Pivot Toward War: U.S. Missile Defense & the Weaponization of Space

25th Annual Space Organizing Conference & Protest
April 7-9, 2017
Huntsville, Alabama

Purpose

Join us for the Global Network’s 25th anniversary Space Organizing Conference and Protest at the home of Redstone Arsenal and the Space & Missile Defense Command, also known as the ‘Pentagon of the South’.

The effort by the Pentagon to develop and deploy the next generation of Star Wars weapons will increase global instability and cost hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.  The US Space Command has long maintained its mission is to create the technologies to ‘control and dominate’ space and the Earth below – ultimately on behalf of corporate interests.

This conference will allow citizens to learn more about these important issues and meet leaders from the growing international movements to Keep Space for Peace and Stop NATO expansion.

Fees

Registration for the conference will be on a sliding scale between $25-$75 (pay what you can best afford).  Lunch and supper on April 8 are included in your registration fee.  You can register online using the GN’s web site Donate Now button here

See the conference brochure here

Housing

We have reserved a block of rooms at the Springhill Suites Hotel (745 Constellation Place Dr) in downtown Huntsville for $99 per night (up to 4 persons per room).  (Contact us for details on reserving hotel rooms.) The hotel has an airport shuttle from the Huntsville airport. The Lowe Mill conference location is five minutes from the hotel. Limited home hospitality will also be available on a first come, first served basis.

Speakers/Music (List in formation)

• Judy Collins (Vine & Fig Tree, Alabama)
• Bruce Gagnon (Global Network Coordinator, Maine)
• Dr. Shreedhar Gautam (President, Global Network Chapter Kathmandu, Nepal)
• Subrata Ghoshroy (Program in Science, Technology, and Society, MIT)
• William Griffin (Veterans For Peace, Georgia)
• Huntsville Feminist Chorus (Alabama)
• Joy Johnson (Green Party of Madison County, Alabama)
• Tarak Kauff (Veterans For Peace, New York)
• Hyun Lee (Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea & Militarism in Asia & the Pacific, New York)
• Tiara Rose Naputi (Chamorro diaspora from Guam, Assistant Professor, Dept of Communication, University of Colorado)
• Agneta Norberg (Swedish Peace Council, Stockholm)
• Yasuo Ogata (Co-chair World Conference against A & H Bombs and former Member of Parliament, Upper House, Japan)
• Lindis Percy (Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases, England)
• J. Narayana Rao (Global Network board member, India)
• Mary Beth Sullivan (PeaceWorks, Maine)
•  Im Sun-bun (Farmer, Korean Women's Peasants Association, Seongju, South Korea)
• Regis Tremblay (Filmmaker, Maine)
• Dave Webb (Global Network Board Convener & Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, UK)
• Lynda Williams (Physics faculty, Santa Rosa Junior College, California)
• Loring Wirble (Citizens for Peace in Space, Colorado)
• Col. Ann Wright (US Army retired, diplomat) * Keynote speaker

Conference Program

 Friday, April 7

• 2:00 pm News Conference

• 4:00 – 5:30 Vigil at Redstone Arsenal/Marshall Space Flight Center – Gate 9 (Rideout Road, Exit 14 off Hwy 565)

• 6:00 Dinner at Las Parrillas Grill Mexican Restaurant (2713 Patton Rd SW, Exit 17 off Hwy 565)

• 8:00 Cash bar at hotel and film screening: Thirty Seconds to Midnight: The Final Wake-Up Call by Regis Tremblay

 

Saturday, April 8

• 8:30 – 9:00 am Registration at Flying Monkey Theatre (Lowe Mill, 2211 Seminole Dr, 2^nd floor)

• 9:00 – 9:30 am Welcome & Purpose of Conference

• 9:30 – 10:00 Presentation: The US Space Global Warfighting System & Global Network Responses

• 10:15 – 11:45 Plenary Panel I -  A New Arms Race: Military Satellites, Drones, Prompt Global Strike, Military Space Plane, NSA Surveillance, & Mining the Sky

• 12:00 – 1:00  Lunch

• 1:15 – 2:30  Plenary Panel II – Asia-Pacific Pivot: Resistance to Missile Offense Radars & Interceptors

• 2:45 – 4:00 Plenary Panel III – Global Network Leader Reports from around the World

• 4:15 – 5:45 Plenary Panel IV – Alternative Vision: Transforming a War Economy to a Peace Economy - Organizing Strategies & Movement Building during the Trump Administration

• 6:00 – 8:00 Supper Program – Keynote Speaker & Music (Col. Ann Wright & Huntsville Feminist Chorus)

Sunday, April 9

• 10:00 am – Noon   Visit Space & Rocket Center Museum (Exit 15 off Hwy 565)

Sponsors (List in formation)

• Gainesville Iguana (Florida)
• Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
• Greater Brunswick (Maine) PeaceWorks
• Green Party of Madison County (Alabama)
• Maine Natural Guard
• Nashville (TN) Greenlands
• North Alabama Peace Network
• Selma (Alabama) Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation
• Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea & Militarism in Asia & the Pacific
• United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC)
• US Peace Council
• Veterans For Peace Chapter 99, Asheville, NC
• Veterans For Peace, Savannah (Georgia) Chapter 170
• Veterans For Peace National
• WorldBeyondWar.org