May 1 this year will be the next Global Day
of Action against Capitalism. Already, many groups around the world
are preparing for this event, in recognition that the capitalist
system, based on the exploitation of people, societies and the environment
for the profit of a few, is the prime cause of our social and ecological
troubles. May 1 will offer a perfect symbolic and real opportunity
to build up our struggles against it. Activists in New York are
planning to close down Wall Street, and in London there will be
a four-day long carnival against capitalism. Other major cities
involved are Sydney (Australia), Toronto (Canada), Manchester (England),
Chicago, New Orleans, and Washington (USA). The international contacts
list, which is growing every day, now includes groups and coalitions
in more than 20 cities around the world. In addition, May 1 has
been endorsed as a Day of Action by the Peoples?Global Action (PGA)
international conference in India in August.
The May 1
Global Day of Action proceeds from the successes of the previous
global Days of Action against Capitalism on June 18 and November
30 last year, and expands on them in the same spirit. Through those
Days our networks grew, we learned much, and we saw many new people
engage themselves. May 1 will continue this process of building
up a strong, bold, and creative grassroots movement for a society
in which people do not exploit or oppress each other, communities
or the environment, but one that is based on solidarity, co-operation,
grassroots democracy, and ecological sustainability.
As
on previous occasions, people of different movements and different
countries will join forces on this day against the social, political,
and economic institutions of the capitalist system. Workers, the
unemployed, students, trade unionists, peasants, the landless, fishers,
women groups, ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, peace activists,
environmental activists, ecologists, and so on will work in solidarity
with one another in the understanding that their various struggles
are not isolated from each other. The simultaneous occupation and
transformation of the capitalist social order around the globe in
the streets, neighbourhoods, fields, factories, offices, commercial
centres, financial districts, and so on will strengthen mutual bonds
at the local, national, and international levels.
As before,
the day will be organised in a non-hierarchical way, as a decentralised
and informal network of grassroots groups that employ non-authoritarian,
grassroots democratic forms of organisation, struggle independent
of the social, political, and economic institutions of the capitalist
system, and seek to effect change directly through their own action.
Each event or action will be organised autonomously by each group,
while coalitions of various movements and groups can be formed at
the local, regional, and national levels. A strategy that may be
useful at the local level is that various groups co-operate in creating
a surrounding atmosphere of carnival and festivity as a setting
for their various actions.
Examples of conceivable actions
are:
- strikes demonstrations
critical mass bike rides carnivals street
parties
reclaiming streets, government land or office buildings
for
non-commersial and good activities marches
music dancing speeches
handing out flyers banner
hangings distributing community controlled
newspapers street theatre building gardens handing
out free food
mock trade fairs offering no
interest loans outside major banks
solidarity
actions pickets occupations of offices blockades
and
shutdowns appropriating and disposing of
luxury consumer goods
sabotaging, wrecking,
or interfering with capitalist infrastructure
appropriating capitalist wealth and returning it
to the working people
declaring oneself independent
from capitalism and authoritarian governments
setting up grassroots' community councils and holding
meetings outside
city halls setting up economic
alternatives, like workers' co-operatives
promoting
economic alternatives to capitalist companies promoting
grassroots based forms of community organisation
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If you or your group plan to
join this day of action, please let others know as soon as possible,
to facilitate networking and communication. There are several international
mailing lists available for open discussions and co-ordination (see
below). A public international contacts list is regularly posted
to them in order to facilitate decentralized and non-hierarchic
networking. To have your contact information added to it, please
contacttcjohans@hotmail.com
indicating (a) the country and location in which you plan to
take action, plus any other information you see fit, for instance
(b) the name of your group, coalition or yourself, (c) the events
or actions being planned, (d) your land address, (e) email address,
(f) telephone number, (g) fax number or (h) web site.
There are many things we need to do, to make the best of May 1 at
the global, local, and national levels. We need to spread information
about it among as many suitable groups and movements as possible.
We need to spread and share propaganda materials, such as leaflets
and posters. And, in general, we need to share our experiences,
thoughts and ideas with one other and help each other out. At the
local level, information about the day needs to be spread and discussed
among groups and individuals, meetings need to be organised, events
planned, leaflets printed and distributed, funds raised, laughter
and conversation shared.
