October 2011 Movement: Open Letter and Press Release

NEWS JUNKIE POST

Jun 21, 2011 at 3:11 pm

To Global Allies: American Empire An Obstacle to Peace and Justice at Home and Abroad

October 2011 Movement Commits to Occupying Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., to End U.S. War and Exploitation

Today, the October 2011 Movement, a fusion of peace, social justice, environmental, student, and immigrant rights organizations, published an open letter of solidarity with allies in nonviolent uprisings around the world. The coalition wrote, “We recognize that your revolution is our revolution, that American Empire prevents you from achieving self-determination and economic justice, and that only together can we achieve our shared goals.” The full open letter is below.

The October 2011 Movement announced the action, “Stop The Machine: Create a New World,” in a Call to Action and column History Is Knocking two weeks ago. Since that time more than 1,300 people have signed a pledge to be in Washington, D.C., beginning on October 6 to occupy Freedom Plaza “with the intention of making it our Tahrir Square, Cairo, our Madison, Wisconsin, where we will NONVIOLENTLY resist the corporate machine until our resources are invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation.”

Leading figures from a wide range of communities have stepped up to join the call. Among them are noted African-American scholar and activist Cornel West; Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC ) President Baldemar Velasquez; Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent and author Chris Hedges; single-payer health-care advocates David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler; noted environmentalists Derrick Jensen and Harvey Wasserman; and antiwar leader Ret. Col. Ann Wright, along with numerous other prominent peace activists. October 2011 intends to bring together Americans concerned with economic injustice, militarism, and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy.

OPEN LETTER

THE U.S. OCTOBER 2011 MOVEMENT STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR GLOBAL ALLIES

Inspired by the courageous, nonviolent uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Greece, Spain, and elsewhere, people in the United States have come together to form the October2011 Movement. This fusion of peace, social justice, environmental, student, and immigrant rights organizations is in solidarity with all who seek a peaceful, just, and sustainable future and stands ready to engage in its own campaign of nonviolent resistance beginning in Washington, D.C., this October. We recognize that your revolution is our revolution, that American Empire prevents you from achieving self-determination and economic justice, and that only together can we achieve our shared goals.

October marks the beginning of the11th year of the U.S. invasion and destruction of Afghanistan. It marks the beginning of yet another federal budget that delivers unlimited funds for war and corporate interests while putting in place an austerity budget for services that meet human and environmental needs. But this October will mark the beginning of something else in the United States—a moment when we will unite to demand an end to a system that puts profits and warfare over the welfare of people and the environment.

The response to our call, which is but one week old, has been tremendous. Already more than one thousand have pledged to join this resistance action in Freedom Square and that number is growing rapidly. Leading figures from a wide range of communities have stepped up to join the call. Among them are noted African-American scholar and activist Cornel West; Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC ) President Baldemar Velasquez; Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent and author Chris Hedges; single-payer health-care advocates David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler; noted environmentalists Derrick Jensen and Harvey Wasserman; and antiwar leader Ret. Col. Ann Wright, along with numerous other prominent peace activists. You can see more of the people who signed up by visiting www.October2011.org.

History is knocking on the door of the United States and its people are ready. As the crises in our communities and around the world grow, so must our response. We can no longer abide the outrageous and growing wealth inequality in this country. We cannot accept a government “of, by, and for” the corporations. We cannot remain silent while our leaders continue to exploit and slaughter people in distant lands or while millions of us have no access to health care. A majority of Americans want the wars to end. We want investment in jobs, education, and environmental protection. We want banks to invest for our future, not for their executives’ pocketbooks. We want laws that are just, lawmakers who obey them, and the power to hold them accountable when they do not. For that, we need a judiciary biased toward justice, not the partisan powers and big business interests they serve.

In the United States the people have little voice in the process of governance, as elected officials and institutions have been corrupted by concentrated corporate interests that have bought and paid for them. The people have no control over their own lives and the direction of their own communities. The brave who speak out for justice are often ignored, harassed, or imprisoned. Unified resistance has become the essential avenue for change.

Our time has come. We pledge to stand together in nonviolent resistance to corporate greed, government corruption, violence and injustice. We must follow our brave brothers and sisters of the Arab Spring and developing European Summer into an Autumn of an American awakening. With our bodies united in resistance and our voices coalesced into one sustained cry for justice, we can and must Stop the Machine and Create a New World!

It is very difficult for us to get honest information about democracy movements around the world from the U.S. corporate-controlled media. Please visit our website at www.October2011.org and keep us informed of your actions. We have called our action “Stop the Machine! Create a New World!” Together we will end concentrated corporatism and create a peaceful, just, and sustainable future that respects all of humanity and the planet.