Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 13:54:55 -0500
From: "John V. Wilmerding" <•••@••.•••>
Subject: US National Conference on Civil Disobedience - Jan. 23-24, 1999
The 2nd annual National Conference on Civil Disobedience, American
University, Washington, DC -- January 23rd - 24th, 1999
Civil Disobedience is an old and effective technique of resistance and
protest which has helped lead many oppressed groups to lasting freedom.
Today, forms of civil disobedience are being used by many different groups
for a variety of liberation struggles around the world. It has become
timely, important, and necessary to learn from each other's struggles while
keeping in mind the lessons of those who have struggled before us. The
National Conference on Civil Disobedience envisions coordinating a dialogue
between many different activist groups and providing every activist with a
multitude of tools to take home, share, and utilize effectively.
The National Conference on Civil Disobedience is geared towards the
activist. It is run by activists who adhere to a strict non-profit,
non-corporate policy ethic. All workshop hosts are only accepting
reimbursement for travel expenses. A full report of our expenses is
available for participants after the conference. Because we wish to make
the conference accessible to everyone, the cost is kept at the lowest
possible rate and scholarships are available for extenuating circumstances.
Strategy
Preparation for Civil Disobedience:
Nonviolence Training -- Joanne Sheehan, who co-founded the War Resisters
League's New England office in 1986, has been a nonviolence trainer for 25
years. In addition to training, Joanne has organized civil disobedience
actions and campaigns. She has been the convener of the War Resisters
International Working Group on Nonviolence and Training and is now WRL's
Chairperson.
Creating a Nonviolent Campaign -- Chris Ney is the coordinator of the War
Resisters League's Disarmament Program and the Day without the Pentagon
campaign. He has worked with ACORN and spent time in Chile examining
nonviolent campaigns. Joanne Sheehan (biography above).
Building and Sustaining Movement Solidarity -- Freeman Wicklund is the
founder and former editor of NO Compromise, author of Strategic Nonviolence
for Animal Liberation, and current Executive Director of the
Minneapolis-based Animal Liberation League.
Ethical Issues in Civil Disobedience -- Michael Beer is the campaign
director at Nonviolence International. He has been directly involved in
nonviolent campaigns in Burma and Kosovo.
How to Radicalize Your Life -- Colman McCarthy is the founder and director
of the Center for Teaching Peace and wrote for The Washington Post for 25
years. He is a nationally renowned speaker and lectures at over 20
colleges and universities each year. He is a pacifist, anarchist,
vegetarian, and has been commuting to work on his bicycle for 20 years.
The Power of Gandhian Nonviolence - How and Why It Works -- Freeman
Wicklund (Biography Above)
Getting Media for Civil Disobedience in a Corporate World -- The Ruckus
Society trains human rights, environmental and social justice activists in
safe and effective nonviolent direct action tactics and strategies. Their
'flagship' program is the Action Camp which brings 60 to 80 activists
together from around the world for an inspiring and empowering skills-based
training. Examples of past camps are: Human Rights, Women's, and most
recently the Zero Cut, a campaign to end the commercial logging of public
lands, Action Camps. After the camps, more than 50% of graduates engage in
nonviolent civil disobedience for progressive social change within a year.
Case Studies
A Brief History of North American Anti-Nuclear Civil Disobedience,
1945-1998: Tactics, Themes, Tensions, and Tomorrows --
Jack Cohen Joppa became involved in the anti-nuclear movement in 1978 and
published the first issue of a newsletter now known as the "Nuclear
Resister" in 1980. The newsletter has chronicled over 50,000 anti-nuclear
arrests in North America since 1980 and has comprehensively reported on
over 6,000 antiwar actions of civil disobedience and protest arrests while
encouraging support for the women and men jailed as a result.
Closing the School of the Americas: The Role of Civil Disobedience -- Carol
Richardson is a coordinator for the School of the Americas Watch in
Washington, D.C. She has been instrumental in organizing the legendary
mass civil disobedience of crossing the line at SOA.
