HISTORY
<<Please click here to view a timeline of IMPACT! events and activities.>>
To all of our friends, comrades, and fellow troublemakers,
We want to offer you an introduction, and an invitation to join us in building a new social movement right here in Sonoma county. This invitation tells a story and it has 3 parts. the first part is when, about 3 years ago, a small but dedicated, intelligent yet naive, group of young people in Petaluma began meeting constantly to discuss how they could make a real difference in their community. How they could be revolutionaries. Night after night they stayed awake until 2 or 3am, drafting a platform, debating strategy, arguing over the most insignificant details. The result of these meetings was a group that came to be known as the Peoples Revolutionary Organization (PRO). Sure, it was a little pretentious and eerily reminiscent of some typical, dubious Maoist organization, but they didn't know better. What they did know was that they just wanted some shit to change, and that the political system had long ago left them in the dust. They recruited, they organized protests at the recruitment center, movie nights, critical mass bike rides. In March of 2006 they shut down the streets of downtown Petaluma, having 13 members arrested in a peaceful sit down protest against the war in Iraq. They supported and organized with the immigrants' rights movement and the United Farm Workers. They caught the attention of the police and Homeland Security, who visited Casa Grande High School to investigate some of their members.
They made many friends, and not quite as many enemies. At their peak, they counted on about 30 members, met twice a week, and in July 2006, they organized 30 consecutive days of actions and activities. As a result, the law came down hard. Members were regularly monitored and harassed. Their families were followed and questioned, houses were regularly patrolled, and many people got scared. This fear, coupled with political differences and a lack of dedication, caused the group to dissolve, leaving only a handful to pick up the pieces. But they did, and after a few months of more intense meetings, the United Resistance was born. Still radical, but maybe wiser this time, the UR kept organizing with the immigrants rights movement, founded a CopWatch chapter, served food weekly to local day laborers, and organized more anti-war demonstrations. In March of 2007 they again took to the streets, this time in a much better organized direct action against war. No one was arrested this time. Time went on, and the organization seemed to be growing. They were sustained by the great amount of support and encouragement from other local activists and organizations. But organizing as students and workers was no easy task. Many of their members left for school, or were prohibited from attending by their parents or obligations to school work. Some just weren't that interested, or dedicated to social change. And some people, those that maintained their dedication and sustained their organizing, eventually got burnt out and were simply unable to keep going at full pace. For all these reasons, bit by bit, the movement drifted off. Not completely. Its members were still involved in other efforts, Copwatch continued to pop up here and there, and the Food Not Bombs program did indeed continue to go strong.
Now it has been almost 4 years after those first few kids decided they wanted to be revolutionaries. We are still here. We are still learning and growing. We have rebuilt our organization. New people continue to join every day. Our name has changed to IMPACT!. We are now beginning the work of developing an effective strategy for long term social change. This involves intensive organizing in the community, as well as meaningful solidarity with other efforts for justice. CopWatch has been rebuilt and is gaining momentum. Food Not Bombs is also growing, with the long term aim of founding a labor center for the immigrant workers. We have a new, exciting campaign for immigrants' rights in Petaluma, with the overall goal of ending the raids on families and workers. Together with other groups in the County, we are working on projects such as a new community newspaper called the Democratic Press, a campaign to Ban Tasers, and the formation of a network of community organizations. We're excited by all of this. And we hope you are too. We want to show our allies and comrades that we have not disappeared, and that we are dedicated to working with all of you towards a new and joyous world. People are taking action. And hopefully we will provide at least some inspiration to those who lack it. We need all of you to build this movement with us. Read our statement of principles. Then come to our meetings. Or invite us to one of yours. Call us to talk about the revolution. Say hi to us on the street. Live intentionally. Make pretend that a new world will not appear unless you are willing to envision it and live it every single day. Get free. We're not waiting any longer.
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