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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Newsletter - 2014 In Review<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><img width=580 height=326 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D0226A.08448390" alt="Description: 1mapprotest"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><br>By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, <a href="http://www.popularresistance.org" target="_blank">www.popularresistance.org</a><br>December 27th, 2014<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2014-the-Year-Everything-Changed.jpg"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=300 height=219 id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D0226A.08448390" alt="Description: 2014 the Year Everything Changed"></span></a><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>At the beginning of 2014,</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/popular-resistance-newsletter-our-tasks-in-2014/">we wrote about</a> <span style='color:black'>the tasks of the movement for the year to work towards the goal of building a mobilized mass movement. Progress was made this year on a number of fronts where not only did greater numbers of people mobilize, but people also made connections between issues and worked in solidarity.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>We’ll look back at some of the tasks we identified and how we did:</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Build unity around the values of the movement – </span></b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>a primary task is identifying not just what we are against but defining what we are for, what kind of society we hope to build. In 2014, there were conferences held across the country where people discussed how to build a new economy that creates and maintains wealth locally, empowers people and decreases the wealth divide. Cities like Jacksonville, FL are</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/building-community-wealth-in-jacksonville/">creating roadmaps</a> <span style='color:black'>to the new economy by building on successful models elsewhere. Seattle, WA is working towards a</span> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/seattle-considering-creation-of-a-public-bank/">public bank</a> <span style='color:black'>that keeps public dollars from feeding Wall Street.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>In 2014, <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/peoples-climate-march-floods-wall-street/">hundreds of thousands mobilized</a> in New York for climate action, which is significant for its groundbreaking precedent. But even more significant was the <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/peoples-climate-march-floods-wall-street/">growing breadth</a> of the climate movement linking people concerned with labor, finance, opposition to war, food and water and the growing understanding that capitalism is a root cause of the crisis (as it is for many crises we face). Also significant is that communities are <a href="http://wearesenecalake.com">activated</a> across the country to <a href="http://wearecovepoint.org">stop new fossil fuel infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/peoples-climate-march-floods-wall-street/">end extreme energy extraction</a> and demand climate justice, and the movement is having an impact.</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Black-Lives-Matter-protest-in-Americas-mall-3-e1419197302168.jpg"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=300 height=200 id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D0226A.08448390" alt="Description: Black Lives Matter protest in America's mall 3"></span></a><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>And in the later part of 2014, the massive and sustained response to the killings of unarmed Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and the continued killing of people of color has</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/the-police-arent-under-attack-institutionalized-racism-is/">changed the conversation</a> <span style='color:black'>about systemic racism and its impacts on people and communities. The Black Lives Matter movement has drawn people from all sectors of society, even within the ranks of police.</span> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/off-duty-black-officers-in-new-york-say-they-fear-fellow-cops/">Officers of color report</a> <span style='color:black'>that when they are off duty, they are mistreated by white officers. That police officers could join the movement reminds us that this is a</span> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/you-are-not-my-enemy-violence-is-my-enemy/">fight against institutional violence</a><span style='color:black'>, not against individuals. And, we recognize the immense</span> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/reaction-to-deaths-of-police-shows-consciousness-raising-challenge/">consciousness-raising needed</a><span style='color:black'> for the country to face up to racially unfair policing. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:22.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Exposing the myths and explaining the reality</span></b><span style='font-size:22.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'> – changing the conversation is essential to show the failures of current systems and the necessity of replacing them. In our highly-propagandized environment, this is accomplished by exposing the ‘official policies,’ meaning what lawmakers say that a policy does, and the ‘actual policies,’ what policies actually create.</span><span style='font-size:22.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/1tppdc2.png"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=300 height=222 id="Picture_x0020_6" src="cid:image004.png@01D0226A.08448390" alt="Description: 1tppdc2"></span></a><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>From</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/get-ready-now-for-fast-track-fight/">trade agreements</a> <span style='color:black'>that exploit workers and the environment for the benefit of the wealthy to</span> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/fairpoint-worker-speaks-out-for-universal-healthcare/">the health law</a><span style='color:black'> that was written to preserve the profits of the medical industry while patients continue to forego care due to cost to the</span> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/the-war-to-start-all-wars/">myth of humanitarian war</a><span style='color:black'>, the public is waking up to the concept that many of our policies are not what they say they are.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>This is not surprising. <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/fighting-for-a-legitimate-democracy-by-and-for-the-people/">Important studies</a> <span style='color:black'>this year proved that government policies are written by and for the 1% at the expense of the rest of us. The democratic legitimacy of the government is undermined when it does not serve the people. And that brings us to the next task.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Changing the political environment instead of succumbing to it </span></b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>– for a long time people viewed elections as the most important tool for changing the political environment, but this year the election turnout showed that many recognize voting as ineffective in the current environment. Fear tactics are used in each election cycle to divide the people into red and blue teams and pit them against each other. The dismal turnout and significant losses for the Democrats show that many people see the reds and blues as one team that pushes us further towards wealth inequality, war and climate chaos.</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>We are not saying don’t vote, but the message is clear that the</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/top-priority-build-the-movement-not-electoral-politics/">most important task is to build the people’s movement</a><span style='color:black'>. That is where we must put our energy and resources until we create an electoral climate that is more democratic and that allows participation by more people, particularly those who are most affected by unjust policies.