The process of building up our
movements can and should be continued through further global days
of action against capitalism in the future. A suitable occasion
that has been proposed for next time, after Mayday, may be September
27-28, 2000, because of the annual meeting between the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank taking place in Prague, Czech
Republic at that time.
Any Inquiries or concerns about
the Mayday global day of action should be directed to other activists
in the group, city, country or on the various mailing lists, for
us to mutually help each other with ideas and advise. There is noone
in charge or pulling the strings for the day. It will be a radically
decentralised and non-hierarchic event entirely of our own creation
in co-operation and solidarity with one another.
NEEDED:
Translators !!! To make Mayday information available in every language,
especially Spanish, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Dutch, and
Chinese. Ca 1400 words.
INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS AND RESOURCES
LIST
(last updated on January 17, 2000) -- Collected by tcjohans@hotmail.com
I.
GENERAL INFO ABOUT THIS LIST
The contacts and resources list below is for activists
planning to take action on May 1, 2000 as part of a GLOBAL DAY OF
ACTION, RESISTANCE, AND CARNIVAL AGAINST CAPITALISM. This day will
continue the June 18 and November 30 global days of action that
took place in 1999.
The contacts list serves to facilitate
decentralized and non-hierarchic networking for the day among sympathetic
groups and individuals. If you plan to take action, please check
that the relevant contact information below is correct. For additions,
corrections or comments, please contact tcjohans@hotmail.com
Anyone planning to take action can send in contact
information to facilitate networking. This can be for instance (i)
a particular group, (ii) a coalition of groups or individuals, or
(iii) a single individual. In the case of a coalition consisting
of several groups, there might be a point in providing contact information
not only for the coalition as a whole, but also for each participating
group, to facilitate individual networking.
Contact information
may include for instance (a) name of country, city, and state; (b)
name of group, coalition, or individual; (c) events being planned;
(d) land address; (e) email address; (f) telephone number; (g) fax
number; (h) web site, (j) mailing list. When you send in your contact
information, please write New M1 contact in [your country, city/location]
in the subject field.
Please note that the contacts list
is public.
The resources list gives information about resources
that will be of use for co-ordinative and preparatory work, e.g.
mailing lists, web sites, and various texts.
II. CONTACTS(# countries: 6, # specific locations: 21)
AUSTRALIA
Sydney
Contact: MD2k Sydney
Email:
mayday2k@doityourself.com
Wollongong, New South Wales
Contact:
Van Badham
Email: cippra@speedlink.com.au
CANADA
WTO
Caravan
Provides info
on M1 events across Canada.
Email (tentative): mike@flora.org
Web site: http://wtocaravan.org/mayday2k/
Argenta, B.C.
Contact:
Ahimsazine
Planned event: Networking with our supporters
Land
address: D. Affinity Place, Argenta BC Canada V0G 1B0
Telephone:
Dick Martin 250 366 4682
Email: ahimsazine@xoommail.com
Web
site: http://members.xoom.com/AhimsaZine
Ottawa
Contact: briane@tao.ca
Toronto
Contact: Stephen Kerr (International Socialists,
International
Solidarity with Workers in Russia, Toronto Anti-WTO Coalition) Telephone: 416-778-1319
Email: stephen.kerr@sympatico.ca
Vancouver
Contact: Vancouver Committee Against Corporate
Globalization
Contact
(tentative): everton@sfu.ca
Victoria, B.C.
Contact: Resist Corporate Rule
Telephone:
(250) 384-4676
Email:resistcr@hotmail.com
ENGLAND
London
Group: MayDay 2000
Planned event:
"MAYDAY 2000: A Festival of Anarchist Ideas and Action",
28th April - May 1.
Land address: BM Mayday, London, WC1N 3XX,
UK
Telephone/Fax: +44 (0) 20 8374 5027
Press enquiries:
07989 451 096
Email enquiries: mayday2k@email.com
Web site: http://www.freespeech.org/mayday2k/
Discussion
list: To join the UK mailing list, send a blank email to
mayday2000-subscribe@egroups.com.
Manchester
Contact:
Manchester May Day 2000 Coalition (The coalition is open to all. Come and get
involved.)
Planned events: Open Forum, Teach-In, Festival,
March, Direct Actions, Workshops, and much, much more. We want to
make Mayday 2000 the biggest demonstration of solidarity in Manchester
ever.
