by Danny Muller, PAM Executive Director
Peace Action Maine’s programs for 2008 are in full swing! We have launched our actions to Reclaim Maine from legislators, corporations and war profiteers who
continue to deplete our resources, warm and poison our planet, consolidate and steal wealth and wage war against people and against the earth.
Recent Successes and Actions Include:
•The beginnings of our Reclaim Maine Organizing Guide can be found at www.peaceactionme.org/pam-organizing- guide or by calling 207 772 0680.
This developing guide includes General Organizing Resources, Fact Sheets on Corporations, and What You Can Do!
•Actions against the war and occupation in Iraq on March 15th with From Every Village Green, culminated in hundreds of people across Maine calling for an immediate end to the war and media coverage on CBS, NBC, MTV Portland Press Herald and The Bangor Daily News.
•Working with The Maine Campaign to Ban Cluster Bombs, resulting in Senator Olympia Snowe signing on to S.594, The Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act, becoming the first Republican in the Senate to do so.
•Organizing and hosting benefits for Permaculture for Peace (Ghana), Flood Relief in Darfur, and Humanitarian Aid for Somalia (Africare), and Freedom Spaces Solidarity with the Organization for Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) at The Meg Perry Center.
•Showing the Winter Soldier Hearings, testimonies of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, live from www.ivaw.org.
•Presenting trainings and organizing for the 50th Annual Peace Action National Congress in Washington DC, July 18-20. For more information, visit www.peaceactionme.org.
•Hosting Speakers, Trainings and Events with: Jeff Halper, Blackbird Collective, Mary Anne Grady Flores, Bruce Gagnon, POWER, Jim Harney, Centro Latino, Sr. Carol Gilbert, Mary Anne Muller, Tom Whitney, Ray Luc Levasseur, Mary Trotochaud, The Native Youth Movement, Northeast Anarchist Network, Journalist Lance Tapley, Sr. Ardeth Platte, Michelle Cacho-Negrete, & Dr Peter Wilk.
•Hosting a Statewide Planning Meeting for Anti War and Occupation Actions in January, 2008.
Reclaim Maine’s actions and events highlight the diverse chapters and topics covered in our Organizing Guide, ranging from prisons in Maine, the impact of multinational corporations, the realities of nuclear war and occupation, the inequality of wealth, international solidarity efforts, military recruitment, the growing number of weapons makers in Maine, and where candidates stand on issues of peace and justice. One of the goals of working to ‘Reclaim Maine’ is to emphasize the interconnectedness of issues, that most of these chapters and events intersect with others in the areas of conflict over resources, wealth inequality, the breakdown of true democratic representation and participation, the criminalization and demonization of others, and the destruction of the environment and the negative impact on health. We are working to continue to incorporate this analysis into our actions and programs in the future, which can be seen in what we have planned for the future:
Upcoming events include Andrea Licata with No More Bases (April 7), Our 2008 Peace Supper with Frida Berrigan (April 26), Norman Finkelstein at USM (April 29), the Portland Peace Festival (July 12), Thursday night movie showings at the Meg Perry Center, the launching of our 2008 Voter Guide and much, much more!
If you would like to bring a speaker to your town, use our lending library and videos, volunteer at events, or work on our Reclaim Maine Organizing Guide, call 207 772 0680 or e-mail info [at] peaceactionme [dot] org today.
