Sunday, June 23, 2013
STOP OBAMA'S VISIT TO AFRICA - NOBAMA COALITION
http://www.africanjournalist.com/news/stop-obamas-visit-africa-nobama-coalition
STOP OBAMA'S VISIT TO AFRICA - NOBAMA COALITION
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 20:49
tmgudlwa
By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa
THE Nobama Coalition Cape Town (NCCT) is calling on the South African Government to stop United States president Barack Obama's visit to Africa.
On Thursday 20th June 2013 a growing group of organisations gathered at Community House in Salt River, Cape Town to form the 'Nobama Coalition Cape Town'.
The group is aligning itself to the already formed Nobama Johannesburg.
The aim of the Coalition is to mobilize widespread protest against Obama’s visit to Africa while exposing US imperialism.
So far activists from the following organisations are part of the Coalition:
Gugulethu Anti Eviction Campaign, Newfields Village Anti-Eviction Campaign, Zilleraine Heights Community in struggle, Consumer Fair, Concerned Education Forum, Anti-War Coalition (Cape Town), Muslims against Illegitimate Leaders, Muslims Against Global Oppression, Struggle Veterans, Mitchell’s Plain activists, Workers International Vanguard Party.
NCCT has also noted that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) also supports the campaign and is discussing how to broaden its specific support.
The NCCT also remarked that the Nobama Campaign in Johannesburg consist of the following organisations:
South African Communist Party (SACP), the Young Communist League of South Africa (YCL), the South African Students Congress (SASCO), the Muslim Students Association(MSA), the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union(NEHAWU), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Friend of Cuba Society (FOCUS), Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel in South Africa (BDS South Africa), the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) the UJ Coalition.
On the Basic Platform: The USA under the leadership of Obama has escalated its assault on human rights, militarization of international relations and continuing galloping of world resources at the absolute expense of the environment and oppressed peoples of the world.
· Monopoly capitalists and banks, mainly from the US are responsible for the ongoing plunder of trillions of dollars of wealth from Africa each year. This is the main reason why most of the youth have no future - the masses are unemployed and the few who work, earn starvation wages. Much more is stolen from Africa than is received in ‘aid’. We demand all the stolen wealth to come back; In fact US and other imperialism are responsible for the plunder of the world
· Africom out of Africa; end the drone wars and imperialist wars of plunder such as in DRC; stop warmongering and genocide in Syria and elsewhere
· Free all the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay prison- shut it down;
· Free the Cuban 5
· End the blockade on Cuba
· We reject the Freedom of Cape Town and the Honourary Doctrate awarded by the University of Johannesburg to Obama with the contempt it deserves.
· Any diamond sent to Israel by Anglo American and others, are blood diamonds; end all support for Israel; we demand 1 Palestine, no Bantustan
· Free Bradley Manning (the United States Army soldier who was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq on suspicion of having passed classified material to the website WikiLeaks. He was ultimately charged with 22 offenses, including communicating national defense information to an unauthorized source and aiding the enemy).
NCCT also demands that Imperialists must:
Stop snooping on our e-mails, phone calls and social networking! Halt the unleashing of your Al Qaeda forces on the World’s people!
The United States of America is the single largest contributor to global warming which is condemning the world into catastrophic environmental disasters.
"We also support the call by the Muslim Lawyers Association for the arrest of Obama, their complaint was made in terms of international customary law, as well as the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Act 2002 (the ICC Act).
THE Nobama Coalition Cape Town (NCCT) is calling on the South African Government to stop United States president Barack Obama's visit to Africa.
On Thursday 20th June 2013 a growing group of organisations gathered at Community House in Salt River, Cape Town to form the 'Nobama Coalition Cape Town'.
The group is aligning itself to the already formed Nobama Johannesburg.
The aim of the Coalition is to mobilize widespread protest against Obama’s visit to Africa while exposing US imperialism.
