THE TENT CITY PROTEST STARTS SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2008 OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE

END THE WARS AND BUILD THE FUTURE WE KNOW IS POSSIBLE

JOIN THE TENT CITY PROTEST SATURDAY JUNE 28, 2008 AT NOON OUTSIDE THE WHITHE HOUSE IN LAFAYETTE PARK

HELP BRING PEACE AND JUSTICE TO OUR WORLD

END THE OCCUPATIONS, TORTURE AND STOP BUSH'S THREAT OF WORLD WAR III - WORK FOR SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE, POVERTY AND HUNGER.

http://www.consensus.net/tent_city_protest.html

The Tent City Protest has been one of the most effective nonviolent direct actions. Camp Casey, The Orange Revolution and Bonus March are just some of the examples of the influence of the Tent City Protest. We are choosing the White House because the policies of the Bush Administration and U.S. Congress have played important roles in causing the global chaos of war, hunger, foreclosure, poverty and climate change. In the past tent city protests have inspired dramatic social change. We encourage you to participate in this important nonviolent direct action. We can start building a world with peace, healthcare, education, food, housing, a safe environment, and democracy. Experience the power of nonviolent social change and the joy of building a community of resisitance. Activists with an number of organizations including the Washington Peace Center, CodePink DC, Washington Homes Not Jails, Propositon One and Food Not Bombs met this May in Washington DC to plan some of the logistics for the Tent City Protest. Proposition One has been protesting everyday outside the White House for over 25 years. We agreed to start the main action the Saturday before Independence Day. Everyone is invited to gather at outside the White House at noon.

LOCATIONS TO MEET IN WASHINGTON DC

We invite you to join us outside the White House at Lafayette Park at the Proposition One Vigil.Lafayette Square is a seven-acre public park located directly north of the White House on H Street between 15th and 17th Streets, NW. When arriving in Washington DC you can stop at the CodePink House at 712 5th St NE between G&H (5 blocks from Union Station- Red Line) Please call the house at 202.290.1301 or email the house at dc[at]codepinkalert.org. The house will be closed on June 28th through July 4th but you are free to stop by before the Tent City Protest or during the rest of the summer. You can also check in at the Washington Peace Center at 1233 12th Street, NW, downstairs. Call the Washington Peace Center at 202/234-2000 or email them at wpc(at)igc.org

WHAT YOU CAN BRING TO THE TENT CITY PROTEST

At first because of the laws against camping in Washington DC we invite you to bring a life size card board image of a tent as well as a pop-up tent that you can set up on the street. Food Not Bombs plans to provide vegetarian meals so a bowl, cup and silverware is helpful. Also bring a sleeping bag and plastic to cover yourself in the rain. if you can help cook and have a propane stove, pots, spices and other cooking equipment that is also helpful. Those interested in Firts Aid can bring medical supplies. Bring a sign to announce the name of your organization. Music, puppets, street theater is also welcome. Water jugs are also very important as the summer is very warm in Washington DC.

WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN THE TENT CITY PROTEST THIS SUMMER

Students and activist are starting to make plans for a summer of Tent City Protest to stop the U.S. attack on Iran, to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while showing that we can create world free from domination, coercion and violence. Thousands of people are making plans to set up a tent city outside the White House and Capital Buildings in Washington D.C, as soon as final exams are over this May. While marches, vigils and rallies are important the Bush administration has shown it can ignore these one day events. On the other hand long ongoing actions are impossible to turn a blind eye too. Tent City Protests during the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas, the 27 day Tent City Actions in San Francisco and the 600 day farmer's action at the Bosnia and Herzegovina Square in Sarajevo were powerful and inspired change. Activists are also planning to organize Tent City Protests outside military installations, federal buildings and U.S. embassies. All peace and social action groups are invited to join in the tent city protest.

There is a vigorous debate about what strategy might work to end the crisis caused by the "war on terrorism." Rallies, marches and petitions haven't done enough to stop torture, secret prisons, the use of cluster bombs against civilians, wire tapping and data collection, laws such as the Military Commissions Act and the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. At the same time actions to protect the environment, healthcare, education and housing haven't been successful. One strategy that has proven effective at bringing positive social change has been the tent city protest.

We are facing an urgent crisis. Bush is talking of World War III against Iran using nuclear weapons, the global economy is failing for most, climate change continues to become more urgent and the U.S. empire is using every measure possible to protect its power. Bush has pointed to the power of tent city protests to bring political change. Lets show him that we can also bring democracy and peace to the United States. Join us in participating in the Tent City Protest. CONTACT YOUR LOCAL PROGRESSIVE GROUPS AND ORGANIZE A MEETING IN YOUR COMMUNITY!

LOOK AT THE POWER OF PAST TENT CITY PROTESTS
• The 2005 Palistinian / Israli Peace Camp and actions to plant olive trees for peace united the community
• The tent city protest outside the Parliament Building in Kiev during the Orange Revolution restored the democracy of the Ukraine.
• Thousands of protesters joined Cindy Sheehan's Camp Casey outside Bush's Ranch in Crawford, Texas. Her tent city protest brought our opposition to the war to world attention.
• The National Coalition for the Homeless organized 250,000 to appear in Washington, D.C., in October 1989 with its Housing Now! March.
• A coalition of homeless and peace groups organized the 27 day Tent City protest for homeless peoples rights in San Francisco in 1989 which ended the police violence and opened additional homeless programs.
• The 600 day tent city action at the Bosnia and Herzegovina Square in Sarajevo. The action was organized by the Sarajevo collective 'food-not bombs!,' with the goal to support the informal citizen group that has been gathering as of December 2005 in front of the Square of the earlier BH Parliament, and in order to simply discuss and publicly talk about the problems that bear a heavy weight on the majority of the Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens, female, male, and surely all others.
Imagine a tent city that provides universal healthcare, education, cultural events, free organic meals, solar energy and provides an example of the world we can have if we stop spending our wealth on war.

BUILD THE WORLD WE KNOW IS POSSIBLE
PLEASE JOIN US THIS SUMMER 
STARTS SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2008 OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE 
YOU CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE!

THE TENT CITY PROTEST IS ENDORSED BY: Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Venice Santa Monica Food Not Bombs, Code Pink DC, The Iraq Moratorium, Arlington Food Not Bombs, PeaceMajority Report, A Window on the Peace Community in America, The Food Not Bombs Menu, Moscow Food Not Bombs, Proposition One, Washington Homes Not Jails. Please contact us to endorse this powerful action.

The Tent City Protest 2008
1-800-884-1136
menu@ foodnotbombs.net

http://www.consensus.net/tent_city_protest.html