4th ANNUAL VIRGINIA PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY

The 1% have their Congress and the Virginia General Assembly.

The rest of us have the VIRGINIA PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY.

Join progressive activists from around the state for the 4th annual VPA!

2012 VIRGINIA

 PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY

for Jobs, Peace, Justice!

SATURDAY - JAN. 14

'Jobs, Peace, Justice!'

2012 VIRGINIA PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY

9:30 am - 9 pm – Sat., Jan. 14, 2012

St. Stephen's Koinonia Church, 505 N. 33^rd St., Richmond, VA 23223

9:30 am – REGISTRATION – There is no charge, but donations are welcome.

10 - 10:30 am – 1st PLENARY SESSION

Welcoming Remarks: Rev. Benjamin Harris – Pastor, St. Stephen's Koinonia Church

Overview of the VPA: origins, history, purpose; explanation of the day's agenda

10:30 am - noon – FOCUS GROUPS  –These are opportunities for people with the same interests to meet and discuss common issues. The goal is to network, make friends and allies and hopefully find ways to work together in 2012.

10:30 - 11:15 am

Anti-War– Those active or interested in the peace and anti-war movement

Labor – Organized and unorganized workers, activists and supporters

LGBTQ– Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community

11:15 am - noon

Occupy Wall Street– For those active in or supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement

Prison Issues– Ex-prisoners, family members, advocates and supporters

Noon - 1 pm – Black Community Caucus– Open to all Black folks at the conference. Networking and discussion on issues of particular importance to the Black community.

Noon - 1 pm - Immigrant and supporter networking – Mexicanos Sin Fronteras, Southwood Alliance and all others supporting justice for immigrants.

Noon - 1 pm  – LUNCH– Potluck, with meat and vegetarian dishes. Free, but donations appreciated.

1 - 3 pm – WORKSHOPS  –  More formal than focus groups. Workshops are educational presentations and discussions sponsored by a group or individual.

“Virginia's Budget: People Need to Know!”

Sponsor: Virginia Organizing

Presenter: Cathy Woodson, Virginia Organizing Central Virginia Organizer

“Prison issues in Virginia”

Sponsors: Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged (RIHD) / Prisoners & Families for Equal Rights & Justice

Presenters: Lillie “Ms. K” Branch-Kennedy, Executive Director, RIHD; Janet “Queen Nzinga” Taylor, Trustee, PFERJ

“The Right of Oppressed Peoples to Self-determination: What it means, what it doesn't”

Sponsor: Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality

Presenter: Ana Edwards, Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project

“The War on Drugs as the New Jim Crow”

Sponsor: November Coalition

Presenter: Kwame Binta, Virginia Representative, November Coalition

“What's Behind the Drive for War Against Iran?”

Sponsors: Campaign Against Sanctions & Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII); Women for Peace & Justice in Iran

Facilitators: Simin Royanian, Co-Founder, Women for Peace & Justice in Iran; Member, Solidarity Iran;

Phil Wilayto, Editor, The Virginia Defender; Board Member, CASMII

“People's Movement Assemblies”

Sponsor: Southerners On New Ground (SONG)

Presenters: SONG organizers

“Virginia Politics from a Socialist Perspective”

Sponsor: Socialist Party of Central Virginia

Presenters: Members of the Socialist Party of Central Virginia

3 - 4:30 pm – 2nd PLENARY SESSION – Report-backs from focus groups and workshops; action proposals.

4:30 - 5 pm – Transportation to Monroe Park– Drivers should drop their passengers at the park, then park their vehicles closer to Kanawha Plaza, then walk back to join the marchers. This will save a lot of time in getting back to the church.

5 - 6 pm – MARCH– 1.5 miles, East Broad Street to the State Capitol, then to Kanawha Plaza.

6:30 - 7 pm – Transportationback to the conference.

7 - 7:30 pm – DINNER– Brunswick Stew, meat and vegetarian. Free, but donations welcome.

7:30 - 9 pm – RALLY & SPEAK-OUT– Some prepared talks, followed by an open mic.

9 pm – ANTI-WAR PROTEST– If possible, participants are encouraged to join a protest against former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who will be speaking at the Landmark Theater, next to Monroe Park. We need Jobs and Justice, not War!

Child care and meals provided. Donations welcome.