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/1savetheinternet.png"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=300 height=135 id="Picture_x0020_7" src="cid:image005.png@01D0226A.08448390" alt="Description: 1savetheinternet"></span></a><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Another task is to recognize that we must not allow ourselves to be bound by the political options that we are given when we know that they are inadequate. We can’t accept what is “on the table” when those who set the table fail to represent our needs. An excellent example of re-setting the table so our issue is included has been</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/popular-resistance-newsletter-a-case-study-in-people-power/">the battle for the future of the Internet</a><span style='color:black'>, where reclassification of the Internet as a common carrier under Title II of the Telecommunications Act was deemed politically impossible, now it is politically inevitable. This was a</span> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/four-ways-2014-was-a-pivotal-year-for-the-internet/">good year for Internet freedom</a><span style='color:black'>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:22.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>The people are calling for real solutions to the crises we face, not the false solutions put forth which maintain the status quo. We are so often told to accept compromise, but we cannot compromise when, as Gandhi said, “It is all give and no take.”</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/1torture1.jpg"><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=300 height=152 id="Picture_x0020_8" src="cid:image006.jpg@01D0226A.08448390" alt="Description: 1torture1"></span></b></a><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Keep the moral high ground </span></b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>– This brings us to the next task which is to maintain a position of principled dissent. We must fight for what is right and do what is necessary to attain it.</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>The President and the CIA did all that they could to suppress information about the CIA’s illegal torture program, but the Senate Intelligence Committee’s redacted report was finally released. Although the President is publicly advocating that nothing is done to hold those responsible for the program accountable,</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/criminal-complaint-against-bush-era-torture-architects/">law suits are in the works</a><span style='color:black'>. If we want to prevent further torture and its spread, we must continue to demand accountability. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Obama-meets-BlackLivesMatter.jpg"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=300 height=180 id="Picture_x0020_9" src="cid:image007.jpg@01D0226A.08448390" alt="Description: Obama meets BlackLivesMatter"></span></a><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Recently when</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/what-happened-when-blacklivesmatter-met-obama/">#BlackLivesMatter advocates met with President Obama</a><span style='color:black'> they stuck to their high moral ground, demanding action on injustice. When President Obama told them to go slow, they stood firm: “If we don’t get what we came for, we will shut it down. President Obama knows that and we know it. No meeting can stop that.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>For every crisis we face, our job is to stay focused on the end goal and work to achieve it. Others will follow. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:22.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>We must not accept false solutions although there will certainly be attempts to encourage us to do so, even by groups who consider themselves to be progressive. The only way we will reach real solutions is by fighting for them.</span><span style='font-size:22.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>Emphasize our roles as change agents </span></b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>– during this phase of the movement, we are tasked with deep organizing to build national consensus. We must grow the movement by reaching out to those both outside and inside the power structure to draw them to us. When we draw those within the power structure to our side, we weaken that structure<b>.</b></span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Screen-Shot-2014-12-25-at-10.51.49-AM.png"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=300 height=207 id="Picture_x0020_10" src="cid:image008.png@01D0226A.08448390" alt="Description: Screen Shot 2014-12-25 at 10.51.49 AM"></span></a><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:22.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>One caveat, when we reach out to lawmakers, we must remember that our role is not to appease them but to do what it takes to achieve our demands. In</span><span style='font-size:22.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/activists-handbook-a-checklist-for-change/">The Activist’s Handbook</a>,<span style='color:black'> Randy Shaw states that the best relationship with public officials is “fear and loathing.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>This was clearly evident in the</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/cuomo-didnt-stop-fracking-the-communities-did/">New York battle to ban fracking</a><span style='color:black'>. Activists hounded the governor with their anti-fracking message wherever he went and no matter what he was talking about to the point where he hated them. In the end, because of the persistence of activists, New York became the first state to ban fracking.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>This is a marathon, not a sprint </span></b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>– And that brings us to the final point, that we must not become discouraged when we do not see quick results. We are in a huge struggle, but we are on the right side of history. If we persist, we will win eventually.</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/1ferc1.jpg"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=300 height=168 id="Picture_x0020_11" src="cid:image009.jpg@01D0226A.08448390" alt="Description: 1ferc1"></span></a><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>2014 was a year of significant growth for the movement in both numbers of people involved and in political education. As author</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/everythings-coming-together-while-everything-falls-apart/">Rebecca Solnit writes</a>, <span style='color:black'>as everything is falling apart, we are coming together. And that is what it will take.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>We see some important battles looming in 2015.</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><ul type=disc><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>In the early part of the year, we will need to mobilize for net neutrality. </span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/net-neutrality-were-winning-dont-let-telecoms-stop-us/">Click here to get involved</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>We will also need to mobilize quickly to stop Congress from passing Fast Track legislation that would allow him to sign damaging trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="http://www.flushthetpp.org/pledge/">Click here to join that work</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>We will need to work both within the US and in cooperation with international movements for climate justice to either force governments to take appropriate action in the next climate treaty or to stop them from causing more harm.</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/we-are-cove-point-takes-on-dominion-resources/">Click here to join Popular Resistance’s climate justice group</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:black'>We will need to continue to demand real solutions to end racist and militarized policing. In DC, groups are holding weekly actions at the DOJ and are urging solidarity actions.</span><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <a href="https://www.popularresistance.org/justice-mondays-at-doj-call-for-investigations/">Click here to learn more</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>