In Honor Of May Day 2014-From The American Left History Blog Archives -From The May Day 2012 Organizing Archives –May Day 2013 Needs The Same Efforts Why You, Your Union, Or Your Community Organization Needs To Join The May Day 2012 General Strike In Boston-Stand Up!-Fight Back!

Last fall there were waves of politically-motivated repressive police attacks on, and evictions of, various Occupy camp sites throughout the country including where the movement started in Zucotti (Liberty) Park. But even before the evictions and repression escalated, questions were being asked: what is the way forward for the movement? And, from friend and foe alike, the ubiquitous what do we want. We have seen since then glimpses of organizing and action that are leading the way for the rest of us to follow: the Oakland General Strike on November 2^nd, the West Coast Port Shutdown actions of December 12^th, Occupy Foreclosures, and other actions including, most recently, renewed support for the struggles of the hard-pressed longshoremen in Longview, Washington. These actions show that, fundamentally, all of the strategic questions revolve around the question of power. The power, put simply, of the 99% vs. the power of the 1%.

Although the 99% holds enormous power -all wealth is generated, and the

current society is built and maintained through, the collective labor

(paid and unpaid) of the 99%-, we seldom exercise this vast collective power in our own interests. Too often, abetted and egged on by the 1%, we fruitlessly fight among ourselves driven by racism, patriarchy, xenophobia, occupational elitism, geographical prejudice, heterosexism, and other forms of division, oppression and prejudice.

This consciously debilitating strategy on its part is necessary, along with its control of politics, the courts, the prisons, the cops, and the military in order for the 1% to maintain control over side without worrying for a minute about their power and wealth. Their ill-gotten power is only assured by us, actively or passively, working against ourselves. Moreover many of us are not today fully aware of, nor organized to utilize, the vast collective power we have. The result is that many of us - people of color, women, GLBTQ, immigrants, those with less formal educational credentials, those in less socially respected occupations or unemployed, the homeless, and the just plain desperate- deal with double and triple forms of oppression and societal prejudice.

Currently the state of the economy has hit all of us hard, although as usual the less able to face the effects are hit the hardest like racial minorities, the elderly, the homeless and those down on their luck due to prolonged un and under- employment. In short, there are too many people out of work; wage rates have has barely kept up with rising costs or gone backwards to near historic post-World War II lows in real time terms; social services like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security have continued to be cut; our influence on the broken, broken for us, government has eroded; and our civil liberties have been seemingly daily attacked en masse. These trends have has been going on while the elites of this country, and of the world, have captured an increasing share of wealth; have had in essence a tax holiday for the past few decades; have viciously attacked our organizations of popular defense such as our public and private unions and community organizations; and have increase their power over us through manipulating their political system even more in their favor than previously.

The way forward, as we can demonstrate by building for the May Day actions, must involve showing our popular power against that of the entrenched elite. But the form of our power, reflecting our different concepts of governing, must be different from the elite’s. Where they have created powerful capital profit driven top down organizations in order to dominate, control, exploit and oppress we must build and exercise bottom-up power in order to cooperate, liberate and collectively empower each other. We need to organize ourselves collectively and apart from these top down power relationships in our communities, schools and workplaces to fight for our interests. This must include a forthright rejection of their attempts, honed after long use, to divide and conquer in order to rule us. A rejection of racism, patriarchy, xenophobia, elitism and other forms of oppression, and, importantly, a rejection of attempts by their electoral parties, mainly the Democrats and Republicans but others as well, powerful special interest groups, and others to co-opt and control our movement.

The Occupy freedom of assembly-driven encampments initially built the mass movement and brought a global spotlight to the bedrock economic and social concerns of the 99%. They inspired many of us, including those most oppressed, provided a sense of hope and solidarity with our fellow citizens and the international 99%, and brought the question of economic justice and the problems of inequality and political voiceless-ness grudgingly back into mainstream political conversation. Moreover they highlighted the need for the creation of cultures, societies and institutions of direct democracy based on "power with"- not "power over"- each other; served as convivial spaces for sharing ideas and planning action; and in some camps, they even provided a temporary space for those who needed a home. Last fall the camp occupations served a fundamental role in the movement, but it is now time to move beyond the camp mentality and use our energies to struggle to start an offensive against the power of the 1%. On our terms.

