The Next Four Years: Building Our Movements in Dangerous Times

 

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The Next Four Years: Building Our Movements in Dangerous Times

Conference Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Simmons College Boston			Keynote Address Bob Wing Social and racial justice organizer; Founder of Color Lines and War Times; Co-author of "Organizing on Shifting Terrain"
Issues Panel
Paul Robeson Ford Racial and social justice Union Baptist Church, Cambridge	Elena Letona Economic justice Neighbor to Neighbor	Emily Kirkland Climate justice 350 Massachusetts	Joseph Gerson Peace American Friends Service Committee	Mike Connolly Electoral & democracy organizing Attorney; State Representative-Elect
Movement Intersections Panel
Mariama White-Hammond Massachusetts Moral Revival	DiDi Delgado Movement for Black Lives	Jared Hicks Our Revolution Massachusetts	Special video greeting Bill McKibben Co-Founder, 350.org

With the election of Donald Trump, the peoples' movements and the political revolution will face enormous challenges in the next four years. We therefore call for a post-election conference on Saturday December 3 to identify and capitalize on all opportunities for organizing open to us in an increasingly undemocratic, hawkish and xenophobic environment. “The Next Four Years: Building Our Movements in Dangerous Times” will help us to frame our issues and public messaging, to forge a common vision, to increase greater integration of our movements, and to build an action plan that will inspire and motivate more and more people to get involved.

Bernie Sanders’ campaign ignited a widespread hope that our corrupted democracy, where money and power rule, could be taken back and transformed into a society based on the welfare of all. For many of us, it was the first time our values and needs were made front and center. We were elevated and inspired by a common agenda of fairness and justice.

The campaign has helped us remember our potential power if we mobvilize ourselves and encourage others to take part. The time is now for us to think strategically and to continue to expand the political revolution. We are now faced with an unprecedented threat from the far Right, which has captured the Republican Party, and now, the White House, Congress and soon, the Supreme Court.

Tentative Agenda
8:00	Registration, Coffee, Literature Tables Open
9:00	Welcome
9:30	Bob Wing - Keynote Address
10:30	Issues Panel
12:00	Workshops #1
1:15	Lunch
2:00	Movement Intersections Panel
3:15	Workshops #2
4:30	Reception

If we are to realize our hope for solidarity, cooperation, justice, security and a truly democratic society we will need to build a vibrant social movement of large numbers of people. Together we will confront the obstacles to building a society that values life over death: runaway economic inequality; climate catastrophe, and war, racism and violence, at home and abroad.

The pervasive inequality in the United States is the major driver of the inherently unjust pain and unfairness that afflicts our society in the early 21^stCentury. It is the root cause of a range of catastrophes, including a hollowed out democracy; climate change; environmental degradation; rampant militarism, foreign military interventions and wars. The strangling impact of racism is exacerbated by economic decline for large sectors of national minorities, especially African Americans and Native Americans. African American youth are unemployed, jailed, and often brutalized at frightening levels. As we have seen in the rash of recent murders at the hands of police, these consequences are often lethal for minority communities. These murders have triggered nationwide protests, which we support.

This economic decline has also strongly impacted large parts of the white working class, leading many to support the Bernie Sanders campaign, but moving large swaths of others into reactionary and dangerous directions. To be successful, we need to address these developments.

Increasing inequality is built into the model of economic development which characterizes the global economy that rules most of the world today, and in which the USA has long played a dominant role. A hallmark of this global economy is constant expansion built on a fossil fuel energy system, dominated by wealthy fossil fuel conglomerates. These (and other military, industrial, finance) corporations end up wielding vast political power that undercuts democracy in the USA and in other nations.

The continuation of this fossil fuel system guarantees devastating climate change, the signs of which are all around us. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has been called in to secure this global fossil fuel economy and US dominance over this and other sectors of global economic systems. The wars and war preparation carried out in service of this energy empire generates vast amounts of carbon emissions, making the US military the largest source of carbon emissions in the world. The Pentagon is joined at the hip to climate injustice and to the inequality built into the global economy. We cannot address climate change or the economic inequality without opposing US military interventions and the huge defense budget that funds this war-making.

