PCPJ's main attention is directed towards May 3 and 4, for which they have planned civil disobedience against the Pentagon and the Justice Department. It is difficult to ask people to come to Washington twice, so the five days of lobbying are viewed as filler between the legal and peaceful march on the 24th and the acts of civil disobedience scheduled ten days later. The lobbying will be low key, and it will provide people with a good sense of how the Capitol is laid out. It will also give them an opportunity to talk with the men and women who have the power to cut off transportation for the war.
May I New York City:
The Progressive Labor Party (PLP), which describes itself as a "revolutionary communist party," and is dedicated to "fighting for world communism." is organizing a march to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Paris Commune. Mayday is a traditional holiday in Socialist countries, and among communist parties. Chicago's very own Haymarket Massacre gave rise to the celebration, a fact that rarely gets into high school American history texts. Marching in New York with militant radicals on May I, even if you disagree with their political analysis and organization, is likely to have more effect on the building of socialism in the U. S. than staying home and watching the tube, or catching some rays along the Charles.
May 2 Washington:
There will be an inspirational rally" on Sunday, May 2, led by Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers, George Wiley from National Welfare Rights Organization, Ralph Abernathy of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Jane Fonda, who has been one of the most successful fund raisers the anti-war movement has ever had.
May 3 and 4 Washington:
The exact nature of the planned civil disobedience is not yet clear, and probably won't be until PCPJ organizers see how the previous demonstrations go. Important to watch will be the April 19-23 actions in Washington organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Organizers of the April 3 action against the Pentagon, and the April 4 action against the Justice Department, will be trying to close down the institutions for as many hours as possible. They will probably be non-violent, but a lot depends on the actions taken by the police and military, which in turn will depend on how John Mitchell reacts to this assault against the government.
May 5 BOSTON:
PCPJ and NPAC have called for a national moratorium on May 5 to commemorate the killings at Jackson State and Kent State. In Boston, there will be a rally on the Common, where members of the PCPJ (mostly from the American Friends Service Committee and MassPax) will construct either one or a series of geodesic domes to serve as information centers for local anti-war activities. Organizers hope to be able to keep the domes open through the summer, but if that proves impossible, they will attempt to open a storefront near the Common to serve as their information center.
Organizers of the moratorium hope that people will stay overnight on the Common, both to demonstrate that the Common belongs to the people of Boston, and to have everyone on hand early the next morning for the planned non-violent civil disobedience at the JFK Building.
May 6 BOSTON:
The PCPJ, led by MassPax and the American Friends Service Committee, will attempt to keep the JFK Federal Building from opening by blocking its entrances. The protest will involve non-violent civil disobedience, and arrest is not unlikely. Organizers assume the police will arrest only those directly blocking access to the building, so that people supporting the action, but not wishing to get arrested, should be able to participate without fear of arrest. Demonstrators will allow themselves to be arrested without resisting, unless the police attack the protestors. In such an event, individuals would be free to defend themselves or not, as each individual or group sees fit. Organizers of the demonstration hope to attract 10,000 people, which seems to be a fairly realistic assessment of the anti-war mood in Boston.
The American Friends Service Committee is at 48 Inman St., Cambridge (864-3150), and MassPax is located at 65a Winthrop St., Cambridge (492-5570).
May 4-7 Washington:
This is the most confusing spring event yet scheduled. At the Ann Arbor Conference, which endorsed the People's Peace Treaty and gave some kind of legitimacy to the PCPJ, there was spawned Students and Youth for a People's Peace. It is increasingly unclear what Students and Youth for a People's Peace does, except to sign the bottom of Mayday notices. The Mayday Tribe, which seems to be the "action-arm" of the SYPP, is planning to shut down Washington for all or part of May 4-7. Local Mayday Tribes will be responsible for specific targets, and will decide their own strategy. Some will fight the police, others will leave when confronted with the prospect of arrest. The major strategy seems to center around the highway system feeding Washington. Most federal employees, it seems, live in the suburbs surrounding Washington. Mayday's strategy is to block the expressways where they feed into the city. No workers: no work.
The dates of the Mayday events conflict with local actions planned by area-branches of the Coalition, and there is some friction between those organizing local demonstrations and those who want as many militant radicals in Washington as possible. How many will sit on the freeways remains to be seen.
May 16 BOSTON:
May 16 is GI Solidarity Day across the nation. Plans are still unspecified, but in Boston civilian groups will be supporting actions planned and organized by GI groups themselves.
The list should go on, but these are the major demonstrations already scheduled. It is vitally important for people to participate in any way they can. And it is important for individuals to take the initiative themselves. Sending postcards and telegrams to Congressmen is not every exciting, but it's these people who can deny funds for a continuation of the war. And with 73 per cent of the American people in favor of an American withdrawal by December 1971, and Hale Boggs calling for an investigation of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, 1971 just might be the year that historians will write mark the end of the war.