Fax: (0870) 131-8428
Email: nnc@mayday2000.fsnet.co.uk
Web
site: http://www.mayday2000.fsnet.co.uk
GREECE
Contact:
J18 Hellas
Email: j18hellas@hotmail.com
Web site:
http://www.geocities.com/j18hellas
NETHERLANDS
Contact:
Basisdemocratic Network
Email: bn@antenna.nl
Web site: http://www.antenna.nl/~bn
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Chicago,
Illinois
Contact (tentative): Thomas Johansson
Email:
tcjohans@hotmail.com
Discussion
list: chicagomayday@egroups.com (list manager:
kimkates@aol.com)
Gainesville, Florida
Planned event: Labor videos, march/critical
mass, speakout, picnic, dance party, etc. and pirate radio broadcast of
the events. On April 28-30, campout in Ocala National Forest with direct action
training, workshops on labor history, diy health, practical anarchism,
sustainability, homebrewing, polyamory, pagan culture, kids crafts, midwifery,
herbalism, composting, etc., an acoustic music festival, and much
involvement from Food Not Bombs, Earth First, IWW, and the Radical Cheerleaders.
Land address: PO Box 17838,
Clearwater, FL 33762
Telephone: (727)
538-9050
Email: mayday0@mailcity.com
Web site:
www.geocities.com/maydayflorida/
Hamptons,
Long Island
Contact:
Samm
Email: mizanthropic@yahoo.com
Web site:
http://come.to/ms.anthropy
Lincoln,
Nebraska
Contact: kevin@dsndata.com
Madison, Wisconsin
* Contact: Wisconsin Earth Day to May Day
Coalition
Planned events: Earth Day to May Day events
Telephone:
608-255-1800 and 608-262-9036
Land address: 31 University Square, Taychopera,
Madison,
Wisconsin 53713
Email: not known
* Contact: CWGEA
Contact person: Jefe
Email: cwgea@hotmail.com
Minneapolis,
Minnesota
Contact:
power4u
Email: power4u@mtn.org
New
orleans, Louisiana
Contact:
MayDay organizing committee for New Orleans, LA
Planned
event: A campaign to raise New Orleanians out of poverty, to raise
the minimum wage to $12 an hour, for May Day to be a legal
holiday, and to erase all debts owed by workers. Also actions.
Phone
number: (504) 945-4652 or (504) 897-3310
Web Site: http://www.angelfire.com/la2/neworleansanarchists/mayday.index
Email:
jbrite@acadiacom.net or destruct81@hotmail.com
New
York City, New York
Email:
Nitsu1999@aol.com
Discussion list:
mayday2k-NYC@onelist.com Join by sending an email to
mayday2k-NYC-subscribe@onelist.com.
Northwest
USA
Contact: kitchenwitchrune@yahoo.com
Philadelphia
/ New York City / Washington DC area
Planned event: Carnival against capitalism
Contact:
Zeljko (Jake) Cipris
Land address: 90 Undercliff Road, Millburn,
NJ 07041
Telephone: 973-467-6773
Email: Zcipris@aol.com
Phoenix,
Arizona
Contact: Arizona
Direct Action
Contact person: Randall Smith
Email:
scarab@futureone.com
Telephone:
(520) 717-6011
Discussion list: To join the Southwest USA
regional mailing list, go to www.onelist.com/subscribe/ArizonaDirectAction,
or send a blank email to ArizonaDirectAction-subscribe@onelist.com.
Seattle, Washington
Planned event:
Rally, march.
Email: not known
Web site: http://members.xoom.com/maydayseattle
Shelton, Connecticut
Contact:
Pnywise123@aol.com
News group
/ message board: ctAnarchy@onelist.com
Washington,
District of Colombia
* Contact:
Mid-Atlantic Infoshop
Planned event: not known
Email:
chuck@tao.ca
Web site: http://www.infoshop.org/
*
Contact: Global Unity Movement
Planned event: Caravan from California to
Washington D.C. to shutdown the IMF and World Bank meetings on April 16-17. In
further planning we will probably have more of an idea of here we will be on
May 1. We are looking for any kind of support on the East Coast.
Email: globalunity@home.com
III. RESOURCES
A.