Show Power

We demand:

*Hands Off Our Public Worker Unions! Hands Off All Our Unions!

* Put the unemployed to work! Billions for public works projects to fix America’s broken infrastructure (bridges, roads, sewer and water systems, etc.)!

*End the endless wars!

* Full citizenship rights for all those who made it here no matter how they got here!

* A drastic increase in the minimum wage and big wage increases for all workers!

* A moratorium on home foreclosures! No evictions!

* A moratorium on student loan debt! Free, quality higher education for all! Create 100, 200, many publicly-supported Harvards!

*No increases in public transportation fares! No transportation worker lay-offs! Free public transportation!

To order to flex our collective bottom up power on May 1, 2012 we will be organizinga wide-ranging series of mass collective participatory actions:

*We will be organizing within our unions- or informal workplace organizations where
there is no union - a one-day general strike.

*We will be organizing where a strike is not possible to call in sick, or take a personal day, as part of a coordinated “sick-out.”

*We will be organizing students to walk-out of their schools (or not show up in the first place), set up campus picket lines, or to rally at a central location, probably Boston Common.

*We will be calling in our communities for a mass consumer boycott, and with local business support where possible, refuse to make purchases on that day.

These actions, given the ravages of the capitalist economic system on individual lives, the continuing feelings of hopelessness felt by many, the newness of many of us to collective action, and the slender ties to past class and social struggles will, in many places, necessarily be a symbolic show of power. But let us take it as a wakeup call by a risen people.

And perhaps just as important as this year’s May Day itself , the massive organizing and outreach efforts in the months leading up to May 1st will allow us the opportunity to talk to our co-workers, families, neighbors, communities, and friends about the issues confronting us, the source of our power, the need for us to stand up to the attacks we are facing, the need to confront the various oppressions that keep most of us down in one way or another and keep all of us divided, and the need for us to stand in solidarity with each other in order to fight for our collective interests. In short, as one of the street slogans of movement says–“they say cut back, we say fight back.” We can build our collective consciousness, capacity, and confidence through this process; and come out stronger because of it.

Watch this website and other social media sites for further specific details of events and actions.

All out in Boston on May Day 2012.

The Latest From The Cindy Sheehan Blog

http://www.cindysheehanssoapbox.com/

A link to Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox blog for the latest from her site.

Markin comment:
I find Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox rather a mishmash of eclectic politics and basic old time left-liberal/radical thinking. Not enough, not nearly enough, in our troubled times but enough to take the time to read about and get a sense of the pulse (if any) of that segment of the left to which she is appealing. One though should always remember, despite our political differences, her heroic action in going down to hell-hole Texas to confront one President George W. Bush in 2005 when many others were resigned to accepting the lies of that administration or who “folded” their tents when the expected end to the Iraq War did not materialize. Hats off on that one, Cindy Sheehan.
*************

 

Additional Markin comment:
I place some material in this space which may be of interest to the radical public that I do not necessarily agree with or support. Off hand, as I have mentioned before, I think it would be easier, infinitely easier, to fight for the socialist revolution straight up than some of the “remedies” provided by the commentators in these entries. But part of that struggle for the socialist revolution is to sort out the “real” stuff from the fluff as we struggle for that more just world that animates our efforts.
********

Open Letter to Marxist Youth in 2014 (Guest Blog by Stephen Wallace)

In the interest of intellectual freedom and open discussion, Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox accepts guest blogs. The views expressed here don't necessarily or completely reflect those of Cindy Sheehan or Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox.

