Saturday, November 25, 2017

People's Organization for Progress Instrumental in NJ Anti-War Efforts

The following is an outline of the article that #NJAntiWarAgenda will be running on Peoples Organization for Progress.  I would like to include some pertinent quotes from one or more POP members in response to these questions.

Larry Adams has offered to help but if anyone else wants to offer feedback on behalf of POP - please send to bwitanek@igc.org .

 Questions:

What is the guiding principle(s) of POP's dedidcation to anti-war struggle?

How is the struggle against wars abroad related to "war at home" struggles in NJ communities?

What are unique concerns of POP regarding anti-war issues?

What are some of the ways POP is likely to be participating in anti-war struggle in the next 6 months to year?

Is POP part of Black Alliance for Peace (Ajamu Baraka, Margaret Kimberley are involved)?

What are ways that people can get involved with POP anti-war work?


One of the forefront organizations in NJ that is working to organize a stronger anti-war effort is People's Organization for Progress.  At almost every anti-war protest in NJ that has taken place in recent month's, Lawrence Hamm chair of the People's Organization for Progress has played a swivel role in giving quorum to move forward with an event.  We usually try to get 3 or 4 people initially to agree to call a protest assuming that they will take responsibility to make sure all the steps are taken to make sure that it is successful in various ways.

It is Lawrence Hamm, on behalf of POP who has delivered, without rental cost, a sophisticated sound systems with very capable community amplification.  POP also has a wealth of its trademark signs around almost every important issue out there - including on every aspect of the escalation of US wars and threats.  While Chair Hamm, and often Ingrid Hill transports the POP protest infrastructure, sound, signs and other materials, POP also always delivers numbers of participants - it does not just throw its name on the flier.  Many of the protests against US wars in recent months have been well attended by the yellow shirt styling POP membership.

Peoples Organization for Progress

General Assembly Meeting Every Thu 6:30 pm, 224 W. Kinney St., Newark NJ
Justice Monday Protest Every Monday, 4:30-6 pm outside Rodino Federal Bldg, 970 Broad St., Newark NJ
Recruitment (Almost) Every Saturday, noon, corner of Broad and Market, Newark, NJ

Several of the recent anti-war protests have occurred at the Martin Luther King Jr. monument on MLK Dr.

http://njpop.org/ 973-801-0001

Every decision is made by Peoples Organization for Progress is vetted at the organization's Thursday General Assembly meetings that occur  Every Thursday 6:30 pm, 224 W. Kinney St., Newark NJ.  These meetings are more accurately described as weekly events, often with guest speakers, presentations, topical discussions, panels - a long with a host of presentations by POP members and guests proposing POP involvement in various initiatives.

POP is very open to proposals from other organizations and those not yet part of the organization.  If you have a proposal for anti-war work that is consistent with POP's agenda and strategies, the following are the steps to bring it to the floor:
1. Contact POP officers with a brief description of your proposal, what meeting you would like to present and how much time you might need to present the proposal.
2. When you are scheduled for the meeting, be prepared with a succinct yet coherent presentation on the idea and how it corresponds to POP's policies and positions and how participation helps the POP organization as well as the anti-war cause you are advocating.
3. It is best also to develop a relationship with POP, consider becoming a dues paying member and possibly contribute regularly and to attend and support POP at meetings, protests and other POP events to demonstrate mutual support.
4. You should be clear what exact kinds of support and effort you are asking POP to commit to, the organization has a very demanding agenda - while it is a large organization with very active membership - its members and resources are spread thin due to all of the work it takes on.
5. You should be inviting POP to play a supportive role and not be trying to offload the organizing tasks upon the organization.  Be clear in what you are going to do to facilitate POP involvement.
6. Be prepared at the presentation for pointed and possibly difficult questions and lively discussion, even debate,

POP will usually approve proposals that are well prepared, consistent with their agenda, not overly demanding of resources and have a plan that does not overly depend on POP efforts to be successful.  The organization always comes through when it makes commitments - so if you have an important anti-war project, you should consider POP's participation in helping toward a more successful event.












The Struggle to End US Wars Abroad Ties to Struggle to End the US Wars at Home



This is a draft article for the pending printed publication for #NJAntiWarAgenda - I am looking for a few quotes to finish the article off - and any feedback, edits on what is written so far.  Please provide quotes or edit suggestions to bwitanek@igc.org .

The $700 Billion approved by both ruling parties in the US to give the current Trump administration Carte Blanche for all of the threats, escalations, bombings, deployments being carried forward is directly stolen from the funds needed to fix Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Texas and Florida, the funds needed for full sevices needed, to end hunger and malnutrition in the US, to provide free universal health care, to fully meet the educational needs of America’s youth, to rebuild the decadent roads and infrastructure, to maintain public control and availability of the internet, to provide full employment, etc.

The violence the US has wrought out upon nations throughout the world and the threats of violence, has come home to the US streets in the form of impunity for brutality and killing by police,  Furthermore police departments particularly in cities are getting increasingly receiving military training and millions in military and equipment are transferred from the Pentagon to local police forces.  Through racialized policing and meting out of sentencing, millions are incarcerated in inhumane conditions and forced into enslavement labor by the criminal justice system.

The military also has a significant presence in public schools, particularly in low income communities targeting youth for military recruitment as cannon fodder and to carry out the violent missions on behalf of US foreign policy.  Between mass incarceration and military recruitment and the toll that takes on the families with one or both parents removed, much of the adult population in impoverished communities is demobilized and unable to make a practical contribution toward resisting onslaught from the many forms of systemic oppression.

