Summer Of Resistance

10 days of resistance again in 2008

April 23rd, 2008

A variety of environmental and antiwar groups are discussing the possibility of again organizing a program for students to come to DC and advocate and push for sensible policies. If you are interested to help or participate, please let us know.

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Summer of Resistance Action Camp July 19-29, 2007

May 25th, 2007

For the 2nd year, Youth will come to DC “for 10 days to shake your world.” We will engage DC elites, visitors and residents with guerrilla theatre and raise youth voices on critical issues including the “War on Terra”, Climate Change, and stopping an imperial presidency. SOR will provide world class training in organizing, street heat, coalition building, and guerrilla theatre. We will be reclaiming public space on the Mall, Capital Hill, Lafayette Park/Peace Park, on K Street and on the Metros.

SOR will be led by world class trainers led by Michael Beer and Nadine Bloch.

Additional Actions and Workshops may include

Leaflet writing and design
Media training
Public Speaking
Effective Messaging
Facilitation Training
Coalition Building
Anti-Oppression training
Political theater and poetry
Banner drops
Video and Audio arts

Dates: July19- July 29, 2007

Cost: $150-$350 sliding scale. Housing and food not guaranteed. Participants are expected to use the registration fee as an opportunity to raise funds. Those seeking scholarships should send a letter requesting one.

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SOR mourns the 2,582 dead soldiers at downtown Recruiting Station

August 4th, 2006

Today’s somber event, complete with coffins draped in American flags and the “We Grieve Our Dead Soldiers” automobile covered in the names of US Iraq War casualties, reached many passersby in downtown Washington. For more info. on the mobile memorial: www.wegrieveourdeadsoldiers.com

SoR participant Haynes Bunn played “Taps” on the trumpet while Gwen Bagley and Lori Beail-Farkas read the names of the first year’s US casualties in a moving tribute to the young men and women who have paid the ultimate price for this senseless war.

The Summer of Resistance passed out flyers including opt-out forms to parents so that they can avoid being harrassed at home by military recruiters. We plan to distribute a short film of this action to youth nationwide, who can do similar actions at their local recruiting stations. Here is our viewer-friendly version of the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-qvAAWKdK8

This has been the last action of SoR 2006. Thanks to all who supported us, and continue to watch the website for updates from our SoR graduates in Texas, DC, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and Nova Scotia.

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Friday: Funeral Service for Fallen Soldiers at Recruitment Station

August 3rd, 2006

Because Recruiters Lie & Our Youth Die

SoR has organized their last action of the summer: a funeral service tomorrow (Friday, August 4) at at a downtown recruiting station (on L St. NW between 13th & 14th), from 11 am to 1 pm.
Coffins draped in American flags, representing the 2,582 dead soldiers, will be on display.

The funeral service will be a somber event to raise awareness about the relationship between fraudulent recruiting practices and the deaths of American youth. On display will be an automobile that serves as a “driving-monument” to troops who have died in the Iraq war.

Wear black.

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Blair the Pink Poodle

July 28th, 2006

On July 28 2006, the Summer of Resistance and Code Pink co-hosted a demonstration at Lafayette Park (aka Peace Park). Today’s action at Peace Park was to acknowledge the arrival of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair who has come to DC to discuss the Iraq war with President Bush. Called “a lapdog” and “Bush’s poodle” by the British press, Tony Blair has been in cohorts with Bush throughout the illegal invasion of Iraq.
Today’s action consisted of chants, marching, and the use of props such as a giant balloon poodle and cutouts of the faces of Bush and Blair. The Summer of Resistance youth were active and vocal throughout the action, contributing a substantial clout to the demonstration. The action was quite successful, having drawn the attention of many a tourist as well as media outlets from both the States and Western Europe. see our video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spw8wHRfGgI

Chanting such cheers as, “Bush and Blair: stay in your room until you bring the troops home,” the demonstration concluded with the arrest of five activists who chose to risk arrest for the purposes of a symbolic blockade of the White House gate.

This action is part of a continued effort to establish a presence in opposition to the war in Iraq. Per this mission, Several Code Pink members (and others) have for the last twenty-five days been on a liquid-only diet as part of their Troops Home Fast Initiative.

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SoR Joins CodePink to Welcome Mr. Blair to DC

July 27th, 2006

When Prime Minister Tony Blair visits Washington on Friday, he will find himself in a familiar position: a statesman abroad, but assailed at home as what his harshest critics call America’s “poodle.”
SoR will join CodePink Friday morning in Peace Park to call on Britain’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to end the illegal occupation of Iraq. The festivities begin at 9am. You’ll recognize us by the poodles.

