Money to Movements: Distributing Class Action Funds to Global Justice Projects
Posted September 13th, 2008 by kate
WTO Protesters to Donate Class Action Settlement Funds through 'Money to Movements'
Landmark Seattle Court Ruling Fuels Global Justice Mission
Members of a class-action lawsuit have joined forces to donate settlement funds to fund organizations carrying on the work of the global justice movement through the Money to Movements Project. In a landmark decision for First Amendment rights in January 2007, a Seattle civil jury found that police acted unconstitutionally in arresting more than 175 peaceful protesters as part of the World Trade Organization protests in 1999.
The plaintiffs involved in the case were arrested in downtown Seattle's Westlake Park, part of a "no protest zone" hastily designated by city officials as the WTO meetings convened in November of 1999. The suit was brought by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), a Washington, D.C.-based public interest law firm, who charged that the plaintiffs were arrested without probable cause while engaging in a constitutionally-protected act of free speech.
The Money to Movements project was created by a group of plaintiffs involved in the Westlake Park case in order to help channel funds obtained through the court settlement back into the global justice (formerly known as anti-globalization) movement. "We brought this suit for everyone who faced inappropriate police behavior at the protests," said Erica Kay, of Seattle's Community Action Network. "We want to see this money put to good purpose."
The WTO conference drew about 50,000 protestors to Seattle in 1999. Groups such as farm-workers unions, environmental activists, indigenous rights advocates, and non-governmental organizations (NGO's) gathered to protest the policies of the World Trade Organization, triggering what observers characterized as an unconstitutional reaction by police, national guard and government officials. Crowd-control tactics such as tear-gas, pepper spray, percussion grenades and rubber bullets were employed. A state of emergency was declared and over 600 mostly peaceful protesters were arrested and detained. Nearly all charges were later dropped.
David Solnit, A CO-founder of the Direct Action Network and an organizer of the nonviolent direct action shutdown of the WTO's opening day said, "These funds were won from a struggle for global justice. We wanted to make sure that a portion of those funds were put back into those struggles.
So far, 20 of the plaintiffs involved in the Westlake case have donated to the Money to Movements project, totaling $15,000. The ultimate goal of the project is to raise $40,000 through donations and matching grants, a figure equivalent to 10% of the settlement after legal fees.
The plaintiffs selected the following global justice groups and projects to receive the pooled Money to Movements Funds:
Domestic Workers United (New York, NY),
Critical Resistance (national),
Community Coalition for Environmental Justice (Seattle, WA),
The Jena 6 Legal Defense Fund (national),
Bus Riders Union (national),
Mothers for Police Accountability (Seattle, WA),
RiseUp.net (international),
Seattle WTO '99 People's History Project (national),
Southwest Workers Union (San Antonio, TX),
Democracy Now! (national),
Community Alliance for Global Justice (international),
Earth First! Journal (national),
Grassroots Global Justice (national),
Destiny Arts Center (Oakland, CA),
Pan Left Productions (national),
The Catalyst Project (San Francisco, CA),
and Legacy of Equality, Leadership and Organizing (Seattle, WA),
Groups were selected for their commitment to global justice, including environmental, racial and economic justice, worker's rights, police accountability and justice system reform, independent media, and activist/youth nonviolent action training. They were chosen from 24 nominated groups by those plaintiffs participating in the Money to Movements project.
Money to Movements has timed the announcement of groups benefiting to coincide with the screening of the new movie The Battle in Seattle by director Stuart Townsend at the Seattle Film Festival, a fictional drama set during the WTO protests.
"The mission of the global justice movement is to keep transnational corporations from profiting at the expense of people and the planet," said Holly Roach, Money to Movements co-founder and Westlake Class member. "Our intention with Money to Movements is to direct funds to those groups that are currently driving the global justice movement, and to help inspire a new generation of activists."
"The WTO protests are an incredible model of 'people power' standing up the global elites," said Solnit. "We hope these funds will help to bring attention to the current strength of the global justice movement, and to help to fuel the work."
Money to Movements is currently seeking matching grants and individual donations to reach the projected total of $60,000. All donations are tax-deductible through Money to Movements fiscal sponsor, the Agape Foundation.