For more information, visit the Facebook page for:

“2012 Virginia People's Assembly conference, march & rally”(http://www.facebook.com/events/284484054920881/)

or contact the  Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality  at:

(804) 644-5834or DefendersFJE@hotmail.com

 

Endorsed by:

 

Breanne Armbrust – Community Activist (Richmond)  -  Kwame Binta – President, Prosser-Truth Division #456, UNIA-ACL; Regional Representative, November Coalition  -  Lillie “Ms. K” Branch-Kennedy – Executive Director, Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged (R.I.H.D.)  -  Rain Burroughs – Industrial Workers of the World, World Can’t Wait (Richmond)  -  Coalition for Justice (Blacksburg)  -  Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality  -  Ana Edwards – Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project (Richmond)  -  Flying Brick Library (Richmond)  -  House of Consciousness (Norfolk)  -  Rev. Benjamin Harris – Pastor, St. Stephen's Koinonia Church (Richmond)  -  Rev. Rodney M. Hunter – Pastor, Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church (Richmond)  -  Ricardo Juarez – General Coordinator, Mexicanos Sin Fronteras / Mexicans Without Borders (Prince William County)  -  King Salim Khalfani – Executive Director, Virginia State Conference NAACP  -  Occupy Blacksburg  -  Occupy Virginia Beach  -  Occupy Richmond  -  Occupy Virginia Tech  -  Tom Palumbo – Activist, Hampton Roads  -  Plowshare Peace Center (Roanoke)  -  Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project – Simin Royanian – Co-Founder, Women for Peace & Justice in Iran (Fairfax)  -  Adria Scharf – Director, Richmond Peace Education Center  -  Queen Zakia Shabazz – Director, United Parents Against Lead National, Inc.  -  Socialist Party of Central Virginia  -  Southerners On New Ground (SONG)  -  The Southwood Alliance (Charlottesville)  -  David Swanson – Author, “When the World Outlawed War” (Charlottesville)  -  Janet “Queen Nzinga” Taylor – Trustee, Prisoners and Families for Equal Rights and Justice (PAFERJ)  -  Wayside Center for Popular Education (Faber)  -  Phil Wilayto – Editor, The Virginia Defender  -  Ann Williams – Activist, Hampton Roads  -  Kenneth Yates – Industrial Workers of the World (Richmond)(As of Dec. 29, 2011)

*****

 

WE NEED JOBS, NOT WAR!

Make plans now to attend

A statewide Networking Conference, Rally & March on the Virginia General Assembly

SAT., JAN. 14, 2012

St. Stephen’s Koinonia Church – 505 N. 33rd St., Richmond, VA 23223

Nearly four years after the start of this country’s worst economic crisis since the 1930s, we are told the “Great Recession” has ended. But while corporate profits are at all-time highs, we have yet to see the return of the 8 million jobs that were lost.

In Virginia, more than a quarter-million workers are officially unemployed. Our unemployment rate of 6.5 percent is lower than the national figure of 9.1, but that’s an average that masks the true picture. (1)

As of August, the official unemployment rate was 10 percent or higher in 15 Virginia cities and counties, with Fredericksburg at 10.1, Hopewell 11.4, Emporia 11.6, Danville 12.7, Petersburg 13.2, Williamsburg 14.5 and Martinsville at a whopping 19.4 percent. Even in the capital city of Richmond, home to the state government, many universities, hospitals and banking establishments, nearly one out of every 10 workers – 9.9 percent – was officially unemployed. (1) 

Remember, these are only the official figures. They don’t include unemployed youths who have never held a job, so-called “discouraged” workers who have exhausted unemployment benefits and are no longer counted, prisoners, military personnel or anyone trying to survive on a part-time job.

And the above figures are just the city and county averages. In many inner-city and rural communities, where there are few job opportunities and inadequate public transportation, as many as half the workers are unemployed. Racism, sexism, anti-immigrant prejudice and homophobia further reduce the chances of finding work.

We need a public jobs program!

Back in 1933, when the national unemployment rate hit 24.9 percent, mass public pressure moved President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to create public jobs programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which employed some 3 million young men building parks, bridges, dams and other needed public works. Virginia’s own state park system began as a CCC project. In Richmond, the construction of the Virginia State Library, Medical College of Virginia Hospital, Maggie L. Walker High School and the “Lee” Bridge (which we encourage people to call the Gabriel Bridge) were all funded in large part by the Public Works Administration, a federal jobs-creation program. (2)

Today, a government jobs program isn’t even part of the public debate. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and other members of the Congress-ional Black Caucus are promoting a national public jobs bill, but getting any media interest, let alone support from President Obama, has been an uphill struggle.

In Virginia, the only debate is over how many more tax breaks to give to corporations, or how much more to cut social programs and support for the cities and counties. The result will be more local cutbacks and layoffs of teachers, firefighters and other needed city and county workers.

“Money for Jobs, Not for War!”

That’s why we are calling for “Money for Jobs, Not for War!” We are told there is no money for jobs, education, health care or decent housing. We are told the real problem is hard-fought-for programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

But it seems we can always afford another war.