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SoR greets Iraqi Ambassador with CodePink

July 26th, 2006

Monday, July 24– Summer of Resistance joined CodePink and other fasters with the Troops Home Fast to greet Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki in front of the Iraqi Embassy. “Camp Al-Maliki” was set up to await response to a letter sent by the group to Al-Maliki, requesting an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister during his U.S. visit to discuss ending the US occupation. A copy of the letter also appeared in Iraqi newspaper Assabah Al-Jadid.

At first Embassy security forced most people off the property and closed the gate; then they allowed in Ra’ad, an Iraqi citizen, to negotiate, and they accepted the letter. Finally the Ambassador came out and met with fasters, saying that he believed they had “the best of intentions,” and agreed to convey our message to the Prime Minister.

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SoR does song-and-dance routine at the Carlyle Group while they try to give us the run-around

July 26th, 2006

July 21, 2006 Last Friday’s action at the Carlyle Group was a success despite heightened security; Summer of Resistance performed political theater and spoke with Carlyle’s PR representative and with interested members of the DC community. Check out our video of the event!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRFnVp5UWyI

The Summer of Resistance arrived at the Carlyle group at 11am to find an atmosphere extremely hostile to political theatre. The building’s security had been heightened, with 5 police motorcycles outside and several security guards milling about, as well as a street vacuum directly across the street making enough noise that we had to shout at the top of our lungs to be heard. Three of us entered the building, in matching clothes, to deliver our signing telegram, and were approached by a security guard, who told us to put away our video camera. Once in the building we were immediately asked by security where we were going and why, and when they realized we were going to the second floor (where Carlyle’s office is located), we were asked to leave. We left and regrouped outside, and two other resistors decided to try to get upstairs to the Carlyle group and deliver the military industrial excellence awards. They told the security guards they were going to a different floor and were allowed in, only to find that the elevator had been reprogrammed and would not let them out at the second floor, only at the floor they indicated to security. They attempted to use the stairs but found them locked.

Undeterred, we carried on with our actions outside, setting up banners, singing songs and passing out flyers while several policemen and a small group of worried-looking business people watched from the steps of the building. We were astonished at the amount of security apparently the Carlyle group viewed us as quite a threat. Eventually a PR guy was sent out to speak with us and give us the facts meaning he told us what we had already read on the official Carlyle website. He evaded our many questions about the relationship between Carlyle and George Bush Senior, Saudi Arabia, and the past investment of Carlyle in defense companies, instead yelling at us for not having real, factual evidence and often telling us to “shut up, be quiet” and “you are worthless, you have nothing to say.” We found what he would not say to be much more revealing than what he did say.

Despite numerous setbacks, we found the action to be a success . We performed a short skit about the revolving door between politics and business and passed out all of our flyers. We spoke with many interested people passing by on the street about our views on Carlyle and the essentially corrupt nature of dealing in politics and business simultaneously, especially when the business in question invests in devices used to kill people and requires an environment of fear and conflict in order to maximize their profits. A security guard working outside the building expressed his solidarity with us, saying, “I’ve never seen so much security around this building; you guys are really scaring them, and I think it’s because they have something to hide.”

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FRI. 11 am: Protest the Carlyle Group for funding Middle East Wars!

July 20th, 2006

Protest the Carlyle Group for funding wars in the Middle East!

FRIDAY, July 21
11 am - 1 pm
1001 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Join the Summer of Resistance this Friday, July 21, for an afternoon of singing, theater, and protest against the Carlyle Group and help bring public scrutiny to the “ex-presidents’ club”. We will begin at 11 am by presenting awards to Carlyle Directors & staff for their “exemplary service to the military-industrial complex,” via a singing telegram at their main office, followed by two hours of protest and street theater outside. We will be highlighting the link between war planners, the military budget, and Middle East policy. Come and make your voice heard!
The Carlyle Group Portfolio boasts:

2,500 American troops dead in Iraq
40,000 Iraqis dead
Min. $300 billion of taxpayer money spent in the Iraq War alone

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July 12th, 2006

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10 days of resistance again in 2008

Summer of Resistance Action Camp July 19-29, 2007

SOR mourns the 2,582 dead soldiers at downtown Recruiting Station

Friday: Funeral Service for Fallen Soldiers at Recruitment Station

Blair the Pink Poodle

SoR Joins CodePink to Welcome Mr. Blair to DC

SoR greets Iraqi Ambassador with CodePink

SoR does song-and-dance routine at the Carlyle Group while they try to give us the run-around

FRI. 11 am: Protest the Carlyle Group for funding Middle East Wars!

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