50 Years Is Enough Network

Vol. 1, No. 1

January, 1998

by Njoki Njoroge Njehu

There is a lot of talk about the coming of the new millennium. It's like we can't help ourselves — we look back and we look forward. Within the 50 Years Is Enough Network, we are doing the same.

In looking back at the last year, some activities stand out: the Gender Justice Forum with 330 activists participating and attending the 39 workshops, four plenary sessions, and the concluding Rally for Gender Justice; the International Week of Action on Disney to express solidarity with Haitian sweatshop workers; the Tax the Bank/End Corporate Rule event outside World Bank headquarters in Washington — to demand that the World Bank, as a good corporate resident of the District of Columbia pay its fair share of taxes and stop supporting corporate "domination"; our participation at The Peoples Summit/TOES (The Other Economic Summit) during the G-7/Summit of the Eight; the thirty-some presentations Lisa and I made at a variety of conferences and meetings around the U.S., Europe, and even in Kenya; and of course all the 50 Years meetings, including our retreats in San Francisco and Denver.

In Denver, the 50 Years Is Enough Network committed to a significant new initiative: developing an economic literacy program and tools as the primary means of increasing peoples understanding of the global economy and mobilizing them for action.

This fall I spent a great deal of time interviewing and talking with over 50 Network members about their work and their "evaluation" of the Network in meeting their needs. This is what they said:

• The Network provides information and analysis about the global economy, including what is happening to ordinary people, that is rarely available in the mass media or from the international financial institutions (IFIs).

• Members depend on the Network to produce and provide analysis and materials on the IFIs and the global economy. The materials, in the form of factsheets, policy papers, press releases, and draft action letters, are helpful for outreach and education among our members and with the general public. For instance, the Progressive Student Network of the University of Wisconsin- Madison has distributed Network factsheets to students attending on-campus World Bank recruiting events to make sure they know about the real impact of the Bank's work.

• A particular strength of the Network is that grassroots activists and policy analysts work side by side. As Trim Bissell, the Chair of our Labor Caucus, said, "The policy people have succeeded in bringing us grassroots types up to speed on heady topics — and in turn, having a close link with grassroots organizations has challenged the policy groups to put their language in accessible form".

• There is strength in numbers. The voices, positions, activities of members are amplified and strengthened by the support and participation of other Network members and partners.

In addition to the information about what the Network provides to members, I also learned a great deal about what our members are working on:

• Many members, among them the Campaign for Labor Rights (CLR)/Nicaragua Network, Global Exchange, and Witness for Peace are fighting against sweatshop conditions for Disney workers in Haiti and the U.S., Nike workers in Indonesia, Hyundai workers in Mexico, maquiladora workers in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and many other places. Network members organized Disney Week and Day of Conscience activities around the country to highlight the scourge of sweatshops;

• The Bay Area 50 Years is Enough Coalition was as busy as ever. It was a Bay Area leader in the monumental effort to defeat Fast Track, organizing meetings and debates to bring their views to Congresswoman Pelosi, who then came out against Fast Track (a significant victory, as the Congresswoman had voted for NAFTA three years ago). They are active in local campaigns such as the Bread, Work and Justice Coalition to stop welfare cutbacks and defend immigrants, and helped organize the Western Hemispheric Workers Conference held in the Bay Area in November. In October, they co-sponsored a Global Economics Teach-In with the Marin Interfaith Task Force in San Rafael, CA (another 50 Years member). More than 100 people attended the day-long teach-in. Charlie Hinton';s article in this newsletter (see pg. 5) tells about a meeting of Bay Area activists and the President of the World Bank, at which the Coalition challenged the fundamental economic philosophy of structural adjustment.

• Members of 50 Years'; Religious Caucus (a sub-set of the Religious Working Group on the World Bank and IMF) helped develop two documents published by the RWG. The first of these ("Moral Imperatives for Addressing Structural Adjustment and Economic Reform Measures") articulates the foundation of the faith-based approach to economic justice issues. The second, "The Economic Way of the Cross," is intended for use in group and individual reflection and study on the global economy for Good Friday services and throughout the year.

• Witness for Peace (WFP), in Spring 1997, launched their "People and the Profit Margin" Campaign, which addresses the human effects of U.S. policy in the context of corporate growth and economic globalization. WFP continues to organize and has taken part in national days of actions on Disney and Nike, supported labor rights actions in Central America, and designed innovative campaigns promoting socially responsible investing and shopping, and the extension of fair trade into mainstream industries.

• In Detroit, where the newspaper workers'; strike/lockout is in its third year, Network member Groundwork for a Just World has been facilitating workshops on the global economy for community groups, faith-based groups, union members, and students. Groundwork reports they depend heavily on information from the Network since in support of the striking workers they do not read the daily newspapers.

Why are so many people convinced that the world needs to change? As I was trying to figure this out a statement by one of my favorite college professors came to mind. Toni Flores, who died in November used to say, "Genuine awareness is like the loss of innocence: once aware, you will always be aware". Toni is very present in my heart and mind, for the obvious reason of her passing, but also for this lesson and many others that she taught her students.

Maybe this was the lesson Kathie Lee Gifford learned, thanks to groups like the National Labor Committee who brought to light the conditions in factories producing her line of clothing. Now she is giving advice to Diahann Carroll on how to ensure that her new line of clothing is not produced in sweatshop conditions.

So why are we doing all of this? So that no child goes to bed hungry while her parents harvest cash crops for export to Northern countries; so that every parent is ensured of an education, medical care, food, and hope of a future for their children; and so that no country has to cut basic services for its citizens in order to service debts to the World Bank, the IMF, or to Northern banks and countries. We do all of this because we have to do it, "we are the ones we have been waiting for", we must dream, hope for, and build a world of justice, equity, and equal opportunity for our children and grandchildren's futures.

Aluta Continua!

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