|
World Can't Wait is organizing people
living in the United States to take responsibility to stop the whole
disastrous course led by the Bush administration. We seek to create a
political situation where the Bush administration's program is
repudiated, where Bush himself is driven from office, and where the
whole direction he has been taking U.S. society is reversed.
We
seek to mobilize millions to express their outrage, to speak the truth,
to act with urgency and form an organized political resistance. We
welcome any individuals and groups who agree that the Bush Regime
should be driven out, whatever their political party affiliation or
lack thereof. We reach out to people who have been fooled by Bush, and
to those who have been most seriously affected by the outrages
inflicted by the Bush Regime.
Check out the Call for The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime, written in summer 2005.
We drew our inspiration from...
The Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience which we encourage you to read, add your name to, and distribute broadly.
Excerpts: "No election,
whether fair or fraudulent, can legitimize criminal wars on foreign
countries, torture, the wholesale violation of human rights, and the
end of science and reason."
"It is our responsibility to stop
the Bush regime from carrying out this disastrous course. We believe
history will judge us sharply should we fail to act decisively."
National Steering Committee:
Father Luis Barrios, New York City
Mark James, Los Angeles
Rev. Deborah Elandus Lake, Chicago
Allen Lang, New York City
Prachi Noor, New York City
Debra Sweet, New York City
Advisory Board:
Lynne Stewart, attorney
Rosemary Candelario, pro-choice activist
Boots Riley, hip hop performer
Gore Vidal, writer
Warren Hern MD, Physician and pro-choice activist
Sunsara Taylor, writer
Mark Crispin Miller, professor & writer
Tomás Olmos, attorney
Mark Leno, CA State Assembly
Howard Zinn, historian
Steering Committee Bios:
Father Luis Barrios, New York City
The Rev. Luis Barrios is an associate
professor in psychology and ethnic studies at John Jay College of
Criminal Justice, City University of New York and also an associate
priest at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Manhattan. In addition, since
1997 he is a weekly columnist for El Diario La Prensa, one of the
oldest Spanish speaking newspapers in the Nation. Most of his research
is with street organizations, juvenile criminal justice system, and
immigrants rights. Luis is an academic activist, an activist priest and
a community activist. He was born in Puerto Rico.
Mark James, Los Angeles
I was raised on the east coast and came of age
during the Vietnam War. Youthful yearnings for a better world drew me
to the protest movements of the time. As the the power of that period
waned, so did my hope of creating a better world. I spent the 80's
devoting time to the development of my business (home renovations).
After moving to San Francisco in the early 80's my friends began to
die. Within a few years our community had been devastated by the loss
of lives and the fear surrounding AIDS. The Reagan administration
ignored the problem, forcing us into the streets and taking matters
into our own hands. During this period I volunteered my services to
grass roots AIDS service organizations. In September 2001 my outrage at
the US Government needed an avenue of expression; the anti war movement
that followed allowed for some of that expression. However, it has been
during this most recent period with the development of The World Can't
Wait movement and my role in building it that I have recaptured my
youthful yearnings for a better world.
Rev. Deborah Elandus Lake, Chicago
Rev. Deborah Elandus Lake is
Executive Director of Sankofa Way Spiritual Services and Co-founder of
the Chicago Chapter of The Interfaith Alliance. Since relocating from
Massachusetts to Chicago in 2002, she has worked with local
organizations and programs such as: Rush University Medical
Center, the CORE Center, and the John H. Stroger Hospital of Cook
County. Before moving to Chicago, she served congregations in New York
and Massachusetts. Rev. Lake is a graduate of Union Theological
Seminary in NY, and an ordained non-denominational minister.
"I am involved with World
Can’t Wait because this is the only other organization I can find where
people are not afraid to publicly take a stand against the actions of
Bush and those who keep him in office. I am very concerned about the
direction our country is being taken, and I am determined to be able to
look my daughters and grand children in the eye and tell them that I
did everything possible to preserve their heritage."
Allen Lang, New York City
Allen Lang is the National Student and Youth
Coordinator for The World Can't Wait! Drive Out The Bush Regime. Allen
got his start as a political organizer after witnessing the horrors
that suffocate millions of sweatshop workers in the 3rd World and being
inspired by the anti-Globalization movement that burst on to the scene
during the 1999 Seattle WTO and IMF protests. As a member of the
Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade, he led student walkouts and
demonstrations protesting the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and was part of
shutting down a military recruitment center during the March 5th 2003
Moratorium to Stop the War. After visiting the West Bank of Palestine
with the International Solidarity Movement in 2002, he organized an
East Coast Speaking Tour. He leads workshops to stop military
recruitment in high schools and has organized progressive film
festivals in Utah and Philadelphia.
Prachi Noor, New York City
Prachi Noor was born and brought up in the midst of
peasant struggles and women's movements in rural India. Inspired by the
dedication of freedom fighter grandparents of India's independence
movement, she grew up believing that change doesn't come without a
fight. In the United States, she has been active with the anti-police
brutality movement and has been at the forefront of the movement to
stop the repression of Arab, Muslim and South Asian communities. She
has been part of organizations like the Blue Triangle Network and Youth
Solidarity Summer.
Debra Sweet, New York City
Debra Sweet is the National Co-ordinator of World
Can't Wait. Richard Nixon refused to speak to the press for six months
after the US invasion of Cambodia. When he finally appeared before the
White House press corps, it was to make awards for service and bravery
to Young Americans, whom he said were "not out protesting". I was 19.
When he handed me the award, I told him that he was responsible for
killing millions of people in southeast Asia. He got angry, turned and
left the room, making a front page story and international news.
Antiwar sentiment had seeped into the Blue Room and was pervading every
part of US society - not to mention the world. The Emperor had no
clothes, and when someone says that; an Eartha Kitt, a Debra Sweet, a
Cindy Sheehan, it can galvanize others to speak and act on the truth.
There are millions out there who can take inspiration, and act. The end
of the story isn't written yet... |