------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Feb. 20, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
CALL TO ACTION BY BLACK LEADERS [A call to "Maximize Black participation in the peace movement" was initiated in New York in early February by the Rev. Herbert Daughtry and others and already has hundreds of signers.] Below are excerpts. A CALL TO ACTION People of African ancestry have a unique role in the growing movement to stop President Bush's war on Iraq. If war comes, it will be Black soldiers who will bear the brunt of the fighting and dying. The Black community will bear more than its share of deprivation as a result of massive funds invested in war, money that is robbed from healthcare, education, nutrition, and jobs programs. War is the epitome of everything that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought against his entire short life. And stopping the war on Iraq is a matter of life and death for everyone, especially people of color. In the coming days and weeks, let us work to insure maximum participation from the Black community in the peace movement and in all the important protests, especially the International Day of Protest for Peace, Feb. 15. TAKE A STAND FOR PEACE We thank all the organizations and influential people in the Black community who have taken a strong public position against the war. We encourage those who have not to add their voices to the opposition. Make Black History Month--Black Protest For Peace Month February is Black History Month. We encourage everyone who is planning a Black History Month program in February, whether at school, or a religious institution, or the community center, the union hall, or in the streets, to devote their program protesting the war. Black history is nothing if not a history of struggle against what Dr. King called the three evils: racism, poverty, and militarism. All the things that we recall and commemorate during Black History Month can be connected to the need to stop this war. Let us turn Black History Month into "Black Protest for Peace Month." SUPPORT GIS WHO REFUSE TO GO TO WAR Many of us have family members in the military. Young African Americans often join the military to find the jobs and educational opportunities not available to them in civilian society. Our protest is not against Black soldiers, it is against an unjust war. Indeed, we protest in the hope that we can save the lives of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers and civilians. Let us also open our arms with moral support and practical assistance to those soldiers, women and men, who decide they cannot in good conscience participate in this unjust war. REMEMBER MALCOLM X-- SUPPORT THE STUDENT PROTEST ON FEB. 21 On Friday, Feb. 21, anti-war students across the country will commemorate the 38th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X (Al Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) by leaving classes to protest the war. We encourage students, faculty, and the community at large to participate in this important day of protest and help to make it truly massive and powerful. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
