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[OPIRG-EVENTS] War Times
January 28, 2002
The pilot issue of WAR TIMES, a new biweekly newspaper opposing the "war on
terrorism," will roll off the press on February 14. (See the WAR TIMES
prospectus and new list of national endorsers below.) Featuring an
exclusive interview with Danny Glover and a letter to President Bush from
Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu, the premier of this bilingual,
free publication will be distributed in several dozen cities across the
country.
But we need your help to extend WAR TIMES' reach even further and lay a
durable foundation for long-term publication. Please join hundreds of other
activists across the country by contributing in one or more of the
following ways:
***Volunteer to distribute the pilot issue to your co-workers, friends,
classmates, family and/or members of your organization. Contact us at <
wartimes@attbi.com>, EBC/War Times, 1230 Market Street, PMB 409, San
Francisco, CA 94102, 510-869-5156, to let us know how many copies you would
like and make arrangements to get a bundle to you.
***Make a tax-deductible contribution by sending a check to EBC/War Times
at the address above, or sign up as a monthly sustainer with a pledge of
$10/month or more.
***Volunteer your writing, photographic, or drawing skills when WAR TIMES
goes into regular publication.
***Give us feedback on WAR TIMES' pilot issue so we can make changes and
improvements for the first regular issue.
***Pass this message on to others who want to see a regular, accessible and
hard-hitting anti-"war on terrorism" message reach hundreds of thousands of
people in every community, constituency and region of the country.
***If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, come to the big WAR TIMES
launch party, Saturday, Feb. 16, Noon- 4pm, Mandela Village/Youth
Empowerment Center, 1357 Fifth Street, West Oakland, to discuss and
strategize about the current "educational moment" and then fan out to
distribute thousands of copies of this free paper all across the northern
Ca lifornia (childcare provided but please RSVP; wheelchair accessible).
With your help, WAR TIMES can hit the ground with tremendous momentum and
make a difference at this perilous time for our country and the world. We
hope to hear from you.
Organizing Committee (organizations listed for identification purposes
only):
Jan Adams, former associate director, Applied Research Center Linda Burnham,
executive director, Women of Color Resource Center Jung Hee Choi, Women of
Color Resource Center Max Elbaum, former managing editor, CrossRoads
magazine Arnoldo Garcia, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Adam Gold, STORM Rebecca Gordon, Seminarians for Peace Felicia Gustin,
co-director, Speak Out Van Jones, national executive director, Ella Baker
Center for Human Rights Elizabeth (Betita) Martinez, director, Institute
for MultiRacial Justice Steve Williams, executive director, POWER Bob Wing,
former executive editor, ColorLines magazine
Partial List of Endorsers (organizations listed for identification purposes
only)
Karin Aguilar-San Juan, author and professor, Macalester College Michael
Albert, Z/Znet Michelle Alexander, ACLU of Northern California American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee, San Francisco Chapter Jane Bai, executive
director, CAAAV--Organizing Asian Communities Frances Beal, national
secretary, Black Radical Congress Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy
Studies Larry Bensky, KPFA Blase Bonpane, director, Office of the Americas
Paul Buhle, author and teacher, Brown University Douglas Calvin, executive
director, Youth Leadership Support Network Sue Chan, M.D., medical director,
Oakland Asian Health Services Pamela Chiang, environmental justice activist
Noam Chomsky, professor, MIT Kathleen Cleaver, co-director, Human Rights
Research Fund Chris Crass, writer and activist Joy Crocker, Church Women
United Hunter Cutting, executive director, We Interrupt This Message Malkia
Cyril, We Interrupt This Message Barbara Dane, musician Gary Delgado,
executive director, Applied Research Center Antonio Diaz, executive
director, PODER Junot Diaz, writer Kim Diehl, co-director, Southerners on
New Ground Hari Dillon, president, Vanguard Foundation Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz,
author and professor of women's and ethnic studies Louise Dunlap, Writing
for Social Change James Early, board chair, Institute for Policy Studies
Michael Eisenscher, Labor Committee for Peace and Justice Kim Fellner,
executive director, National Organizers Alliance Bob Forsberg, editor,