Fighting AIDS with Direct Action -- ACT-UP New York is a diverse
non-partisan group of individuals united in anger and committed to direct
action to end the AIDS crisis.
Guerilla Theater: Performance as Protest -- Nadine Bloch has been involved
with nonviolent direct action campaigns, both locally and internationally,
marine and land based, since 1980. Currently, Nadine leads workshops in
active nonviolence, direct action,
skills, political performance, creative conflict resolution, campaign devo,
scouting, and much more. She works with Greenpeace, The Ruckus Society,
Bread and Puppet Theater, the Pledge of Resistance, Washington Action
Group, and SALSA in Washington, D.C.
Kosovo: Nonviolent Action and the Current Crisis -- Michael Salla is an
assistant professor at American University of International Peace and
Conflict Resolution and has research interests in and has organized
workshops for East Timor and Kosovo.
What the Animal Rights Movement Can Learn From the Civil Rights Movement --
Paul Shapiro and Miyun Park are the co-directors of D.C.'s only grassroots,
direct action, animal rights organization. They have organized and
participated in numerous acts of civil disobedience.
International Civil Disobedience and the Rangoon 18 -- Nisha Anand, Sapna
Chhatpar, Anjanette Hamilton, and Michele Keegan were
the four American University students arrested with the Multinational
Peacemaking Team for civil disobedience inside Burma last August. They
will be joined with political exiles from Burma.
Pirate Micro-Radio: Broadcasting Civil Disobedience -- Pete triDish is a
pirate micro-broadcaster from West Philadelphia. He
travels around the country teaching why you should and how you can start
your own pirate micro-radio station.
Civil Disobedience and Our Environment -- Monica Rohde is currently the
Dioxin Campaign Coordinator at Center for Health, Environment and Justice.
Monica spent several years working for Greenpeace where she traveled the
globe engaging in direct action
against fisheries and on nuclear and pesticide issues, and organized
communities in the U.S. around nuclear and toxic issues. As a trainer for
the Ruckus Society, she has facilitated workshops on action planning,
strategy, basic organizing, and is one of the climb trainers.
Genocide in Iraq: A Slide Presentation and Call for Action -- Christopher
Allen-Doucot is a husband and father. He is a founding
member of the St. Martin De Porres Catholic Worker House of Hospitality in
Hartford, CT. He has been active in campaigns against ROTC, the death
penalty, the sanctions against Iraq, various nuclear issues, and much more.
He has committed acts of civil disobedience more than 20 times.
Christopher has also traveled to the front lines of the war in Bosnia, the
hills of Chiapas, and Iraq.
Building Community through Direct Action -- General Strike Collective of
Richmond, V.A., will be discussing the strategy behind a recent 'Tent City'
action, a mass civil disobedience demonstration against gentrification.
Hacktivism and Resistance to Future War -- Three members of the Electronic
Disturbance Theater, an Internet-based activist/artist group, will discuss
their practice of Electronic Civil Disobedience and the use of FloodNet
software. They will also theorize
about the current evolution of Hacktivism and its potential in an era of
warfare increasingly dominated by computers and telecommunication systems.
Resisting Corporate Mining in Latin America -- Glevys Rondon works for
LAMMP a small non-profit organization that helps Latin American NGO's in
their campaigns against mining developments. She is Venezuelan and
currently resides in the U.K.
Other Activities
**The National Conference on Civil Disobedience presents a benefit concert
for the American University Free Burma Coalition. Tentatively scheduled
are D.C. bands Fugazi and Good Clean Fun and folk singer David Rovics.
More to be announced. For more information, contact Adam Fischer at
202-338-1846.
**Organize and serve with D.C. Food Not Bombs every Sunday from 1-5 p.m.
McDowell Hall on American University Campus. Contact David Fantegrossi at
202-338-1846.
