1- Organizing is easier on one level (for those with computers) - but this last weekend event, only had one tenth the number of the last national march.
2 - The partial answer to your point two is - the Oct. 11, 2009 event took that date because of the successes that the Oct. 11, 1987 National March had - they admit that in their calling for this date. If you do not know what the actual changes and effects that the earlier real national marches had - then I ask you to learn Gay history. And Marxists understand why movements need to be grass roots from bottom up and not controlled by a few - if they are to be truly successful in the long run. Sorry to be so short and crude on this but a complete answer would take more than room for this email! 3 - Again my original email stated if the ISO leadership really cared about the development and growth of an independent mass GLBT Movement - it would have done its homework and contacted the previous national march organizers to encourage them for their insight and experiences and what needed to be done to create a successful march. Instead they went to David Mixner and followed Cleve Jones and Torrie Osborne - and following them - that is not leading - and that is the problem - the ISO wanted to be with people in motion - and never cared what this was doing to the already exisiting GLBT Movement in relationship to this. This march did not bring needed unity - and if it was successful (and it was not) - it would have allowed a billionaire to then call on their own, the next so called national march. I have worked for 40 years to help build the GLBT Movement - and I wish the ISO would first learn what makes up the GLBT Communities - before they go blindly forward! It will only lead to disappointment and wasted effort - because the ISO was being used by others who are center-right social democrats. They went backward not forward with how this march was called, organized and its politics projected - pretty sad in 2009 to be going backward!!!!!!! The ISO was not in the leadership of the earlier national marches - and therefore appraently does not care about that work and what it created - such as instituting that a national conference open to all should decide on the march and its demands and makeup. They seem to only care about what they can achieve. That is sectarian, divisive and trashes the work of those who came before them. Poor organizing and strategy to recruit a few members at the expense of a movement! > Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:22:39 -0500 > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Marxism] The National Equality March: A New Generation of > Protesters > To: [email protected] > > John - Strategy and logic of the ISO's participation aside...a few > points on your critique: > > 1. Some see the technology generation as being less likely to engage > in this sort of action, though there is no doubt that the internet and > everything else makes organizing much easier. > > 2. If the earlier, 'more successful' demonstrations were more > grassroots, independent, radical, etc. then why did this march even > happen? What were the long-term effects of these earlier > demonstrations? > > 3. My understanding is that there was a steering committee for the > march which the ISO was a part of. I'm not sure who the three people > you're talking about are or the details that make this march so much > more undemocratic than the past ones but suffice to say that it was a > manifestation of a new generation of activists who are frustrated but > not yet ready to give up on Obama or the Democrats. That doesn't mean > that the ISO isn't going to turn out or endorse the march. The most > immediate demands of the march were clear - abolish don't ask don't > tell & DOMA, pass ENDA - with the ultimate goal of full equality for > all. The ISO is not shy to advertise that the only way to real sexual > equality and freedom is socialist revolution, but we're not at the > point of building a broad movement based on that or even a complete > break with the Democrats, which we also advocate. > > ________________________________________________ > YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > Send list submissions to: [email protected] > Set your options at: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/causecollector%40msn.com ________________________________________________ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