DISCUSSION LISTS
The mailing lists below may be suitable for
discussions and co-ordinative work surrounding the Mayday 2000 Global Day of
Action. Please note that the lists are public and that anyone can subscribe to
them; therefore be careful about what you write.
Please do set
up a list for your own language, country or city, if you feel it
is needed!
Some companies
give you a free email address you can name by yourself and that
will not
be easily traceable to you. The company may choose to reveal your
identity,
so it is not 100% 'safe'. Free email providers include
www.hotmail.com, www.yahoo.com, www.mailexcite.com, www.rocketmail.com, www.geocities.com, and www.mailcity.com. In England Freesrerve is as good as
any for
an email address.
ENGLISH (international discussion
lists)
For discussion,
co-ordination, and announcements surrounding the May 1 Global
Day of
Action. The primary language is English. There is one moderated
and one unmoderated alternative. (If you just want to receive
regularly updated information, see the News groups section for
details.)
*
UNMODERATED LIST
mayday2k@onelist.com. The original international
mailing list for MayDay in English. Traffic tends to become quite
high, since the discussion easily extends into topics of questioned
relevance to the organisational work. Members have access to
a calendar and file area, where they are encouraged to place files (posters,
flyers, stickers, etc.) Join at www.onelist.com/subscribe/mayday2k, or send
a blank email to mayday2k-subscribe@onelist.com.
*
MODERATED LIST
mayday2k-mod@onelist.com. Set up in response
to the high traffic on the unmoderated list, this list, which is moderated,
aims at strictly organisational work around Mayday. Join at
www.onelist.com/subscribe/mayday2k-mod, or send a
blank email to mayday2k-mod-subscribe@onelist.com. The lists
moderator seeks help: anyone who is willing to be a moderator for the list
can contact him at 9946144@student.ul.ie.
PORTUGUESE
(international discussion list)
n30-pt@listserv.si.fct.unl.pt.
Originally set up for communication around the November 30
Global Day of Action, this list lingers on as a suitable forum for
discussing
Mayday 2000. The primary language is Portuguese. Join by sending
an empty note to n30-pt-subscribe@listserv.si.fct.unl.pt.
NORTH AMERICA (continental discussion list)
pga-org@lists.tao.ca Supports North American
participation in activities connected with PGA. One immediate focus now
will be Mayday 2000 actions. To join, send a message to lists@tao.ca. In the
body of the message, include the following two lines: subscribe pga-org end
UNITED KINGDOM (national discussion list)
mayday2000@egroups.com. A Mayday 2000 mailing
list for UK discussions. Join by sending a blank email to mayday2000-subscribe@egroups.com.
IRELAND (national discussion list)
Ireland
specific anti-WTO mailing list. Join by sending a blank email to
no_wto-subscribe@onelist.com.
SOUTHWEST USA (regional discussion list)
ArizonaDirectAction@onelist.com. The language
of this list is English. To join, send a blank email to ArizonaDirectAction-subscribe@onelist.com
or go to www.onelist.com/subscribe/ArizonaDirectAction.
WEB CO-ORDINATION (subject specific discussion list)
m1web@onelist.com.
A forum for people working with web sites and other internet
resources
around the Mayday 2000 Global Day of Action, to facilitate the
discussion,
dissemination, and co-ordination of these resources. To subscribe,
please
send an email to m1web-subscribe@onelist.com.
ANARCHOPROP
(subject specific discussion list)
Email list dedicated to propaganda. People and groups
post the texts of their pamphlets etc., for anyone to copy and use.
To join, send an empty message to geton.anarchoprop@cat.org.au. For more information,
email jameshutchings@hotmail.com.
B. NEWS GROUPS
If
you join the news group below, you will receive regular information
about major developments surrounding the Mayday 2000 Global
Day of Action. (See section III. A. Discussion Lists above for
how to get a free email address.)
MAYDAY 2000 (international
news group)
Regular,
low-traffic information (2 to 4 messages per week) surrounding Mayday:
translations
of the Mayday 2000 information text, updates of the international
contacts
and resources list, information about mailing lists and major web
sites,
updates about preparations, and eventually reports from the actions
on the Day. To join the news group, please send an empty
email message to globalaction-news-subscribe@onelist.com.
...
web
version of this info athttp://www.mayday2000.fsnet.co.uk/info/contacts/int_contacts.htm
 To Action Alerts Board
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