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How to Organize a Boston WTeaO Party to protest Globalization without Representation Just imagine a fiery orator standing on a podium draped in American flags before a throng of protestors waiving signs proclaiming "No Globalization without Representation" and "Make Trade Clean, Green, and Fair." The TV cameras roll. Reporters scribble. A stream of speakers thunder odes to democracy, our environment, our future... while in distant Seattle, at the biggest corporate free trade bash ever held on American soil, the powerful and secretive World Trade Organization is brought to its knees by the awesome might of democracy in action. Let’s listen in... "In 1776, American patriots protested ‘taxation without representation.’ Today, we are protesting "globalization without representation" -- the unaccountable power of the World Trade Organization to undermine our food safety, environmental, and labor standards in the name of free trade. Done right, trade could promote a higher standard of living and protect our environment, our families, our future. Two hundred years ago, patriots protested ‘taxation without representation’ at the Boston Tea Party. Today, we have organized a "Boston WTeaO Party" to protest "globalization without representation" at the hands of the Clinton Administration and the WTO. We are demanding that President Clinton fix trade rules to make trade clean, green, and fair. Instead of tossing tea into Boston Harbor, we will be tossing out traded goods brought to us by the WTO that compromise our environment, health, and workers rights...." "Wow! Cool!," you say. "So how do I get involved?" Well, here’s how to organize a "Boston WTeaO" (or "T") Party in your own community. 1. Pick a date. Monday, Nov. 29, the day before the WTO Summit opens, would be a good choice in order to show solidarity with protestors holding a similar event that day in Seattle. However, your event could generate more pressure on the Clinton Administration if you hold it earlier. 2. Get a permit for a good site. Possibilities include: * in front of the local "World Trade Center" (if you have one in town), * the steps of the town hall, county courthouse, or state capital building since the powers of state and local governments are compromised by the WTO, 3. To educate folks, build coalitions, and attract a crowd, hold a "teach-in" a week or two before your "T" Party. Speakers might include professors, local political figures, or coalition partners from the labor, environment, or family farm communities. Some of these folks could also make good speakers at the "T" Party. 4. Educate folks and build crowd for your "teach-in" and/or for your "T" Party by setting up a table in an area with high foot traffic to collect letters to congress like the one in this kit demanding that the Clinton administration "make trade clean, green, and fair." Keep contact info for folks who signed the letters and call them to come out to your "T" Party. 5. Copy the graphics on the "No Globalization without Representation" factsheet to make giant posters to decorate a table, a "teach-in," or a "T" party. Most copy shops will make poster-size copies for about $20. 6. Place letters to the editor, op-eds, or articles in local newspapers to educate folks and attract attention to your activities. 7. To attract media and to build crowd, invite prominent political or civic leaders to participate in your "T" party. 8. Send out a media advisory -- and follow up with calls to print reporters and TV assignment editors -- at least three days before the event. 9. At the "T" Party, decorate a set of boxes with "WTeaO" in big letters. Put articles inside the boxes that represent tainted goods brought to us by the WTO. Examples could include an imported "log" from Canada’s endangered temperate rainforest, "hepatitis-tainted" strawberries, a gasoline can marked "dirty gasoline," "hormone treated" beef, a large "shrimp" caught by killing sea turtles, factory-farm raised pork, etc. See our factsheets to get ideas. 10. Each speaker can toss the "WTO products" out into a kiddie pool filled with water (sorry, the Boston Tea Party imagery goes only so far) and say a few words about problems with the WTO and necessary solutions. 11. This event is meant to create powerful images for TV and print media, to draw a crowd, and to underscore how President Clinton’s trade policy compromises core American values by making a connection to the greatest political theater ever staged in America. So display American flags proudly and prominently on the podium and in the crowd. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club