So far activists from the following organisations are part of the Coalition:
Gugulethu Anti Eviction Campaign, Newfields Village Anti-Eviction Campaign, Zilleraine Heights Community in struggle, Consumer Fair, Concerned Education Forum, Anti-War Coalition (Cape Town), Muslims against Illegitimate Leaders, Muslims Against Global Oppression, Struggle Veterans, Mitchell’s Plain activists, Workers International Vanguard Party.
NCCT has also noted that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) also supports the campaign and is discussing how to broaden its specific support.
The NCCT also remarked that the Nobama Campaign in Johannesburg consist of the following organisations:
South African Communist Party (SACP), the Young Communist League of South Africa (YCL), the South African Students Congress (SASCO), the Muslim Students Association(MSA), the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union(NEHAWU), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Friend of Cuba Society (FOCUS), Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel in South Africa (BDS South Africa), the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) the UJ Coalition.
On the Basic Platform: The USA under the leadership of Obama has escalated its assault on human rights, militarization of international relations and continuing galloping of world resources at the absolute expense of the environment and oppressed peoples of the world.
· Monopoly capitalists and banks, mainly from the US are responsible for the ongoing plunder of trillions of dollars of wealth from Africa each year. This is the main reason why most of the youth have no future - the masses are unemployed and the few who work, earn starvation wages. Much more is stolen from Africa than is received in ‘aid’. We demand all the stolen wealth to come back; In fact US and other imperialism are responsible for the plunder of the world
· Africom out of Africa; end the drone wars and imperialist wars of plunder such as in DRC; stop warmongering and genocide in Syria and elsewhere
· Free all the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay prison- shut it down;
· Free the Cuban 5
· End the blockade on Cuba
· We reject the Freedom of Cape Town and the Honourary Doctrate awarded by the University of Johannesburg to Obama with the contempt it deserves.
· Any diamond sent to Israel by Anglo American and others, are blood diamonds; end all support for Israel; we demand 1 Palestine, no Bantustan
· Free Bradley Manning (the United States Army soldier who was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq on suspicion of having passed classified material to the website WikiLeaks. He was ultimately charged with 22 offenses, including communicating national defense information to an unauthorized source and aiding the enemy).
NCCT also demands that Imperialists must:
Stop snooping on our e-mails, phone calls and social networking! Halt the unleashing of your Al Qaeda forces on the World’s people!
The United States of America is the single largest contributor to global warming which is condemning the world into catastrophic environmental disasters.
"We also support the call by the Muslim Lawyers Association for the arrest of Obama, their complaint was made in terms of international customary law, as well as the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Act 2002 (the ICC Act).
"The
[drone] programme is responsible for extra-judicial killings of both
innocent civilians as well as US citizens abroad. The drone strike
policy has continued unabated with total disregard for territorial
sovereignty and this is cited as the primary reason that Obama should be
investigated and tried for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
genocide,"
A proposed programme of action includes:
· Mobilise and invite other progressive organizations to join the Nobama Coalition
· Mobilise and invite other progressive organizations to join the Nobama Coalition
· We support the petition against University of Johannesburg giving an award to Obama
· Saturday 22nd June at 12 noon, meet at Community House in Salt River to prepare placards
·
Wed and Thursday 26-27 June from 12 noon to 14h00 meet at the taxi rank
opposite entrance to Civic Centre in Cape Town to claim freedom of the
City for the masses and to reject freedom of the city for Obama
·
Friday 28 June, picket at parliament from 12 noon to 14h00 to protest
the government’s role in inviting Obama to SA and their complicity in
allowing plunder by US monopolies
·
For those who cannot make it to Cape Town centre on these 3 days, we
call on to mobilise for lunchtime pickets at these times, to either hold
education programmes about the role of US monopolies in the plunder of
the world, or to take to the streets, to picket forming human chains
outside your workplaces, or at a selected point, to show rejection of
the visit and of US imperialism
· We call for the masses across Africa to also mobilise protest actions against the Obama visit
·
We call for the masses to ready themselves at a moment’s notice to come
to the areas where Obama may appear, so we can protest and issue our
own warrant of arrest for Obama
NCCT added, The Freedom of the City is for the people of Cape Town not for OBAMA, he is not welcome!!
