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The Shout Heard Round the World 8-31-04

of non-violent civil disobedience and direct action will commence with a synchronized Shout Heard Round the World. Let the day begin with this resounding note of resistance: as clocks strike 11am, 2 days before the re-nomination of George W. Bush, the people of the world will shout NO with one voice.

From Brooklyn to Baghdad to London to Lisbon, from Selma to Sao Paulo, we'll raise our voices in this global expression of outrage. We'll open our windows, step in to the streets, walk out of our jobs, and out of our schools. We'll honk car horns, blow trumpets, bang drums, pots and pans and shout NO at the top of our lungs. The world will stand together in the streets to call for an end to empire and to call forth the possibilities for the future. A future in which the people design their own destiny.

The radical affront to democracy we see in these times calls for a radical response. Here in New York, we will converge on Madison Square Garden, the site of the Republican National Convention, and at other sites around the city. We will sit down in the streets and refuse to move. And from our clear NO will emerge a constellation of YESES: YES to democracy, YES to justice, freedom, and peace. We'll paint a vision of the world we wish to see. We'll take over the streets--transform them into theaters, stages for resistance and forums for debate. We will draw our examples and inspiration from the brave shapers of history who came before us--those who put their bodies on the line to gain independence, win the vote, end apartheid. We seek to counter the over-represented picture-perfect postcard of New York that the politicians wish to promote. We will harness the spirit that puts our city at the center of the world stage: creativity, ingenuity, grit, social conscience. We will show the world what real democracy looks like.

We are people who work for a living. We are students, we are retirees. We are caregivers, builders, teachers, dreamers. We're the people who fight the wars, who pay taxes, who have lost our jobs. We lost loved ones on September 11th; we saw the planes of terror crash into the towers. We refuse to see our tragedy twisted to advance perverse political ends or careers. We are people who will tolerate injustice no more. We are people of conscience who speak out, even when we are afraid to do so.

And we are angry. We are dissatisfied, tired, disgusted, disenfranchised. We are ready to say "Enough!" We want more than speeches and protest pens. We want change. We want to take democracy from the Halliburtons and Enrons and bring it back to town halls, schools, and neighborhoods. A true democracy thrives on diversity: while we celebrate our differences, we stand united in our opposition to the dismantling of our dreams. United in our opposition to the dangerous direction of things. In this, we make common cause with the people of the world.

It is time to plot a new course, to wrench out a new kind of history--one of solidarity and participation, of compassion and wisdom. On August 31, 2004, we will begin to forge a new kind of story. Anything is possible. We will shape history. The only limit is the boundary of our collective imagination.

See you in the streets.

**Please send this call far and wide**

Four Winds 10 - News