We have for too long allowed the current crisis to expand and deepen without an effective response. With each week, every bombing of civilians, every arrest, every deportation, every layoff, every corporate bailout, and every new revelation in the emerging Enron scandal, the demand grows upon us to successfully confront the failed policies of the establishment. Therefore, the Green Party of the United States, as a participant in the 9-11 Emergency National Network (9-11 ENN), calls for all able Greens to participate in the upcoming March on Washington, April 20, 2002.
We Greens will make unique and important contributions to the April 20 March on Washington as well as to the long-term movement for democracy in the United States.
Chiefly, the Green Party is an effective electoral tool in the movement’s toolbox. We are far larger than our partner progressive political parties in the U.S., and we are partners also to Green Party organizations in over ninety countries on six continents. Our participation in the March on Washington will both increase the size of the protest and raise its visibility to millions of people around the world.
After the March on Washington, on November 5th, 2002, our party will amplify and channel dissent at the ballot box, as Green candidates run for office on a platform of peace for hundreds of community, state, and congressional offices across the country.
United We March
As Greens march in the streets of Washington D.C. this April, and wage electoral campaigns next November, we will contribute not only our numbers but also our voices to the protests. Together with the Campus Greens and scores of other national organizations, united we will march for:
1. A U.S. foreign policy based upon social and economic justice, not military and corporate oppression. An end to racial profiling and military recruitment targeting youth of color and working class youth.
2. Government funding for programs to benefit the economic victims of the 9-11 attacks and the recession.
3. An end to the degrading and secret imprisonment of immigrants.
4. Increased funding for non-military-based financial aid for education.
5. Full disclosure of military contracts with universities.
These are the united demands of the March on Washington. To these demands we can add a powerful message: Bipartisan corruption led to this crisis, Americans can turn to the Green Party to end it.
Be seen being green
We Greens will need to be visible and numerous if we are to effectively deliver our message in Washington D.C.. To borrow a mantra of the Green Party of Texas, we must, "Be seen being Green.”
Most Greens who will join the March on Washington are members of other movement organizations also participating in the protest; the involvement of Greens in diverse sectors of the movement is a common source of pride and strength. In Washington let us be visible in our unity as well as our diversity. Wherever Greens march on April 20th, whether side-by-side with one another, or with our sisters and brothers in other movement organizations, we must be visible in our common politics.
To increase our contributions to the protests and our visibility in Washington D.C., the Green Party of the United States will provide the following:
* Pre-Printed signs, banners, flags
* Materials for sign and banner making
* National website to coordinate Green participation: http://www.greenpartyus.org/911.html
* Related Websites:
The Independent Progressive Politics Network
and Stop the War
* Housing and transportation assistance
* National and international media assistance
* Day-of-March coordination
Register to join the March on Washington on April 20th