Breaking free from the two-party trap...
Conference call today for all those interested in an alternative to the two-party trap--- here are the details:
[Uniting_People] for Peace, Equality, Full Employment, Universal Health Care and Environmental Protection - Conference Call, June 23
Inbox
x
Georgia Williams georgiam@csufresno.edu via lists.riseup.net
11:27 PM (6 hours ago)
to uniting_people
Friends,
This is coming to you through a new listserv for those involved in working to unite Left groups (Uniting Progressives and/or Uniting People for Peace, Equality, Full Employment, Universal Health Care and Environmental Protection).
At our initial meeting on May 19, we scheduled a second meeting for Sunday, June 23, at 2:00pm PDT, 5:00pm EDT. The call-in information is as follows:
Call-in number: 626 677-3000
Access code: 498531
Notes taken by Casey Peters, Peace and Freedom Party of California member, for the May 19 meeting are attached. A proposed agenda for tomorrow's (June 23) call is attached and pasted below.
If you have questions about tomorrow's conference call, please email this list (uniting_people@lists.riseup.net) or me (georgiam@csufresno.edu). If you have questions about this listserv, please email me.
Looking forward to talking with you tomorrow.
Georgia Williams
*************
Uniting People for Peace, Equality, Full Employment, Universal Health Care and Environmental Protection
Proposed agenda
June 23, 2013 conference call
Introductions
Selection of facilitator
Selection of recorder for call
Adoption of agenda
Minutes
Schedule next meeting
Expanding membership
Outreach
Report from United Front against Austerity (UFAA) – Adam Rodriguez
Other
Set goals
Draft legislation – full employment and health care
People’s lobby
Other
Moral Monday
Other
Adjourn
notes from May 19 conference call
Uniting Progressives for Peace, Equality, Full Employment,
Universal Health Care and Environmental Protection
Michael McGee facilitating
Casey Peters note-taking
In attendance:
Will Crane MT Green Party
Adam Rodriguez PA United Front Against Austerity
Casey Peters CA Peace and Freedom Party
Georgia Williams CA Peace and Freedom Party
Kevin Akin CA Peace and Freedom Party
Michael McGee France Justice Party
CT Weber CA Peace and Freedom Party
Lenny Brody IL Justice Party
Sally Soriano WA Justice Party
Devon Nola NY Justice Party
Mohammad Arif CA UMMA 4 Peace
Rikka Wallin KY unaffiliated
Darcy Richardson FL Peace and Freedom Party
Alan Maki MN Midwest Casino Workers
Maureen Smith CA Peace and Freedom Party
Pancho Valdez TX Green Party
Michael Cavlan MN Open Progressives
Tony Noel NC New Progressive Alliance
Richard Becker CA Party for Socialism and Liberation
Cindy Henderson CA Peace and Freedom Party
Robin Hensle MN Occupy
AGENDA: Georgia proposed additions to agenda, adopted by consensus
1) Adoption of agenda for this meeting
2) Introduction of participants
3) Discussion of participation and plans for building a coalition
4) Political goals of UNITING PROGRESSIVES meetings
- National Political Campaigns:
* Defending Social Security
* Opposition to U.S. Military interventions and Obama's War budget
* Full Employment and a progressive budget
* Universal Health Care vs "Obama care"
* Protecting our environment
- United Front for future elections
* New Jersey...
- Ballot access for the 2014 election cycle
5) Future enlargement of participating organizations
* What other organizations should be contacted and by whom ?
