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It's about time for a substantial anti-war movement to start in this country - and with Obama probably announcing an escalation of 34,000 troops to Afghanistan (in addition to the 20,000 he already sent), there is no better time than now. A leading anti-war organization, World Can't Wait, is holding protests around the nation this week in response to Obama's plans.
Throughout next week, there will be protests in the forty cities listed under the fold (this list will probably include more cities by the time the protests start - and you can always organize a protest yourself!).
- Washington, DC @ The White House
- Allentown, PA
- Baltimore, MD
- Bangor, ME
- Portland, ME
- Berkley, CA
- Boston, MA
- Chicago, IL
- Detroit, MI
- Eugene, OR
- Greensboro, NC
- Harrisburg, PA
- Hartford, CT
- Los Angeles, CA
- Miami, Florida
- Madison, WI
- Milwaukee, WI
- New Haven, CT
- New Paltz, NY
- New York, NY
- Newton, NJ
- Newark, NJ
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Providence, RI
- Richmond, VA
- San Francisco, CA
- Seattle, WA (multiple protests here)
- Upland, CA
- Washington, DC (not at the White House)
New additions since I wrote this diary for Docudharma.com yesterday:
- West Point, NY (this is where Obama will be!)
- Austin, TX
- Colorado Springs, CO
- Columbus, OH
- Corvalis, OR
- Denver, CO
- Honolulu, HI
- Portsmouth, NH
- Saginaw, MI
Make sure you check the dates and times of these protests. Be creative when you go - bring homemade signs that say things like "schools not bombs" or "$1 million per soldier" or "during this protest the US will spend $11 million in Afghanistan" or something else clever that you come up with. And if you want to organize your own but need a bit of help, just email the national organizer of World Can't Wait, Debra Sweet at debrasweet (at) worldcantwait (dot) org.
If you go to or organize a protest (especially if you organize one), make sure you utilize the resource of the people who show up. Get their email addresses and zip codes so that you can maybe start an email list and/or sign them up for World Can't Wait email updates. Maybe circulate Brave New Film's petition to get us out of Afghanistan. Or do something else creative to make sure that these people aren't done with their activism after one protest.
These protests will hopefully just be the beginning of a new and improved anti-war movement in this country. People need to get out and get organized - not only in the streets, but in every political party and in every city in the United States, to put an end to our warfare state. These protests are just a tiny first step, but as they say, a journey of a thousand miles must start with a single step.
If you know of any other protests, or have any other ideas to make these a success, post them in the comments and I'll update the diary.