I thought it would be useful, perhaps most important, to write this letter to the radical youth today who would categorize themselves as “Marxists.” As to why it is important, it is because the term is subject to ridicule by those in positions of power, and as to why it is important for us to consider today, as anti-capitalists, perhaps it is because it has an attraction, a vanity, a romance to it. I am writing this to address with sincerity those who will insist, as I have insisted in the past, perhaps reflexively, or with a reactionary force, that “Marx was Right.” It would be foolish to deny Marx’s contributions to our understanding of the world. Any commentator denying his importance should be considered a political illiterate. However, if our aim is, as Marx once said, “not only to understand the world, but to change it,” it becomes a part of our task to question the philosophical doctrines that inhibit our way to progress. For the sake of that progress, we should consider whether or not the doctrine of Marxism has become an obstacle in our way forward. With internal contradictions between its advocates, and those contradictions strong enough to be considered opposing forces, the usefulness of the term for us comes into question. With this in mind, I think, the disposal of the doctrine of Marxism is necessary. Today, we need new language.

Important to note that this is coming from someone who would consider himself “anti-capitalist” by principle, and politically radical, in favor, like the Marxists, of a fundamental transformation of our institutions and the way they function. State capitalism has failed us, and we are left, as the youth and anyone in serious contemplation of the politic today, to search for, or create viable alternative systems. The political left and right, here, seemingly diverge on a surface level: radical left considerations on the one hand, and libertarian conservative branches of thought on the other. Those who would subscribe to the American strain of libertarianism have in mind certain economic models that in their view challenge power - that is, an economy in which the government plays no part at all. The American libertarian will insist on a free-market, with no constraints by the State. It is my opinion that the advocates of this line of thinking are mislead.

It has a tempting allure for some, because they insist they are challenging a system of power - that private institutions, having cut themselves loose from government and public regulations are striving toward an ideal in the freedom of choice. Money is the determinant of survival, then, and the survival of the fittest institutions will play a part in moving forward, making progress away from the mediocrity and mundanity that insufficient government spending produces.

As a Marxist, you will accept that this is an immoral outrage, of course. The private institution has an undemocratic character as rigid and perhaps more-so, than that of the state. We play no role in electing CEO’s, managers, and have no role in formation of the policies of those private institutions that make up the conduct of working life - wages, sick leave; overall treatment of employees is deferred to an authority that is pure tyranny.  Here, it is actually the State that plays a role in alleviation of such harsh conditions.  The State’s assistance monetarily, as in food stamp programs, social security and Medicare are a few small examples of the benefit of the State - the increase in life quality provided by those services is not to be taken for granted. And, there’s progress within that domain. We might think of Vermont’s promise here, to bring about Universal Healthcare by the year 2017, or, the promise to raise the minimum wage in Maryland to $10.10 an hour by the year 2018. These are things that expand the freedom and possibilities within American working life considerably, and these incremental changes are indeed something to consider.

Rosa Luxemburg, as a Marxist intellectual, as a revolutionary socialist exercising integrity - would remain true to the need for spiritual and social transformation beyond these reforms. That is, that moderate reforms like this are necessary insofar as they enable the population to further the ultimate goal: Revolution, the end to profit motive, the end to oppressive economic ways of life.

Here, I am hopeful we will not be dogmatic in abandoning our efforts for reforms: education, health care, shelter, food, clothing - things of necessity are able to be provided by a functioning state, based on the principles in the human rights dialogue, and the careful construction of social and public institutions. It would only be harmful to our efforts to say that an action performed by the State is inherently malicious, especially if the demand comes directly from the population. Advocates of moderate reforms should be considered allies to our cause, and alienating them would be unwise. It is about helping people, it is about something that makes a better quality of life for people we know and do not know. It addresses suffering, then.

The importance of reform and necessity of social revolution opens up to a bigger question about the ways to proceed in terms of dialogue. The use of the term Marxist, and our allegiance to that term comes into question. The debate of the last century seems to have been over - the programs of Lenin and Stalin - were they faithful to Marx, or sick perversions? We might think of Trotsky, or, others who will cite the Russian Revolution as a faithful realization of Marx, that the socialist revolution was carried out in good faith, that Karl Marx was vindicated. Or, perhaps those who are honest about the disaster of yester-year - the killings and genocide in the name of Marx, (like a crusade in the name of God) were horrible enough to hold him responsible for that - Maoist doctrine, Pol Pot, and others.

