CALL TO ACTION: TRANSFORM COLUMBUS DAY, DENVER CO,

OCTOBER 10-14, 2002

This October an action of international scale is being not just *joined* by communities of color but actually organized by them.  Like last year in Denver, the target is not a meeting of an agency  such as the WTO or the IMF but the very legacy and historical processes  that have brought us colonization and globalization.

In opposing all celebrations of Columbus and Columbus Day we are  opposing the very foundation of globalization, both in its historical and  current manifestations.

While our current incarnation of the anti-globalization movement  may be new, the struggle against globalization is not. The Indigenous  People of the Western Hemisphere have been organizing and fighting, not for months and years but for decades and centuries.

Last year while the Four Directions March transformed the holiday  into one recognizing people of all nations and promoted a vision  of mutual self-respect, the events of September 11 and infighting  among the organizers of the Columbus Day Parade meant that no racist celebration of the holiday occurred. This year, however, it has  been made clear by pro-Columbus organizers that they will hold a  Columbus Day Parade.

Now Native American and Chicano activists and communities call on all people of conscience to join us, in body and spirit, those  five days October 10th to 14th in actively stopping and reversing  the Columbus legacy by protecting and affirming all that is beautiful  in humanity and the earth. The Transform Columbus Day Alliance is  organizing its own events to promote our vision and to counter hate speech and celebrations of genocide. Planning is also underway for  medical, housing, and legal for the Transform Columbus Day events.

On Saturday, October 12th there will be both a Transform Columbus  Day Event and a Pro-Columbus Day Parade. The Four Directions /  All Nations March will begin at 10:00 AM and will continue until  it is finished. The Columbus Day Parade will begin at 2:00 PM that  same day with a different parade route that intersects that of the Four Directions March.

We hope that you can journey to Denver, Colorado this October and  join us in transforming this inherently brutal and offensive holiday  to a day which all the people of this continent can be proud to be a part of.

In Solidarity,

Transform Columbus Day Alliance

Here are some useful URLs:

The Transform Columbus Day Alliance Site
http://www.transformcolumbusday.org

General TCD announcement list
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tcd-news
(you can join by emailing
tcd-news-subscribe@yahoogroups.com)

" If it wasn't for us, Native Americans and Hispanics wouldn't be  as educated as they are, they wouldn't be living in the most powerful  country in the world and the most educated country in the world.  Western culture is what developed the country over here."
- George Vendegnia, Columbus Day Parade Organizer