More information at www.realbattleinseattle.org/moneytomovements
Donations to Money to Movements can be made out to Agape Foundation for a tax deduction.
PO 32566
Santa Fe, NM 87594
###
$ to Movements Group Selection
1 - DOMESTIC WORKERS UNITED
Founded in 2000, Domestic Workers United [DWU] is an organization of Caribbean, Latina and African nannies, housekeepers, and elderly caregivers in New York, organizing for power, respect, fair labor standards and to help build a movement to end exploitation and oppression for all.
http://www.domesticworkersunited.org/
Domestic Workers United was nominated because of their amazing work bringing attention to women's invisible labor, fighting for a Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights one of the only sectors of work not recognized under the National Labor Relations Act, and building a movement led by Black, Latina and Asian immigrant domestic workers who understand the connection between the neo-liberal policies ravishing their homelands and the exploitation of their lives in the US.
2 - CRITICAL RESISTANCE
Critical Resistance seeks to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe.
www.criticalresistance.org
Critical Resistance was nominated because it is working to alter lives of those presently and formerly incarcerated and their close relations, correcting the punitive system of injustice.
3 - COMMUNITY COALITION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (CCEJ)
CCEJ's mission is to achieve environmental and economic justice in low-income communities and communities of color. They believe that everyone, regardless of race or income, has the right to a clean and healthy community.
www.ccej.org
Community Coalition for Environmental Justice was nominated because it does the same work locally that folks were in the streets for globally in 1999. In this case, "local" is Seattle. It seems fitting that some of the money paid by the city of Seattle to some of us who made fairly privileged choices and got arrested would go back to organizations working to help the people of Seattle who rarely have those kinds of choices.
4 - THE JENA 6 LEGAL DEFENSE FUND (Color of Change)
The Jena 6 legal defense fund at Color Of Change exists to strengthen Black America's political voice. Their goal is to empower our membersBlack Americans and our alliesto make government more responsive to the concerns of Black Americans and to bring about positive political and social change for everyone.
http://ColorOfChange.org
The Jena 6 Legal Defense Fund was nominated because this case is an instance of an outrageous civil rights violation. A culture of white supremacy and personal and institutional racism is destroying the lives of these young men, and sending the message that black people had better keep quiet and "stay in their place". We should support their defense fund to ensure their access to the best legal aid possible.
5 BUS RIDERS UNION
The Bus Riders Union seeks to promote environmentally sustainable public transportation on the premise that affordable, efficient, and environmentally sound mass transit is a human right. Their work frontally challenges racist policies, the corporate profit motive and management rights as the arbiter of social policy. For them, human and ecological rights are the leading social, political and economic priority for people throughout the world. they see themselves as part of an international movement to stop the US government from intervening in the internal affairs of sovereign nations and to support the movements for self-determination inside and outside of the US.
http://www.busridersunion.org/
Bus Riders Union was nominated because their fight exposes the privatization and corporatization of government while building a vibrant multiracial, multilingual, intergenerational movement of inner city bus riders. Their Clean Air, Clean Lungs, Clean Buses Campaign taking on the automobile in Los Angeles is building a movement to clean up LA's Lethal Air while addressing our responsibility to the Third World and communities most devastatingly impacted by global warming.
6 MOTHERS FOR POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
Mothers for Police Accountability works to eliminate police violence, to protect our communities from its ravages. Mothers for Police Accountability was founded in 1990 by Harriett Walden, an African American Seattle mother who was angered by police disregard for her son's humanity. She decided to model a healthy response.
http://reformnetwork.org/mothers/
Mothers for Police Accountability was nominated because our WTO class action was about police accountability but of a different type. Mothers has worked for nearly two decades now to address police violence and racial disparity in police responses. People of color in our communities, and certainly in Seattle, are targeted by police and in the worst cases, like that of Harriet's son, they are killed by police. If we really want to change police behaviors, we must support groups like this. How great it will be to tell the Seattle police department that the funds they paid us will be used to hold them accountable!
