WAAKE-UP!
Encyclopedia
WAAKE-UP! was a student and community coalition at the University of Colorado at Boulder
(CU Boulder) active from 1998 to 2001. WAAKE-UP! adopted the motto "Action without Awareness is ignorant. Awareness without Action is immoral." WAAKE-UP! supported many progressive causes, but were best known for the "Sweatshop
Campaign," demanding that University of Colorado
apparel be made in factories supporting fair labor conditions, specifically those endorsed by the Worker Rights Consortium
. The Sweatshop Campaign was not successful, but its goals were later fulfilled by WAAKE-UP!'s successor organizations, 180 at 11 (180 degrees at the 11th hour), CASA (Coalition Against Sweatshop Apparel) and WWJC (World Workers Justice Committee). Like many other progressive organizations in Colorado
their actions were recorded in the Denver Police Spy Files.
board of regents adopted the Talloires Declaration
stating that the University must maintain "institutional neutrality in social and political matters" unless it is an issue that "directly affects the university, is detrimental to the achievement of the university's mission and purposes, and/or threatens academic freedom
."
April 1, 1999 CU Boulder's student union legislative council unanimously passed Council Resolution 106 suggesting CU regents, Chancellor Richard Byyny, and President John Buechner adopt a Basic Commitment to Human Rights, requiring them to take a stand against environmentally irresponsible investments and apparel contracts. The following Monday, April 5, WAAKE-UP! held a press conference asking the University to abandon its institutional neutrality policy for a "institutional integrity policy." WAAKE-UP! members asked the University of Colorado to stop investing in corporations committing human rights violations even if the investments were more lucrative than socially responsible alternatives
. Specifically, WAAKE-UP! members were displeased with the University's investments in corporations like Chevron
, Royal Dutch Shell
, Louisiana-Pacific
, Nike
, Lehman Brothers
(the parent company of Peabody Coal
), Texaco
and Unocal.
WAAKE-UP! faxed and emailed documentation violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
committed by corporations invested in by the University of Colorado
to the regents, Byyny and Buechner, demanding they support Council Resolution 106 by April 12. None of the University officials responded.
April 26, 1999, WAAKE-UP! held a rally at the Dalton Trumbo Fountain outside the University Memorial Center on the CU Boulder campus encouraging the University of Colorado
, to dissolve the University's neutrality policy on investments and sign a basic commitment to human rights
. Byyny refused to meet with the protesters. In response, WAAKE-UP! organized a protest on April 28, 1999, blocking traffic at the intersection of Broadway and Regent Drive (located on the edge of the Boulder campus) until Byyny agreed to speak with them. He scheduled an appointment to speak with WAAKE-UP! members on April 30, 1999, at 8 a.m. WAAKE-UP! continued to organize and grow over the next year.
apparel, was a human right or a cultural norm. According to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights it is not a cultural norm, Article 23, Section 2 states: "Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work."
March 19, 2000, WAAKE-UP! members protested outside of the Abercrombie & Fitch
store on the Pearl Street Mall
in Boulder, Colorado
, a few blocks away from the CU Boulder campus. WAAKE-UP! claimed Abercrombie & Fitch laborers were exploited and worked in sweatshop
conditions.
March 21, 2000, CU Boulder professor Ira Chernus
announced that he had written a resolution in support of WAAKE-UP!'s demands and that it would be voted on during the next Boulder Faculty Assembly. It included creating a Code of Conduct for Ethical Apparel Licensing as well as an Investment Board of Ethics which would be monitored by an Internal Advisory Board for compliance with the Code of Conduct. This was in addition to resolutions passed by the Assembly on March 13, 2000, calling for WAAKE-UP!, Byyny, and Vice Chancellor Ronald Stump to continue a good-faith discussion on University of Colorado apparel licensing. The resolutions were forwarded to the Chancellor's office on March 14, 2000.
Police Department.
April 5, 2000, WAAKE-UP! demanded that the University of Colorado join the Worker Rights Consortium
by the end of the day on April 6, 2000. Meeting this deadline would have allowed representatives from the University to attend a Worker Rights Consortium
meeting taking place in New York City on April 7, 2000.
April 6, 2000, the Boulder Faculty Assembly voted in favor of a resolution supporting WAAKE-UP!'s demands, though it didn't specifically include the requirement that the University of Colorado should join the Worker Rights Consortium
. The resolution was passed on a voice vote with 30 faculty members in attendance, the vast majority voting in favor of it. The Assembly claimed that the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights served as a basis for the proposed Code of Conduct. Byyny created an ad-hoc group of ten CU Boulder
faculty, staff, and students to investigate WAAKE-UP!'s proposal. Byyny's ad-hoc group's first meeting was behind closed doors, against Colorado's Open Meeting Law WAAKE-UP! was invited to attend the first meeting, but boycotted it in protest. A WAAKE-UP! member was present at all subsequent meetings.
The Boulder Faculty Assembly had organized three community forums in an effort to get the community input Byyny requested. Byyny never attended any of the forums organized by the Assembly. University of Colorado Vice Chancellor Paul Tabolt, however, attended one of the forums and raised a few questions, but left without giving forum attendees a chance to respond to them. Tabolt stated collective bargaining
is not a right (an opinion not supported by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and that he believed it was fair to pay workers less than what they need to live.
April 7, 2000, the University of Colorado Student Union unanimously supported WAAKE-UP!'s demand that the University join the Worker Rights Consortium
, passing on a vote of 13–0. However, this failed to produce any action from the Office of the Chancellor.
