This article appeared in our Spring 2017 Newsletter
In his first month in office Donald Trump has appointed a reactionary cabinet stocked with generals and billionaires; pushed for more pipe-lines; attacked immigrants and refugees; and announced that his budget will transfer $54 billion a year from domestic programs to the military.
His address to Congress February 28 doubled down on his empty promises and anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Massachusetts Peace Action will organize people to resist Trumpism at every turn, stand with those most under attack, oppose policies of war and militarism, and lay the groundwork to ensure that progressives gain political power in the years to come.
Our members will gather for our 2017 annual meeting Saturday, April 1, at the First Church in Boston.
The keynote address, “Trump’s Foreign Policy and the American Empire in Decline”, will be presented by Vijay Prashad, a scholar of Middle Eastern politics, development economics, North-South relations, and current events. The George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and Professor of International Studies at Trinity College, Prashad is the author of The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World and sixteen other books.
April 2017 is the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech at Riverside Church in New York, “Beyond Vietnam”, a powerful and historic articulation of the message of the modern peace and justice movement. We will read key excerpts from the speech at this event.
Action-oriented break-out groups will address nuclear disarmament; Middle East wars and war dangers; Palestine/Israel; climate and peace; fossil free/nuclear free energy; economic and social justice; racial justice; and electing progressive candidates. Each of these breakouts will be organized by one of Massachusetts Peace Action’s volunteer-led working groups.
In the business meeting, members will elect the board of directors, hear a presentation on and potentially vote to affirm our program plans for 2017, and hear a brief finance report.
Registration, literature tables, and lunch will be available starting at noon and the meeting itself will run from 1:00 to 5:00 pm.
Admission to the event is $10 for members and students or $20 for non-members, including lunch. Only members can vote at the business meeting. Pay your 2017 dues today or at the door to participate.