7 -RISEUP.NET Riseup provides mail, lists, and hosting for those working on liberatory social change. They are a project to create democratic alternatives and practice self-determination by controlling our own secure means of communications.
http://riseup.net
Riseup was nominated because they host so many of our websites, listserves and email addresses. Where would we be without them? And they do it all as volunteers. Supporting Riseup is supporting our own.
8 Seattle WTO '99 PEOPLE'S HISTORY PROJECT
The Seattle WTO '99 People's History Project will intervene in the corporate media distortions about the Seattle WTO resistance and the upcoming "Battle in Seattle" movie. The Project will do this by creating a web-based people's history of resistance to the Seattle WTO, doing media work when the movie is released to amplify the voices and stories of real grassroots activists, and by providing organizing resources to movement groups and people who want to organize events and education to reclaim our history.
http://RealBattleInSeattle.org/
The Seattle WTO '99 People's History Project was nominated because for eight years, the US corporate media, global elites, and their police have been twisting and marginalizing the truth, in order to invent their own story of Seattle 1999 and the stories of social movements' resistance and victories. These lies and revisions of history have been used in an attempt to criminalize and repress our protests, movements, and mobilizations. At the 2007 United States Social Forum activists, many from the Direct Action Network and allied organizations, issued a call that reads in part: "The story of popular resistance to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle in 1999 is a story of how people power can change the world. It is a dangerous example for the global elite, and a powerful one for movements." It's time that we in the social movements tell our own stories, reclaim our own histories, and publicly fight damaging myths of our movements past and present. Funding would be used to create organizing materials, do media work, and help with the people's history website. The Project is coordinated by a network of grassroots organizers, most of who were involved in Direct Action Network related organizing, are involved in current global justice struggles, and some of who are currently involved in independent media work.
9 - SOUTHWEST WORKERS UNION
Southwest Workers Union SWU is a 19 year-old organization of low-income workers and families, community residents, and youth united in one struggle for worker rights, environmental justice and community empowerment. Based in San Antonio, SWU works as a multi-lingual, multi-racial and multi-issue membership-based social change organization committed to 'bottom-up' movement building by developing local leadership among affected communities, youth, and workers. SWU empowers and organizes its 2,500 members through education, leadership development, and direct action with the aim of building multi-generational grassroots power to create sustainable systemic change for social, economic, and environmental justice and to build the movement for dignity and justice.
http://www.swunion.org
http://www.blogspot.swunion.org (more up to date)
Southwest Workers Union was nominated because of its success at consistently spanning movement-level and grassroots organizing. SWU's activities and structure speak largely for themselves but it generally lacks access to foundation money.
10 - DEMOCRACY NOW!
Democracy Now! is an independent media outlet that provides us with access to people and perspectives rarely heard in the U.S.corporate-sponsored media, including independent and international journalists, ordinary people from around the world who are directly affected by U.S. foreign policy, grassroots leaders and peace activists, artists, academics and independent analysts.
www.democracynow.org
Democracy Now! was nominated because, for true democracy to work, people need easy access to independent, diverse sources of news and information. Democracy Now! covers events like WTO meetings without the corporate agenda, giving people a more complete view of what the real issues are and allowing folks to have a real picture of what is going on in the streets and in the meetings.
11 - COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE (CAGJ)
Community Alliance for Global Justice believes that the global economy should embody the core values of social justice, environmental sustainability, democracy and self-determination. Its goals include providing a dependable, credible voice in Seattle's local media countering "free trade" propaganda, and promoting "fair trade" alternatives; educating local communities about globalization, local impacts, and ways to get involved in the opposition; educating policy-makers on "free trade" issues (such as Fast Track negotiating authority, Free Trade Area of the Americas, World Bank/Int'l Monetary Fund structural adjustment, etc.) and researching and publicizing local impacts of globalization, and alternatives. CAGJ is small grassroots group in Seattle formed by local folks after the WTO protests.
www.seattleglobaljustice.org/
Community Alliance for Global Justice was nominated because it continues to address issues of trade and related concerns. In 1999, we learned so much about these issues but lots of us are working on different (though related, of course) issues now but need groups like CAGJ to keep us informed and active.
