FUND OUR COMMUNITIES!
                                REDUCE MILITARY SPENDING 25%!

A new coalition was born in Dorchester on July 7. It aims to cut Washington’s military spending by 250 billion dollars a year and use all that money to fund community jobs and services.

Twenty community organizations gathered at the Vietnamese-American Community Center in Fields Corner and:
•    Identified the places where we can safely cut $250 billion from annual US military spending (one-quarter of the total).
•    Named things we would do with Boston’s $500 million share of that money.
•    Started developing a three-part action plan:
-Pressuring Congress and the President;
-Creating a dollar-by-dollar community budget that funds human needs; and
-Educating our organizations to build broad-based support for a multi-year campaign.

Dorchester is part of a national “cut military/fund community” campaign that includes Peace Action, Progressive Democrats of America, True Majority, United for Peace and Justice (UfPJ), and recent meetings in Chicago and Chico, CA. In eastern Massachusetts, Newton, Somerville, and other UJP affiliates are gathering signatures and taking the “25%” initiative to their city officials. While a peace group is doing most of the coordination in Dorchester, community organizations and leaders of color are shaping the campaign. The coalition thinks a community-driven campaign can build the breadth and commitment it’ll take to win a 25% cut in military spending. Applause erupted at the July 7 meeting when one speaker said, “The Pentagon has located military contracts in every state in the country. That gives them a built-in lobby for every member of Congress. We need a nationwide lobby for community needs.”

Groups that have joined the coalition so far are: Boston Workers’ Alliance, City Life/Vida Urbana, Codman Square Health Center, Community Change Inc, Dorchester People for Peace, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, Office of City Councilor Chuck Turner, Project Care and Concern, South Boston Residents for Peace, and Teens Against Gang Violence. Groups that are considering joining include ACORN, the Association of Haitian Women, Bikes Not Bombs, the Chinese Progressive Association, and the District 7 Roundtable. For more information about the coalition and campaign, contact Dorchester People for Peace at 617-282-3783 or beckyp44@verizon.net.

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