UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

DELAWARE VALLEY NETWORK

June 7, 2009

 

Present:  Bob Moore (facilatator), Bob Smith, Sue Edwards, Nina Huizinga (notes), Elisabeth Leonard, Circe Urbanski, Shim Reza, Bill Perry

 

REVIEW OF PAST EVENTS

 

 

This was a support action for the National UFPJ event in NYC.  We tried to organize pre-boarding events in several locations before we got on the train to New York.  We estimate that 30-40 people took part all told.  There was not good press coverage.  Having a "portable rally" on the train itself was a sucessful experiment. 

 

It was disappointing that the march in NY was only a march with no rally as a focus.  There was no magnet in NYC as a drawing card. 

 

The lack of numbers may also reflect the period of history we are in at the moment.  We must keep going to sustain the peace movment infra-structure.  We have control over whether our events are well organized.

 

What Going on with National UFPJ:

 

Leslie Cagan left the staff as of April 4.  Fundraising mailing named Judith Le Blank as the webmaster and "organizing director."  They claim they have a strategic plan, but do not tell us what it is. 

 

There was very good training in NYC on April 5 on Anti-Nuclear Proliferation.  A lot of young people were there and AFSC and WILPF organized some of the training materials.  This is important work since the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is coming up for re-ratification. 

 

Good work is also being done on Afghanistan.  They contacted Sue Edwards with good written fact sheets and good list of how-tos.

 

On the other hand, national UFPJ is facing financial and structural problems related to the ebb in interest in organizing of big events.  On the regional level, we are facing similar problems.

 

May 9th Bring Peace Home for Mother's Day:

 

We have received rave reviews from those who took part.  It included singing and poetry and many diverse workshops.  Many said it was a spiritually uplifting event for them and would love to see it repeated.  It was a very positive women's gathering for peace where men were welcomed; many men attended and took part as presenters.  We had the ability to show DVDs and a Power Point presentation.  [i.e.: this is a venue where we could do a progressive movie series] 

 

Financially, we spent about $500 on the event, got a $100 donation from SEIU, but collected money during the event and recouped all but about $150 of our costs. 

 

We estimate that 40-50 people were there, of which 15 were presenters.  For such a low turn-out, the venue was too large and there were too many workshops.  There was no famous speaker or entertainer as a draw (although efforts were made to get Holly Near, the Anna Crusis Women's Choir, and women from the U.S. Progressive Caucus). 

 

January 17 March to 30th St. Station:

 

This was a colorful march with puppets, but poorly attended by maybe 70 people.

 

Where Do We Go From Here:

 

Suggestion from Bob Moore:  Put the Network into hybernation for now.  Except for May 2010 when there well be a UN event related to the major review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  So by, say, January 2010, we could reconvene and try to do something regional. 

 

We could retain a caveat that we could convene an Emergency Meeting in case of some kind of current events that call for such a response. 

 

Bob Smith:  Agrees with putting the Network into hybernation.  What is a Network?  It is different from an organization and also different from a coalition.  We have representatives from various groups sharing what they are doing and agreeing to work on something together.  We use the network to get out notices of what the various groups are doing.  We could use the web site better for this purpose.  How about a regular: What's happening in the region.

 

Sue Edwards;  I would like to focus on what DELCO is doing.

 

Nina Huizinga:  I agree with the idea of putting the Network into hybernation regarding trying to organize a regional event, but I would be interested in working with Rich Gardner on the Web Site and make it more useful region-wide.

 

Elisabeth Leonard:  I am committed to working on nuclear non-proliferation.

 

Rich Gardner:  I want to keep on having the UFPJ Delaware Valley Network name out there.  Groups that are socially on the edge need to support each other. 

 

Circe Urbanski:  Maintain a calendar.  Organizations can submit stuff and we can publicize it.

 

Shim Reza:  It would be good to get feedback from the folks who are not at this meeting.

 

Bill Perry:  The burn-out rate is high, in part because of the effort we made to get Obama elected.  Now, we should go back to our small groups.  Bill shared information about the series of events in June where Cindy Sheehan will be speaking.  We might want to organize a regional campaign about the Army Experience Center at the Franklin Mills Mall

 

Working with the Franklin Mills Mall Organizers:

 

We noted that the push for a demo at the Army Experience Center seemed to come from New York and DC.  Then, they got Philadelphia folks to support them.  So, it was a regional activity from the beginning.  If these organizers would come to us and want the DVN to be the mechanism for doing a regional action around the Center, would we want to work with them in this way?  Maybe.  But only if they initiate the contact by coming to us. 

 

Analysis of Where the Peace Movement is:

 

Progressive people were very frustrated by the George W. Bush adminstration and its many outrages: beginning the Iraq War on false pretenses and ignoring wide-spread public opinion against the war, the set-up of Guatanamo Bay and confinement of prisoners without charges, the torture and "extraordinary rendition,"  the wide-spread electronic spying, the lies, etc. 

 

After the 2006 congressional elections when strong opposition to the Iraq War was ignored, people were ready to be mobilized. 

 

The fact that the October 2007 demos were within a national context of 11 regional sites encouraged a large response. 

 

But, in fact, this was the peak in the anti-war organizing effort.  After this demo, the next big push was mobilizing for the election of Obama.  Since his election, folks were either burnt-out or not interested in publicly challenging his adminstration.

 

So now, our purpose seems to be to stay organized, but not to try and do a big organizing effort until the mood of the country is ready to be mobilized once again. 

 

NOTE:  Nina will be working with Rich to mold the Web Site into a better communication tool to publicize what progressive groups are doing in the region. 

 

NOTE:  Not everyone agreed with the decision to let the Network go into hybernation.  Elisabeth Leonard sent out an email saying she thought we should think more carefully about this decision, especially since the meeting was not well attended.  Your opinions are welcome.