CODEPINK – 2017-10-21 14:24:48
http://www.codepink.org/divest
ACTION ALERT: Divest from the War Machine Summit: October 21-22, 2017
CODEPINK
“War cannot be humanized. It can only be abolished.”
— Albert Einstein
“It is an absurd contradiction to speak of peace, to negotiate peace, and at the same time promote or permit the global arms trade. Is this war or that war really a war to solve problems? Or is it a commercial war for selling weapons in illegal trade and so that the merchants of death can get rich?”
— Pope Francis
After 16 years of unending, costly wars and new ones on the horizon, it is up to us to throttle the war machine. Institutions and individuals are making a Killing On Killing; it is time for them to Divest.
At a time when this administration is putting us on a catastrophic path to war with both North Korea and Iran and the stocks of major U.S. arms dealers are surging to record highs, we, the people, must use divestment to revoke our consent for the war machine!
Universities, pension plans, banks, cities, counties and states have funds invested to profit from war, and they are fueling the out-of-control U.S. military apparatus. Divestment is a tool for exposing the crimes of war and empire, getting more people to think about the consequences of unrestrained militarism, both globally and in our streets, while mobilizing diverse communities across the country.
The imperative to invest in peace, not war, is now more urgent than ever, and it’s up to us to demand that our institutions do so.
This Summit will kick off a nationwide campaign and bring together an amazing set of foreign policy experts — veterans, former government officials, and divestment activists from other successful campaigns — to shed light on the military contractors and lobbyists that make billions from US militarism.
Don’t miss this chance to hear from speakers including William Hartung, Medea Benjamin, Vijay Prashad, and Lawrence Wilkerson!
CODEPINK, in partnership with an array of peace and disarmament groups, is launching a divestment campaign to encourage universities, religious organizations, retirement funds, mutual funds, private investors, and other financial institutions in the United States to take action to reduce violent global conflicts and slow the hyper-militarization of our world by divesting from the US War Machine.
Divestment from the War Machine means divesting (removing invested assets) from companies that derive their profits by supplying and profiting from US military interventions, expansions, and the militarization of our streets. In other words, we are calling for divestment from companies that make a killing on killing.
Through this strategy we plan to:
* Uncover the hold the military-industrial complex has on our government and our foreign policy
* Spark a vital public debate questioning the role of weapons manufacturers and military contractors in perpetuating conflict around the globe
* Expose how our financial and educational institutions are supporting those companies
* Inspire the public and investors to pressure these institutions to divest
* Hold the arms industry accountable in political and financial spheres for its culpability in the death and displacement of millions of innocent people
* Condemn our government’s prioritization of military spending and demand that diplomacy and aid, not militarism, be our country’s response to global conflicts.
The United States’ preoccupation with expanding and protecting its military and economic interests has created a system which prioritizes “defense” over human rights, military spending over diplomacy and aid, preparing for combat over preventing wars, and profit over human life and the health of the planet.
With this divestment campaign we are calling for a radical rethinking of American priorities. Diluting the power of those who profit most from war-making is the first step in building a transformed nation that stops spreading violence and death at home and abroad.
A divestment campaign gives power to the public to dismantle the war economy and demand that our nation operate to uphold the right of every human being, both at home and abroad, to live in freedom and dignity, safe and free from poverty, danger, and despair.
DIVEST FROM THE WAR MACHINE SUMMIT
When: October 21, 2017 at 9am – October 22, 2017
Where: University of the District of Columbia Law School
4340 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington D.C., DC 20008
United States
CODEPINK invites you to learn with us as we kick off a Divest from the War Machine campaign. Join us and a broad coalition of partner organizations for a day of examining the current state of the war machine (surprise — it’s thriving!) and learning the skills and knowledge necessary to use divestment as a tool to shine a critical light on the weapons producers that supply and profit from deadly hyper-militarism both at home and abroad.
SPEAKERS
Andrew Feinstein, Medea Benjamin, Vijay Prashad, Ajamu Baraka, William Hartung, Jodie Evans, Lisa Renstrom, Larry Wilkerson, Miriam Pemberton, John Qua and more!