We could look at the system of American media as well, and the functions of anti-communism and anti-marxism, the distortions of history, the covering of our own atrocities and demonization of the term, the ideas of Marx - his life and work left in shambles. One could think back to the media’s labelling of candidate Obama’s mislabelling as a socialist. In turn, his policies, which have actually perpetuated the problems of State-Capitalism, have been labelled as socialist programs, and thus, their failures are attributed to a socialist agenda. The insistence, then, is that Marx is dead, again and again and again.

And it is worthy of consideration, that he is most certainly not: The accumulation of wealth leading to an horrendously impoverished conditions, the concentration of capital leading to a tragically corrupt state that serves the private interest, the profit-motive as a destructive mode of thought, as a mismeasurement of the value of someone’s time, their labor, their body and soul.

There is so much he was correct about, and it is tempting to wrap ourselves in the red and black flags. To scream that Marx was right, and that an impulsivity, an urgency for the social upheaval will need to take place. It is true, it is true, he was right, we swear by His name!

But I am asking for a moment, here. Marx’s concern about the alienation of labor and the isolation of ourselves from our work will here inform us. It is worthy to note, that he did not call himself a Marxist, for the conflict of reform and revolution did not exist - his lifelong colleague Fredrick Engels quoted Marx in a letter to Eduard Bernstein, dated August 5th, 1890:

The materialist conception of history has a lot of them nowadays, to whom it serves as an excuse for not studying history. Just as Marx used to say, commenting on the French "Marxists" of the late [18]70s: "All I know is that I am not a Marxist."

And with this in mind, it is worthy of consideration that the term, the doctrine of Marxism may be inhibiting our way to progress, and certainly, pushing social revolution into a realm of impossibility, away from serious discussion in the domain of the general public. The doctrine of Marxism has imprisoned the hope for the upheaval it longs for.

Marx is alive, and with us. But Marxism, as a semi-philosophical doctrine, as a political entity, should die if we are ever to see any hope of a serious revolution.

As you will hopefully learn, my friend, in engaging political activity, the revolution is a process, not an event - it requires specific knowledge in some cases - policy, law, a relationship between the disowned of the society, and the captains of the society, a patience beyond all measure, a surrender, reluctantly, of our utopian dreams, for this life. A knowledge that those dreams belong to our children, but that the responsibility for building it belongs to us, because we love them.

It requires work, in the domains of the intellectual and direct alike, to know what will help people. The irony is considerable, those who are driven to identify as Marxists alienate themselves from the work that needs to be done. There is a dying planet, and many real issues to work on: environmental, health care, poverty, the dying intellectual culture, the debt machines in education.

The critics of Marxism will often use the term “dogmatic.” And, I think that is correct. We are wrong to engage in circular arguments about whether or not Marx was right, about whether or not the societies which existed were true to his doctrine. This is academic and pedantic. It is something that will continue to isolate us, and that is certainly not revolutionary.

More important than justifying Marx is justifying the dreams for a better life, which we all share.

He is not a savior, he is not a leader, though his ghost marches beside us, as an equal, in our struggle. Work is to be done, specific knowledge will be required to carry the revolutionary process forward.

Abandon dogmatism for the sake of the revolution. There, we will find all colors; not just red, but a dazzling array of all colors and philosophies. Real work is being done, everywhere. It would be a nightmare for Karl, if we continued to bicker while the suffering of real people continued. It would make him happy - if the goal is indeed to understand the world honestly, and to change it, and liberate it from oppressive elements - to know that even if his name was not in our lives, the work of bettering the world, in authentic concern and sincerity were to continue, with or without his name attached.

