BUDDHIST MONKS AND CIVILIANS UNITE TO OPPOSE MILITARY DICTATORSHIP

The situation in Myanmar or Burma is at once awe inspiring and powerful. Tens of thousands of monks and others have united to challenge an oppressive military dictatorship. It is a great nonviolent struggle at this point. Today monks were reportedly killed and another person, six in all.

I wonder how the monks came to this point? How long did they plan and was there some event that triggered their street protests?

I don't know what efforts may have been made in the past to control the monks. It looks like this religious superstructure, a sort of pagoda system and of course the monk organizations is the basis for the leadership in this situation.

Interestingly the street demonstrations were of significant size from the outset.

The military does seem to be unable or unwilling to take any action which could prevent the movement from at least developing some social momentum.

Perhaps there are some who will place their lives on the line for peace and justice just as there have been far too many who sacrifice for war and inequity.

Of course there are some and there are many who have struggled for justice. Most were not devoted to war. Few wanted inequity. I think of the Palestinean intifada which was noviolent, in terms of harming people, until many Palestineans were murdered by the Israeli settlers and armed forces.

WITHOUT REVOLUTIONARY ACTION THERE CAN BE NO REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT

Jena suggests that action precedes any substantial hope. I have heard so many expressions of hope and eagerness to do something about the kind of so-called law enforcement/judicial system that currently imprisons the majority of African American young men. The struggle against white supremacy and the white supremacist law enforcement/judicial system is beginning and I even heard calls for a revolution, a civil rights revolution from the activists at Jena. Jena is a spark, a spark that could ignite further just struggle.

The march in Jena had a greater impact with a few thousand or tens of thousands of marchers than all the marches in Washington in the past decade. Now some of the civil rights workers want to march to Washington again. It might be a good idea but it seems to me that Washington, the f....ing government is almost totally insulated from and unresponsive to any of the marches that take place in Washington D. C.. The small ruling elite in Jena has no cordons of defense either physical and ideological. Consequently we may see some results in Jena. We may see some results in Louisiana, with one of the saddest cases of racist cracker culture in the nation.

Free Michael Bell and our black youth!

Free the Jena Six! Liberate Jena!

Expose and overthrow racist prosecutors!

Struggle Against White Supremacy from the White House to Your House!

Build a Revoutionary Movement Against White Supremacy at Home and Abroad!

When was the last time a march in D. C. resulted in a positive result? When did the Congress
or President listen? I really want some answers here.