In the meantime WAAKE-UP! was busy circulating a petition among students demanding that the University of Colorado join the Worker Rights Consortium (gathering over 2000 signatures) and on April 10, 2000, and built a shantytown in the Norlin Quadrangle on the CU Boulder campus to draw attention to their campaign and gain visibility during the Conference on World Affairs
. In reference to the conference, WAAKE-UP! members named the shantytown the "Conference on World Despairs." WAAKE-UP! initially created the shantytown without the University's permission, but later obtained "temporary structure" permits after it was established. The construction of the shantytown started just hours before the Conference on World Affairs
' opening procession through the Norlin Quadrangle. WAAKE-UP! said the shantytown was meant to symbolize the poor living conditions of sweatshop workers. WAAKE-UP!'s shanytown was reminiscent of a previous one constructed in 1988 outside the Dalton Trumbo Fountain to protest the University of Colorado's investment in the South African apartheid regime.
WAAKE-UP! members stayed at the shantytown in shifts during the day and night. During the day they held teach-ins, distributed fliers, and explained the purpose of the shantytown to passersby. Among other topics, WAAKE-UP! members discussed Gary Barnett
's threats to suspend players covering up Nike
logos on their uniforms. Community members and local businesses supported them by supplying food and water. At 3 a.m. on April 13, 2000, approximately ten people came by the shantytown and set off fireworks, threw water balloons and distributed flyers that read "kegs not contraversy (sic)." WAAKE-UP! members sleeping at the shantytown said they appreciated the nonviolent protest methods used by the "anti-protest protesters."
April 15, 2000 WAAKE-UP! members staying at the shantytown abandoned it due to heavy snow, but later returned.
April 17, 2000 more than 150 people attended a rally at WAAKE-UP!'s shantytown focusing on high school education and in solidarity with protests the previous day in Washington D.C. against the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank
.
April 13, 2000, WAAKE-UP! began meeting with the ad-hoc committee formed by Chancellor Byyny. Though both sides claimed progress was being made, the University administration favored joining the Fair Labor Association
over the Worker Rights Consortium
. WAAKE-UP! were critical of the Fair Labor Association as much of its funding came from organizations it monitored creating a potential conflict of interest
.
April 17, 2000, the ad-hoc group put together by Byyny recommended a one-year conditional membership in the Worker Rights Consortium, though it still needed to be approved by a larger ad-hoc committee, appointed by the Chancellor, and the Chancellor himself. The committee also recommended they monitor the Fair Labor Association
during that year to decide if it would be worth joining. Additionally, the committee raised some questions as to how the Code of Conduct would apply to contracts Nike
had with the CU Boulder athletics department, which operated somewhat autonomously.
By April 19, 2000 the larger ad-hoc committee said it was putting the finishing touches on the Code of Conduct and were getting ready to send it to Byyny to review. WAAKE-UP! pressured Byyny to sign it as soon as he possibly could.
April 25, 2000, Chancellor Byyny announced that he would not sign the anti-sweatshop
policy approved by the ad-hoc committees. Instead, Byyny made some changes to the existing policy using the committee's recommendations as guidelines.
April 26, 2000, Ralph Nader
visited the CU Boulder campus. Nader endorsed WAAKE-UP!'s demands and condemned Byyny's decision not to join the Worker Rights Consortium. Nader speculated that the University's decision might be influenced by an announcement Phil Knight
had recently made, stating that he would retract a thirty million dollar donation to the University of Oregon
after they joined the Worker Rights Consortium
.
WAAKE-UP! met with Byyny the same day. Byyny gave few specifics about his decision not to follow the committee's recommendations. A WAAKE-UP! member had brought a water gun to the meeting, and showed it to the police officers present. Later in the meeting officer Tim DeLaria attempted to grab the water gun out of the activist's hand, causing it to squirt two other officers. DeLaria attempted to arrest the activist for this, though Police Lt. John Kish reversed DeLaria's decision and let the water-gun carrying activist off with a warning. Professor Ira Chernus had protested the unnecessary show of force during this and previous meetings.
and prison labor
. WAAKE-UP! members were disappointed with vague language used in revision and weakened stance on women's rights
and maximum hours allowed in a workweek
.
May 4, 2000, in response to Byyny's rejection of the committee's licensing recommendations, WAAKE-UP! and Boulder Biotic Baking Brigade
member, Sara Toombs (a.k.a. Agent Moon Pie), pied
Chancellor Byyny while he was giving a speech on the CU Boulder campus. Toombs was later tried for assault
. Byyny claimed he incurred numerous dry cleaning
bills and that his cheek was slightly bruised as a result of the pieing. Toombs testified at the trial that she baked the organic blueberry pie herself, and that she used her training in nonviolent resistance
techniques as well as the benefit of practice with friends to "squoosh" the pie in Byyny's face without harming him. The jury found that she was not guilty of assault but did find her guilty of harassment
and criminal mischief
. Toombs was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation, thirty hours of community service
, and was ordered to write Byyny a letter of apology. The verdict was considered a victory by Toombs, her attorneys, and her supporters.
Before the trial WAAKE-UP! members staged a "sui-pied", a demonstration where they hit themselves in the face with pies to show how harmless it was, outside the Boulder County Justice Center.
on May 3, 2000. WAAKE-UP! members had only learned of the decision from a discussion with a FLA representative, and were upset that they were not consulted about or informed of the decision. Following the news, WAAKE-UP! members said they would continue the campaign making three demands on the University: (1) to adopt a strong licensing policy that will eliminate the possibility of doing business with companies that use sweatshop labor, (2) form an internal monitoring board within the University of Colorado that will evaluate whether companies comply with the licensing policy and to investigate and research possible violations, and (3) to join the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) as an external monitoring agency that will investigate conditions in the factories in which apparel is made. Although it was not in the three demands, WAAKE-UP! also asked that the University relinquish its membership in the Fair Labor Association
.
