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<font size=3>* * * Please forward widely * * *<br>
<br>
Friends and fellow-activists,<br>
<br>
Act Against Torture's "visual takeover" of the Montgomery &
Market Street<br>
intersection - outside U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein's San Francisco
office<br>
- will unfold at 7am on Monday March 20th, the third anniversary of
the<br>
U.S. invasion of Iraq.<br>
<br>
We're pretty sure that you'll want to be part of it.<br>
<br>
Much more than a march, not just another rally, we'll be using
dramatic<br>
props - banners, giant puppets, cages, Gitmo-like orange jumpsuits,
hoods,<br>
symbolic coffins, the Brass Liberation Orchestra, recorded
testimonials<br>
given by detainees who have been released, and much more - to call on
each<br>
and all (including Senator Feinstein) to take action and
responsibility<br>
for ending the U.S. government's ongoing practices of torture and<br>
indefinite detention in pursuit of its endless so-called "war on
terror."<br>
<br>
With a boost of energy and many additional hands coming out of our
first<br>
public organizing meeting, we're preparing this week for an art
&<br>
prop-making extravaganza on Sunday afternoon, March 12th. We've
reserved<br>
a great space and we'll have a lot of materials, so an enthusiastic<br>
turnout is the crucial ingredient needed to make our plans happen.
See<br>
below for time & location...<br>
<br>
Montgomery & Market (Montgomery Street BART) is the place to be at
7am on<br>
Monday, March 20th. Put it on your calendar today and avoid that
sinking,<br>
wish-I'd-been-there feeling when you watch the evening's news & read
the<br>
next morning's papers...<br>
<br>
Details on times & places follow, below ... along with a little
context<br>
for those who didn't read through to the end of our last e-mail.<br>
<br>
Please join us for the art party on the 12th, and we'll see you
outside<br>
Senator Feinstein's office on the morning of March 20th!<br>
<br>
- Act Against Torture<br>
ActAgainstTorture@riseup.net<br>
<a href="http://www.actagainsttorture.org/">
http://www.ActAgainstTorture.org</a><br>
<br>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<br>
The Action<br>
---------------<br>
* Monday, March 20 @ 7am, Montgomery & Market, SF<br>
a visual and dramatic takeover of a central downtown
intersection<br>
<br>
The Planning<br>
------------------<br>
* Art / Prop / Propaganda making party<br>
Sunday, March 12, 2-5 pm<br>
Cell Space, 2050 Bryant St. (@18th), San Francisco<br>
<br>
* Final Preparation Meeting / Art & Prop Party<br>
Sunday, March 19, afternoon<br>
Time & Location TBA<br>
<br>
What You Can Do<br>
-------------------------<br>
* Help us make art, props, and propaganda on Sunday, March 12th, 2-5
@<br>
Cell Space<br>
* Help out with last-minute preparation on Sunday afternoon, March
19th,<br>
time & location to be announced<br>
* Participate in the action! March 20 @ 7am, Montgomery &
Market, SF<br>
* Recruit friends, neighbors, comrades, colleagues, and affinity groups
to<br>
plan, create, and participate<br>
* Let us know how you'll join us by e-mailing
ActAgainstTorture@riseup.net<br>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<br>
<br>
FYI:<br>
Plans for March 20th have evolved out of an ongoing dialogue about how
to<br>
build an anti-war movement that is inclusive, radical, strategic,
and<br>
effective. In the past couple of years, it seems that many progressives
in<br>
the Bay Area have stopped actively opposing the war; many people
we've<br>
talked to feel powerless to fight the Bush administration. Through
this<br>
action and others beyond it, we intend to remind our community that
the<br>
war hasn't ended; the U.S. government continues as a matter of policy
to<br>
violate moral and legal principles fundamental to all who value
justice<br>
and equality; people are trapped and dying in parts of the world where
the<br>
U.S. has undermined or destabilized infrastructure necessary to
safety,<br>
health, progress, and democracy; and all this is likely to continue
until<br>
we can realize an effective strategy for resisting it. By planning
this<br>
action for the anniversary of the shutdown of downtown San Francisco
on<br>
the day after the U.S. began its invasion of Iraq, we also mean to
remind<br>
people of our power to disrupt the war and the culture of passivity
that<br>
allowed it to begin and allows it to continue. The Bush administration
and<br>
the occupation of Iraq are no longer "untouchable"; we
absolutely have the<br>
power to end practices of torture and indefinite detention - and the<br>
occupation itself - if we can resist the powerful urge to tune it
out.<br><br>
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