to RIMPAC. 

The summit’s keynote speaker was Brandon Lee, a San Fransisco-born Indigenous rights activist who was shot and badly wounded in the Philippines during a suspected assassination attempt by the U.S.-backed Philippine government. 

Lee stated, “There’s blood in your coffee,” as he described countless massacres of Filipino peasants by landlords, government security forces and others employed by corporations such as Nestlé. 

Afterwards, attendees heard a panel of five speakers representing nations oppressed by U.S. imperialism. This was followed by workshops on everything from climate imperialism to youth and women’s resistance on militarism, to constructing a militant labor movement.