From 2004 to 2006 the student groups 180 degrees at the 11th hour, CASA (Coalition Against Sweatshop Apparel), and WWJC (World Workers Justice Committee) organized on the CU Boulder
campus, again trying to get the University to join the Worker Rights Consortium
, this time petitioning Chancellor Phil Distefano.
May 5, 2005, the groups held a hunger strike inside Distefano's office, until it was announced that the University would begin the affiliation process. CASA members again went on hunger strike for fifteen days from April 12 to April 27, 2006 until the University accepted the Designated Supplier Program proposed by the United Students Against Sweatshops
.
's Crackers the Corporate Crime-Fighting Chicken, carrying a banner that read "Students are NOT products, Teachers are NOT tools, The University is NOT a factory!"
in front of the World Trade Center buildings in Denver, Colorado
to raise awareness about the U'wa
's struggle against the Occidental Petroleum Corporation. There were approximate 20 police officers at the protest who dragged the limp protesters away from the scene, at one point dragging a protester's head into a street gutter
. One of the protesters was taken in to custody without being read his Miranda Rights.
and International Monetary Fund
in Washington D.C.. The protests were a continuation of those at the Ministerial Conference of 1999
in Seattle, Washington
. On April 9, 2000, The Daily Camera
published an article by Ira Chernus in support of the march supporting the protest. Speakers at the protest included Cecilia Zarate-Laun and David Pellow. The protest was non-violent and there was no hostile contact with the police during it.
Some WAAKE-UP! members, however, went to the April 16 protest in Washington D.C., and came prepared to treat protesters who might be injured. They brought medical supplies and treated people who had been pepper spray
ed.
. WAAKE-UP! believed the mall promoted consumerism
and contributed to urban sprawl
.
in Boulder, Colorado
. The action was in solidarity with protests against the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank
in Prague
. Protesters urged passersby at stores on the Pearl Street Mall such as GAP
, Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch
, Starbucks
, and Borders Bookstore
(under construction at the time) to support local business, chanting "Take your crap back to the Gap" and "Human need, not corporate greed." This was a smaller protest compared to one following it in Denver, Colorado
on September 26, 2000.
protests in Boulder, Colorado
, organized by CU Boulder professor Kayann Short, who focused it on how consumerism
affects women.
affects people around the world. The conference focused specifically on institutions such as the World Bank
, International Monetary Fund
, and the World Trade Organization
. The conference was held March 8–11, 2001, and featured speakers such as Paul Hawken
, Chol Soon Rhie, Danny Kennedy, Kevin Danaher
, Ignacio Ibarra, Njoki Njoroge Njehu, Raquel Sancho, Amy Goodman
, Julie Davids, Carlos Zorrilla, Michael Morrill, Orrin Williams, Ward Churchill
, Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Irungu Houghton, Jason Wallach, and William Begay.
in WAAKE-UP!. They were present at nearly every WAAKE-UP! demonstration cheering on the protesters.
rushes, WAAKE-UP! members held a "Radical Rush" at the beginning of each semester in an attempt to get incoming students acquainted with all of the radical student organizations on campus. The Radical Rush tradition continued after WAAKE-UP! was defunct.
and KGNU
.
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
on July 30, 2000.
while working with local law enforcement in Denver, Colorado
as a result of the Denver Police Spy File litigation. The files show that emails were intercepted from WAAKE-UP!'s email list, specifically about a protest planned for the Aspen Institutes's Summit on Globalization and the Human Condition in July 2000. Tim DeLaria of the CU Boulder police department intercepted the email and forwarded it to George Kennedy in the Denver Police Department's Intelligence Unit. Kennedy wrote back to Tim DeLaria saying he would forward the email to Tom Fisher of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force to contact someone in Aspen, Colorado
.
In addition to the exchange about the Aspen Institutes's Summit on Globalization, it also includes an exchange between Tim DeLaria and the Denver Police Department about a march organized by WAAKE-UP! in support of the U'wa
. The WAAKE-UP! email list was one of 24 lists mentioned in a FOIA
request by the Colorado ACLU in relation to the Denver Police Spy files case.
wrote two articles decrying WAAKE-UP!. Gorman claimed that policies advocated by WAAKE-UP! would put the working poor making University of Colorado
apparel out of work. Gorman was also very critical of Sara Toombs' choice of fillings for the pie baked to pie
Chancellor Byyny; stating that at the time of year when the pie was baked blueberries were out of season and may have been imported by a corporation exploiting its workers south of the United States border. Gorman suggested Toombs should have made a rhubarb
pie, as rhubarb was in season at the time.
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
(CU Boulder) active from 1998 to 2001. WAAKE-UP! adopted the motto "Action without Awareness is ignorant. Awareness without Action is immoral." WAAKE-UP! supported many progressive causes, but were best known for the "Sweatshop
Sweatshop
Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...
Campaign," demanding that University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
apparel be made in factories supporting fair labor conditions, specifically those endorsed by the Worker Rights Consortium
Worker Rights Consortium
The Worker Rights Consortium is an independent labor rights monitoring organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who sew apparel and make other products sold in the United States, particularly those bearing college or university logos...
. The Sweatshop Campaign was not successful, but its goals were later fulfilled by WAAKE-UP!'s successor organizations, 180 at 11 (180 degrees at the 11th hour), CASA (Coalition Against Sweatshop Apparel) and WWJC (World Workers Justice Committee). Like many other progressive organizations in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
their actions were recorded in the Denver Police Spy Files.
The Sweatshop Campaign
July, 1996 the University of ColoradoUniversity of Colorado System
The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...
board of regents adopted the Talloires Declaration
Talloires Declaration
The Talloires Declaration is a declaration for sustainability, created for and by presidents of institutions of higher learning. Jean Mayer, Tufts University president, convened a conference of 22 universities in 1990 in Talloires, France...
stating that the University must maintain "institutional neutrality in social and political matters" unless it is an issue that "directly affects the university, is detrimental to the achievement of the university's mission and purposes, and/or threatens academic freedom
Academic freedom
Academic freedom is the belief that the freedom of inquiry by students and faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts without being targeted for repression, job loss, or imprisonment.Academic freedom is a...