Sequoia Interreligious Newsmagazine Frances Fox-Piven, author and professor,
CUNY Graduate School Joseph Gerson, organizer and educator Fred Goff, Data
Center Chester Hartman, executive director, Poverty & Race Research Action
Council Francisco Herrera, cultural worker, Caminante Phil Hutchings, racial
justice activist James Jennings, author and teacher, Tufts University
Joo-Hyun Kang, executive director, The Audre Lorde Project Pam Kelly,
director, Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community Hany
Khalil, New York labor and community organizer Mel King, activist Yuri
Kochiyama, activist Chris Kromm, director, Institute for Southern Studies
Winona LaDuke, Indigenous Women's Network Nomy Lamm, queer writer/performer
Gerald Lenoir, board member, HIV Education and Prevention Project of
Alameda County Julie Light, managing editor, CorpWatch Yolanda Lopez, visual
artist Miriam Ching Yoon Louie, activist and author of Sweatshop Warriors
Ying Lee, Peoples Non-Violent Response Coalition Brutha Los,
artist/educator, Company of Prophets Barbara Lubin, executive director,
Middle East Childrens Alliance Eric Mann, executive director, Labor
Community Strategy Center Esperanza Martell, ProLibertad Sharon Martinas,
Challenging White Supremacy Workshops Stephen McNeil, American Friends
Service Committee Sara Mersha, executive director, Direct Action for Rights
and Equality Juana Alicia Montoya, artist Richard Moore, executive
director, Southwest Network for Economic and Environmental Justice Cherrie
Moraga, author Iris Morales, educator and filmmaker Nancy Nadel, Oakland
city councilperson Gus Newport, former mayor of Berkeley Peter Olney,
Institute for Labor and Employment Samuel Orozco, Radio Bilingue Richie
Perez, Justice Committee/National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights Eric
Quezada, SF Mission District organizer Colin Rajah, executive director, Just
Act Adrienne Rich, poet Bruce Richard, vice president, 1199 SEIU Wilson
Riles, former city councilperson and progressive Oakland mayoral candidate
Luz Rodriguez, co-director, Center to Support Immigrant Organizing David
Roediger, labor historian Loretta Ross, executive director, National Center
for Human Rights Education Seminarians for Peace Irwin Silber, writer
Andrea Smith, Incite! Women of Color Against Violence Abdi Soltani,
executive director, Californians for Justice Dona Spring, Berkeley city
councilperson Students for Justice in Palestine Julia Sudbury, ethnic
studies chair, Mills College Judy Talaugon, Chumash/Cebuano, Atajes Art &
Cultural Resources Makani Themba-Nixon, The Praxis Project Anthony Thigpenn,
Strategy Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education Mark Toney, executive
director, Center for Third World Organizing Walter Turner, board president,
Global Exchange Karen Wald, journalist Tim Wise, anti-racism activist and
writer Helen Zia, writer and co-author of Wen Ho Lee's story Howard Zinn,
historian and author of A People's History of the United States
***************************************************************
Prospectus
WAR TIMES A New, Biweekly Newspaper Opposing the "War on Terrorism"
The terrorist attacks of September 11 marked the beginning of a new and
frightening period in our history. Thousands of people died that day, and
their families along with the country as a whole are still struggling to
recover. But President Bush's response of "permanent war against terrorism
at home and abroad" has further endangered the lives and liberties of
millions of people everywhere.
The world's most powerful nation has mercilessly bombed Afghanistan and is
installing a neo-colonial government of its own choosing, although that
country has never attacked the U.S. Millions of Afghans have been displaced
and face starvation this winter. The administration has also green-lighted
massive Israeli assaults on Palestine, and it threatens to attack Iraq,
Lebanon, Somalia, and other countries. The agenda seems clear: to remake
the world in the rightwing image with little regard for human consequences.
At home, we are seeing a wholesale attack on constitutionally guaranteed
civil liberties, especially those of immigrants and other people of color.
The administration has institutionalized racial profiling and is secretly
rounding up thousands of Arab Americans and other people of Middle Eastern
background. At the same time, it is giving billions to the military,
offering huge bailouts and tax incentives to corporations and the wealthy
while ignoring the hundreds of thousands of laid off workers, and cutting
social services. All in all, we face a second, different kind of war, a
domestic war, in which longstanding racism and inequity are multiplying.