"Stephen Wallace is a musician and autodidact from Calvert County, Maryland. He is currently an organizer and freelance writer. He writes on radical politics, human rights, and the history of ideas." 

The Past and Future of Drones in the US (guest blog)

FROM:

CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEGREE HUB

Source: CriminalJusticeDegreeHub.com

5 Days for the Cuban 5 (SOAPBOX PODCAST: MAY 25, 2014)

 

Free The Last Of The Cuban Five

 

Sunday, May 25, 2014

5 Days for the Cuban 5 (SOAPBOX PODCAST: MAY 25, 2014)

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

May 25, 2014

5 Days for the Cuban 5

WashedUp, DeCeit

June 5th-11th

TOPIC: CUBAN 5

GUEST: ALICIA JRAPKO

Alicia is the US Coordinator for the International

Campaign to Free the Cuban 5.

Cindy and Alicia Chat about the case, cause, and the

upcoming mobilization in DC.

5 DAYS FOR THE CUBAN 5

Alicia Visits Gerardo Hernanzez in Prison

***Holden Caulfield Is Me And You- J.D. Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye-Take Two

 

Book Review

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman

Catcher In The Rye, J. D. Salinger, Little Brown and Company, New York, 1945, 1991   

Yeah, I know, you and I were the only ones who ever suffered the horrors of growing up absurd in America-name your generation. Whether it was my generation, the angst-filled generation of ’68 that tried, tried like hell to seek a newer world and got our fingers burned for the efforts, efforts that faded as the decade passed and many got tired and weary of rolling that Promethean rock up the mountain, or the millennium just struggling to get out of the damn house and being able to fly on ones’ own. Yeah, whatever battle –scarred generation we, you and I, were the only ones who suffered the pangs of teen angst and alienation like it didn’t come with the territory of being a teenager ever since they invented the category back a hundred plus years ago. Hell maybe going back to Adams and Eve, or before, but you’ll have to ask Cain and Abel about that. Yeah, like every kid didn’t balk at the prospects in front of him or her in facing a society that they did not create, and had no say in creating. Just keep your head down and your eyes ahead, or else.

Personally for a long time I believed that my generation, that now hoary and aged generation of ’68, like I said the ones who made a lot of noise for a time about turning the world upside down and who today they make nostalgia films about, was the only generation that faced the grinding. Then I started talking to younger people about what had been on their minds back in their youths and, not so strangely, we could have copied each other scripts with the exception of specifics derived from generational differences. The real show-stopper though occurred one day when I was driving along to some medical appointment and listening to a talk show on NPR that was discussing the impact of J. D. Salinger’s book, the book under review, The Catcher In The Rye, on various generations. One caller, a millennial, took a couple of moments to describe his angst-filled youth and the book. Jesus, the kid, this working-class kid, described my own traumas growing up the 1950s: the eternal struggle to get out from under “know-nothing” parents; the confusion about identity, including sexual identity; the need to fit in, fit in where the others kids laughed at you and your raggedy ways; the eternal struggle to figure out girls and what they wanted (today in a more generous time just fill in the relationship struggle you are trying to figure out). Jesus.

Strange as it may seem now some of us from my time for a time made Holden Caulfield, the central figure in the book and the one who is at his wit’s end trying to figure out his world that he had not created, and had no say in creating, our literary hero, the kid who “spoke” to us in our coming of age time. That is Holden held us in thrall until we, having come of age in the early 1960s, “discovered” Sal and Dean in Jack Kerouac’s On The Road and began to listen to our own beat, to understand being beaten down, beaten around but also blessed beat. But before that sea-change Holden held forth in many minds. We would even, a schoolboy friend of mine and me, if you can believe this, while we sat out in the steamy, sultry summer night on the front steps of our old high school with no money and no prospects, ask each other what Holden would do in any given situation that preoccupied us at the moment.

