Not in Our Name/September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

This date gives us terrible pause...what have the US leaders done to their country and world? How might we American citizens have stood up for much better? What can we do in the future that does not involve revenge killing & the destruction of so many civilians? What have we learned from various groups which speak of alternatives? How might we stop the killing that is within our power and within our own understanding, our own grasp, influence and circles? How might we as a sea of people across the globe come closer to the goals within this pledge before next year at the same time?

Let's be the people who are crying for good will, dialogue and acceptance--at home and with those who are in our "villages" and in the community of us all.

While not all of us in the US at this time (election compromises?) may want to agree out loud with the full pledge for whatever reason--surely each one of us who want the best for humanity may resonate with some--or most of this...I have excerpted the part of the final statement which may find the most universal accord...you may want to look up more on this project...

NOT IN OUR NAME NION from The Final Statement March 2008

We believe that as people living in the United States, it is our responsibility to resist the injustices done by our government, in our names

With these words from the Pledge of Resistance, the Not in Our Name project was started in March of 2002. In the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001, our government had already launched the brutal invasion of Afghanistan, enacted the Patriot Act, and indiscriminately rounded up and detained thousands of U.S. residents based solely on their religion or country of origin. In response, the diverse activists who embraced the Not in Our Name project came together under three points of unity:

* No War on the World
* No Detentions and Roundups
* No Police State Restrictions

Not in Our Name began with the idea that a culture of resistance needed to be created to oppose all of this; that sitting idly by and “letting history take its course over the graves of the nameless” was not an option. We organized and mobilized tens of thousands for the October 6, 2002 rallies in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and dozens of other cities and towns...

...we used the symbol of the Earth, showing solidarity with the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the world.

Six years later, the devastation of two countries continues with no end in sight. Hundreds are still detained and tortured in Guantanamo, as well as a network of secret prisons around the globe. Repressive measures such as the Military Commissions act, secret wiretapping programs, and even “thought crime” legislation surface on a regular basis. Immigrants from the south are demonized as a new “threat”, which creates the need for more “detention facilities”, border walls, and heavily armed forces patrolling within our country.

...Despite the fact that the national Not in Our Name project is coming to an end, it is not time to stop building this culture of resistance. We still believe that another world is possible, and it is up to us, not our government, to make it real.

- Not in Our Name National Steering Committee and Staff

Roman Becerra - Ventura CA | Peter Cobb - New York City | Max Diorio - Oakland CA | Maya Jones - San Francisco Bay Area | Aimara Lin - New York City | George MacAdow - Sacramento CA | Mary Jo Muser - Cleveland OH | Laura Negronida - Wisconsin | Efia Nwangaza - Greenville SC | Jeff Paterson - Oakland CA
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* September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows Continue Advocacy for Victims of US Attacks on Iraq, Afghanistan *

Nearly seven years ago, a group of family members of those killed on Sept. 11 united to advocate for a nonviolent response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Since then, members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows have traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict areas to meet with the victims of the Bush administration's so-called war on terror. We speak to Terry Rockefeller, who has just returned from her second trip to Iraq. Terry's sister Laura died on 9/11 at the World Trade Center.

* From One Ground Zero to Another: An Afghan American Who Lost 19 Family Members in US Bombing, and a New Yorker Whose Brother Died in the World Trade Center *

Less than two months after 9/11, the US attacked Afghanistan, an invasion that continues today. We turn to two interviews in the aftermath of the Afghan invasion: Afghan American Masuda Sultan, who lost nineteen members of her family to a US bombing while they were taking refuge in a farmhouse; and Rita Lazar, who went to Afghanistan a few months after losing her brother Abe in the World Trade Center attacks. She said the killing of innocent civilians should not be avenged by the killing of more innocent civilians.

Listen/Watch/Read the two articles above at democracynow dot org for 911/08