12 EARTH FIRST! JOURNAL
The Earth First! Journal publishes news, strategy and analysis of the biocentric grassroots direct action movement.
www.earthfirstjournal.org
The Earth First! Journal was nominated because it is a long standing grassroots, radical, direct action oriented publication that has an extremely high level of broader movement participation in shaping content (two annual open well-attended meetings at EF! activist gatherings spread across the U.S.) It serves as the primary networking tool for a movement that brought many of the direct-action skills and experienced activists into the global justice movement which was certainly a component that made the Seattle WTO mobilization so effective. After 28 years of evolving to publish a relevant, movement-oriented journal, they are facing extreme extreme economic pressure from a combination of several elements, primarily, a rise in postal rates for small publishers and the over-dependence on internet-based communications. It would be a blow to the movement to lose this publication over lack of support, yet some money and attention from this settlement could help re-energize and boost the project.
13 GRASSROOTS GLOBAL JUSTICE
Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) is an alliance of U.S.-based grassroots groups who are organizing to build an agenda for power for working and poor people. They understand that there are important connections between the local issues they work on and the global context, and they see themselves as part of an international movement for global justice.
http://www.ggjalliance.org/
Grassroots Global Justice is nominated because of their work in creating opportunities for social movement convergence, an example of this is their spearheading of the first US Social Forum in Atlanta this summer, drawing over 12,000 people under the banner of "Another World is Possible, Another US is necessary." Rooted inside working class communities of color, they are broadening the face of the global justice movement in the United States.
14 - DESTINY ARTS CENTER (De-Escalation Skills Training Inspiring Nonviolence in Youth)
Destiny Arts Center exists to end isolation, prejudice and violence in the lives of young people. We accomplish our mission by (1) Providing dance, martial arts, conflict resolution, self-defense, and youth leadership classes and workshops, taught by professional-level instructors, during after school hours. (2) Supporting multi-cultural youth in developing an individualized sense of artistic expression, leadership skills and personal empowerment that they understand has impact on their communities.
http://destinyarts.org/
Destiny Arts Center was nominated because it works to heal racism and violence in young people, giving them a great sense of responsibility and accomplishment.
15 PAN LEFT PRODUCTIONS
Pan Left Productions put the tools of production in the hands of people disenfranchised from mainstream corporate media to create and and distribute videos - documentaries, narratives, fiction and experimental works - that expose viewers to social and political issues.
www.panleft.org
Pan Left Productions was nominated because it is a truly top-notch group, one that embodies the spirit and goals of the anti-globalization movement that brought us to Seattle. It is unique as both a collective and a non-profit. It is extremely productive and accessible. Functioning since 1994, it has a proven track record of producing and distributing high-quality independent media that is not beholden to any special interest. It promotes a do-it-yourself mentality that puts equipment into the hands of disenfranchised populations.
16 - THE CATALYST PROJECT
The Catalyst Project is a center for political education and movement building based in the San Francisco Bay Area. They are committed to anti-racist work in majority white sections of left social movements with the goal of deepening anti-racist commitment in white communities and building multiracial left movements for liberation. We are committed to creating spaces for activists and organizers to collectively develop relevant theory, vision and strategy to build our movements.
http://collectiveliberation.org/
The Catalyst Project was nominated because they are carrying on the very organizing work we were all doing in Seattle in 1999.
17 - LEGACY of EQUALITY, LEADERSHIP and ORGANIZING (LELO)
LELO is a 33 year old racial and economic justice workers' organization in Seattle. As an organization led by ordinary workers, they develop the leadership of those most marginalized in our society: people of color, working class women, recent immigrants and LGBTQ (lesbian/ gay/ bisexual/ transgender/ queer) workers. Their primary social change strategy is local organizing, with a heavy emphasis on political education and networks of solidarity with workers across the globe. LELO was crucial to bringing the voices of workers from the Global South to the WTO protests in 1999.
www.lelo.org
LELO was nominated because of the importance of returning some of these funds to the Seattle community. LELO is one of the best, people of color-led organization around. Not only a leader on key issues in 1999, LELO remains at the forefront of the issues facing its own communities despite having to cut back due to recent financial pressures.
