ABOUT US
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition formed on September 14, 2001.
It is a coalition of hundreds of organizations and prominent individuals and scores of organizing centers in cities and towns across the country. Its national steering committee represents major national organizations that have campaigned against U.S. intervention in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East
and Asia, and organizations that have campaigned for civil rights and for social and economic justice for working and poor people inside the United States.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Florida., in the spirit of the national A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition steering committee, is working to build an anti-racist, peace and social justice movement. A central characteristic of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition's organizing strategy has been to work in partnership with the Arab American and Muslim community and other sectors in U.S. society who have been traditionally ignored. The anti-war movement must give voice to those who are most affected by the war. This has helped to create a truly multi-national anti-war movement that has included many Iraq war veterans and family members of soldiers. A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida affirms the belief that building such an anti-racist, anti-imperialist, multi-national movement is going to be the force that ultimately stops the U.S. war machine.
Florida Statewide Steering Committee
Jamal Alian, Muslim Student Association, Florida State University, Tallahassee
Lex Foster, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Daytona Beach
Naveen El-Nawawy, Muslim community activist, Tampa
Michael Prysner, March Forward, Tampa
Antonio Franco, ANSWER-UCF, Orlando
Emmanuel Lopez, member, Unite Here, Local 355, Palm Beach
John Daly, Exec. Board, AFSCME Local 3041, Fort Lauderdale
Muhammed Malik, South Florida Palestine Solidarity Network Miami Dade, Miami
Nadia Abdallah, Palestinian American Organization, FAU, Boca Raton
National Steering Committee
IFCO/Pastors for Peace
Free Palestine Alliance - U.S.
Haiti Support Network
Partnership for Civil Justice - LDEF
Nicaragua Network
Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines
Korea Truth Commission
Muslim Student Association - National
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
Mexico Solidarity Network
Party for Socialism and Liberation
PAST EVENTS
March 18-20, 2006
A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida mobilized with other anti-war activists to march on the port in Fort Lauderdale on the third anniversary of the "Shock and Awe" invasion of Iraq. Global Days of Action were coordinated in over 500 U.S. cities drawing tens of thousands of protesters into the streets; Demonstrations also took place all over the world.
April 30, May 1
A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida partnered with other South Florida organizations to organize a "kick-off" rally on April 30 for immigrant rights and to commemorate International Workers Day. On May 1, as part of the national work stoppage for immigrant rights, A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida mobilized for a statewide march in Orlando that drew over 20,000 people. During this mass mobilization of immigrant workers that nationally totaled over 3 million people, A.N.S.W.E.R. promoted the demand for full amnesty for all undocumented workers in actions all over the country.
August 12, 2006
A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida partnered with St. Pete for Peace and the Muslim Student Association Florida Council to initiate a statewide protest to defend the Palestinian and Lebanese people against the U.S.-Israeli war and occupation in coordination with the national march on Washington. Over 500 protesters converged on Orlando from all over the state. Nationally over 45,000 people protested this day in Washington, D.C. , Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. It was the largest protest nationally against the U.S.-Israeli war and the largest protest in Florida. Prior to this action, A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida was the first organization to respond to the attacks against the Palestinian and Lebanese people with a protest on July 14 in Fort Lauderdale and then organizing for a rally with the Arab and Muslim communities on July 29 at Bayside in Miami.
October 28, 2006
In response to the call for nationally coordinated actions, A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida mobilized for a rally in Bayside in Miami. After the program activists caravanned to Umoja Village in Liberty city to support the Take Back the Land Movement where workers and homeless people in the African American community occupied a plot of land that had been slated for affordable housing over a decade ago that has since sat empty.
November 1-4, 2006
A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida organized a statewide speaking tour in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, and Orlando. Richard Becker, the West Coast Coordinator of A.N.S.W.E.R., spoke on the expanding U.S. war in the Middle East and the forces resisting it drawing from a dozen people to over 50.
February 19-21, 2007
A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida' chapter at Florida International University built a shantytown that occupied park of the University Park campus in solidarity with Umoja Village in Liberty City. This action brought the struggle of Umoja Village to the campuses and media and garnered new supporters for this movement. Students gathered hundreds of signatures and collected material supplies for Umoja Village.
March 17, 2007
A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida assisted in the coordination of several organizing centers that mobilized for this historic march on the Pentagon that drew tens of thousands of people despite a huge snowstorm and bitter cold. The march at the doorsteps of the warmongers pointed the finger at those responsible for over a million Iraqi and thousands of U.S. soldiers' deaths.
August 25, October 6 (on-going actions), 2007
A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida organized with other organizations to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers demand for one penny more per pound for the tomatoes that farmworkers pick for Burger King. U.S. corporate interest and trade agreements have obliterated neighboring economies forcing immigrants to seek work in the United States only to be offered the worst of working conditions in the food harvest. A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida stands with the workers here in the U.S. and those abroad who resist super exploitation and war.
September 15, 2007
A.N.S.W.E.R./Florida activists from around the state mobilized to be part of this march that drew over 100,000 people and ended with 200 arrests as protesters lead by Iraq war veterans challenged police lines at the Capitol Steps.