Anti-Capitalist Convergence - Washington, DC
The People's Strike - Sept 2002 - Open Letter to the Media
August 7, 2002 Attn: Futures and Assignment Desks Dear Editors: On behalf of the Anti-Capitalist Convergence (ACC), we are contacting local and national media to tell you about the upcoming "People's Strike: A Day of Non-Compliance and Resistance," on September 27, 2002. The People's Strike is being organized as a day of concentrated non-cooperation with the savagely unequal and unjust system called capitalism. It also coincides with the beginning of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings here in DC. Simply put, we are going to shut down the city and take back the freedom to control our lives. In the past, mainstream news organizations, which are owned and operated by the same forces of capitalism we are dedicated to wiping out, have grossly misrepresented our growing movement. News coverage of the substantive issues that we address has been extremely disappointing, and coverage of our protests and other activities has often been inaccurate. We would like to change that. Because we want the media to understand what the People's Strike is about, we invite you to look at our Call to Action booklet. More information about the People's Strike and the Anti-Capitalist Convergence is available on our web site abolishthebank.org. These materials will give you an idea of why thousands of people will be coming to this city in September to take action. The materials are being distributed all over the country, and they include our demands of the World Bank and IMF, important facts about the causes of poverty, details of the destructive impact of structural adjustment programs both here in DC and around the world, and most importantly, information on how the protests are being organized. We encourage you to use these materials to convey our words and our ideas to your audience. In the coming months, you may have questions for us. We have chosen to be accessible to the media so that you can help us communicate our message. Below is contact information so that you can arrange interviews with ACC organizers. All of us speak for ourselves as members of the ACC, and not as representatives of the organization as a whole. Once again, we urge you to think seriously about your coverage of these protests, and ask that you convey our message accurately and fairly. Regards, DC Anti-Capitalist Convergence 703-276-9768 ext 7 “Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning, they want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters." -- Frederick Douglass (1857) founder, D.C. General Hospital |