Workshop Topics (Preliminary) Workshops #1  Healthy Planet/Climate Justice Economic Justice: Jobs, Education, Housing Social Justice: Racial, Criminal Justice, Health Care Peace, Peace Economy, Abolition of Nuclear Weapons Strengthening our Democracy, including electoral movement building Freedom Circle Inside/Outside: Connecting Electoral and Base Building Strategies Working with Congress Strategic Nonviolent Action How we Stopped the TPP Organizing 101 Workshops #2  Movement Intersections Dialogue Moral Revival Movement for Black Lives Our Revolution Freedom Circle Student / Youth Organizers Dialogue Immigrant Rights Islamophobia and Demonization Rise of the New Right Syria and Iraq war; US/Iran tensions

The crises that we have outlined above are inseparable and mutually reinforcing, requiring cooperation and collaboration among many diverse movements. They cannot be successfully addressed piecemeal. In order to build a truly just, secure and democratic society, we will need to build a strong grassroots movement that involves millions of new people.

We applaud the efforts of movement builders in the MOVEMENT FOR BLACK LIVES, in Bernie Sanders’ OUR REVOLUTION, Rev. Barber’s MORAL MONDAYS, and other promising efforts. We will give special importance to engaging young people and others who have been inspired by the vision of a political revolution for climate justice, good jobs at good pay, criminal justice reform, tuition-free college, campaign finance reform and housing and health care for all.

At this conference, we will make our contribution through the following steps:

1) Showcase and better integrate five campaigns that are linked, and fundamental, to an overall movement that addresses economic inequality, racial injustice, a society that is on a constant war-footing, and environmental degradation of the earth and all life. The five broad campaign areas are:

Healthy Planet/Climate Justice

Economic Justice: Jobs, Education, Housing

Social Justice: Racial, Criminal Justice, Immigrant Rights, Health Care

Peace, Peace Economy, Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

Strengthening our Democracy, including electoral movement building

2) Continue to develop a Massachusetts based movement infrastructure that allows us to act together strategically

3) Begin creating a bold common agenda that promises work, hope, dignity and real security to our families, and the possibility of handing a healthy planet on to our children

Please join us on December 3 at Simmons College in Boston!

Registration: General admission - $35 in advance, $40 at the door; Member of cosponsoring organization - $25 in advance, $30 at the door; student/low income - $10.   Registration fee includes lunch, morning coffee, and reception.  Register online here.  Or, make check payable to Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund, write "Next 4 Years" on the memo line, and mail to 11 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138.

Directions: Take the MBTA Green Line "E" train to MFA Station and walk 5 minutes on Ruggles St., or take the 47 bus.  Parking: Simmons parking garage, $18 for the day; take white ticket as you enter from Avenue Louis Pasteur, pick up yellow ticket at conference registration table, and pay with credit card at machine as you exit.

The conference will be livestreamed and video recorded.  Check this space for details.

Student Note-Takers are needed for workshops.  You will earn $30 per workshop and can register for free.   Sign up to be a Note-Taker

Organizations are invited to cosponsor the conference.  Cosponsors make a donation of $25-$100 depending on their ability to the conference (except organizations whose members are under 25, in which case no donation is expected). Cosponsors also commit to publicize the conference to their members and supporters. They can set up a literature table at the event, their members can attend for a reduced rate, their support will be acknowledged on conference materials, and they are invited to help in the planning process. Click here to cosponsor.

Sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund, American Friends Service Committee, and Progressive Democrats of America.

Cosponsors:  (list in formation)

350 Massachusetts
Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT)
Cambridge Residents Alliance
Class Action
Clean Water Action
Common Good Capitalism Movement
Community Change Inc
Democratic Socialists of America
Dorchester People for Peace
encuentro 5
Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility
Greenpeace Feisty Doves
Jewish Voice for Peace - Boston
Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants
Mass Jobs with Justice
Massachusetts Social Democrats
Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts
New England War Tax Resistance
No Fracked Gas in Mass
No TPP Boston
North Shore Coalition for Peace & Justice
Poor People's United Fund
Progressive Mass
Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network
United for Justice with Peace
Walpole Peace and Justice Group
Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment
We the People Massachusetts
Women's International League for Peace & Freedom - Boston Branch

Upcoming Events: 

Stand Out to mark UN's International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People	Tuesday, November 29, 2016 - 12:00pm	Downtown Crossing	Boston
The Next Four Years: Building Our Movements in Dangerous Times	Saturday, December 3, 2016 - 9:00am	Simmons College, Paresky Conference Center	Boston
Killer Drones: Our government's assassination program	Sunday, December 4, 2016 - 7:30pm	Elliott Church of Newton	Newton Corner
Sing-Along Fundraiser - #NoDAPL - Jan. 14, 2017 - save the date!	Saturday, January 14, 2017 - 7:00pm	Calvary United Methodist Church	Arlington

More Peace and Justice Events.    How to Submit Events
 

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