6) Proposed date and agenda for next UNITING PROGRESSIVES meeting
INTRODUCTION OF GROUPS
The following individuals gave introductory remarks on the following organizations:
Kevin Akin Peace and Freedom Party of California
Darcy Richardson Peace and Freedom Party of Florida
Lenny Brody and Sally Soriano Justice Party
Tony Noel New Progressive Alliance
Pancho Valdez and Will Crane Green Party
Mohammad Arif United Moderate Muslims 4 Peace
Adam Rodriguez United Front Against Austerity
Michael Cavlan Open Progressives of Minnesota
Alan Maki Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
Richard Becker Party for Socialism and Liberation
Rikka Wallin unaffiliated
Devon Nola Justice Party
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Attention: These notes reflect snippets of a much broader, more detailed conversation. If anyone feels that their comments are misreported or have serious omissions, please do not hesitate to contact the meeting secretary to provide corrections for a subsequent version of notes. Thank you.
Georgia: What are our plans for building a coalition? How do we go about it?
Tony: Know who your enemies are. I have no time for Move On, PDA, etc. We must find people like us. Occupy was small but effective.
CT: Hopefully we will be building the Left, both progressives and socialists.
Michael Cavlan: Solidarity is a 2-way street, not just us supporting more mainstream groups.
Cindy: We must take control from the corporations. The working poor are marginalized.
Kevin: Democrats are controlled by the corporate rich. We need electoral forms/methods to confront them. As Eugene Debs said, “I’d rather vote for what I want and not get it than to vote for what I don’t want and get it.” We all need to support ballot access for every alternative.
Georgia: I don’t consider myself a “progressive”. I agree that solidarity must be reciprocal, and a primary focus. Corporate power must be curbed.
Adam: We need to support Senator Elizabeth Warren’s bill called Bank on Students to lower student loan rates to 0.75% interest and its House equivalent, HR1979. It’s something we can all rally around.
Tony: Don’t label ourselves as “Left”. Most people don’t know what “progressivism” is. We can’t be afraid to get in peoples faces and call them out for bullshit. As much as I dislike marketing, we must approach this task with marketing to our potential supporters in mind.
Casey: I agree with Tony’s earlier remark that we are under a 24/7 Big Media onslaught. We need to develop our own media to communicate openly among ourselves and others who want to break from the capitalist paradigm. There are no accurate definitions for “progressive” or “socialist” so despite our self-labeling, we should eschew those terms as a coalition. We should also avoid “Left” as it indicates we are on the fringe. We are not – we represent the mainstream of American political thought. I have two words to say – Proportional Representation. Without an election system that allows voters to have a voice in government, no third party movement can succeed. We must first do our groundwork by legally establishing proportionality.
Michael M.: Today is a first step. We need a critical mass for credibility. We on the Left have considered ourselves as impotent, and must get over that self-delusion. We speak for many millions in opposing militarism, subsidies to bankers, and supporting universal health care and environmental protection. We must appeal to people like my mother who is not a “progressive”.
Kevin: Don’t try to convince socialists to abandon their self-chosen label.
NEXT MEETING
Set for Sunday June 23 at 2pmPDT, 5pmEDT
CHOSING A NAME
There was a long discussion, but only a few remarks are reported here.
CT: To my mind, the word “progressive” means a call to reform, not replace, capitalism.
Robin: I like “United Americans: Common Table” We should make everyone feel welcome.
Rikka: I don’t care what you call it. I like the ideas.
Cindy: The problem with “progressive” or “socialist” is that most Americans misappropriate the meaning. Instead of spending time on what name we should use, we should be working on outreach with every call participant volunteering to contact at least 2 additional groups.
Casey: I propose changing the word “progressives” to “people” in the headline to our outreach letter.
Georgia” I propose changing the title to “United People for Peace and Social and Economic Justice”.
A roll call vote was taken with 8 in favor of Georgia’s proposal, 2 opposed, 1 abstaining and 9 having already left the call. The proposal was deemed to have passed.