SCHEDULE
Friday Evening, October 20
5:00 pm-7:00 pm: Join us in action before the Summit! Gather at the Pentagon for a commemorative vigil on US responsibility for the legacies of war: landmines, unexploded ordnance, Agent Orange, forced relocation of rural people, and on the struggles of veterans.
Featured will be Peter Yarrow of the legendary folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, performers at the 1967 rally at the Lincoln Memorial, draft resisters whose cards were turned into the Justice Department on the same date 50 years ago, and advocates of taking responsibility for war legacies.
Saturday, October 21
9:00 am-9:30 am Welcome
* Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK
* Jodie Evans, CODEPINK
* Haley Pedersen, CODEPINK
9:30 am-11:00 am The US War Machine:
Fueling Violence at Home and Abroad
* Andrew Feinstein, author Shadow World
* William Hartung, Center for International Policy
* Ajamu Baraka, Black Alliance for Peace
11:00 am-11:15 am: Break
11:15 am-12:00 am Conversion from a War Economy to a Peace Economy
* Miriam Pemberton, Institute for Policy Studies
* Maggie Martin, About Face, Drop the MIC campaign
12:00 pm-1:15 pm Lunch and Keynote Speaker
* Larry Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff under Colin Powell
1:15 am-2:15 pm Assessing the Nuclear Threat and Targeting Nuclear Weapons Producers
* John Qua, Global Zero
* Jackie Cabasso, Mayors for Peace
2:15 pm-2:30 pm Lessons from Takoma Park
* Takoma Park City Council Member Jarrett Smith
2:30 pm-3:45 pm Divestment as a Tool for Confronting the War Machine
* Garik Ruiz, BDS National Committee
* Lisa Renstrom, Divest/ Invest
* Susi Snyder, Don’t Bank on the Bomb
* Kevin Martin, Peace Action
3:45 pm-4:00 pm Break
4:00 pm-4:30 pm Taking on the War Machine
* Vijay Prashad, historian and journalist
4:30 pm-5:00 pm Wrap up
* Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK
* Jodie Evans, CODEPINK
* Haley Pedersen, CODEPINK
Sunday, October 22
10:00 am – 1:00 pm: Strategy sessions on how to implement the Divest from the War Machine
COST
Sliding scale between $15 — $100+ (FREE for students! If you are a student register free here! $25 for low-income individuals). NOTE: We want this event to be accessible to everyone. If you cannot afford any of these price options, please email haley@codepink.org.
Payment includes the following:
* Entrance to Saturday event and Sunday’s optional organizing sessions
* Refreshments and lunch for Saturday, October 21st only
For organizers who join us for Sunday, October 22nd, you will be responsible for your own lunch. Please bring something from home or money to grab something nearby!
Haley Pedersen · haley@codepink.org
ACTION Campaign on US Military Bases
http://www.codepink.org/divest
Divest from the War Machine Summit
Stop those Who are Making a Killing on Killing!
COPEPINK
When: Saturday, October 21st, 2017
9:00am-5:00pm
Sunday, October 22, 2017
10:00am-1:00pm
Where: UDC Law School, Washington, DC
4340 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
(October 19,, 2017) — As Trump is creating dangerous confrontations with North Korea and Iran, while increasing militarization in our streets, join us to target his military contractor cronies profiting from the chaos!
This weekend, October 21-22, 2017, we will kick off of the Divest from the War Machine campaign! Hear from arms trade and foreign policy experts, voices from the military, activists working on nuclear disarmament, and divestment experts to learn how to best confront the war machine. Let’s use divestment to shine a light on the weapons producers that profit from deadly hyper-militarism at home and abroad. Purchase your tickets here!
Our powerful list of speakers will include:
Andrew Feinstein, former Member of South African Parliament and author of The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade;
Medea Benjamin, author of Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the US-Saudi Connection and founder of CODEPINK;
William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy;
Vijay Prashad, historian, journalist, and professor of international studies;
Jodie Evans, founder of CODEPINK; and many more amazing individuals.
A schedule of the days’ events is available here. Share the event with every list and every person you can!
Let’s get our schools, cities, churches, and more to divest from the companies that profit from unrestrained US militarism. All of us are complicit unless we work to reel in the war machine. Divestment is a tool we can use to revoke our consent for a war machine forced upon us.
Sign up here to spread the word on Thunderclap! This will alert your lists to the livestream of the summit.