."
April 1, 1999 CU Boulder's student union legislative council unanimously passed Council Resolution 106 suggesting CU regents, Chancellor Richard Byyny, and President John Buechner adopt a Basic Commitment to Human Rights, requiring them to take a stand against environmentally irresponsible investments and apparel contracts. The following Monday, April 5, WAAKE-UP! held a press conference asking the University to abandon its institutional neutrality policy for a "institutional integrity policy." WAAKE-UP! members asked the University of Colorado to stop investing in corporations committing human rights violations even if the investments were more lucrative than socially responsible alternatives
Socially responsible investing
Socially responsible investing , also known as sustainable, socially conscious, or ethical investing, describes an investment strategy which seeks to consider both financial return and social good....
. Specifically, WAAKE-UP! members were displeased with the University's investments in corporations like Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
, Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
, Louisiana-Pacific
Louisiana-Pacific
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation , commonly known as "LP", is a United States building materials manufacturer. It was founded in 1973 and is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. LP pioneered the U.S. production of oriented strand board panels. Today, LP is the world’s largest producer of OSB, and...
, Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
(the parent company of Peabody Coal
Peabody Energy
Peabody Energy Corporation , previously Peabody Coal Company, is the largest private-sector coal company in the world. The company is headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri....
), Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
and Unocal.
WAAKE-UP! faxed and emailed documentation violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
committed by corporations invested in by the University of Colorado
University of Colorado System
The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...
to the regents, Byyny and Buechner, demanding they support Council Resolution 106 by April 12. None of the University officials responded.
April 26, 1999, WAAKE-UP! held a rally at the Dalton Trumbo Fountain outside the University Memorial Center on the CU Boulder campus encouraging the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, to dissolve the University's neutrality policy on investments and sign a basic commitment to human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. Byyny refused to meet with the protesters. In response, WAAKE-UP! organized a protest on April 28, 1999, blocking traffic at the intersection of Broadway and Regent Drive (located on the edge of the Boulder campus) until Byyny agreed to speak with them. He scheduled an appointment to speak with WAAKE-UP! members on April 30, 1999, at 8 a.m. WAAKE-UP! continued to organize and grow over the next year.
March 2000
March 2, 2000, and again on March 15, 2000, WAAKE-UP! presented Chancellor Richard Byyny with a series of demands to ensure ethical apparel licensing was practiced by the University of Colorado. Byyny responded that he would consider adopting them but needed time, more community input, and expressed some specific concerns. Byyny questioned whether one of WAAKE-UP!'s demands, equal pay for women making University of ColoradoUniversity of Colorado System
The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...
apparel, was a human right or a cultural norm. According to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights it is not a cultural norm, Article 23, Section 2 states: "Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work."
March 19, 2000, WAAKE-UP! members protested outside of the Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch is an American retailer that focuses on casual wear for consumers aged 18 to 22. It has over 300 locations in the United States, and is expanding internationally....
store on the Pearl Street Mall
Pearl Street Mall
The Pearl Street Mall is a four block pedestrian mall in Boulder, Colorado...
in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, a few blocks away from the CU Boulder campus. WAAKE-UP! claimed Abercrombie & Fitch laborers were exploited and worked in sweatshop
Sweatshop
Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...
conditions.
March 21, 2000, CU Boulder professor Ira Chernus
Ira Chernus
Ira Chernus is a journalist, author, and Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He received his Ph.D. in Religion from Temple University, specializing in the history of rabbinic Judaism. His academic writing now focuses on the foreign policy of US presidents. He has...
announced that he had written a resolution in support of WAAKE-UP!'s demands and that it would be voted on during the next Boulder Faculty Assembly. It included creating a Code of Conduct for Ethical Apparel Licensing as well as an Investment Board of Ethics which would be monitored by an Internal Advisory Board for compliance with the Code of Conduct. This was in addition to resolutions passed by the Assembly on March 13, 2000, calling for WAAKE-UP!, Byyny, and Vice Chancellor Ronald Stump to continue a good-faith discussion on University of Colorado apparel licensing. The resolutions were forwarded to the Chancellor's office on March 14, 2000.
April 2000
April 4, 2000, WAAKE-UP! held a mock trial outside the University Memorial Center by the Dalton Trumbo Fountain with the "Sweatshop King", a 10 feet (3 m) street theater puppet. University of Colorado police officers, Detective Tim DeLaria and Lt. Michelle Irving monitored the demonstration and took photographs of those participating. Both officers belonged to the Investigations and Community Service Unit of the University of ColoradoUniversity of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
Police Department.
April 5, 2000, WAAKE-UP! demanded that the University of Colorado join the Worker Rights Consortium
Worker Rights Consortium
The Worker Rights Consortium is an independent labor rights monitoring organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who sew apparel and make other products sold in the United States, particularly those bearing college or university logos...
by the end of the day on April 6, 2000. Meeting this deadline would have allowed representatives from the University to attend a Worker Rights Consortium
Worker Rights Consortium
The Worker Rights Consortium is an independent labor rights monitoring organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who sew apparel and make other products sold in the United States, particularly those bearing college or university logos...
meeting taking place in New York City on April 7, 2000.
April 6, 2000, the Boulder Faculty Assembly voted in favor of a resolution supporting WAAKE-UP!'s demands, though it didn't specifically include the requirement that the University of Colorado should join the Worker Rights Consortium
Worker Rights Consortium
The Worker Rights Consortium is an independent labor rights monitoring organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who sew apparel and make other products sold in the United States, particularly those bearing college or university logos...
