Protest and actions at the DNC in September 2012

Subject: Elena Everett is the state contact for those groups interested in joining the broad coalition to protest at the DNC in Charlotte

I hope all is well for you all as we move into 2012 - what's sure to be an insane political year.  I've been working with a number of groups in Charlotte, the South, & across the country to start to form a coalition of independent organizations to work together to coordinate plans, actions, and activities for the DNC in Charlotte this year.

We are formally launching the coalition on January 18 at a press conference in Charlotte. We currently have 30 organizations from around the country, and 8 prominent social justice leaders who have endorsed the coalition.

Below is the Call to Action & the Principles of Unity.  All groups are asked to endorse the call to action & the principles, they would then be invited to have up to 2 folks on the steering committee of the coalition.  The primary goals are to help facilitate communications between groups, help to promote each other's events, and to coordinate some larger events, outreach, and media messages together.  Please give me a call with any questions.  I'd be happy to talk to anyone at more length about the coalition.
Take care,
Elena Everett

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TEXT OF THE CALL TO ACTION & CHARLOTTE PRINCIPLES SEPTEMBER 2012: COALITION TO PROTEST AT THE DNC IN CHARLOTTE, NC

We Demand:
Good jobs for all! Economic justice now -- Make the banks and corporations pay for their crisis!
Money for education, health care, housing and all human needs, not for war and incarceration!
Justice for immigrants and all oppressed peoples!  Stop the raids and deportations!

In September of 2012, the social justice movements of the United States have an opportunity and obligation to use the spectacle of the Democratic National Convention as a platform to raise people's demands for justice on the world stage.  Progressives from around the state, from across the South and from all over the country will converge in Charlotte to oppose policies of the Democratic Party and their banking cronies. Charlotte is the "Wall Street of the South."  With the world headquarters of Bank of America and the East Coast headquarters of Wells Fargo, it is the second largest concentration of finance capital in the U.S., after New York City.

We need a people's movement for justice for the 99%.

Economic crises at home and abroad intensify while jobs and vital services have been cut at municipal, state and federal levels. The Democrats and Republicans are pushing austerity programs while simultaneously brokering deals that bail out and benefit banks and large corporations.  Public workers in North Carolina and Virginia are denied their right to collectively bargain, and workers elsewhere across the country are seeing this right under attack. Under the Democratic Party, the reach of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) expanded and deportations skyrocketed. U.S. wars abroad have extended and the US continues to spend billions in Afghanistan and Iraq. U.S. war drones fly over the Middle East and Africa. Antiwar and international solidarity activists are targeted in FBI raids and Grand Jury witch hunts while we continue to fight for freedom for long-incarcerated U.S. political prisoners like Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal. We have seen a rise in bigotry and political targeting of Muslim and Arab people. We want to see justice and equality for Black, Native, Latina/o peoples, for women and for LGBTQ peoples.  We must call for a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions! We oppose the attack on our planet by big corporations; we must continue the fight for environmental justice and demand our right to a healthy air, land, and water.

Now more than ever we need a powerful mass movement that can challenge the pro-war, pro-Wall Street agendas of the two corporate parties. We see the seeds of this movement all around us.  Join the Coalition to Protest at the DNC to plan actions and events that will take place during the convention. Read through our Principles of Unity (adapted from the St. Paul Principles & Chicago Principles). Then begin working with us to develop plans for Charlotte, as we come together in resistance to the economic crisis, the banks, the wars and all the attacks on working people!

OCCUPY THE DNC!
OCCUPY WALL ST SOUTH!
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Charlotte Principles
Adapted from the Chicago and St. Paul principles

a.. We are opposed to all forms of oppression. We condemn and oppose racist, sexist, or homophobic demonstrations planned for the DNC.
b.. Our solidarity will be based on respect for the widest possible diversity within the struggle for social, economic and environmental justice. As individuals and groups, we may choose to engage in a diversity of tactics and plans of action but are committed to treating each other with respect and working towards a common goal of peace and justice.
c.. As we plan our actions and tactics, we will take care to maintain appropriate separations of time and space between divergent tactics.

d.. We oppose any state repression of dissent, including surveillance, infiltration, disruption, limiting our action to "free speech zones," and violence, or attempts to divide our movement through the conscious creation of divisions regarding tactics, organization, strategies, and alliances.
e.. Any debates or criticisms will stay internal to the movement, avoiding any public or media denunciations of fellow activists and events.