Landmark Seattle Court Ruling Fuels Global Justice Mission
Members of a class-action lawsuit have joined forces to donate settlement funds to fund organizations carrying on the work of the global justice movement through the Money to Movements Project. In a landmark decision for First Amendment rights in January 2007, a Seattle civil jury found that police acted unconstitutionally in arresting more than 175 peaceful protesters as part of the World Trade Organization protests in 1999.
The plaintiffs involved in the case were arrested in downtown Seattle's Westlake Park, part of a "no protest zone" hastily designated by city officials as the WTO meetings convened in November of 1999. The suit was brought by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), a Washington, D.C.-based public interest law firm, who charged that the plaintiffs were arrested without probable cause while engaging in a constitutionally-protected act of free speech.
The Money to Movements project was created by a group of plaintiffs involved in the Westlake Park case in order to help channel funds obtained through the court settlement back into the global justice (formerly known as anti-globalization) movement. "We brought this suit for everyone who faced inappropriate police behavior at the protests," said Erica Kay, of Seattle's Community Action Network. "We want to see this money put to good purpose."
The WTO conference drew about 50,000 protestors to Seattle in 1999. Groups such as farm-workers unions, environmental activists, indigenous rights advocates, and non-governmental organizations (NGO's) gathered to protest the policies of the World Trade Organization, triggering what observers characterized as an unconstitutional reaction by police, national guard and government officials. Crowd-control tactics such as tear-gas, pepper spray, percussion grenades and rubber bullets were employed. A state of emergency was declared and over 600 mostly peaceful protesters were arrested and detained. Nearly all charges were later dropped.
David Solnit, A CO-founder of the Direct Action Network and an organizer of the nonviolent direct action shutdown of the WTO's opening day said, "These funds were won from a struggle for global justice. We wanted to make sure that a portion of those funds were put back into those struggles.
So far, 20 of the plaintiffs involved in the Westlake case have donated to the Money to Movements project, totaling $15,000. The ultimate goal of the project is to raise $40,000 through donations and matching grants, a figure equivalent to 10% of the settlement after legal fees.
The plaintiffs selected the following global justice groups and projects to receive the pooled Money to Movements Funds:
Domestic Workers United (New York, NY),
Critical Resistance (national),
Community Coalition for Environmental Justice (Seattle, WA),
The Jena 6 Legal Defense Fund (national),
Bus Riders Union (national),
Mothers for Police Accountability (Seattle, WA),
RiseUp.net (international),
Seattle WTO '99 People's History Project (national),
Southwest Workers Union (San Antonio, TX),
Democracy Now! (national),
Community Alliance for Global Justice (international),
Earth First! Journal (national),
Grassroots Global Justice (national),
Destiny Arts Center (Oakland, CA),
Pan Left Productions (national),
The Catalyst Project (San Francisco, CA),
and Legacy of Equality, Leadership and Organizing (Seattle, WA),
Groups were selected for their commitment to global justice, including environmental, racial and economic justice, worker's rights, police accountability and justice system reform, independent media, and activist/youth nonviolent action training. They were chosen from 24 nominated groups by those plaintiffs participating in the Money to Movements project.
Money to Movements has timed the announcement of groups benefiting to coincide with the screening of the new movie The Battle in Seattle by director Stuart Townsend at the Seattle Film Festival, a fictional drama set during the WTO protests.
"The mission of the global justice movement is to keep transnational corporations from profiting at the expense of people and the planet," said Holly Roach, Money to Movements co-founder and Westlake Class member. "Our intention with Money to Movements is to direct funds to those groups that are currently driving the global justice movement, and to help inspire a new generation of activists."
"The WTO protests are an incredible model of 'people power' standing up the global elites," said Solnit. "We hope these funds will help to bring attention to the current strength of the global justice movement, and to help to fuel the work."
Money to Movements is currently seeking matching grants and individual donations to reach the projected total of $60,000. All donations are tax-deductible through Money to Movements fiscal sponsor, the Agape Foundation.