. The resolution was passed on a voice vote with 30 faculty members in attendance, the vast majority voting in favor of it. The Assembly claimed that the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights served as a basis for the proposed Code of Conduct. Byyny created an ad-hoc group of ten CU Boulder
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
faculty, staff, and students to investigate WAAKE-UP!'s proposal. Byyny's ad-hoc group's first meeting was behind closed doors, against Colorado's Open Meeting Law WAAKE-UP! was invited to attend the first meeting, but boycotted it in protest. A WAAKE-UP! member was present at all subsequent meetings.
The Boulder Faculty Assembly had organized three community forums in an effort to get the community input Byyny requested. Byyny never attended any of the forums organized by the Assembly. University of Colorado Vice Chancellor Paul Tabolt, however, attended one of the forums and raised a few questions, but left without giving forum attendees a chance to respond to them. Tabolt stated collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
is not a right (an opinion not supported by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and that he believed it was fair to pay workers less than what they need to live.
April 7, 2000, the University of Colorado Student Union unanimously supported WAAKE-UP!'s demand that the University join the Worker Rights Consortium
Worker Rights Consortium
The Worker Rights Consortium is an independent labor rights monitoring organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who sew apparel and make other products sold in the United States, particularly those bearing college or university logos...
, passing on a vote of 13–0. However, this failed to produce any action from the Office of the Chancellor.
In the meantime WAAKE-UP! was busy circulating a petition among students demanding that the University of Colorado join the Worker Rights Consortium (gathering over 2000 signatures) and on April 10, 2000, and built a shantytown in the Norlin Quadrangle on the CU Boulder campus to draw attention to their campaign and gain visibility during the Conference on World Affairs
Conference on World Affairs
The Conference on World Affairs is hosted annually, around the second week of April, at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.-History:...
. In reference to the conference, WAAKE-UP! members named the shantytown the "Conference on World Despairs." WAAKE-UP! initially created the shantytown without the University's permission, but later obtained "temporary structure" permits after it was established. The construction of the shantytown started just hours before the Conference on World Affairs
Conference on World Affairs
The Conference on World Affairs is hosted annually, around the second week of April, at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.-History:...
' opening procession through the Norlin Quadrangle. WAAKE-UP! said the shantytown was meant to symbolize the poor living conditions of sweatshop workers. WAAKE-UP!'s shanytown was reminiscent of a previous one constructed in 1988 outside the Dalton Trumbo Fountain to protest the University of Colorado's investment in the South African apartheid regime.
WAAKE-UP! members stayed at the shantytown in shifts during the day and night. During the day they held teach-ins, distributed fliers, and explained the purpose of the shantytown to passersby. Among other topics, WAAKE-UP! members discussed Gary Barnett
Gary Barnett
Gary Barnett is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Fort Lewis College , Northwestern University , and the University of Colorado at Boulder , compiling a career college football record of 92–94–2...
's threats to suspend players covering up Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
logos on their uniforms. Community members and local businesses supported them by supplying food and water. At 3 a.m. on April 13, 2000, approximately ten people came by the shantytown and set off fireworks, threw water balloons and distributed flyers that read "kegs not contraversy (sic)." WAAKE-UP! members sleeping at the shantytown said they appreciated the nonviolent protest methods used by the "anti-protest protesters."
April 15, 2000 WAAKE-UP! members staying at the shantytown abandoned it due to heavy snow, but later returned.
April 17, 2000 more than 150 people attended a rally at WAAKE-UP!'s shantytown focusing on high school education and in solidarity with protests the previous day in Washington D.C. against the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
and World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
.
April 13, 2000, WAAKE-UP! began meeting with the ad-hoc committee formed by Chancellor Byyny. Though both sides claimed progress was being made, the University administration favored joining the Fair Labor Association
Fair Labor Association
The Fair Labor Association , a non-profit labor rights organization, is a multi-stakeholder initiative bringing together companies, colleges and universities, and civil society organizations to improve working conditions worldwide by promoting adherence to international and national labor laws...
over the Worker Rights Consortium
Worker Rights Consortium
The Worker Rights Consortium is an independent labor rights monitoring organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who sew apparel and make other products sold in the United States, particularly those bearing college or university logos...
. WAAKE-UP! were critical of the Fair Labor Association as much of its funding came from organizations it monitored creating a potential conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
.
April 17, 2000, the ad-hoc group put together by Byyny recommended a one-year conditional membership in the Worker Rights Consortium, though it still needed to be approved by a larger ad-hoc committee, appointed by the Chancellor, and the Chancellor himself. The committee also recommended they monitor the Fair Labor Association
Fair Labor Association
The Fair Labor Association , a non-profit labor rights organization, is a multi-stakeholder initiative bringing together companies, colleges and universities, and civil society organizations to improve working conditions worldwide by promoting adherence to international and national labor laws...
during that year to decide if it would be worth joining. Additionally, the committee raised some questions as to how the Code of Conduct would apply to contracts Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
had with the CU Boulder athletics department, which operated somewhat autonomously.
By April 19, 2000 the larger ad-hoc committee said it was putting the finishing touches on the Code of Conduct and were getting ready to send it to Byyny to review. WAAKE-UP! pressured Byyny to sign it as soon as he possibly could.
April 25, 2000, Chancellor Byyny announced that he would not sign the anti-sweatshop
Anti-sweatshop
Anti-Sweatshop refers to campaigning movements to improve the conditions of workers in Sweatshops, i.e. manufacturing places characterized by low wages, poor working conditions and often child labor...
policy approved by the ad-hoc committees. Instead, Byyny made some changes to the existing policy using the committee's recommendations as guidelines.
