Towards A Movement for a Democratic Society
Towards A Movement for a Democratic Society
Preface
This is a discussion piece written for Radical Americas - an online magazine that Paul Buhle and I edit. The purpose of the piece is to encourage discussion around the practical goal of building MDS - this discussion being a lead up to the MDS Convergence being held in Chicago, November 9-11, 2007. I hope the document is useful in the struggle to create a movement for a democratic society.
Introduction: Who Do We Think We Are?
The project known as Movement for a Democratic Society has a number of faces. We initially formed to offer support to SDS but we also exist as an activist organization in our own right. A number of MDS chapters have formed in recent months and our community organizers are actively working to take back our communities from those who would divide and plunder us. Unfortunately, the press - both the mainstream and the liberal press - has not bothered to follow this emergence of a community based movement, preferring to cover MDS in classic gossip columnist style.
Recently, however, this began to change. On March 19, 2007, a number of MDS activists participated in the Wall Street civil disobedience - three MDS activists were arrested along with 40 other activists. Four days later three more MDS activists were arrested for occupying the office of chickenhawk Congressman Vito Fossella - in an action that involved several organizations working together. Press coverage of this action was excellent and the “Fossella Five” continue to get very favorable coverage from both print and broadcast media. MDS remains at the heart of this effort to force Congressman Fossella to meet with peace activists. See fossellafive.org for more about this campaign which is being coordinated by several organizations: Peace Action Staten Island, MDS and World Can’t Wait.
MDS activists in Austin, Texas have been organizing around the issue of a potential US invasion of Iran. At this point an MDS led initiative has produced almost 300 signatories to an online petition - a petition where the signatories pledge to commit acts of civil disobedience/resistance should the US attack Iran. This initiative, called The Iran Pledge of Resistance, is slowing building. In addition, the Austin chapter has been very active in the creation and distribution of lawn signs against the war. This mechanism for a public display of antiwar sentiment is an example of a local initiative that gets the message out and builds a local chapter.
MDS organizers in Orlando, Florida, have built a viable chapter which they call “Central Florida MDS”. This chapter is special in that its membership includes recent University of Central Florida graduates who were part of UCF SDS. Two of the SDS alumni are now working in the movement - for ACORN and ACLU - and active in their local MDS chapter. The chapter itself is currently engaged in an effort to stop Orlando’s Mayor from using tax monies to fund a local developer’s “pyramid scheme”: the building of “community venues,” a massive one billion dollars worth of “public works” projects that includes refurbishing the Citrus Bowl and building a new performing arts center and arena. MDS is calling for a referendum on how local tax dollars will be spent.
Original post by Thomas Good and reposted by Radical Blogs