While there were many elements of Holden’s personality that might not ring true, or be off-putting, for any individual then (or today) like his put-downs of some of his schoolmates, his penchant for rationalizing everything to his benefit, and his snobbishness with the hired help (from elevator operators to cabbies), collectively his plight resonated. Problems of sexual identity (including homosexual yearnings not fully articulated in writings and books in the immediate post-World War II period), of intellectual identity (seemingly as a prototype for the later beat and hippie generations, of a hipster drop-out from the academy with his feeling hemmed in by institutionalized learning but with a great love of books), of class, of falseness and perversity, of the clash of household generations (ah, parents and grandparents), of fighting against a system stacked up against the young, of personal depression, they are all there. As well as are some less savory traits, a certain elitism, a certain distain of the masses, and of women, well girls really, and lots of mannerisms like having a negative spin on almost everything that one would hope he will grow out of soon.  Attributes which easy to say now but which we found, my friend and I, well, cool.              

The story line of the book is fairly simple for all the complex issues that arise in young Holden’s life in a Jetstream torrent - a couple of tough winter days in the life of a well-off New York teenager whose problem at the moment was to hide the fact, postpone really, that once again he had been kicked out of a school for, ah, “not applying himself (sound familiar).” The momentary solution to that situation which sounded reasonable to anybody who actually had been a troubled teenager was to say the hell with it and do a junior version of wine, women and song. Except, at least on the surface, our man Holden takes no pleasure in that-carping against everything not nailed down, fellow classmates, teachers, past and present, cab drivers, elevator operators, whores, dicey girlfriends. Everything. By the end it is an open book whether he will be a CEO of a major corporation or wind up on skid row. While some of the stream-of-consciousness devise used by Salinger to make his point about the modern teen condition is a little over the top, at least on my recent re-re-reading this is a great American literary work of art from one of the best of the “non-beat” New York writers hanging around in the post- World War II period. Read the book, read the book more than once like I did.

 

 

 

While there were many elements of Holden’s personality that might not ring true for any individual collectively his plight resonated. Problems of sexual identity, of intellectual identity, of class, of falseness and perversity, of the clash of household generations, of fighting against a system stacked up against the young, of personal depression, they are all there. As well as some less savory traits, a certain elitism, a certain distain of the masses, and of women, well girls really, and lots of mannerisms like having a negative on almost everything that one would hope he will grow out of.             

The story line here is fairly simple- a couple of tough winter days in the life of a well-off New York teenager whose problem at the moment was to hide the fact, postpone really, that once again he had been kicked out of a school for, ah, “not applying himself (sound familiar). The momentary solution to that situation which sounded reasonable to anybody who actually had been a troubled teenager was to say the hell with it and do a junior version of wine, women and song. Except, at least on the surface our man Holden takes no pleasure in that-carping against everything not nailed down, fellow classmates, teachers, past and present, cab drivers, elevator operators, whores, dicey girlfriends. Everything. By the end it is an open book whether he will be a CEO of a major corporation or windup on skid row. While some of the stream-of-consciousness devise used by Salinger to make his point about the modern teen condition this is a great American literary work of art from one of the best of the “non-beat” New York writers hanging around in the post- World War II period. Read the book, read the book more than once like I did.

President Obama, Pardon Pvt. Manning

Because the public deserves the truth and whistle-blowers deserve protection.

We are military veterans, journalists, educators, homemakers, lawyers, students, and citizens.

We ask you to consider the facts and free US Army Pvt. Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning.

As an Intelligence Analyst stationed in Iraq, Pvt. Manning had access to some of America’s dirtiest secrets—crimes such as torture, illegal surveillance, and corruption—often committed in our name.

Manning acted on conscience alone, with selfless courage and conviction, and gave these secrets to us, the public.

“I believed that if the general public had access to the information contained within the[Iraq and Afghan War Logs] this could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy,”

Manning explained to the military court. “I wanted the American public to know that not everyone in Iraq and Afghanistan were targets that needed to be neutralized, but rather people who were struggling to live in the pressure cooker environment of what we call asymmetric warfare.”

