History

In the spring of 1995 several organizations issued a call for a National Independent Politics Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the Call to that Summit we said:

"At the top of the social pyramid, the corporate-dominated political parties are pressing the corporate-oriented agenda. But since November’s election (in 1994), new movements of resistance have risen up from below. . . Where will this resistance go politically? Back into yet another effort to reform the Democratic Party? Or into an independent people’s movement and party that speaks and acts for itself, instead of attempting to do so through Democratic politicians beholden to corporate funds? Will the fightback movements of different constituencies and issues link up and work together? . . . We call upon representatives of national, regional and local organizations and campaigns, rooted in the new movements of resistance and the various new/labor/green/third parties, to join together in a broad, urgent conversation about the future of progressive politics. We want to create a culture of resistance to the current two-party system and support and unite independent political initiatives."

220 people, a mix of different races and cultures, from over a hundred organizations, answered that call and attended the first National Independent Politics Summit over two years ago. They set in motion a process that is continuing to this day.

Over the last three years we have:

• played a central role in the organization of Democracy Summer week-long trainings for over 200 young people, predominantly youth of color, in the summers of 2001 and 2002;
• initiated organizing after 9-11-01 which led to the formation of the 9-11 Emergency National Network and played a key role as that group joined with other groups to organize a peace and justice demonstration of 80,000 people in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2002;
• conducted eight training sessions in different parts of the country for electoral candidates or campaign workers;
• created a Democracy 2004 project in early 2003 which has gathered and publicized information (www.democracy2004.org) about campaigns to do organized voter registration and education, issue-oriented popular mobilization and defense of democracy, as well as resources to help in this work;
• played an active role in the organization of peace demonstrations in the first three months of 2003 as part of United for Peace and Justice, helped to organize UFPJ's national conference in June of that year and been active on its steering committee and in its Elections 2004 working group ever since;
• organized a national conference in Michigan in the summer of 2003 at which well-attended workshops were held in such areas as popular education, challenging white supremacy, using the internet for organizing, art and culture in movement-building and candidate training;
• initiated a 2004 Racism Watch project (www.racismwatch.org) in late 2003 which is working in various ways, including with local groups, to strengthen an explicitly multi-cultural network of activists who understand the obligation to confront racism whenever and wherever we find it.