Progressive Democrats of America expands the Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign to include Brown Bag Lunch Vigils.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observed over 40 years ago, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death,” and “of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.”
PDA’s Brown Bag Lunch Vigil Campaign is calling on our members, and like-minded individuals and organizations, to gather on the third Wednesday of every month in front of—and in—congressional offices in districts across the country. We’re asking you to spend your lunch hour exercising your First Amendment Rights by holding vigils, rallies, meetings with aides and representatives, pickets, and demonstrations that will serve to educate our elected officials, the public, and the press about the human and financial costs of war and militarism.
Specifically, PDA and our allies call on President Obama and Congress to support HR 2404, calling for an exit strategy from Afghanistan; HR 3699, prohibiting any increase in the number of U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan, and to establish improved and expanded Medicare for All to residents of the United States. We cannot let them forget that we are watching and waiting for the next election.
As we continue our efforts to end the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is working with hundreds of international and U.S. partner groups to bring pressure to bear on the U.S. and other nuclear powers to do more than just talk about a nuclear weapons-free future, but to create it. We need your help!
We have a terrific opportunity in May to make progress toward nuclear abolition at an important international meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York City, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. Government representatives and activists will gather there to consider how to move toward a nuclear weapons-free world and strengthen measures to stop the spread of these deadly weapons. UFPJ needs your financial support, now more than ever! To donate: click here.
As our nation celebrates the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one
of the most influential figures of the 20th century, it is important
to remember the breadth and depth of his the message and vision. In the era of
the first Black President, it would be easy to say King’s dream has been
fulfilled and now it is time to move on to new challenges. But this is a
misreading of current events and his words.
In his 1967 Riverside Church speech, Beyond Vietnam: Time to Break Silence, Dr. King talked about three
major demons; racism, materialism and militarism. Today these triplets continue
to haunt us. In fact they have become more entrenched. In the speech, King
spoke of youth challenging his disapproval of their use of violence when the
U.S. was “…using massive doses of violence…” in Vietnam. He called our
government, “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” This
continues to be true as our nation is conducting global military operations and
occupying two countries with eyes on one or two others. The U.S. is the largest
weapons exporter in the world and has the largest military budget, nearly outpacing
all other nations combined.
The current escalation of the Afghanistan war comes at a new political moment. Unemployment is over 10%. Cities and towns are slashing basic services right and left. People are losing health care in droves, nothing is being done about the foreclosure crisis, and the U.S. is going to Copenhagen empty handed. We need to build a movement that can respond to these challenges- because while this is not a new war, we need to fight it in a new way. We need to build new alliances into a movement that can bring this war and occupation to a rapid end, so that we can begin to make good on our real obligations to the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as to the people of our own country who struggle to find jobs, health care, and climate justice.
We need to build a movement with roots in the labor movement, and among those struggling for economic rights, particularly among communities of color.
Congress hasn't given Obama a blank check for this war yet - not even a $30 billion check. And there's still time for us to make sure they don't.
Take action today. Please call your member of Congress at 202-224-3121>>>>Read more
Nuclear Disarmament should serve as the leading edge of a global trend towards demilitarization and redirection of resources to meet human needs and restore the environment.
In addition, the UFPJ Nuclear Disarmament/Redefining Security has provided additional action items that you can take to join up with this growing movement to abolish nuclear weapons. Click here for links to these additional actions.
Let’s make Tax Day the day we recommit ourselves to ending the excessive spending on war and call on the Obama administration to reduce the military budget by 25%. This goal, a major part of UFPJ’s Beyond War, A New Economy Is Possible campaign, has resonance with people from different backgrounds – working families, business owners, senior citizens, etc. Even the Tea Party conservatives are calling for a reduction in military spending!
To influence our elected leaders on this issue, we must build our grassroots power.UFPJ is starting up a petition drive to do just that. The petition drive will target the Obama administration and Congress calling on them to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, cut military spending, and re-invest those funds in human needs, green jobs, and clean energy.
UnitedforPeace.org is a nonpartisan resource for anti-war and social change activists. The information and events on this site are not necessarily endorsed by members of United for Peace and Justice. Please see our
editorial policy
for more information.
PDA’s Brown Bag Lunch Vigil Campaign is calling on our members, and like-minded individuals and organizations, to gather on the third Wednesday of every month in front of—and in—congressional offices in districts across the country. We’re asking you to spend your lunch hour exercising your First Amendment Rights by holding vigils, rallies, meetings with aides and representatives, pickets, and demonstrations that will serve to educate our elected officials, the public, and the press about the human and financial costs of war and militarism. 
As we continue our efforts to end the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is working with hundreds of international and U.S. partner groups to bring pressure to bear on the U.S. and other nuclear powers to do more than just talk about a nuclear weapons-free future, but to create it. 
As our nation celebrates the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one
of the most influential figures of the 20th century, it is important
to remember the breadth and depth of his the message and vision. In the era of
the first Black President, it would be easy to say King’s dream has been
fulfilled and now it is time to move on to new challenges. But this is a
misreading of current events and his words. 
The current escalation of the Afghanistan war comes at a new political moment. Unemployment is over 10%. Cities and towns are slashing basic services right and left. People are losing health care in droves, nothing is being done about the foreclosure crisis, and the U.S. is going to Copenhagen empty handed. We need to build a movement that can respond to these challenges- because while this is not a new war, we need to fight it in a new way. We need to build new alliances into a movement that can bring this war and occupation to a rapid end, so that we can begin to make good on our real obligations to the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as to the people of our own country who struggle to find jobs, health care, and climate justice.
Let’s make Tax Day the day we recommit ourselves to ending the excessive spending on war and call on the Obama administration to reduce the military budget by 25%. This goal, a major part of UFPJ’s Beyond War, A New Economy Is Possible campaign, has resonance with people from different backgrounds – working families, business owners, senior citizens, etc. Even the Tea Party conservatives are calling for a reduction in military spending!
