In This Issue     Young Democratic Socialists Update: March 18, 2008
 
 
 
  
YDS and "5 Years Too Many" In Washington D.C.
A national day of action against the Iraq War
 
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 will mark the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.  This unjust war, based on corporate profit, lies, and broken promises, must come to an end.  The Young Democratic Socialists have worked tirelessly against this war since battle plans were announced.  We shall continue to struggle at a national action called "5 Years Too Many," scheduled to occur in our country?s capital on Wednesday. 
 
These actions are sponsored by our anti-war coalition, United for Peace and Justice.  This day will not be one more demonstration.  It will be a time where people can and will commit civil disobedience to show that we?ve had enough, and that it?s time to return Iraq to its citizens and bring our troops home.
 
Building a Youth Presence at "5 Years Too Many"
Make sure YDS and fellow anti-war young people's voices are heard!
 
It is of the upmost importance to build a youth presence on this day.  Young people, both American and Iraqi, will be affected by this war for years to come.  Our futures have been mortgaged to pay for a failed occupation and neoliberal economic disaster.   As our government continues to create and prolong human suffering, it is our obligation to stand up and end it.
 
On March 19th, YDS will join groups such as D.C. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Student Peace Action Network (SPAN, our ally in the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition) for a Spokescouncil (or democratic planning meeting) at 10 a.m. in Franklin Square.  To get there, take the orange or blue lines to the McPherson Square metro station (15th and I Street) and walk one block over Franklin Square at 14th and I Street.  At 11 AM, we?ll return to McPherson Square.  Attendees will choose either to join SDS?s Funk the War or SPAN?s guerrilla street theater. 
 
That evening we will regroup at a YDSer?s home for dinner and a debriefing.  Directions to the home will be given out at McPherson Square.
 
To learn more, please contact yds@dsausa.org or call 212-727-8610. 
 
YDS Iraq Moratorium Video
Highlight film from anti-war plenary at "Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible"

 

YDS has prepared a highlight video from our Iraq Moratorium event "2013 Isn?t Soon Enough: The Anti-War Movement Post-Bush."  Filmed at our conference, titled "Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible," the panel featured Democratic Socialists of America (YDS?s parent organization) members Bill Fletcher Jr., Frances Fox Piven, and Stephen Eric Bronner discussing the new political terrain that faces the anti-war movement faces following the presidential election.  All speakers agreed that it?s up to the Left and the social movements to hold anti-war candidates? accountable to their promises.
 
 
Bringing Anti-War Activism to Your Campus
Ideas for local actions against the Iraq War
 
We know that many of you cannot join us in Washington D.C., so we are encouraging you to do teach-ins about the costs of war in your schools.  Drawing connections between the war?s domestic effects to a larger capitalist agenda is the critical role for socialists.  Socialists must not only critique the inhumanity of war, but the conservative agenda that pushed our country into Iraq. 
 
We recommend the following:
 
1) Host an event for the upcoming Iraq Moratorium on Friday, March 21st.  YDS has participated in the Iraq Moratorium from its inception began and will continue to do so until the war has stopped.  For more information on the Iraq Moratorium, click on their website here.
 
2) Host a teach-in against the war.   You can show the new YDS anti-war video and/or DSA statement against the war then have a group discussion about materials; use statistics from the National Priorities Project and their "Trade Off" calculator to show what could have been bought with war funding; invite radical teachers to speak with students; or design your own event. 
 
Or for more ideas, check out the Winter 2008 Red Letter and its list of actions YDSers did during September Iraq Moratorium.
 
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