RADICAL ENCUENTRO Camp
May 25-27 (Memorial Day weekend)
Near Dallas, TX
For more information:
Website: www.radicalencuentro.org
Email: radical encuentro
(214) 642-6580
Don't miss this opportunity to build grassroots solidarity in Texas!
Learn about the histories of different radical struggles!
Apply lessons learned to our future action plans!
Mission: The Radical Encuentro camp is organized with the mission to build
solidarity amongst diverse grassroots communities and activist groups in
Tejas and beyond so that we complement each other and the movement in
general though our efforts towards resistance and evolution.
Folks from various Tejas cities have built on the foundations of previous
camps organized by REC (the Radical Education Community). Our main medium is
a "camp" that includes workshops and activities which explore skills for
activists and organizers to take back to their communities. A fundamental
part of our work is to confront oppression and racism within "the movements"
as we build both statewide and broader solidarity struggles.
Our first camp will focus on examining past and present struggles for a
better world, and exploring how to use this information to build stronger
movements within and beyond our growing statewide network of people working
for radical change.
Timed to take place on the heels of ExxonMobil's annual shareholder meeting
on May 29, we will join with indigenous activists from around the world who
arrive early for the related protests and mock trial. Many of these
activists will participate in the camp's workshops, and we hope that the
camp will be a part of building for the ExxonMobil protests.
The suggested donation for the camp is a sliding scale up to $20 (includes
meals), but no one will be turned away.
We are currently seeking volunteer help with providing food and
entertainment. Please contact us ASAP if you can help in anyway.
Visit our website for the camp's schedule of workshops, list of presenters
and activities, directions, and to register: www.radicalencuentro.org
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please take the time to submit the registration form - It
can be filled out and sent online, or mailed to our PO Box. This allows us
to estimate how much food to have on hand for your meals, and what kind of
facilties to provide. (If you have concerns about completing all sections of
the form, please contact us at radicalencuentro@yahoo.com)
Some of the groups we have contacted to facilitate workshops, participate or
speak so far are: North Texas Independent Media Center,POCLAD,UPROAR,
Chicano/a, Campus Greens, HoustonAnarchist Black Cross (ABC), Dallas ABC,
Austin ABC, Coalition to Free the Angola 3,PODER, Rhyzome Collective,I.W.W.,
Biosquat, Houston American Indian Movement, African United Front, Mexia
Eagle Society, Human Rights Campaign, Dallas Gay Lesbian Alliance,
Monkeywrench collective, Pressure Point, Ruckus Society, Human Rights
Campaign, former members of the Black Panther Party, Peace Action, Houston
Independant Media Center, Committee in Solidarity with the People of Iraq,
North Texas Islamic Association.
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CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!
Call to Action for the CLIMATE JUSTICE SUMMIT at the Exxonmobil Shareholders
Meeting
May 24-29 · 2002 · Dallas, Texas
Join together with activists from around the world at the Climate Justice
Summit! Protest the destructive actions of ExxonMobil at their Annual
Shareholder Meeting and stand in solidarity with communities impacted by
ExxonMobil.
Why ExxonMobil?
In addition to being the largest corporation in the world, ExxonMobil has
virtually single-handedly blocked global efforts to address climate change,
including sabotaging US participation in the Kyoto Protocol. It is #1 in
climate destruction, human rights abuses, and democracy buy-out. It is being
sued for complicity in genocide in Indonesia, has recently removed at
gunpoint
indigenous peoples from their homes in Colombia, and is supporting one of
the
world's most brutal regimes in Chad. If anything, ExxonMobil's impact on the
environment goes far beyond ExxonValdez, ranging from its repeated efforts
to
destroy the Clean Air Act to endangering whale populations off Sakhalin
Island
in Russia. These are only the most recent issues with a company which is
historically synonymous with greed and abuse.
Highlights of the Climate Justice Summit:
May 24-27: Radical Education Camp
Radical Encuentros will take place outside of Dallas prior to the
shareholders
meeting. Regional organizers will gather for activist trainings and to hear
firsthand the stories of indigenous struggles around the world. The camp
will
focus on resistance to the oil industry, from extraction to tailpipe, and
will
prepare activists for the shareholder meeting.