April 26, 2000, Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
visited the CU Boulder campus. Nader endorsed WAAKE-UP!'s demands and condemned Byyny's decision not to join the Worker Rights Consortium. Nader speculated that the University's decision might be influenced by an announcement Phil Knight
Phil Knight
Philip Hampson "Phil" Knight is an American business magnate. He is the co-founder and Chairman of Nike, Inc. He resigned as the company's chief executive officer in 2004, while retaining the position of chairman of the board...
had recently made, stating that he would retract a thirty million dollar donation to the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
after they joined the Worker Rights Consortium
Worker Rights Consortium
The Worker Rights Consortium is an independent labor rights monitoring organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who sew apparel and make other products sold in the United States, particularly those bearing college or university logos...
.
WAAKE-UP! met with Byyny the same day. Byyny gave few specifics about his decision not to follow the committee's recommendations. A WAAKE-UP! member had brought a water gun to the meeting, and showed it to the police officers present. Later in the meeting officer Tim DeLaria attempted to grab the water gun out of the activist's hand, causing it to squirt two other officers. DeLaria attempted to arrest the activist for this, though Police Lt. John Kish reversed DeLaria's decision and let the water-gun carrying activist off with a warning. Professor Ira Chernus had protested the unnecessary show of force during this and previous meetings.
May 2000
May 3, 2000, Byyny signed a revised version of the university apparel licensing policy recommended by the executive committee. The revisions were made in a closed door meeting, and public input was not sought on the changes. The revised version required licensees to comply with labor laws and regulations of their governments, and prohibited discrimination, harassment, child labor, forced laborUnfree labour
Unfree labour includes all forms of slavery as well as all other related institutions .-Payment for unfree labour:If payment occurs, it may be in one or more of the following forms:...
and prison labor
Penal labour
Penal labour is a form of unfree labour in which prisoners perform work, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence which involve penal labour include penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour...
. WAAKE-UP! members were disappointed with vague language used in revision and weakened stance on women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
and maximum hours allowed in a workweek
Workweek
The workweek and weekend are those complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest respectively. The legal working week , or workweek , is the part of the seven-day week devoted to labor. In most Western countries it is Monday to Friday. The weekend comprises the two traditionally...
.
May 4, 2000, in response to Byyny's rejection of the committee's licensing recommendations, WAAKE-UP! and Boulder Biotic Baking Brigade
Biotic Baking Brigade
The Biotic Baking Brigade is a loosely connected group of activists famous for throwing pies in the faces of such figures as Bill Gates, San Francisco mayors Willie Brown, and Gavin Newsom, anti-gay preacher Fred Phelps, economist Milton Friedman, Swedish King Carl Gustaf, former Canadian Prime...
member, Sara Toombs (a.k.a. Agent Moon Pie), pied
Pieing
Pieing is the act of throwing a pie at a person or persons. This can be a political action when the target is an authority figure, politician, or celebrity and can be used as a means of protesting against the target's political beliefs, or against perceived arrogance or vanity. Perpetrators...
Chancellor Byyny while he was giving a speech on the CU Boulder campus. Toombs was later tried for assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
. Byyny claimed he incurred numerous dry cleaning
Dry cleaning
Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a chemical solvent other than water. The solvent used is typically tetrachloroethylene , abbreviated "perc" in the industry and "dry-cleaning fluid" by the public...
bills and that his cheek was slightly bruised as a result of the pieing. Toombs testified at the trial that she baked the organic blueberry pie herself, and that she used her training in nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance is the practice of achieving goals through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, and other methods, without using violence. It is largely synonymous with civil resistance...
techniques as well as the benefit of practice with friends to "squoosh" the pie in Byyny's face without harming him. The jury found that she was not guilty of assault but did find her guilty of harassment
Harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
and criminal mischief
Mischief
Mischief is a vexatious or annoying action, or, conduct or activity that playfully causes petty annoyance. Young children, when they hear of mischief, think of practical jokes....
. Toombs was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation, thirty hours of community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
, and was ordered to write Byyny a letter of apology. The verdict was considered a victory by Toombs, her attorneys, and her supporters.
Before the trial WAAKE-UP! members staged a "sui-pied", a demonstration where they hit themselves in the face with pies to show how harmless it was, outside the Boulder County Justice Center.
September 2000
September 18, 2000, the University of Colorado confirmed suspicions it had joined the Fair Labor AssociationFair Labor Association
The Fair Labor Association , a non-profit labor rights organization, is a multi-stakeholder initiative bringing together companies, colleges and universities, and civil society organizations to improve working conditions worldwide by promoting adherence to international and national labor laws...
on May 3, 2000. WAAKE-UP! members had only learned of the decision from a discussion with a FLA representative, and were upset that they were not consulted about or informed of the decision. Following the news, WAAKE-UP! members said they would continue the campaign making three demands on the University: (1) to adopt a strong licensing policy that will eliminate the possibility of doing business with companies that use sweatshop labor, (2) form an internal monitoring board within the University of Colorado that will evaluate whether companies comply with the licensing policy and to investigate and research possible violations, and (3) to join the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) as an external monitoring agency that will investigate conditions in the factories in which apparel is made. Although it was not in the three demands, WAAKE-UP! also asked that the University relinquish its membership in the Fair Labor Association
Fair Labor Association
The Fair Labor Association , a non-profit labor rights organization, is a multi-stakeholder initiative bringing together companies, colleges and universities, and civil society organizations to improve working conditions worldwide by promoting adherence to international and national labor laws...
.
Continued organizing and victory
November 15, 2001 former WAAKE-UP! organizer Scott Silber returned to CU Boulder to give a talk titled American Jihad Inc.: Corporate Crusades for the Free Market Faith about corporate influence in the post-September 11 world.From 2004 to 2006 the student groups 180 degrees at the 11th hour, CASA (Coalition Against Sweatshop Apparel), and WWJC (World Workers Justice Committee) organized on the CU Boulder
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
campus, again trying to get the University to join the Worker Rights Consortium
Worker Rights Consortium
The Worker Rights Consortium is an independent labor rights monitoring organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who sew apparel and make other products sold in the United States, particularly those bearing college or university logos...