For contact purposes, two email addresses were given:
Georgia Williams georgiam@csufresno.edu
Michael McGee michael.mcgee.1@gmail.com
Respectfully submitted,
Casey Peters, secretary
Peace and Freedom Alliance
[Uniting_People] for Peace, Equality, Full Employment, Universal Health Care and Environmental Protection - Conference Call, June 23
Inbox
x
Georgia Williams georgiam@csufresno.edu via lists.riseup.net
11:27 PM (6 hours ago)
to uniting_people
Friends,
This is coming to you through a new listserv for those involved in working to unite Left groups (Uniting Progressives and/or Uniting People for Peace, Equality, Full Employment, Universal Health Care and Environmental Protection).
At our initial meeting on May 19, we scheduled a second meeting for Sunday, June 23, at 2:00pm PDT, 5:00pm EDT. The call-in information is as follows:
Call-in number: 626 677-3000
Access code: 498531
Notes taken by Casey Peters, Peace and Freedom Party of California member, for the May 19 meeting are attached. A proposed agenda for tomorrow's (June 23) call is attached and pasted below.
If you have questions about tomorrow's conference call, please email this list (uniting_people@lists.riseup.net) or me (georgiam@csufresno.edu). If you have questions about this listserv, please email me.
Looking forward to talking with you tomorrow.
Georgia Williams
*************
Uniting People for Peace, Equality, Full Employment, Universal Health Care and Environmental Protection
Proposed agenda
June 23, 2013 conference call
Introductions
Selection of facilitator
Selection of recorder for call
Adoption of agenda
Minutes
Schedule next meeting
Expanding membership
Outreach
Report from United Front against Austerity (UFAA) – Adam Rodriguez
Other
Set goals
Draft legislation – full employment and health care
People’s lobby
Other
Moral Monday
Other
Adjourn
notes from May 19 conference call
Uniting Progressives for Peace, Equality, Full Employment,
Universal Health Care and Environmental Protection
Michael McGee facilitating
Casey Peters note-taking
In attendance:
Will Crane MT Green Party
Adam Rodriguez PA United Front Against Austerity
Casey Peters CA Peace and Freedom Party
Georgia Williams CA Peace and Freedom Party
Kevin Akin CA Peace and Freedom Party
Michael McGee France Justice Party
CT Weber CA Peace and Freedom Party
Lenny Brody IL Justice Party
Sally Soriano WA Justice Party
Devon Nola NY Justice Party
Mohammad Arif CA UMMA 4 Peace
Rikka Wallin KY unaffiliated
Darcy Richardson FL Peace and Freedom Party
Alan Maki MN Midwest Casino Workers
Maureen Smith CA Peace and Freedom Party
Pancho Valdez TX Green Party
Michael Cavlan MN Open Progressives
Tony Noel NC New Progressive Alliance
Richard Becker CA Party for Socialism and Liberation
Cindy Henderson CA Peace and Freedom Party
Robin Hensle MN Occupy
AGENDA: Georgia proposed additions to agenda, adopted by consensus
1) Adoption of agenda for this meeting
2) Introduction of participants
3) Discussion of participation and plans for building a coalition
4) Political goals of UNITING PROGRESSIVES meetings
- National Political Campaigns:
* Defending Social Security
* Opposition to U.S. Military interventions and Obama's War budget
* Full Employment and a progressive budget
* Universal Health Care vs "Obama care"
* Protecting our environment
- United Front for future elections
* New Jersey...
- Ballot access for the 2014 election cycle
5) Future enlargement of participating organizations
* What other organizations should be contacted and by whom ?
