*PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY*

The Santa Barbara People’s Coalition invites YOU to a community organizing meeting on Monday Sept. 10^th 6pm at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 1622 Anacapa Street in Santa Barbara.  The focus of this meeting is “How to End the War on Iraq AND Build a Sustainable Society.”   In solidarity with anti-war actions taking place in D.C. the week of the 15^th - 21^st, we will be gathering to formulate and initiate our own community action in response to the Bush Pentagon’s report to Congress on the status of the surge.
 
On Sept 15^th the Bush Pentagon is due to report to Congress on the progress of the “surge” in Iraq and there will be Congressional hearings the week following (17^th – 21^st).  Thousands of anti-war activists, organizations and coalitions, are set to march on the White House and Congress on Sept 15^th and will be demanding that the people’s voice be heard in these hearings.  Furthermore, a proposal has been put forward by International ANSWER(Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) for all to unite under the banner “End the War Now!” with the longer-term objective of producing a million people’s march on Washington D.C. for the 5^th anniversary of the war on March 21^st of 2008(please Google and read the full text of their proposal: “What Should the Anti-War Movement Do Now?”). 
The SB People’s Coalition has decided to take on this proposal and locally organize the build-up of our anti-war movement leading towards March 21^st 2008 and beyond.  We recognize that, historically, significant social and legal changes have happened only as a result of massive people’s movements.  The long story of how people have struggled to change the world—to make it in their own image and not in the image of the very few who control and dominate it—continues today.  We see this time as an opportune moment for all to set aside political differences in order to build the largest grassroots anti-war movement in history in solidarity with organizers nationwide. We’re calling on ALL local sustainability, anti-war leadership, organizations and coalitions to unite under the banner “End the War Now!” and to join us in organizing actions for the week of Sept 17^th -21^st AND to strengthen our local people’s movement that will work to bring about the sustainable society we want to see happen in our lifetime.

Come join us in our efforts! The SB People’s Coalition is calling on YOU (local leadership, organizations, and coalitions) to make use of this vital time of anti-war movement building to focus our energies and networks towards investing in our sustainable future.  This is our opportunity to begin to collectively vision and craft a community strategy that will both work toward ending the war on Iraq AND re-energizing a grassroots local people’s movement that emphasizes WHO WE ARE and WHAT WE STAND FOR, rather than simply proclaim what we are against.  We believe it’s possible to shift away from reacting to the chaos and fear-mongering of the so-called “powers that be,” and align ourselves with the life-giving positive energies of the powers of Being. 

The time has come to embrace the vibrant potential of this growing awareness.  We urge every organization and individual to join this effort.  We look forward to seeing you on Monday, September 10^th 6pm at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 1622 Anacapa Street (we invite attendee’s to please bring $$$ to contribute to pizza :-).

*Since the start of the war on Iraq the Santa Barbara People’s Coalition has responsibly organized many of the major anti-war protests in our community.  The goal of the SB People’s Coalition has always been to facilitate cooperation among Santa Barbara County groups and individuals interested in working in solidarity for social and economic justice.