, this time petitioning Chancellor Phil Distefano.
May 5, 2005, the groups held a hunger strike inside Distefano's office, until it was announced that the University would begin the affiliation process. CASA members again went on hunger strike for fifteen days from April 12 to April 27, 2006 until the University accepted the Designated Supplier Program proposed by the United Students Against Sweatshops
United Students Against Sweatshops
United Students Against Sweatshops is a student organization with chapters at over 250 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In April 2000, USAS founded the Worker Rights Consortium , an independent monitoring organization that investigates labor conditions in factories that...
.
Career fair demonstration
WAAKE-UP! members had requested a table at career fairs held on the CU Boulder campus to inform students about the behavior of corporations trying to recruit them, but had been denied by CU Boulder administration. In response, on January 31, 2000, WAAKE-UP! held a demonstration during a career fair, accompanied by TV NationTV Nation
Production on the pilot episode of TV Nation began in January 1993. Moore initially turned to friends and colleagues in many production areas, while also making a point to ensure the show's employees were unionized. For the show's title sequence, graphic designer Chris Harvey put together the...
's Crackers the Corporate Crime-Fighting Chicken, carrying a banner that read "Students are NOT products, Teachers are NOT tools, The University is NOT a factory!"
Die-in to support the U'wa
March 14, 2000, WAAKE-UP! members staged a die-inDie-in
A die-in is a form of protest where participants simulate being dead.- Overview :In the simplest form of a die-in, protesters simply lie down on the ground and pretend to be dead, sometimes covering themselves with signs or banners...
in front of the World Trade Center buildings in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
to raise awareness about the U'wa
U'wa people
The U'wa people are an indigenous people living in the cloud forests of northeastern Colombia. Historically, the U'wa numbered as many as 20,000, scattered over a homeland that extended across the Venezuela-Colombia border. Some 7-8,000 U'wa are alive today....
's struggle against the Occidental Petroleum Corporation. There were approximate 20 police officers at the protest who dragged the limp protesters away from the scene, at one point dragging a protester's head into a street gutter
Street gutter
A street gutter is a depression running parallel to a road designed to collect rainwater flowing along the street and divert it into a storm drain. Where a curbstone is present, a gutter may simply be formed by the convergence of the road surface and the vertical face of the sidewalk; otherwise, a...
. One of the protesters was taken in to custody without being read his Miranda Rights.
A16 solidarity march
On April 15, 2000 WAAKE-UP! organized a march of more than 400 people in Boulder in solidarity with protests of the World BankWorld Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
and International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
in Washington D.C.. The protests were a continuation of those at the Ministerial Conference of 1999
WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity
Protest activity surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations, occurred on November 30, 1999 , when the World Trade Organization convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington,...
in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. On April 9, 2000, The Daily Camera
Daily Camera
The Camera is a daily newspaper in Boulder, Colorado. It is owned by Prairie Mountain Publishing, a division of MediaNews Group.-History:Frederick P. Johnson and Bert Bell founded the weekly Boulder Camera in 1890, and it became a daily in 1891. Ownership has changed several times...
published an article by Ira Chernus in support of the march supporting the protest. Speakers at the protest included Cecilia Zarate-Laun and David Pellow. The protest was non-violent and there was no hostile contact with the police during it.
Some WAAKE-UP! members, however, went to the April 16 protest in Washington D.C., and came prepared to treat protesters who might be injured. They brought medical supplies and treated people who had been pepper spray
Pepper spray
Pepper spray, also known as OC spray , OC gas, and capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears...
ed.
Flatirons Crossing protest
August 11, 2000, WAAKE-UP! members protested the opening of the Flatirons Crossing mall in Broomfield, ColoradoBroomfield, Colorado
The City and County of Broomfield is a prominent suburb and tier of the Denver metropolitan area in the State of Colorado of the United States. Broomfield has a consolidated city and county government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The...
. WAAKE-UP! believed the mall promoted consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
and contributed to urban sprawl
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
.
S26 Solidarity March
September 25, 2000, WAAKE-UP! members and other activists marched on Pearl Street MallPearl Street Mall
The Pearl Street Mall is a four block pedestrian mall in Boulder, Colorado...
in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
. The action was in solidarity with protests against the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
and World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. Protesters urged passersby at stores on the Pearl Street Mall such as GAP
Gap (clothing retailer)
The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008,...
, Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch is an American retailer that focuses on casual wear for consumers aged 18 to 22. It has over 300 locations in the United States, and is expanding internationally....
, Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
, and Borders Bookstore
Borders Group
Borders Group, Inc. was an international book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company employed approximately 19,500 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores....
(under construction at the time) to support local business, chanting "Take your crap back to the Gap" and "Human need, not corporate greed." This was a smaller protest compared to one following it in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
on September 26, 2000.
Buy Nothing Day
November 23, 2001, WAAKE-UP! members supported the Buy Nothing DayBuy Nothing Day
thumb|Buy Nothing Day demonstration in [[San Francisco]], November 2000Buy Nothing Day ' is an international day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. Typically celebrated the Friday after American Thanksgiving in North America and the following day internationally, in 2011...
protests in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, organized by CU Boulder professor Kayann Short, who focused it on how consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
affects women.
The People's Summit on Globalization
WAAKE-UP! supported the People's Summit on Globalization, a conference discussing how globalizationGlobalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
affects people around the world. The conference focused specifically on institutions such as the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
, and the World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
. The conference was held March 8–11, 2001, and featured speakers such as Paul Hawken
Paul Hawken
Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author.-Life:Paul Hawken had a Swedish grandmother and a Scottish grandfather with a farm. His father worked at UC Berkeley...