Both form part of a long-range strategy to turn the clock back on past
gains and consolidate U.S. global domination.
Peace, safety, and justice at home are more than ever linked to peace and
justice abroad. To end the "permanent war," we need to build a mass
movement against U.S. interventions abroad and link to it the struggles for
social justice. The security and livelihood of people across the globe
depend on success in this fight.
AN EDUCATIONAL MOMENT
Such a movement must be constructed step-by-step. After initial emergency
actions in the wake of the first bombing of Afghanistan, we are all
struggling to strategize how to build the movement, how to dig in for the
long haul yet still prepare for emergencies. We are becoming aware of the
twists and turns that this war may take, and trying to come up with
successful responses.
The majority of people in the U.S. appear to back the "war on terrorism" at
this time. There is some opposition to some of the most extreme domestic
measures, especially the military tribunals. Pro-war sentiment among
African Americans is known to be less than solid. But overall Bush has won
support and is currently eyeing new targets.
The mainstream media in the U.S. have largely capitulated to the war drive,
filtering their presentation of the news through "patriotism." Important
stories and information are ignored, buried, or presented in a pro-war
context. Some of the progressive press is doing a heroic job, especially
over the Internet, but little of it is geared for outreach to new
audiences.
On the positive side, pockets of opposition have appeared across the
country. There are signs of discontent over the economic effects of
intensified militarism which are hurting a wide range of people here, from
airport workers to students. And there are unusual openings for
progressives to join the public discussion of U.S. foreign and national
policy. This is an "educational moment," and the proposed new publication
is aimed at maximizing our ability to take advantage of it.
THE NEW PUBLICATION: A Voice of and for the Movement
To broaden and deepen the fight against the Bush program requires compiling
information and analysis, and putting them into the hands of large numbers
of readers. To help meet this challenge, we propose the publication of a
free, mass produced, biweekly, and nationally distributed tabloid-sized
newspaper. It will be a valuable outreach and education tool for organizers
on the ground and an entryway for new people into the peace and justice
movement. It will complement existing publications and be backed by a
modest Internet operation that would introduce people to the already
developed anti-war Web presence.
Content: War Times will present a view of the world that makes opposition
to Bush's program urgent, vivid, and logical. To do so, it will be designed
with an artistic sense, using photos, cartoons, and other graphic elements
throughout. Overall, it must be popular, attractive, have flair, and
utilize humor and poetry as well as information and analysis. It will be
bilingual at least in part, beginning with Spanish.
War Times is intended to track the development of the war at home and
abroad, spotlighting the dire consequences of Bush's program for human
beings and the earth. It will provide backgrounders, facts, and clear,
readable analysis. It will report on the work of the developing peace and
justice movement as well as anti-racist struggles, thus providing an
important representation of the possibility, vitality, and importance of
opposition. Articles will be based on reliable and widely accepted
information sources, both domestic and international.
Audience: Its audience will be those most open to criticism of the
government's actions but not yet part of the movement against Bush's
program of "permanent war." Currently this includes many peoples of color,
students, women, and religious folk. War Times will work to reach more
workers and labor movement people. It will change and grow over time, and
link up with new communities. At the same time, the publication will keep
the anti-war movement itself abreast of new developments, including news
about movement activities around the country.
Distribution: The newspaper will be free so that it can be widely
distributed through drops, by organizations and individuals, and by bundle
agents. The lead site for the project will be Northern California, but it
will be distributed nationally. A pilot issue, scheduled to be published in
February, will be used to launch the base for distribution as well as to
build support.
Finances: We estimate the first year's budget as just over $500,000 for a
biweekly publication. We will seek foundation funding but expect most of
the money to come from individuals and organizations.
YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED
The project is in its early stages and needs input at every level. To date,
we have formed a talented, multi-racial and multi-generational group in the
Bay Area to organize the project. We have received input from different
people and have some initial fundraising commitments. We will publish a
pilot issue by February 15 and use it to begin building a huge distribution
system and to organize financial support.
To give us your feedback, volunteer your assistance, make a tax deductible
donation (check to EBC/War Times) or for more information, contact us at
<wartimes@attbi.com>, EBC/War Times, 1230 Market Street, PMB 409, San
Francisco, CA 94102, 510-869-5156.
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