AFSC, 65 Ninth St., San Francisco
Notes of the Bay Area United for Peace and Justice meeting, Jan. 21,
2009, at AFSC, 65 Ninth St., San Francisco (notes by Marilyn)
Next meeting: Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. at AFSC, 65 Ninth St., San
Francisco.
Participating: Sandra Schwarz, Elizabeth Boardman, Mary Ellen Solin,
AFSC; Siri Margerin, Bay Area UFPJ; Betty Brown, East Bay Peace Action;
Kathy Lipscomb and Michael Eisenscher, Labor for Peace & Justice;
Michael Reagan, Direct Action to Stop the War; Marilyn Bechtel,
Communist Party; Dolores Perez, Iraq Moratorium; Edward Simpson,
software developer; Barry Hermanson, Green Party.
March 19 actions:
The UFPJ National Assembly called for widespread local actions to mark
the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war on Thursday, March 19, as part of
the overall “Yes We Can – End the War” project, connecting the war and
the economic crisis. Siri outlined a proposal to use the BART system as
a connector for actions by different groups stressing various issues,
starting with the four downtown San Francisco stations, with a unifying
“unhappy birthday” theme.
Discussion included the following ideas/proposals:
Activities should emphasize the relation between total military spending
and domestic spending. The overall concept, “defund the war, refund our
communities” could be expressed graphically from the standpoint of
immigrant rights activists, educators, health care activists,
anti-violence activists and others.
Creative approaches to actions could include street theater, art, music
… and people could be given a flier asking them to call/e-mail the
White House, etc. An overall press release could feature information on
how military spending affects our communities, and list which groups are
representing which issues, at which BART/train stations.
Possible meetings on March 19 to bring everyone together were mentioned,
including one or more evening town hall meetings in different Bay Area
locations, or a midday speakout at a prominent San Francisco location.
To prepare for the Feb. 11 meeting, a number of organizations will be
invited to help plan and to participate in the March 19 actions.
Participants in tonight’s meeting volunteered to contact organizations.