, Chol Soon Rhie, Danny Kennedy, Kevin Danaher
Kevin Danaher (activist)
Kevin Danaher is an author and anti-globalization activist. With his wife Medea Benjamin and activist Kirsten Irgens-Moller, he co-founded Global Exchange, a social justice and anti-globalization non-governmental organization based in San Francisco, California. He is the founder and executive...
, Ignacio Ibarra, Njoki Njoroge Njehu, Raquel Sancho, Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is an American progressive broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter and author. Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, an independent global news program broadcast daily on radio, television and the internet.-Early life:Goodman was born in Bay Shore, New York...
, Julie Davids, Carlos Zorrilla, Michael Morrill, Orrin Williams, Ward Churchill
Ward Churchill
Ward LeRoy Churchill is an author and political activist. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1990 to 2007. The primary focus of his work is on the historical treatment of political dissenters and Native Americans by the United States government...
, Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Irungu Houghton, Jason Wallach, and William Begay.
The Rocky Mountain Rebels
The Rocky Mountain Rebels were a group of Radical CheerleadersRadical cheerleading
Radical cheerleading is a form of cheerleading that originated in Florida, but has now spread across the United States as well as Canada, Europe and beyond. The idea is to ironically reappropriate the aesthetics of cheerleading, for example by changing the chants to promote feminism and left-wing...
in WAAKE-UP!. They were present at nearly every WAAKE-UP! demonstration cheering on the protesters.
Radical Rush
As an alternative to fraternity and sororityFraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
rushes, WAAKE-UP! members held a "Radical Rush" at the beginning of each semester in an attempt to get incoming students acquainted with all of the radical student organizations on campus. The Radical Rush tradition continued after WAAKE-UP! was defunct.
This Is What Democracy Looks Like
November 30, 2000, WAAKE-UP! co-sponsored showings of the film This Is What Democracy Looks Like along with End Sanctions Now!, the Rocky Mountain Independent Media Center, AMP, Art & Revolution, Free Speech TVFree Speech TV
-External links:...
and KGNU
KGNU
KGNU AM/FM is an independent radio, non-commercial radio, Community radio station for Boulder and Denver, Colorado, USA. KGNU is owned by Boulder Community Broadcast Association, Inc.-Programming and operations :...
.
Unity 2000
WAAKE-UP! endorsed Unity 2000, a group of concerned citizens and activists who protested at the Republican National ConventionRepublican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
on July 30, 2000.
Presence in the Denver Police spy files
The Colorado ACLU was able to obtain files collected by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task ForceJoint Terrorism Task Force
A Joint Terrorism Task Force is a partnership between various U.S. law enforcement agencies that is charged with taking action against terrorism, which includes the investigation of crimes such as wire fraud and identity theft...
while working with local law enforcement in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
as a result of the Denver Police Spy File litigation. The files show that emails were intercepted from WAAKE-UP!'s email list, specifically about a protest planned for the Aspen Institutes's Summit on Globalization and the Human Condition in July 2000. Tim DeLaria of the CU Boulder police department intercepted the email and forwarded it to George Kennedy in the Denver Police Department's Intelligence Unit. Kennedy wrote back to Tim DeLaria saying he would forward the email to Tom Fisher of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force to contact someone in Aspen, Colorado
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
.
In addition to the exchange about the Aspen Institutes's Summit on Globalization, it also includes an exchange between Tim DeLaria and the Denver Police Department about a march organized by WAAKE-UP! in support of the U'wa
U'wa people
The U'wa people are an indigenous people living in the cloud forests of northeastern Colombia. Historically, the U'wa numbered as many as 20,000, scattered over a homeland that extended across the Venezuela-Colombia border. Some 7-8,000 U'wa are alive today....
. The WAAKE-UP! email list was one of 24 lists mentioned in a FOIA
Freedom of Information Act (United States)
The Freedom of Information Act is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure...
request by the Colorado ACLU in relation to the Denver Police Spy files case.
Criticism
Linda Gorman of the Independence InstituteIndependence Institute
The Independence Institute is a conservative think tank based in Golden, Colorado. Founded in 1985, the Institute " expertise education, the environment, transportation, personal freedom, government reform, local government, and criminal justice."- Current Staff :As of June 2010, the Independence...
wrote two articles decrying WAAKE-UP!. Gorman claimed that policies advocated by WAAKE-UP! would put the working poor making University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
apparel out of work. Gorman was also very critical of Sara Toombs' choice of fillings for the pie baked to pie
Pieing
Pieing is the act of throwing a pie at a person or persons. This can be a political action when the target is an authority figure, politician, or celebrity and can be used as a means of protesting against the target's political beliefs, or against perceived arrogance or vanity. Perpetrators...
Chancellor Byyny; stating that at the time of year when the pie was baked blueberries were out of season and may have been imported by a corporation exploiting its workers south of the United States border. Gorman suggested Toombs should have made a rhubarb
Rhubarb
Rhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular-shaped with long fleshy petioles...
pie, as rhubarb was in season at the time.
External links
- WAAKE-UP!'s home page (archive.org)
- A Video Documentary About WAAKE-UP! by Andrew Dieringer of the Activist Media Project (DC Indymedia)
- A Video Documentary on WAAKE-UP!'s A16 Solidarity March (DC Indymedia)
- Archive of WAAKE-UP!'s news coverage (archive.org)
- A Collection of Links Related To WAAKE-UP!
- WAAKE-UP!'s Email List Archives
- 180*11's home page (colorado.edu)
- the Coalition Against Sweatshop Abuse's home page (culaborsolidarity.org)