CAAS Hosts National Meeting of BRC, June 20-22, 2002
The Center for African American Studies was founded in 1970 as the Center for Black Studies. As such it was the first such academic center in higher education in New Jersey and one of the earliest Black Studies programs in the entire United States. African American Studies "has been nurtured by a radical social movement in opposition to institutional racism in Higher education." It emerged as an integral part of the Black Liberation Movement of the 1960s. As such it has the unique responsibility to bring the resources of the campus to community-based activists struggling for social justice. It is in this spirit that CAAS proudly hosts the National Meeting of the BRC.
BLACK RADICAL CONGRESS 2003,
WAR RACISM AND REPRESSION:
CONFRONTING THE US EMPIRE
June 20-22, 2003
Seton Hall University,
South Orange, New Jersey
THE CALL
It is time for a Black Radical Congress National Meeting!
We need a meeting
to better mobilize and organize our ranks.We need a national meeting
so that we can help build broad unity and coalitions of all progressive forces.We need a national meeting
to inject a new positive spirit of struggle into our ranks.We need a national meeting
to unite around a compelling mission that attracts grassroots leaders from students, youth, labor, feminist, environmental, gay/lesbian movements.We need a national meeting
to build the BRC as a leading force in the Black Liberation Movement.No to Bush’s War
We Want Peace, Reparations, and Justice
In March 2003 the US government launched an illegal military invasion and occupation of Iraq. This military occupation was one more phase of the US National Security Strategy doctrine that promises militarism, war and destruction across the planet. The wars abroad strengthen the militarists at home with unprecedented powers for an administration that is intensifying its exploitation of the oppressed.
The peoples of the world now face the very real and ever present threat of US military aggression on every continent. The continued and apparently deepening recession is now blatantly clear in every state that is faced with deficits and budget cuts. Millions have lost their jobs, pensions and life savings. Homelessness and hunger are growing. Millions of youth are condemned to the criminal injustice system. We are also in the midst of the most brutal government attacks on the right to dissent since the McCarthy era and COINTELPRO.
In the name of fighting terrorism, there is a sharp rise in racist repression. African Americans and other people of color are facing a new level of racial profiling and violence. There are new pressures to drop our demands for justice. Arabs, Muslims, immigrants, and people resembling those of Middle Eastern/North African/Central Asian descent are special targets of racist violence and government repression. Working people’s right to strike and collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions is under severe attack. The USA Patriot Act considers all dissent a form of terrorism and the right to exist for all radical and progressive movements remains in jeopardy.
Money for education, health care and to rebuild our cities is being diverted to pay for a vast increase in military spending and another round of proposed trillion dollar tax cuts for the wealthy.
We are in the midst of war and the loss of thousands of lives. This is an urgent, emergency situation.
The Black Radical Congress is fully aware of the grave dangers facing all oppressed people, the nation and the world in which we live. If the present reactionary direction of the Bush administration is not stopped we are headed for a new-world conflagration.
We will not be silenced!
The only real weapon of the oppressed is organization! To meet the danger of war, increased racist oppression and repression, Black America must resist with demands for peace, justice and reparations. We must do this through grassroots organizing within each of our sectors; we must do it with demonstrations, as well as door-knocking. We must remind each other that tyranny has never been defeated through silence and passivity. It has only been defeated through organization and resistance.
No one organization can succeed at building resistance alone. Join us on June 20th as the BRC steps forward to unite with other organizations in Black America as we confront the juggernaut of permanent war and permanent misery. The time to step forward is now!
Contact us at caasbrc@shu.edu
Phone 973-761-9412
Website: http://www.brcnationalconference.org
Black
Radical Congress
National Office
Columbia University Station
P.O. Box 250791
New York, NY 10025-1509
blackradicalcongress@email.com