Journalists used these documents to uncover many startling truths. We learned:

• Donald Rumsfeld and General Petraeus helped support torture in Iraq.

• Deliberate civilian killings by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan went unpunished.

• Thousands of civilian casualties were never acknowledged publicly.

• Most Guantanamo detainees were innocent.

For service on behalf of an informed democracy, Manning was sentenced by military judge Colonel Denise Lind to a devastating 35 years in prison.

Government secrecy has grown exponentially during the past decade, but more secrecy does not make us safer when it fosters unaccountability.

Pvt. Manning was convicted of Espionage Act charges for providing WikiLeaks with this information, but  the prosecutors noted that they would have done the same had the information been given to The New York Times. Prosecutors did not show that enemies used this information against the US, or that the releases resulted in any casualties.

Pvt. Manning has already been punished, even in violation of military law.

She has been:

• Held in confinement since May 29, 2010.

• Subjected to illegal punishment amounting to torture for nearly nine months at Quantico Marine Base, Virginia, in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), Article 13—facts confirmed by both the United Nation’s lead investigator on torture and military judge Col. Lind.

• Denied a speedy trial in violation of UCMJ, Article 10, having been imprisoned for over three years before trial.

• Denied anything resembling a fair trial when prosecutors were allowed to change the charge sheet to match evidence presented, and enter new evidence, after closing arguments.

Pvt. Manning believed you, Mr. President, when you came into office promising the most transparent administration in history, and that you would protect whistle-blowers. We urge you to start upholding those promises, beginning with this American prisoner of conscience.

We urge you to grant Pvt. Manning’s petition for a Presidential Pardon.

FIRST& LAST NAME _____________________________________________________________

STREET ADDRESS _____________________________________________________________

CITY, STATE & ZIP _____________________________________________________________

EMAIL& PHONE _____________________________________________________________

Please return to: For more information: www.privatemanning.org

Private Manning Support Network, c/o Courage to Resist, 484 Lake Park Ave #41, Oakland CA 94610

 

Note that this image is PVT Manning’s preferred photo.

Four Ways To Support Freedom For Chelsea Manning- President Obama Pardon Chelsea Manning Now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note that this image is PVT Manning’s preferred photo.

The Struggle Continues …

Four  Ways To Support Heroic Wikileaks Whistle-Blower Chelsea  Manning

*Sign the public petition to President Obama – Sign online http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/chelseamanning  “President Obama, Pardon Pvt. Manning,” and make copies to share with friends and family!

You  can also call (Comments”202-456-1111), write The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, e-mail-(http://www.whitehouse.gov’contact/submitquestions-and comments) to demand that President Obama use his constitutional power under Article II, Section II to pardon Private Manning now.

*Start a stand -out, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, in your town square to publicize the pardon and clemency campaigns.  Contact the Private Manning SupportNetwork for help with materials and organizing tips http://www.bradleymanning.org/

*Contribute to the Private  Manning Defense Fund- now that the trial has finished funds are urgently needed for pardon campaign and for future military and civilian court appeals. The hard fact of the American legal system, military of civilian, is the more funds available the better the defense, especially in political prisoner cases like Private Manning’s. The government had unlimited financial and personnel resources to prosecute Private Manning at trial. And used them as it will on any future legal proceedings. So help out with whatever you can spare. For link go to http://www.bradleymanning.org/

*Write letters of solidarity to Private Manning while she is serving her sentence. She wishes to be addressed as Chelsea and have feminine pronouns used when referring to her. Private Manning’s mailing address: Bradley E. Manning, 89289, 1300 N. Warehouse Road, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 66027-2304. You must use Bradley on the address envelope.

Private Manning cannot receive stamps or money in any form. Photos must be on copy paper. Along with “contraband,” “inflammatory material” is not allowed. Six page maximum.

