Summer of Protest

I think it is only through huge changes in our lives and devoting a huge chunk of our lives to ending this occupation against Iraq NOW, are we going to feel human again.

I think we need a paradigm shift - I think we need to stop comparing ourselves with the richest, most privileged amongst us but with the poorest, the most oppressed, the most deprived, the most suffering.

I think there are a very few of us in this country who are struggling to survive - there are some, but very, very few and those of us who are reading this now are not amongst those who are struggling to survive.

I think most of us are struggling so hard to maintain a certain life-style - and it is this very lifestyle that we have to examine, challenge, and change. For our struggle to maintain our lifestyle does not allow for the caring and compassion towards those that HAVE to suffer in order for us to maintain our life styles. For we have to face the fact that we consume up to 60% of the world's resources - and we are 4% of the world's peoples – and we ALL support this consumption to varying degrees.

I say we take a sabbatical from our life-styles: we put our lifestyles on hold for 2 months this summer, from July 4th until Labor Day. We organize a “Summer of Protest”; we shut down ports, we walk across the country, we blockade battalions that are being deployed; we descend upon D.C. and refuse to leave until Congress votes NO MORE WAR.

We begin today by committing 3 hours of our day every day to working to end war: whether it’s making phone calls, emailing, standing on the street corner, writing editorials, getting organized for the Summer of Protest, we do it.

I say we say NO MORE WAR and then we act daily to make sure that happens. No matter what!