6) Proposed date and agenda for next UNITING PROGRESSIVES meeting
INTRODUCTION OF GROUPS
The following individuals gave introductory remarks on the following organizations:
Kevin Akin Peace and Freedom Party of California
Darcy Richardson Peace and Freedom Party of Florida
Lenny Brody and Sally Soriano Justice Party
Tony Noel New Progressive Alliance
Pancho Valdez and Will Crane Green Party
Mohammad Arif United Moderate Muslims 4 Peace
Adam Rodriguez United Front Against Austerity
Michael Cavlan Open Progressives of Minnesota
Alan Maki Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
Richard Becker Party for Socialism and Liberation
Rikka Wallin unaffiliated
Devon Nola Justice Party
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Attention: These notes reflect snippets of a much broader, more detailed conversation. If anyone feels that their comments are misreported or have serious omissions, please do not hesitate to contact the meeting secretary to provide corrections for a subsequent version of notes. Thank you.
Georgia: What are our plans for building a coalition? How do we go about it?
Tony: Know who your enemies are. I have no time for Move On, PDA, etc. We must find people like us. Occupy was small but effective.
CT: Hopefully we will be building the Left, both progressives and socialists.
Michael Cavlan: Solidarity is a 2-way street, not just us supporting more mainstream groups.
Cindy: We must take control from the corporations. The working poor are marginalized.
Kevin: Democrats are controlled by the corporate rich. We need electoral forms/methods to confront them. As Eugene Debs said, “I’d rather vote for what I want and not get it than to vote for what I don’t want and get it.” We all need to support ballot access for every alternative.
Georgia: I don’t consider myself a “progressive”. I agree that solidarity must be reciprocal, and a primary focus. Corporate power must be curbed.
Adam: We need to support Senator Elizabeth Warren’s bill called Bank on Students to lower student loan rates to 0.75% interest and its House equivalent, HR1979. It’s something we can all rally around.
Tony: Don’t label ourselves as “Left”. Most people don’t know what “progressivism” is. We can’t be afraid to get in peoples faces and call them out for bullshit. As much as I dislike marketing, we must approach this task with marketing to our potential supporters in mind.
Casey: I agree with Tony’s earlier remark that we are under a 24/7 Big Media onslaught. We need to develop our own media to communicate openly among ourselves and others who want to break from the capitalist paradigm. There are no accurate definitions for “progressive” or “socialist” so despite our self-labeling, we should eschew those terms as a coalition. We should also avoid “Left” as it indicates we are on the fringe. We are not – we represent the mainstream of American political thought. I have two words to say – Proportional Representation. Without an election system that allows voters to have a voice in government, no third party movement can succeed. We must first do our groundwork by legally establishing proportionality.
Michael M.: Today is a first step. We need a critical mass for credibility. We on the Left have considered ourselves as impotent, and must get over that self-delusion. We speak for many millions in opposing militarism, subsidies to bankers, and supporting universal health care and environmental protection. We must appeal to people like my mother who is not a “progressive”.
Kevin: Don’t try to convince socialists to abandon their self-chosen label.
NEXT MEETING
Set for Sunday June 23 at 2pmPDT, 5pmEDT
CHOSING A NAME
There was a long discussion, but only a few remarks are reported here.
CT: To my mind, the word “progressive” means a call to reform, not replace, capitalism.
Robin: I like “United Americans: Common Table” We should make everyone feel welcome.
Rikka: I don’t care what you call it. I like the ideas.
Cindy: The problem with “progressive” or “socialist” is that most Americans misappropriate the meaning. Instead of spending time on what name we should use, we should be working on outreach with every call participant volunteering to contact at least 2 additional groups.
Casey: I propose changing the word “progressives” to “people” in the headline to our outreach letter.
Georgia” I propose changing the title to “United People for Peace and Social and Economic Justice”.
A roll call vote was taken with 8 in favor of Georgia’s proposal, 2 opposed, 1 abstaining and 9 having already left the call. The proposal was deemed to have passed.
For contact purposes, two email addresses were given:
Georgia Williams georgiam@csufresno.edu
Michael McGee michael.mcgee.1@gmail.com
Respectfully submitted,
Casey Peters, secretary
Peace and Freedom Alliance