Dear Friend,

I am writing you because I know that you care as much as I do about the terrible injustice imposed on the people of the world by the institutions that promote and profit from militarism and war.

This year was an important anniversary for the ANSWER Coalition. We turned twenty! It is rare that a progressive, anti-war and anti-imperialist organization sustains twenty straight years of robust and effective work. Now a new generation of organizers are helping to lead this movement.

We started the ANSWER Coalition 20 years ago – just three days after the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed thousands of people.

George W. Bush, who actually lost the 2000 election, came into the White House as a deeply unpopular political figure. But the day after the September 11 terrorist attack, his popularity soared to 90%. He vowed vengeance and war. The neocon war fanatics seized the day. There were mass round ups in the U.S. of Muslim-Americans, Arab-Americans and South Asian peoples. Within days, the Bush Administration decided to invade Afghanistan and Iraq and planned to go topple the governments in Iran, Syria and Libya.

The ANSWER Coalition was started by a handful of organizations who wanted to mobilize opposition to the new war drive and to the wave of racism that was sweeping the country.

Just 18 days after September 11, 2001, we organized a mass protest against the coming wars in Washington DC and to the surprise of all the naysayers and haters, 25,000 people came out. There was a coinciding action in San Francisco. From these first starts grew a mass anti-war movement of the many millions that opposed the U.S. war against Iraq. It became a global movement.

Today, twenty years later, the ANSWER Coalition continues building and organizing in scores of cities around the U.S.

Building solidarity with the people of the world who are targeted by deadly sanctions, by endless drone strikes, by military occupation, by the imposition of US military bases in their beloved homelands.

Today, as the U.S. prepares for war with China, we are actively countering the destructive, imperialist policies that dominate U.S. policy making. Today, we are exposing the corruption that lies at the center of limitless war spending even while poverty and homelessness skyrocket. Today and every day, we are organizing against apartheid and in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

We have sustained and broadened this critical work because of the support that it has received from you and other people of conscience.

I am writing to make a special end-of-the-year appeal to you and others to make an urgently needed donation to support the work of the ANSWER Coalition. All donations made today can be a tax-deductible contribution for 2021.

We are at a critical moment for both the country and for the entire world. What each of us does can and will make a difference.

I wish you and your family a happy and healthy New Year.

For Peace & Justice,

Brian Becker,

National Director, ANSWER Coalition