**Join Compassion Over Killing, DC's only direct action grassroots animal
rights organization, in an anti-fur demonstration. Contact COK at
202-986-5599 for more information.
**Bring your slides of your organization's best and worst moments in civil
disobedience history for a unique slide presentation at the National
Conference on Civil Disobedience. For more information, contact Jim Ace at
•••@••.•••.
Directions to Campus :
By Car:
*From northeast of DC, Follow I-95 south to I- 495 (Capital Beltway) west
towards Silver Spring.
*From northwest of DC Follow I-270 south. Where 270 divides, follow
right-hand branch toward D.C. and Northern Virginia. Merge with I-495.
*From south or west of D.C., follow I-95 north or I-66 east to I-495 north
toward Silver Spring.
*From I-495 take exit 39 and follow the signs for River Road east toward
Washington. Continue east to the fifth traffic light. Turn right onto
Goldsboro Rd. At the first traffic light, turn left onto Mass. Ave.
Continue on Mass. Ave. through the first traffic circle. Continue 1 mile
to the next traffic circle. Turn right onto Nebraska Ave., Campus is on
the right, parking is on the left. (4400 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.)
By Plane: Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport is approximately 30
minutes from campus during rush hour by cab. The Metro (subway) trains run
daily from the Airport to AU. Dulles International Airport and Baltimore
Washington International are about 45 minutes away from AU by cab. All 3
airports offer shuttle service to the Metro and major hotels for low cost.
By Train, Bus, and Subway: Amtrak trains regularly arrive at Union Station.
Greyhound, and Peterpan Busways are nearby the Union Station Metro. The
closest stop to American University is the Tenleytown/AU stop on the Red
Line. AU provides a free shuttle from the Metro stop to campus (every 15
minutes on weekdays, every 30 minutes on weekends).
On-Site Registration: January 22nd, 6pm - 1am and January 23rd, 8am - all
day, Ward Circle Building at American University. Shuttles run from campus
to housing at registration and before and after the conference day.
National Conference on Civil Disobedience - Registration Form*
Name (Please copy form for each additional
attendee)_______________________________________
Organization__________________________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________________________
Phone_________________________________Email__________________________________
# Lunches (1 per person per day)__________
Do you need housing?** (circle) Fri Sat Sun nights
Does your organization wish to purchase a literature table? (2-day purchase
only)______________
$10 Registration $5 Vegan Lunch
$5 Housing/night $20 Literature Table
Total Check Amount $______________________
Make Checks payable to : The American University's Animal Rights Effort
Mail to: The National Conference on Civil Disobedience
4519 Alton Pl., NW, Washington, D.C. 20016
*Pre-registration ends January 10th, 1999. All costs will increase at the
door.
**Housing is only available pre-registered participants.
If you have any other questions or wish to help out, please to contact
Nisha Anand, Conference Coordinator, at the above address, 202-686-7966, or
<•••@••.•••>.
Nisha Anand
National Conference on Civil Disobedience
Conference Coordinator
If you inquire or register for this conference, please tell them you heard
about it through CERJ outreach.
--
To subscribe to the CERJ E-Mail distribution list, simply send
an E-mail message to <•••@••.•••>. Please include your name
and your state, province, or country of residence. Thank you!
--------------------------------------------------------------
John Wilmerding, Gen'l Secretary | E-Mail: <•••@••.•••>
=================================| Web: http://www.cerj.org
*CERJ* International Secretariat | ICQ Number: 18723495
---------------------------------+============================
Campaign | 217 High Street | For | A
for | Brattleboro, VT | Justice | AR
Equity- | 05301-3018 USA | that | ART
Restorative | Telephone & FAX | Restores | EAR
Justice | [802] 254-2826 | Equity | HEAR
================================================= HEART
Work together to reinvent justice using methods | EARTH
that are fair; which conserve, restore and even | HEARTH
create harmony, equity and good will in society | >>>|CERJ|<<<
==============================================================
We are the prisoners of the prisoners we have taken - J. Clegg