Consider this: according to the White House, it costs $1 million to keep one U.S. soldier in Afghanistan for one year. (3) Just one Tomahawk cruise missile costs $1.41 million. (4) The U.S. launched hundreds in the war on Libya.

What could we do with this money? Each $1 million could create 40 jobs paying $25,000 a year. Each $1 billion could create 40,000 such jobs. Since 2001, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan alone have cost Virginia taxpayers more than $31.3 billion. (5)

Then there’s the cost to the state of keeping members of the Virginia National Guard overseas. Half of all U.S. soldiers now fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are from the Guard or Reserves. And there’s the cost to provide necessary services for veterans. And Virginia’s share of interest on the national debt, which is largely the result of past, present and future wars.

It’s time to call on Virginians to think seriously about what we are spending our money on.

2012 Virginia People’s Assembly

Each January for the last three years, progressive forces from around Virginia have gathered in Richmond on the Saturday before the opening session of the General Assembly to tell the legislators “Don’t Balance the Budget on the Backs of Virginia’s Working People!” This demand is especially important for state workers, whose pension fund has been raided to balance recent budgets.

This now annual event, called the Virginia People’s Assembly, consists of a networking conference, a rally and a march on the State Capitol. While many organizations hold lobbying efforts during the GA sessions, what distinguishes the VPA is bringing all the issues and struggles together in one united movement. Trade unionists get to hear about the issues facing immigrant workers. Anti-war activists listen to reports of struggles of prisoners. Young activists benefit from the insights of the elders, who in turn learn from the innovative spirit of the youth. No just cause is left behind. The VPA raises the broad range of issues facing our state’s poor and working people, Black and other communities of color, immigrants, women, the LGBTQ community, students and youth, veterans and more.

One particular focus is the plight of prisoners. In 1995, Virginia abolished parole. And Virginia is one of only two states in the country that, without action by the governor, permanently denies voting rights and other civil rights to those convicted of a felony, which is a new form of the Jim Crow-era discriminatory laws. Each year the VPA encourages support for bills in the General Assembly being promoted by the prisoner advocacy organizations Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged (R.I.H.D.) and Prisoners and Families for Equal Rights and Justice (PAFERJ). In the same way, the VPA encourages support for all struggles raised at the networking conference.

How to get involved

How can you get involved in this effort?

1. Endorse the Call for the 2012 Virginia People’s Assembly.  Just e-mail DefendersFJE@hotmail.com or call (804) 644-5834.

2. Get others in your area to endorse the Call.

3.Invite a member of the 2012 VPA Organizing Committee to speak at your union, school, place of worship, community association, student organization, etc., about the VPA.

4. Make plans to hold your own local People’s Assembly to find out what concerns your neighbors and co-workers want to raise in January.

Times are hard and are getting harder. We need to strengthen those voices in the General Assembly who do speak for working people and we need to speak out in our own voice.

Will you join us?

For a World of Justice and Peace for All,

 

Salem Acuna, Hermelinda Cortez & Hieu Tran – Southerners On New Ground (SONG)

Breanne Armbrust – Community Activist (Richmond)

Kwame Binta  – President, Prosser-Truth Division #456, UNIA-ACL; Regional Representative, November Coalition

Lillie “Ms. K” Branch-Kennedy – Executive Director, Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged (R.I.H.D.)

Rain Burroughs – Industrial Workers of the World, World Can’t Wait (Richmond)

Coalition for Justice (Blacksburg)

Ana Edwards – Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality

Flying Brick Library (Richmond)

Ricardo Juarez – General Coordinator, Mexicanos Sin Fronteras / Mexicans Without Borders (Prince William County)

Rodney M. Hunter – Pastor, Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church (Richmond)

Plowshare Peace Center (Roanoke)

Adria Scharf – Director, Richmond Peace Education Center

David Swanson – Author of “When the World Outlawed War” (Charlottesville)

Janet “Queen Nzinga” Taylor – Trustee, Prisoners and Families for Equal Rights and Justice (PAFERJ)

Phil Wilayto – Editor, The Virginia Defender

Kenneth Yates – Industrial Workers of the World (Richmond)

 

 

 

(1) August 2011; U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Figures are not seasonably adjusted

(2) “Richmond: The Story of a City” by Virginius Dabney

(3) “Calculating The Cost Of The War In Afghanistan” - National Public Radio, Oct. 29, 2009

(4) U.S. Navy spokesperson Rob Koon, quoted in the Huffington Post, March 25, 2011

(5) Cost of War, National Priorities Project  (www.costofwar.com)