More information at www.realbattleinseattle.org/moneytomovements
Donations to Money to Movements can be made out to Agape Foundation for a tax deduction.
PO 32566
Santa Fe, NM 87594
###
$ to Movements Group Selection
1 - DOMESTIC WORKERS UNITED
Founded in 2000, Domestic Workers United [DWU] is an organization of Caribbean, Latina and African nannies, housekeepers, and elderly caregivers in New York, organizing for power, respect, fair labor standards and to help build a movement to end exploitation and oppression for all.
http://www.domesticworkersunited.org/
Domestic Workers United was nominated because of their amazing work bringing attention to women's invisible labor, fighting for a Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights one of the only sectors of work not recognized under the National Labor Relations Act, and building a movement led by Black, Latina and Asian immigrant domestic workers who understand the connection between the neo-liberal policies ravishing their homelands and the exploitation of their lives in the US.
2 - CRITICAL RESISTANCE
Critical Resistance seeks to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe.
www.criticalresistance.org
Critical Resistance was nominated because it is working to alter lives of those presently and formerly incarcerated and their close relations, correcting the punitive system of injustice.
3 - COMMUNITY COALITION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (CCEJ)
CCEJ's mission is to achieve environmental and economic justice in low-income communities and communities of color. They believe that everyone, regardless of race or income, has the right to a clean and healthy community.
www.ccej.org
Community Coalition for Environmental Justice was nominated because it does the same work locally that folks were in the streets for globally in 1999. In this case, "local" is Seattle. It seems fitting that some of the money paid by the city of Seattle to some of us who made fairly privileged choices and got arrested would go back to organizations working to help the people of Seattle who rarely have those kinds of choices.
4 - THE JENA 6 LEGAL DEFENSE FUND (Color of Change)
The Jena 6 legal defense fund at Color Of Change exists to strengthen Black America's political voice. Their goal is to empower our membersBlack Americans and our alliesto make government more responsive to the concerns of Black Americans and to bring about positive political and social change for everyone.
http://ColorOfChange.org
The Jena 6 Legal Defense Fund was nominated because this case is an instance of an outrageous civil rights violation. A culture of white supremacy and personal and institutional racism is destroying the lives of these young men, and sending the message that black people had better keep quiet and "stay in their place". We should support their defense fund to ensure their access to the best legal aid possible.
5 BUS RIDERS UNION
The Bus Riders Union seeks to promote environmentally sustainable public transportation on the premise that affordable, efficient, and environmentally sound mass transit is a human right. Their work frontally challenges racist policies, the corporate profit motive and management rights as the arbiter of social policy. For them, human and ecological rights are the leading social, political and economic priority for people throughout the world. they see themselves as part of an international movement to stop the US government from intervening in the internal affairs of sovereign nations and to support the movements for self-determination inside and outside of the US.
http://www.busridersunion.org/
Bus Riders Union was nominated because their fight exposes the privatization and corporatization of government while building a vibrant multiracial, multilingual, intergenerational movement of inner city bus riders. Their Clean Air, Clean Lungs, Clean Buses Campaign taking on the automobile in Los Angeles is building a movement to clean up LA's Lethal Air while addressing our responsibility to the Third World and communities most devastatingly impacted by global warming.
6 MOTHERS FOR POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
Mothers for Police Accountability works to eliminate police violence, to protect our communities from its ravages. Mothers for Police Accountability was founded in 1990 by Harriett Walden, an African American Seattle mother who was angered by police disregard for her son's humanity. She decided to model a healthy response.
http://reformnetwork.org/mothers/
Mothers for Police Accountability was nominated because our WTO class action was about police accountability but of a different type. Mothers has worked for nearly two decades now to address police violence and racial disparity in police responses. People of color in our communities, and certainly in Seattle, are targeted by police and in the worst cases, like that of Harriet's son, they are killed by police. If we really want to change police behaviors, we must support groups like this. How great it will be to tell the Seattle police department that the funds they paid us will be used to hold them accountable!
