Contact us at:
takedirectaction [at] riseup [dot] net
(510) 984-2566
If you are a member of the media, see this page.
Several months ago, a group of Bay Area activists got together and re-started Direct Action to Stop the War (DASW). Five years ago, on March 20, 2003, DASW – a coordinating body/spokescouncil that brought together several thousand people from a broad cross-section of communities, social justice groups, and anti-war organizations – organized a massively successful shutdown of the San Francisco financial district, in protest of President Bush’s decision to attack Iraq. This mass direct action of over 10,000 people was planned and carried out using an anti-authoritarian and highly effective organizing model of affinity groups, decentralized leadership, and coordinated action through mass spokescouncil meetings.
Some of the people who were involved in that organizing effort, along with many new people, have come together to organize two mass direct actions on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. We believe that the time has come for the anti-war movement to escalate our tactics, and put pressure directly on the people who are waging this war. We’re sending out this overview of our organizing plan because we know that in order for this action to be successful, it needs the creativity, energy, experience, and connections that you and many others can bring.
On March 19, 2008 – the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq – Direct Action to Stop the War will be organizing a day of decentralized, multiple-target direct action against government offices and war profiteers in downtown San Francisco. We have created a list of San Francisco offices of federal agencies, corporations with military contracts or contracts in Iraq, politicians who have failed to stop the war, and foreign embassies of countries linked to the war in Iraq. We are focusing primarily on corporations with military or Iraqi contracts, because we want to focus attention on the prominent role played by war-profiteering corporations in the U.S. occupation of Iraq. We will take direct action on March 19th against as many of these locations as possible, in order to send a clear message to the economic and political elites that control this country: No business as usual until all U.S. troops are withdrawn from Iraq!
On March 15, Direct Action to Stop the War – together with the West County Toxics Coalition, Greenaction, and many other community organizations – will be taking direct action against the Chevron refinery in Richmond. We will holding a rally at Carroll Park (W. Cutting Blvd. and S. Garrard Blvd. in Richmond) at 11am, and then doing a direct action at the Chevron refinery (100 Chevron Way in Richmond) at 1pm. The purpose of this action is shut the Chevron refinery down for the day, and to support community efforts to stop Chevron from expanding its refinery, which will increase pollution and cause asthma, cancer and rising death rates in surrounding communities. Chevron is driving the war and occupation in Iraq, refining over a million barrels of stolen Iraqi oil in Richmond a month, and actively lobbying for the privatization of Iraq’s oil fields so companies like Chevron can seize control of them. Join us, and help send a clear message to Chevron: Stop stealing Iraqi oil, and stop polluting our communities!
If you’re interested in helping us do outreach for these action, we’d invite you to get in touch with the outreach working group (dasw.outreach [at] gmail.com). Or, if coming to a meeting isn’t your thing, you can download flyers, posters, and other outreach materials from this site, print them out, and distribute them yourself! Or make your own flyer/poster, and distribute it yourself! (Please send a copy to dasw.outreach [at] gmail.com if you do this.)
DASW will be holding several nonviolent direct action trainings. These trainings will cover strategy tactics and goals for direct action, nonviolence agreements, group process, jail solidarity, dealing with police, and specific information about the actions and how to prepare for them. The nonviolent direct action trainings will be held at the following dates and times:
• March 2, 11:30-4:00, AK Press (674-A 23rd St. in West Oakland)
• March 8, 11:30-4:00, location TBA (check back for details)
• March 18, in the evening, location and exact time TBA (check back for details)
DASW will also be holding a Know Your Rights training, which will cover interactions with police, jail solidarity, arraignments, legal rights, and many other important topics. The Know Your Rights trainings will be held on Feb. 26, in the evening, in the East Bay (location and exact time TBA – check back for details). Additional Know Your Rights trainings will also be held on March 15th and March 19th, at the action sites.
We also have a media working group that can help you put together press releases and publicize your action. The media working group is also looking for folks to help out – especially for folks with media/communications experience. Contact dasw.media [at] gmail.com to plug in.
If you have any legal questions, contact the legal working group at dasw-legal-wg [at] unsealed.net. The National Lawyers Guild legal support line is (415) 285-1011.
If you’d like to be put on our email list, contact takedirectaction [at] riseup.net.
For some great training resources, check out the Ruckus Society website.
Finally, to donate money to our worthy cause (believe us, we need it), click the “Donate” button on the right. Please donate if you can.
Direct Action to Stop the War 