May 28: The People Vs ExxonMobil
PressurePoint and a coalition of national organizations and community groups
invites you to join us at the ExxonMobil Crimes Against Humanity Trial, and
stand in solidarity with oppressed communities. Representatives of
communities
directly impacted by ExxonMobil will testify at the mock trial. These
representatives will also speak directly to shareholders, the board, and CEO
Lee Raymond inside the shareholder meeting, as well as to the media. The
following communities will testify:
Aceh, Indonesia, where human rights groups have reported that ExxonMobil
provided earth-moving equipment used to dig mass graves, equipped soldiers
involved in atrocities, and allowed company facilities to be used for
torture
and interrogation. Land seizures with minimal compensation, explosions that
have destroyed homes, and fields flooded with toxic waste are among the
other
Exxon-related issues at stake in Aceh. Cut Zahara, who lived near the
facilities in Aceh, will be testifying. Cut Zahara, who lived near the
facilities in Aceh, will testify.
Chad/Cameroon, where they are both ruled by brutal regimes which have
suppressed internal uprisings regarding the environmental and social
consequences of the ExxonMobil-led and World Bank-funded oil
pipeline currently being built through the rainforest from Chad to Cameroon.
We
will hear the testimony of Ngarlejy Yorongar, a prominent member of the
Chad-
ian Parliament who was beaten and tortured for rightfully winning the last
president election and a fervent opponent of the pipeline.
Guajira, Colombia, where ExxonMobil has been the majority owner in El
Cerrejon
Norte, the world's largest open pit coal mine, and which is being
expanded on Wayuu indigenous land. Last August, at the behest of ExxonMobil,
the Colombian military forcibly removed the community of Tabaco, bulldozing
native homes to make way for the expansion. Armando Perez, Tabaco's legal
representative, and Remedios Fajardo, a Wayuu indigenous native, will be
testifying.
Tuvalu, a Pacific Island nation and first-hand witness to the effects of
rising
sea levels due to climate change. A low-lying island, Tuvalu faces the
threat
of complete submersion over the next fifty years. The citizens of Tuvalu
have
appealed to countries to help in the full-scale evacuation of Tuvalu's
population. Hilia Vavae, Tuvalu's foremost meteorologist, will testify.
Sakhalin Island, Russia, where the effects of oil exploration on the
community
and environment have been devastating. Rapidly declining fish and whale
populations illustrate the colossal negative impacts of oil exploration.
Diana,
the lawyer at Sakhalin Environment Watch, and Vassily Spiridonov, the
marine campaigner at World Wildlife Fund-Russia, will testify. Vassily is
part
of the Public Environmental Impact Review commission for the Exxon project
and
will present the results of this commission's work.
Alaska, where the native Gwich'in people are victims of Exxon's efforts to
increase oil exploration and drilling, specifically in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. The Gwich'in rely on the caribou herds that breed on the
coastal plain and would be severely endangered by any drilling. Sarah James,
Faith Gimmell, or another Gwich'in native, will be testifying.
Houston, Texas, where ExxonMobil's Baytown refinery is ranked among the top
US
polluters. Allowed to regulate itself under former governor George W. Bush,
residents surrounding the refinery are primarily poor people of color who
are
experiencing disproportionately high levels of respiratory illnesses,
cancer,
and other forms of health deterioration. Susanna Almanza, who works with
Texas
refinery communities, will testify.
May 29: Festival of Resistance and Shareholders Meeting
Join us for colorful and creative actions inside and outside the
shareholders
meeting. A rally with speakers, as well as large puppets, street theater,
drums, and banners will be used to bring attention to the proceedings
inside.
The mobilization around the Climate Justice Summit will educate the public
and
shareholders, build awareness, get media attention, help give a voice to and
empower affected communities, and create a grassroots base for a long-term
campaign against ExxonMobil and UNRESTRAINED CORPORATE POWER. The
success of
the Climate Justice Summit depends on the numbers we bring to Dallas. We
cannot
and will not let ExxonMobil continue to destroy communities and the
environment
for profit.
Please stand beside us as we protest the undemocratic power of
ExxonMobil. Now is the time - the reality is urgent and demands a response.
This is as big as the earth itself, as personal as the air we breathe, and
as desperate as the countless families around the world whose quality of
life is falling as fast as the quality of their air and water.
CONTACTS:
andy, PressurePoint: andy@pressurepoint.org phone 206.297.0891
Scott Crow, Uproar: scott@riseup.net phone 214.642.6580