7 -RISEUP.NET Riseup provides mail, lists, and hosting for those working on liberatory social change. They are a project to create democratic alternatives and practice self-determination by controlling our own secure means of communications.
http://riseup.net
Riseup was nominated because they host so many of our websites, listserves and email addresses. Where would we be without them? And they do it all as volunteers. Supporting Riseup is supporting our own.
8 Seattle WTO '99 PEOPLE'S HISTORY PROJECT
The Seattle WTO '99 People's History Project will intervene in the corporate media distortions about the Seattle WTO resistance and the upcoming "Battle in Seattle" movie. The Project will do this by creating a web-based people's history of resistance to the Seattle WTO, doing media work when the movie is released to amplify the voices and stories of real grassroots activists, and by providing organizing resources to movement groups and people who want to organize events and education to reclaim our history.
http://RealBattleInSeattle.org/
The Seattle WTO '99 People's History Project was nominated because for eight years, the US corporate media, global elites, and their police have been twisting and marginalizing the truth, in order to invent their own story of Seattle 1999 and the stories of social movements' resistance and victories. These lies and revisions of history have been used in an attempt to criminalize and repress our protests, movements, and mobilizations. At the 2007 United States Social Forum activists, many from the Direct Action Network and allied organizations, issued a call that reads in part: "The story of popular resistance to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle in 1999 is a story of how people power can change the world. It is a dangerous example for the global elite, and a powerful one for movements." It's time that we in the social movements tell our own stories, reclaim our own histories, and publicly fight damaging myths of our movements past and present. Funding would be used to create organizing materials, do media work, and help with the people's history website. The Project is coordinated by a network of grassroots organizers, most of who were involved in Direct Action Network related organizing, are involved in current global justice struggles, and some of who are currently involved in independent media work.
9 - SOUTHWEST WORKERS UNION
Southwest Workers Union SWU is a 19 year-old organization of low-income workers and families, community residents, and youth united in one struggle for worker rights, environmental justice and community empowerment. Based in San Antonio, SWU works as a multi-lingual, multi-racial and multi-issue membership-based social change organization committed to 'bottom-up' movement building by developing local leadership among affected communities, youth, and workers. SWU empowers and organizes its 2,500 members through education, leadership development, and direct action with the aim of building multi-generational grassroots power to create sustainable systemic change for social, economic, and environmental justice and to build the movement for dignity and justice.
http://www.swunion.org
http://www.blogspot.swunion.org (more up to date)
Southwest Workers Union was nominated because of its success at consistently spanning movement-level and grassroots organizing. SWU's activities and structure speak largely for themselves but it generally lacks access to foundation money.
10 - DEMOCRACY NOW!
Democracy Now! is an independent media outlet that provides us with access to people and perspectives rarely heard in the U.S.corporate-sponsored media, including independent and international journalists, ordinary people from around the world who are directly affected by U.S. foreign policy, grassroots leaders and peace activists, artists, academics and independent analysts.
www.democracynow.org
Democracy Now! was nominated because, for true democracy to work, people need easy access to independent, diverse sources of news and information. Democracy Now! covers events like WTO meetings without the corporate agenda, giving people a more complete view of what the real issues are and allowing folks to have a real picture of what is going on in the streets and in the meetings.
11 - COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE (CAGJ)
Community Alliance for Global Justice believes that the global economy should embody the core values of social justice, environmental sustainability, democracy and self-determination. Its goals include providing a dependable, credible voice in Seattle's local media countering "free trade" propaganda, and promoting "fair trade" alternatives; educating local communities about globalization, local impacts, and ways to get involved in the opposition; educating policy-makers on "free trade" issues (such as Fast Track negotiating authority, Free Trade Area of the Americas, World Bank/Int'l Monetary Fund structural adjustment, etc.) and researching and publicizing local impacts of globalization, and alternatives. CAGJ is small grassroots group in Seattle formed by local folks after the WTO protests.
www.seattleglobaljustice.org/
Community Alliance for Global Justice was nominated because it continues to address issues of trade and related concerns. In 1999, we learned so much about these issues but lots of us are working on different (though related, of course) issues now but need groups like CAGJ to keep us informed and active.
