| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Africa Action: Support Our Work Date distributed (ymd): 021213 Africa Action Document
December 13, 2002
Dear Friends,
Many of you who already support our work should have already received the letter below through the post. For you this is another reminder that we really do need your support to increase the impact of our work.
For others of you who use our information, this is an appeal to support us now, as well as to intensify your own actions for justice for Africa whereever you are.
The letter from Africa Action executive director Salih Booker was sent out on November 26. That same day Africa Action joined with our allies in ACT-UP and other organizations in a 1,000-person strong demonstration outside the White House, under the banners "Fight AIDS, Not Endless War! State of Emergency: Not Another Year of Deadly AIDS Policies." Thirty-five people, including Salih Booker, were arrested after an act of peaceful civil disobedience.
[The demonstration was announced in our posting of November 20 - http://www.africaaction.org/docs02/mob0211a.htm - and you can find links including video footage of the demonstration at http://www.africaaction.org/desk/index.htm]
Please read the letter, and go to http://www.africaaction.org/join.htm to contribute on-line or to print out a contribution form to send in.
Thank you from all of us at Africa Action.
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November 26, 2002
Dear Friends,
The recent elections here have turned the U.S. into a virtual one- party state. With far right Republicans now in control of the Legislature, the Executive Branch, and the Judiciary, forceful opposition combined with an appealing alternative vision is urgently needed.
In the current climate, overcoming the perennial American disdain for Africa will not happen unless there are real shifts in public perceptions comparable to those that happened in the 1980s regarding apartheid in South Africa. But by any measure of catastrophic events in human history, the HIV/AIDS pandemic should serve precisely as such a catalyst for a major shift in domestic consciousness regarding Africa. Our aim is to make that happen.
This fall Africa Action hired three new organizers Prexy Nesbitt, Nunu Kidane, and Andre Banks to increase our ability to mobilize people around the country. Our organizing team is already busy expanding our ties with community-based and national organizations, churches and unions, students, and workers. We are planning and participating in public fora, demonstrations, letter writing, and meetings with local and national elected officials among other actions aimed at building support around our campaign for Africa's Right to Health.
We know that no matter how accurate or insightful our
analysis, we are unlikely to influence policy unless
we are also able to motivate and mobilize our friends,
colleagues, neighbors and community leaders to raise
their voices as well and to participate in shaping
the future of U.S. policy toward Africa. In recent
months staff have spoken at rallies and churches protesting
the policies of the World Bank and IMF and opposing
the White House's war plans. We've provided education
for action at colleges and through the media focusing
on AIDS in Africa which claims an estimated 6,000 lives
DAILY! We are building a base of activists in key cities
around the U.S. with whom we will work in our campaign
to get Africa's illegitimate debts cancelled and to
make treatment available for the millions living with
HIV/AIDS.
The enclosed letter from three of my predecessors (at
http://www.africaaction.org/dir0209.htm) reminds us
that we need to celebrate our "50 years of victories"
by re-doubling our efforts to force the Bush Administration
to support Africa's war on AIDS. Just as we overcame
Ronald Reagan's veto to impose comprehensive sanctions
on apartheid South Africa in the mid-1980s, we shall
overcome George Bush's present unwillingness to help
save lives in Africa. The other enclosure is a commentary
I was invited to present on National Public Radio (NPR)
during a week of remembering September 11, 2001
(at http://www.africaaction.org/desk/npr0209.htm).
In order to keep doing the work that is so desperately needed to change American thinking and American actions toward Africa, we need you to make a tax-deductible contribution to us today!
Let's make our 50th anniversary next year a year of Victories for Africa!
Sincerely,
Salih Booker
REMINDER: CHANGE OF ADDRESS
To accommodate our growing staff and programs, we are moving as of December 1 to new offices in downtown Washington, DC. Our telephone, fax, website and e-mail will remain the same, but please note our new address and please pay us a visit some time at:
1634 Eye Street, NW, Suite 810, Washington, DC 20006
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Message-Id: <200212131400.gBDE0Km12669@marduk.africapolicy.org> From: "Africa Action" <apic@igc.org> Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 09:01:34 -0500 Subject: Africa Action: Support Our Work
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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