A-16 Mobilization for Global Justice

Food First | 04.01.2000

Spring 2000, Vol. 22, No.77

A “run on the bank” has just begun. Along with 25,000 other protesters, Food First marched for Global Justice in Washington, DC on April 16 (popularly known as the A-16 mobilization), which finally brought the impenetrable International Monetary Fund and World Bank into the arena of public debate. The A-16 mobilization was built on the international platform and slogan of “Break the Bank, Defund the Fund, Dump the Debt!” and endorsed by a strong and diverse coalition. Results included abundant civil disobedience and over 1,300 arrests, with police shutting down the Convergence Center on absurd fire code charges. Food First staff worked with Direct Action Network activists to negotiate the release of puppets and food supplies from the Convergence space.

The A-16 mobilization was built on the international platform and slogan of “Break the Bank, Defund the Fund, Dump the Debt!”

What happened in DC did not happen overnight. Our work at Food First over the last twenty-five years has helped literally turn the ‘development debate’ on its head through our critique of the top-down model and the ecological devastation it generates. Though we failed to obstruct the Fund/Bank meetings, the combination of thorough preparation and the large turn-out helped raise public consciousness about the Fund and Bank to unprecedented levels and brought different activis ts into a successful coalition. We at Food First pledge to continue this struggle for global justice and are now working with others to show peoples’ power at the upcoming Philadelphia and Los Angeles political party convention demonstrations.

Also in this issue of News & Views:

  • Food First’s Fifth Annual Sustainable Agriculture Delegation to Cuba
  • Food First on the Web
  • Food First Debates Biotech Industry Supporters
  • Rally for Black Farmers and Small Family Farmers
  • Food First–The 1990s