On Sunday January 15th, twenty-five people, mostly youth, from the Las Vegas community met at UNLV to begin to ‘Organize for Change’. The idea of the meeting was to get people together to discuss what oppression is and to find ways to end it.

The meeting started with a statement by the event organizers that noted all of the successful work that has been occurring in the Las Vegas community over the past year and how we need to continue to build upon that work. The statement also included a call to action, which has been sent out by national anti-war organizations for March 20th the date that marks the start of the Iraq War.

Following the statement everyone introduced them selves and told of one issue in their life that they would like to change. Issues of the education system, healthcare, war, wages, the economy, borders, sexism, immigration, and others were brought up as important to these members of the community.

All of the issues that were brought up have a common thread. The common thread is that they are all forms of oppression. The meeting gave a definition for oppression as the denial of the right to self-determination and access to the available resources. Examples of this include the Iraq War where the Iraqi people are denied their right to self-determination because they are being occupied and controlled by an outside force. The current education system is also a form of oppression because it denies the people who wish to be educated access to college and universities systems if they are unable to afford the cost of tuition. Each issue identified by the members of this group was identifiable as oppression according to the above definition. It was agreed that since all of the issues that we face in our own lives are connected to each other, we should be working together to end oppression collectively. Collective action was also identified as the most viable way to work for change based on the multiplied power of combined energies.

In order to achieve our goal of ending oppression we must work collectively and in order to do that we must have a plan. A five-step plan to collective action was proposed to the group by the event organizers.

The plan is as follows:

1. Get to Know Each Other
· Understand others oppression
· Share each others experiences
· Attempt to see the world through others’ eyes
· When we get to know others we raise our class consciousness

2. Know What to Do
· Discuss the issues of oppression to gain a clearer understanding
· Have workshops and forums to learn more
· Gain the tools needed to be effective organizers of the community
· Raise Class Consciousness
· Recognize the links between struggles

3. Know What to Say
· As a collective of individuals we must discover our points of unity
· Create a unifying statement that emphasis our points of unity
· We must all stay on our message
· Know the counter-arguments

4. Activate the Community
· Have a strategic plan to outreach to the community
· NO! Borders in our movement
· Solidarity with other community/school organizations
· Challenge Community Leaders to get involved

5. Action
· Create effective actions to achieve the groups ends
· Know the base that you are working with
· Solid Logistics

With support for the five-step plan the group started a discussion about what we should be doing next while keeping the plan in mind. It was decided that we should all work together to develop a common understanding about the Iraq War. In order to do this we must gather information about the war and also hear each other’s viewpoints on the war. An idea for a forum about the Iraq War was created with people taking on tasks to research information about the war and come to the forum to share their ideas.

A date, time, location and basic structure for the meeting were decided on and is as follows:

When: Sunday January 22nd at 3:30 pm
Where: UNLV Student Union Building (MSU)
What: Forum on the Iraq War
Featuring Presentations on the U.S. Military Budget, the Human Cost of the Iraq War, That which Led up to the Invasion, the New Iraqi Government and the Potential of Its People, The Logic of the Iraq War, and The Effects of an Immediate US Troop Withdrawal From Iraq. The Forum will then have an open discussion amongst the participants about the Iraq War and seek to have a common understanding about the oppression of the war.

All that are seeking to end oppression or want more information about the war are strongly encouraged to join us on Sunday. The twenty-five community members present also took on the task of bringing at least two people with them to the next meeting, so expect to see a strong collective of individuals that can make a difference. We hope that you will be among us.

It should be noted that this group of individuals has taken on the name of “Organize for Change,” yet it has not become an official organization at this point in time. We wish to continue to grow and seek points of unity before deciding to form an organization.

Hope everyone can make it out on Sunday.
3:30pm UNLV Student Union Building (MSU)