At our meeting on Friday night, we first assessed the Soldiers and Sailors Monument action and then brainstormed some possible ideas for future work. Below, I've listed these ideas along with some others that I have read on the CNVN list or other places. At the next CNVN meeting on Monday, April 7, we can discuss these ideas and try to choose a few that we will actually pursue as a group. To help facilitate this process, between now and the meeting please discuss and develop these ideas with others, and come prepared to volunteer to do the work necessary to make them happen.
Remember also, that several groups (like the Northeast Ohio Anti-War Coalition (NOAC), Artists Against War, the Inter-community, Inter-faith Push for Peace (IIP), and the Joining Forces process) are doing many things (like holding big rallies, banner drops, coalition building) that we can help with.
Ideas:
* To further publicize the Soldiers and Sailors Monument action, write an op-ed column for the Cleveland Plain Dealer (maybe the religious column on Saturday) describing how we transformed a conflictual situation into a cooperative one with no arrests. We might still be able to get some positive local media coverage out of this action.
* Write articles about the Monument action for publication in other newspapers and magazines.
* Meet with the City Council and Mayor (on Monday, March 31) and County Officials and Sheriffs and discuss the way they deal with nonviolent protests. Perhaps have a session where we describe the theory and history of NV action. Or pressure the police to behave responsibly (stop trumping up charges).
* Continue our weekly vigils at the Westside Market. Now that the weather is warmer, we can resume going to other locations: Public Square, Coventry, Shaker Square, etc.
* Do more vigils like the weekly candlelight vigil in Cleveland Heights. This is a way to reach out to people who have never engaged in any kind of street protest before.
* Do a pray-in, perhaps at the Federal Building asking our Senators to meet with us or to hold a public town meeting about the war, perhaps in a legal fashion, perhaps illegally risking arrest, perhaps on Good Friday (April 18). We did one good action, with another we could continue to build support for nonviolent non-cooperation and resistance in the religious community and begin to reach out to the labor movement and other progressive groups. We could also teach more people about strategic nonviolent direct action.
* Conduct a funeral procession through downtown, mourning the death of innocent civilians and soldiers on both sides (or the "death of democracy"). People could wear black and carry dead babies (dolls) or caskets.
* Do a die-in at the Federal Building including drawing chalk outlines around the "bodies".
* Do an action that brings out the need to shift money to cities (and away from the military).
* Vigil at or blockade a media outlet and call for more balanced coverage.
* Do a vigil at a military base with the message "Refuse to Obey Unlawful Orders; Don't Take Part in an Illegal War" and refer people to the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors http://www.objector.org See for example, this vigil in Oakland, CA put together by my friend David Kadlecek http://jwoodard.best.vwh.net/antiwar/coastguard/
* Directly confront our Senators and Congressional Representatives -- they are the ones who make decisions and need direct persuasion (or to feel the heat), not police, media, or other low-level folks. For an example, here is a description of "an extremely civil act of civil resistance" and arrest of a friend of mine, Paul Baer, at the office of his Utah Congressional Representative: http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Mar/03182003/utah/39253.asp
* Set up a public meeting and invite our local Congressmembers and Senators to discuss/debate their views about the war. With Kucinich and Tubbs Jones strongly opposed to the war and DeWine and Voinivich in favor, it could be quite lively and it would force Congress to grapple with their Constitutional obligation to declare war (and resist those that are unconstitutional). Those Senators or Congressmembers who didn't come would look bad.
* Write a flyer with information about the war and why we oppose it (perhaps clearly answering questions about ending the war and policy) -- distribute this widely in Cleveland (table in front of grocery stores, hang on doorknobs, hand out to patrons of RTA, hand out to members of our groups, churches, labor unions, etc.). In this teachable moment, we could reach a lot of people we don't usually reach. Many members of the Inter-community Inter-faith Push for Peace (IIP) seem to be interested in pursuing this -- so we could strengthen our bonds with the Black religious community).
* Get a flyer that shows where our tax dollars go and leaflet at Post Offices on April 15. War Resisters League http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm and National Priorities Project each have good flyers: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/taxday2003/pdf/ohcle.pdf
* Encourage people to do war tax resistance. See for example: http://www.warresisters.org/wtr.htm and the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee http://www.nwtrcc.org/
* Engage in a massive voter registration campaign with the idea of electing a better Congress and President. Now is the time to build some political strength to force change. Many members of the IIP seem to be interested in pursuing this also.
* Get very involved in the Democratic Party -- run for precinct representatives, etc. to influence the Party in a progressive direction. Then get involved in selecting candidates and working to get candidates elected. See, for example, this article by Thom Hartmann: http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0324-12.htm
* Set up a monthly speakers series and invite speakers (like Noam Chomsky, Michael Lerner, Robert Jensen, Robert McChesney, James K. Galbraith, and others from the CommonDreams.com list of commentators) to talk eloquently about the Bush administration push for empire, consolidation of the corporate media, etc. We might also work to get these same speakers interviewed by April Baer on WCPM at 9:00 AM, get the Cleveland City Club to let them speak at noon, get Case Western to have them speak on campus, etc. We might also try to work with groups in other Ohio cities to set up a whole speaking tour for them.
* Challenge and lobby the mainstream media to provide balanced coverage. See for example, MoveOn.com's campaign: http://www.moveon.org/mediacorps and the work of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) http://www.fair.org
* Work to set up our own progressive media -- a radio station, a progressive newspaper, etc. Right now, there isn't much progressive media in Ohio. This would enable us to reach people in an on-going way over the next many decades. Young people are already working to make alternative voices heard at WRUW and Cleveland Indy Media http://cleveland.indymedia.org
* Work on developing ideas about positive alternatives to war and militarism.
* Build a campaign with the goal of ending the use of military aircraft at the Labor Day Air Show.
* Build a campaign with the goal of building support for nonviolent alternatives to war.
* Continue and expand the nonviolence study group.
* Mount a campaign to boycott all goods until the war stops -- hurt the economy until the warmakers stop the war.
* Find other pivots of change and power that we can influence.
* As individuals, strive to live more simply, boycott irresponsible companies, and invest our money more responsibly. Co-op America has a good web site with ideas on this: http://www.coopamerica.org As a group, we could set up workshops on how to live more simply.
--Randy
-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Randy Schutt Author of Inciting Democracy: A Practical Proposal for Creating a Good Society
The Vernal Education Project: Working to increase the skills and support of progressive activists http://www.vernalproject.org
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