New DVD Screening: Shutdown: The Rise and Fall of Direct Action to Stop the War – Friday, January 31
As we mentioned in a previous post, AK is holding a screening of Shutdown: The Rise and Fall of Direct Action to Stop the War. It’s going to be a great event and we hope that you will join us (and the filmmakers!) for the official release celebration of this new DVD from AK Press Video!
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Friday, January 30th: Screening of Shutdown: The Rise and Fall of Direct Action to Stop the War
Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia Street, San Francisco
7PM, Free
On March 20, 2003—the day after the (most recent) Iraq war started—San Francisco was brought to a grinding halt by thousands of activists who occupied the streets to oppose the war. It was a mass uprising that forced the police to declare the financial district “shut down.” The planning and outreach coordinated by Direct Action to Stop the War (DASW), filled downtown San Francisco with approximately 15,000 people clogging traffic, stopping business as usual, communicating with passersby, and creating a pandemonium that lasted for several days. But neither DASW nor the mass resistance outlasted Iraq’s occupation.
Shutdown is an action-packed documentary chronicling how DASW successfully organized effort to shut down a major US city and how they failed to effectively maintain the organization to fight the war machine and end the occupation of Iraq.
Created by organizers involved with DASW, Shutdown combines detailed information on organizing for a mass action, critical interviews on organizing pitfalls, and the wisdom of hindsight. It is a must-see film for those engaged in the continuous struggle toward social justice.