IMF/WB Protests


local and national features

DC
Oct 27 2007
For A New Hope: Why We Took Georgetown

Imagine having payday lenders who prey on entire nations. Imagine having subprime lenders foreclosing not on individual homes but on whole villages and nations, evicting communities and then stripping forests and ecosystems bare... Imagine the IMF and World Bank! First audio: WSQT "New Hope" Inspirational Second audio: first 8 min of Georgetown teach-in

Oct 27 2007
San Francisco Protests the International Monetary Fund

On Friday, October 19th, Globalize This!, students, and other protesters converged near Montgomery BART, in the heart of the financial district in downtown San Francisco to demonstrate against the policies of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. Globalize This!, a new grassroots collective that works to promote awareness and take actions against neoliberal policies, had sponsored the event in order to show solidarity with the "October Rebellion," which aimed to disrupt the IMF meeting going on in Washington, DC.

DC
Oct 22 2007
It's a World, World, World, World Bank! Video Highlights from O20

SDS, ANARCHIST CONTINGENTS' ENERGY MAKES UP FOR PRE-SEATTLE ATTENDANCE; DISGUSTED POLAR BEAR HARASSES PRESS Anarchist Tree-Sitter Embraced by Police; Topless Sit-Down Action Call Fails To Generate Interest From the looks of it, this could've been any IMF/WB event that I shot in 1998 or early '99. The park was maybe two-thirds full and the march went by in about five minutes, but the kids from SDS and other anarchist contingents saved this afternoon from being the usual hey-hey-ho-ho. Stream out of YouTube, 07min 17sec. (VIEWER ADVISORY: CONTAINS NEKKID TITTIES) Police Prevented From Arresting Homeless Man In Murrow Park, Get Pissed Off, Beat Protesters, via WSQT 87.9FM

DC
Oct 22 2007
Police beat protesters after being stopped from arresting homeless man at IMF

What had been a peaceful rally on the second day of IMF/World Bank protests turned nasty in Murrow Park as police made two stupid moves within 10 minutes of each other. First they tried to arrest a homeless man in front of the protest, and when that failed they started beating people AUDIO(incl 2 interviews): http://dc.indymedia.org/usermedia/audio/5/imf_cops_day2.mp3 Video by Mike Flugennock: It's a World, World, World, World Bank! Video Highlights from O20

DC
Oct 21 2007
A Statement from Some Participants in the October Coalition and the Georgetown March

We appreciate that the fear generated by the Metropolitan Police Department forced many large, corporate, exclusive stores in Georgetown to close, but recognize that the World Bank and IMF continue to force poverty on millions around the world, all the while continuing to not pay a penny in taxes to DC.

Oct 21 2007
Protests greet IMF Delegates

WASHINGTON DC, October 21, 2007 – Delegates from the World Bank and IMF met this week in Washington DC. The meetings were greeted by protests and group actions throughout the city. Although mostly peaceful, there are reports of some incidents with police and injuries. Arrest numbers are believed to be low and there are no reports of any mass arrests by the police. Corporate media is playing up the image of an injury of a bystander to portray the protesters as violent. From the DC-IMC Newswire: It's a World, World, World, World Bank! Video Highlights from O20 by Mike Flugennock || Photos From This Weekend's Protests Part 1 by Isis

Audio dispatches and reports from WSQT Guerrilla Radio 87.9 FM: Police beat protesters after being stopped from arresting homeless man at IMF || IMF protesters invade Georgetown || Over 150 protest at ICE || DC Demands "Justice for DeOnté Rawlings" at MPDC HQ, inJustice Dept.

Reports from the Georgetown Protest: Georgetown is Boarding up windows! by Luke || A Statement from Some Participants in the October Coalition and the Georgetown March || Police accused of using provocateurs in Georgetown

see also: October Rebellion, US-IMC action page and coverage on Portland IMC

Oct 21 2007
Anti-Capitalists Riot In Georgetown Against IMF/WB

Anti-Capitalists gathered in Washington Circle and began an un-permitted march through Georgetown Friday night. Georgetown was chosen, because it represents "excessive wealth and privelege." This march was held in protest of the IMF/WB meetings being held in Washington DC.

Statement by some Georgetown March participants: "For a brief period, people in Georgetown, playing host to delegates from the IMF and World Bank, who force poverty on millions across the world, were hopefully forced to stop, if only for a second, and think about the suffering that they perpetrate, both abroad, and right here in Washington, DC, in their exclusive enclave. DC residents in working class communities of color are consistently denied access to public services, including health care, education, and the right to basic human dignity. Meanwhile, the desires of well-connected, largely white, wealthy residents of Georgetown are consistently prioritized over the needs of hundreds of thousands of low-income DC residents.

We appreciate that the fear generated by the Metropolitan Police Department forced many large, corporate, exclusive stores in Georgetown to close, but recognize that the World Bank and IMF continue to force poverty on millions around the world...Yet, no matter how successful we could have been in forcing Georgetown residents to think about the consequences of their actions on working class people in DC, Georgetown unquestionably still remained a far safer place than those places on which the IMF and World Bank force their policies of poverty, misery, and destruction."

Infoshop Article | Youtube Video: "october rebellion -imf/wb - georgetown 10/19/07"

D.C. Indymedia '07 IMF/WB protest page | calendar of events | Georgetown Protestors Threatened With Arrest on M Street | Georgetown is Boarding up windows! | URGENT UPDATE-Georgetown is Boarding up windows! | IT BEGINS! Over 150 protest at ICE | http://octoberrebellion.org | DC Demands "Justice for DeOnté Rawlings" at MPDC HQ, inJustice Dept.

DC
Oct 20 2007
DC Demands "Justice for DeOnté Rawlings" at MPDC HQ, inJustice Dept.

Protesters from Ceasefire-Don't Smoke the Brothers were reinforced by about 150 IMF protesters marching over from the ICE rally. The legal lynching of 14 year old has provoked a firestorm of rage in DC communities, and staging this protest during the World Bank/IMF Weekend sends a powerful message.

Radio coverage via WSQT 87.9FM

Video highlights by Mike Flugennock streaming from YouTube

DC
Oct 20 2007
IT BEGINS! Over 150 protest at ICE

At noon on Oct 19, over 150 people filled the narrow street in front of ICE, demanding an end to raids and deportation of immigrants driven to the US by policies like NAFTA and IMF/World Bank programs. http://dc.indymedia.org/usermedia/audio/11/imf_ice_it_begins.mp3

DC
Oct 15 2007
Global Capitalism, Local Impacts: Why Washingtonians should be concerned about the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and the global economy

A public library building sold at a discount to a developer to build luxury condominiums, without community input. A wealthy sports team owner subsidized by the city with future tax revenue through a complicated scam called Tax Increment Financing. A public hospital with world-class expertise in treating trauma injuries – so much so that even U.S. military doctors went to this hospital to learn trauma treatment – closed down because of alleged financial drain. A parasitic system of schools that receive generous public funding but have zero public accountability, being aided by the government to supplant the long-neglected public schools, using the admittedly poor state of the public schools as an excuse, but without ever seriously addressing the question – why did the public schools get to this state in the first place?

And all of this occurring in a city that is simultaneously home to some of the world’s most powerful institutions, and to some of the worst poverty nationwide. Furthermore, these powerful institutions pay no taxes to the city, constraining the municipal budget... Read More>>

Info on this weekend's actions: octoberrebellion.org | Organizing Update #1 | Organizing Update #2 | Organizing Update #3

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