[BRC-ANN] People's Convention in Los Angeles, Aug 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Independent Politics News Spring 2000 (Volume 4, Issue 2) People's Convention in Los Angeles this August By Cindy Henderson and Casey Peters In the wake of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart scandal, the Amadou Diallo trial 'not guilty' verdicts, and in the spirit of Seattle's demonstrations against the World Trade Organization, a new movement is growing to counteract the August 2000 Democratic National Convention. Activists from a wide spectrum of Left and progressive organizations, as well as independents, are coming together to plan a People's Convention as an alternative to the capitalist agenda of the morally bankrupt Democratic and Republican Parties. The idea of a Peoples' Convention was floated by Ron Daniels at the Progressive Dialogue in Washington, D.C. on December 4-5, 1999. Daniels, Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, was thought by many to be too optimistic in his assessment that a People's Convention could be organized on such short notice for summer of 2000. But just six days later, Maggie Phair proposed to the United Campaign of Los Angeles that they host a People's Convention prior to the Democrats in mid-August, and found unanimous support for the concept. Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, Peace and Freedom Party and Solidarity have voted to endorse a Los Angeles People's Convention, and groups considering endorsement include the Gray Panthers, Industrial Workers of the World, News and Letters Committees, and Students Against Sweatshops. The Fair Trade Network, crucial in organizing participation from Los Angeles in the recent Seattle WTO protests, and now holding meetings to plan similar demonstrations during the Democratic Convention, greeted the idea of a Peoples Convention with enthusiasm. A broad and representative group convened a planning meeting on Sunday March 12th at the Paul Robeson Community Center in South-Central Los Angeles. Nearly everyone present contributed to the discussion, agreeing that the Peoples Convention can provide "political fuel" for the demonstrations to follow by focusing on problems created by capitalism, especially class/race issues. A People's Convention could expose the inherently undemocratic nature of capitalist institutions, both globally and locally, like the World Trade Organization and the two party system. Everyone present agreed that youth should not simply be included in this project, but pro-actively developed as leadership. No concrete decisions have been made as of March 12, other than setting a convention date, so as to allow newly-joining participants to have a full say in setting up a program for the convention. However, general consensus has been evident in certain respects. The Basic Plans A People's Convention will take place in Los Angeles Friday, August 11 through Sunday, August 13, 2000, bringing together a wide range of independent and progressive organizations. This will likely be downtown, near the Staples Center where the Democrats will meet August 14-17. While the Democrats are convening, we will be in the streets protesting their policies. We will also operate a hospitality center and progressive political fair. The hospitality center will have refreshments, an exhibit of movement buttons and posters, a first aid station, and a place for protesters to get away from police batons and tear gas and the hot August sun. The political fair will have information booths staffed by numerous community and political organizations so that activists and demonstrators can learn about and link up with movement groups. An independent media center will be hosted by Los Angeles Alternative Media Network, and Los Angeles Free Press plans to publish on a daily basis throughout the week. The People's Convention itself is intended to be open to independents, Democrats, and partisans of various Left political parties. Socialist Party presidential nominee David McReynolds has already agreed to address the convention and Green candidate Ralph Nader is being approached. Other organizations being asked to send representatives include Alliance for Democracy, Black Radical Congress, Raza Left, Labor Party, New Party, Communist Party, Democratic Socialists of America, Freedom Socialist Party, Peace and Freedom Party, Revolutionary Communist Party, Socialist Workers Party, and Workers World Party. Numerous single-issue groups, such as Coalition Against Police Abuse, Families Allied to Change Three Strikes, and Women in Non-Traditional Employment Roles, will make presentations. We hope to stage a major debate on the respective strategies of working within the Democratic Party and of organizing independent electoral activity. C-SPAN and other media will be invited to cover the debate, which may feature such speakers as Tom Hayden, Maxine Waters and Cornell West versus Ron Daniels, Karen Kubby and Sabina Virgo. We may also hold discussions that encourage exchange of ideas between non-electoral grass-roots organizations and progressive electoral groups. Additionally, the convention will offer workshops where activists can network and share practical organizing skills. Either a short statement of unity or a more extensive platform are also anticipated. Several potential sites have been inspected, but none had been reserved as of mid-March. Funding is needed, of course, to pay for proper facilities as well as publicity and other needs. Contributions and comments may be sent to: PEOPLE'S CONVENTION - LA 2000, P.O. Box 6254, Alhambra CA 91802. The Los Angeles Peoples Convention and demonstrations, as well as the actions planned in Philadelphia at the time of the Republican Convention, will hopefully be broadly-based, massive and politically valuable. They should also feed into the work of an exploratory committee for a genuinely representative national people's convention that was established at the Dec. 4-5 meeting in D.C. If conditions are right, that may occur as early as summer of 2001. In the meantime, Philadelphia and Los Angeles may create building blocks toward greater working unity in putting forward a progressive people's agenda. -30- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BRC-ANNOUNCE: Black Radical Congress - General Announcements/Alerts Subscribe: Email "subscribe brc-announce" to www.blackradicalcongress.org | BRC | blackradicalcongress@email.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytrc-04.29.00-02:13:03-3198