It is imperative for those who are working to oppose US wars abroad to recognize the connection to the conditions that are tantamount to a US war at home against its own domestic inhabitants.  Every effort must be made to show support for the organizations that are targeting the many domestic onslaughts including those of groups like Peoples Organization for Progress, Decarcerate the Garden State, efforts to support livable wages, free health care for all, full funding for education, safe and healthy communities and environment, support for labor organizing, etc.  Opportunities to organize educational events – even in the street – where the connections between these issues need to be pursued and organized.


We will make no progress in the struggle to oppose endless US wars of imperialism abroad without also taking head on the US wars at home against “our own people.” 

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Strengthen Solidarity w/ Filipino People and Their Struggle for National Liberation in NJ!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: TONIGHT NOV 3: Please tune in at the livestream with Nato Reyes, Secretary General of BAYAN in the Philippines to talk about Trump's asia pacific tour tonight at 8pm. 
http://tinyurl.com/livewithnato Despite the explosive anti-U.S. rhetoric from the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte last year, the US-Philippines’ neo-colonial relations remain intact.This neo-colonial relation continues and will play an even more important role now as the United States seeks to maintain its place as the dominant imperialist power in an increasingly multi-polar world.



In line with this, U.S. President Donald Trump together with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis is expected to visit the Philippines as part of their Asia Pacific tour and to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) East Asia Summit (EAS) this coming November 12 to 14. Through this tour, U.S. Imperialism will being pushing for expand neoliberal globalization and domination of the region, including trade wars, the U.S. military pivot to Asia, containment of China’s aggressive expansionism as well as war mongering in the Korean peninsula as well as increased intervention in the Philippines.


U.S. Imperialist, no.1 terrorist


In this context, let us remember that Philippines served as the United States’ blueprint for its Imperialist conquest. At the turn of the century, United States unleashed a genocidal war of aggression against the young Philippine republic. Particularly horrific is what is now known as the Balangiga massacre in Eastern Samar where U.S. troops murdered “everyone over the age of ten”. The U.S. even took the Bells of Balangiga as a war trophy which remains in US possession to this day. This war, dubbed as America’s “first Vietnam”, dragged on for an entire decade from 1899 to 1910 leaving 1.5 million people, mostly civilians, dead.


Despite the victorious eviction of U.S. military bases in 1991, to this day, U.S. Imperialism’s virtual occupation of the Philippines remains and is legitimized by various unequal treaties such as the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) of 1951, Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA), the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) of 1998 and the most recent Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), turning the entire archipelago into a U.S. military base. This is on top of the annual $180 million of U.S. military aid to the Philippines supporting the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which is notoriously known for committing human rights violations against the Filipino people.


This continued U.S. military presence has been the cause of various atrocities against the Filipino people. The case of “Nicole”, a young Filipino who was gang raped by four U.S. servicemen  in 2005; the mysterious death of Gregan CardeƱo  in 2010, supposedly recruited as a translator to serve at a U.S. military base in Maguindanao he ended up dead; and most recently the murder of Jennifer Laude, a transwoman murdered by a U.S. serviceman Scott Pemberton in Olongapo in 2014.


International Solidarity vs U.S. Imperialism


The Filipino people have been waging an anti-imperialist struggle ever since the U.S. imperialism first set foot in the archipelago and this struggle is set to intensify. The Filipino people continue to wage an organized and protracted struggle both in the parliament of the streets, through Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance), a massive multi-sectoral alliance of progressive people’s organizations, as well as in waging a revolutionary armed struggle in the countryside through the New People’s Army (NPA) led by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its revolutionary alliance, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).


Locally, through Anakbayan New Jersey, a Filipino youth organization based in Jersey City, there has been organizing for the local rights and welfare of the Filipino community and linking it to the national democratic struggle back in the Philippines. Anakbayan New Jersey has conducted educational forums on campuses and in communities, conducted campaigns and has built solidarity relations with the struggles in New Jersey.


It is high time that all people supporting peace and justice to pay closer attention and strengthen the solidarity to the Filipino people and their struggle for national and social liberation. To this end, the New Jersey Philippine Solidarity Committee (NJPSC) was established in June 2015 to gather moral and material support for the Philippine struggle. The NJPSC was able to successfully organize the annual Philippine Solidarity Week each February to raise awareness about the struggle in the Philippines. Also, earlier this year, the NJPSC was able to host a forum about the ongoing civil war in the Philippines between the Philippine government and the revolutionary movement. There is much more to be done and the NJPSC continues to invite and encourage various organizations, institutions and individuals to join the solidarity movement for the Philippines.


How you can get involved


  1. Join the international Call to Action against Trump’s visit to the Philippines and the Asia Pacific region, the neo-liberal agenda of the ASEAN and EAS, and towards building a movement of all people who support Philippine liberation and struggle for genuine independence from US imperialism!  
    1. Take  in the streets confronting the US military & economic pivot!
    2. Endorse the days of actions by filling up the form online (http://tinyurl.com/gtfoPhils)
    3. SIGN ON to the Unity Statement against Trump in the Philippines! (forthcoming)
    4. Donate to BAYAN’s People’s Caravan and Protest actions to confront Trump at Clark Airbase. You can Venmo @BAYANUSA or donate to BAYAN USA (contact Anakbayan NJ)
    5. Join the Resist US-Led War Movement by signing on to the Manifesto online (http://tinyurl.com/resistUSwars)
  2. Attend and support the national gathering of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) in Portland, Oregon  on December 9, 2017.
  3. Join the New Jersey Philippine Solidarity Committee (NJPSC)
Contact:


NJ Philippine Solidarity Committee
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NJPhilippineSolidarity


Anakbayan New Jersey

Email: anakbayannj@gmail.com

This article will appear in #NJAntiWarAgenda - a printed paper to hit the streets very soon!

Related:
http://www.ilps.info/en/2017/11/06/people-in-asia-pacific-resist-trumps-visit-to-the-region/