The Freedom Road Socialist Organization welcomes everyone coming from near and far to protest the Iraq War, the Republican agenda and to advance the demands for peace justice and equality on Sept. 1 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Like you, we oppose four more years of occupation, war, repression and racism.
We are here to build the movements for social justice and peace, to get the U.S. out of Iraq now and stop the Republicans from putting McCain in the White House. We want to put an end to Bush’s never ending ‘War on Terror,’ along with inequality and oppression at home and the occupation of sovereign countries by the armies of empire abroad.
Our voices will be heard loud and clear on the streets when Bush addresses the RNC convention Monday night. We think the March on the RNC Sept. 1, along with all the other protests will help to defeat McCain and make him a footnote in high school history books. We will march with you and tens of thousands of others. We will make history. Our protests will be the front-page photo in many newspapers around the world. The Republicans came to Saint Paul to hide from the American people, but we will not let them rest easy. Every day of this convention we plan to confront and oppose the Republicans, McCain and his wealthy backers. We say, “Stop the war! Stop McCain!”
The Republicans blame everybody but the class of billionaires who run this country for the problems we face. They will spew their hate filled rhetoric inside the Xcel center – which they have fortified like a bunker. They are terrified of working, oppressed and progressive people of all kinds advancing an agenda of real change – change that puts the people and our needs first and says to hell with the elite and corporate profits.
Our protests will be outside, in the open air. They will let the world know our demands for a just society. Our movements will demand money for human needs, not for war and occupation. We demand universal health care, money for public education, housing for the homeless, jobs for the unemployed and money and justice for all those who suffered during Hurricane Katrina. We can never forgive or forget how Bush and the Republicans left low-income African-American people stranded on bridges while the floodwaters rose.
We demand and end to racist discrimination. We support immigrants’ rights and demand legalization and full equality for all. We defend women’s right to choose and control their bodies. We want Gays and Lesbians to be able to marry and have all the rights of other Americans. And we will support workers and unions fighting for a fair wages and benefits, and oppose even more tax cuts for corporations for the rich. We support homeowners and renters being evicted from their homes while the bank and mortgage bosses continue to make millions. Our marches and protests will reflect our diversity and our unity.
Freedom Road Socialist Organization aims to end capitalism – a system that is based on inequality, exploitation and oppression. Our vision is for peace, unity, and socialism. We know this system we live under cannot deliver what we want. We know the politicians of both parties are bought and paid for by the rich. This system is based on empire, dominating peoples of other countries, while exploiting and oppressing people here at home.
The time has come to unite all who we can to defeat the main enemy in front of us at this time. McCain’s idea of occupying Iraq “for 100 years” cannot become reality. Our aim is to express the just demands of hundreds of millions of Americans, uniting with the oppressed and exploited around the world, to build a movement that will do away with not just the Republicans, but also the wealthy class that rules this country.