*Call: (913) 758-3600-Write to:Col. Sioban Ledwith, Commander U.S. Detention Barracks 1301 N Warehouse Rd
Ft. Leavenworth KS 66027-Tell them: “Transgender rights are human rights! Respect Private Manning’s identity by acknowledging the name ‘Chelsea Manning’ whenever possible, including in mail addressed to her, and by allowing her access to appropriate medical treatment for gender dysphoria, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT).” (for more details-http://markinbookreview.blogspot.com/2013/11/respecting-chelseas-identity-is-this.html#!/2013/11/respecting-chelseas-identity-is-this.html

Send The Following Message (Or Write Your Own) To The President In Support Of A Pardon For Private Manning

To: President Barack Obama
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

The draconian 35 years sentence handed down by a military judge, Colonel Lind, on August 21, 2013 to Private Manning (Chelsea formerly known as Bradley) has outraged many citizens including me.
Under Article II, Section II of the U.S. Constitution the President of the United States had the authority to grant pardons to those who fall under federal jurisdiction.
Some of the reasons for my request include: 

*that Private Manning  was held for nearly a year in abusive solitary confinement at the Marine base at Quantico, Virginia, which the UN rapporteur in his findings has called “cruel, inhuman, and degrading”

*that the media had been continually blocked from transcripts and documents related to the trial and that it has only been through the efforts of Private Manning’s supporters that any transcripts exist.

*that under the UCMJ a soldier has the right to a speedy trial and that it was unconscionable and unconstitutional to wait 3 years before starting the court martial.

*that absolutely no one was harmed by the release of documents that exposed war crimes, unnecessary secrecy and disturbing foreign policy.

*that Private Manning is a hero who did the right thing when she revealed truth about wars that had been based on lies.

I urge you to use your authority under the Constitution to right the wrongs done to Private Manning – Enough is enough!

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Note that this image is PVT Manning’s preferred photo.

Memorial Day for Peace Please join Veterans For Peace, Smedley Butler Brigade, Chapter 9 and Samantha Smith, Chapter 45, Military Families Speak Out, Mass Peace Action and United for Justice with Peace for our Memorial Day for Peace on Boston Harbor. This year we will mobilize poetry and art in rememberance of the costs of war. As always, we will remember the fallen in war and the victims of war and re-confirm our committment to work for peace.   Memorial Day for Peace May 26, 2014, 1:00 – 3:00 pm Christopher Columbus Park 105 Atlantic Ave. Boston, Massachusetts   Poets include: Eric Wasileski – U.S. Navy Veteran, Persian Gulf Operation Desert Fox   Bob Funke – U.S. Army Veteran, Vietnam War Carrie Schuchardt – House of Peace   Faye George – Author, Published Poet   Ahmad AlZubaydi – Iraqi Refugee – President of Iraqi Forum   Ali AlGeze - Iraqi Refugee – Author, Published Poet   Patrick Doherty – U.S. Army, Iraq War   Solemn Music will include Brian Quirk – Bagpipe player (Merrimack Valley People for Peace) We will recite the names of those fallen from Massachusetts who were killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.  Flowers will be dropped into Boston Harbor in memory of these young men and women. Names of Iraq and Afghanistan civilians killed in the conflicts will also be read by family and friends.  To quote Smedley D. Butler, for whom the Massachusetts Chapter of Veterans for Peace is named and from whom we take inspiration in a statement made after World War II: We mourn deeply all those who should not have lost their lives in war, sadly, perpetrated by misguided leaders, leading a misinformed public and an over-extended military into two immoral wars we greatly opposed. “War is a Racket”! -Smedley D. Butler, Major General U.S.M.C. Thank you, Pat Scanlon Coordinator, Veterans for Peace, Smedley Butler Brigade Bonnie Goreman, RN & John Ratliff Massachusetts Peace Action Board & members Veterans for Peace Directions from Acquarium T Stop on Blue Line: Follow the signs in the station for Waterfront and Aquarium. As you exit the T station, turn right on Atlantic Ave. and turn right again after passing the Long Wharf Marriott. Enter Christopher Columbus Park. The event will be taking place along the harbor, look for the Veterans for Peace white flags.

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