Comments on: People’s Summit http://seattleplus10.org Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:03:31 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Keith McHenry http://seattleplus10.org/peoples-summit/comment-page-1#comment-350 Keith McHenry Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:33:27 +0000 http://seattleplus10.org/?page_id=161#comment-350 I am so honored you asked me to speak. I was one of the activists that initiated the 1999 protest in Seattle. In 1996 we started planning our campaign in the front lobby of Global Exchange in San Francisco. The first action we did was called the UnFree Trade Tour where we visited 60 cities in the United States and Canada during October and November of 1997. Three anti-globalization activists from Spain and two Food Not Bombs activists including myself spoke about the dangers of the WTO and invited everyone to help organize a blockage of the first WTO meeting in North America. We invited Global Exchange and the International Forum on Globalization to join us on the UnFree Trade Tour but they chose not to participate. A year after the tour the WTO announced the meeting would be in Seattle. We had experience organizing a convergence center for our ten day gathering in 1995 where we started Indymedia so we planned to set up another convergence center in Seattle. We contacted the Food Not Bombs chapters that hosted the UnFree Trade Tour and we called Global Exchange, the International Forum on Globalization and many other groups that we thought might be interested. We made flyers and posted the information of the action on our website. Details were included in several issues of the Food Not Bombs Menu. Food Not Bombs activists from all over the United States and Canada started to build for the action. Seattle Food Not Bombs rented the convergence center and set up Indymedia. All groups were asked to bring food. We urged everyone to bring their own bowl and forks. Three years of organizing paid off and thousands came to block the WTO. While this information was never written about in any books or shown in any films it turns out that the WTO action was initiated and first organized by Food Not Bombs. Thanks again. Keith McHenry co-founder of Food Not Bombs http://www.foodnotbombs.net/battle_of_seattle.html I am so honored you asked me to speak. I was one of the activists that
initiated the 1999 protest in Seattle. In 1996 we started planning our
campaign in the front lobby of Global Exchange in San Francisco. The first
action we did was called the UnFree Trade Tour where we visited 60 cities
in the United States and Canada during October and November of 1997. Three
anti-globalization activists from Spain and two Food Not Bombs activists
including myself spoke about the dangers of the WTO and invited everyone to
help organize a blockage of the first WTO meeting in North America. We
invited Global Exchange and the International Forum on Globalization to
join us on the UnFree Trade Tour but they chose not to participate.
A year after the tour the WTO announced the meeting would be in Seattle.
We had experience organizing a convergence center for our ten day gathering
in 1995 where we started Indymedia so we planned to set up another
convergence center in Seattle. We contacted the Food Not Bombs chapters
that hosted the UnFree Trade Tour and we called Global Exchange, the
International Forum on Globalization and many other groups that we thought
might be interested. We made flyers and posted the information of the
action on our website. Details were included in several issues of the Food
Not Bombs Menu.
Food Not Bombs activists from all over the United States and Canada started
to build for the action. Seattle Food Not Bombs rented the convergence
center and set up Indymedia. All groups were asked to bring food. We urged
everyone to bring their own bowl and forks. Three years of organizing paid
off and thousands came to block the WTO. While this information was never
written about in any books or shown in any films it turns out that the WTO
action was initiated and first organized by Food Not Bombs.
Thanks again.

Keith McHenry
co-founder of Food Not Bombs
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/battle_of_seattle.html

]]> By: Happy Thanksgiving to All! « Seattle+10 http://seattleplus10.org/peoples-summit/comment-page-1#comment-325 Happy Thanksgiving to All! « Seattle+10 Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:43:45 +0000 http://seattleplus10.org/?page_id=161#comment-325 [...] People’s Summit [...] [...] People’s Summit [...]

]]> By: Amy Goodman Kicks Off The Week of Action! « Seattle+10 http://seattleplus10.org/peoples-summit/comment-page-1#comment-129 Amy Goodman Kicks Off The Week of Action! « Seattle+10 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:13:06 +0000 http://seattleplus10.org/?page_id=161#comment-129 [...] People’s Summit [...] [...] People’s Summit [...]

]]> By: What is this People’s Summit??!! « Seattle+10 http://seattleplus10.org/peoples-summit/comment-page-1#comment-121 What is this People’s Summit??!! « Seattle+10 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:29:39 +0000 http://seattleplus10.org/?page_id=161#comment-121 [...] People’s Summit [...] [...] People’s Summit [...]

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