12 EARTH FIRST! JOURNAL
The Earth First! Journal publishes news, strategy and analysis of the biocentric grassroots direct action movement.
www.earthfirstjournal.org
The Earth First! Journal was nominated because it is a long standing grassroots, radical, direct action oriented publication that has an extremely high level of broader movement participation in shaping content (two annual open well-attended meetings at EF! activist gatherings spread across the U.S.) It serves as the primary networking tool for a movement that brought many of the direct-action skills and experienced activists into the global justice movement which was certainly a component that made the Seattle WTO mobilization so effective. After 28 years of evolving to publish a relevant, movement-oriented journal, they are facing extreme extreme economic pressure from a combination of several elements, primarily, a rise in postal rates for small publishers and the over-dependence on internet-based communications. It would be a blow to the movement to lose this publication over lack of support, yet some money and attention from this settlement could help re-energize and boost the project.
13 GRASSROOTS GLOBAL JUSTICE
Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) is an alliance of U.S.-based grassroots groups who are organizing to build an agenda for power for working and poor people. They understand that there are important connections between the local issues they work on and the global context, and they see themselves as part of an international movement for global justice.
http://www.ggjalliance.org/
Grassroots Global Justice is nominated because of their work in creating opportunities for social movement convergence, an example of this is their spearheading of the first US Social Forum in Atlanta this summer, drawing over 12,000 people under the banner of "Another World is Possible, Another US is necessary." Rooted inside working class communities of color, they are broadening the face of the global justice movement in the United States.
14 - DESTINY ARTS CENTER (De-Escalation Skills Training Inspiring Nonviolence in Youth)
Destiny Arts Center exists to end isolation, prejudice and violence in the lives of young people. We accomplish our mission by (1) Providing dance, martial arts, conflict resolution, self-defense, and youth leadership classes and workshops, taught by professional-level instructors, during after school hours. (2) Supporting multi-cultural youth in developing an individualized sense of artistic expression, leadership skills and personal empowerment that they understand has impact on their communities.
http://destinyarts.org/
Destiny Arts Center was nominated because it works to heal racism and violence in young people, giving them a great sense of responsibility and accomplishment.
15 PAN LEFT PRODUCTIONS
Pan Left Productions put the tools of production in the hands of people disenfranchised from mainstream corporate media to create and and distribute videos - documentaries, narratives, fiction and experimental works - that expose viewers to social and political issues.
www.panleft.org
Pan Left Productions was nominated because it is a truly top-notch group, one that embodies the spirit and goals of the anti-globalization movement that brought us to Seattle. It is unique as both a collective and a non-profit. It is extremely productive and accessible. Functioning since 1994, it has a proven track record of producing and distributing high-quality independent media that is not beholden to any special interest. It promotes a do-it-yourself mentality that puts equipment into the hands of disenfranchised populations.
16 - THE CATALYST PROJECT
The Catalyst Project is a center for political education and movement building based in the San Francisco Bay Area. They are committed to anti-racist work in majority white sections of left social movements with the goal of deepening anti-racist commitment in white communities and building multiracial left movements for liberation. We are committed to creating spaces for activists and organizers to collectively develop relevant theory, vision and strategy to build our movements.
http://collectiveliberation.org/
The Catalyst Project was nominated because they are carrying on the very organizing work we were all doing in Seattle in 1999.
17 - LEGACY of EQUALITY, LEADERSHIP and ORGANIZING (LELO)
LELO is a 33 year old racial and economic justice workers' organization in Seattle. As an organization led by ordinary workers, they develop the leadership of those most marginalized in our society: people of color, working class women, recent immigrants and LGBTQ (lesbian/ gay/ bisexual/ transgender/ queer) workers. Their primary social change strategy is local organizing, with a heavy emphasis on political education and networks of solidarity with workers across the globe. LELO was crucial to bringing the voices of workers from the Global South to the WTO protests in 1999.
www.lelo.org
LELO was nominated because of the importance of returning some of these funds to the Seattle community. LELO is one of the best, people of color-led organization around. Not only a leader on key issues in 1999, LELO remains at the forefront of the issues facing its own communities despite having to cut back due to recent financial pressures.