Dallas, Texas- Today the city council overwhelmingly voted down a proposed site for a new inner city McD's restaurant. This followed months of intense community organizing and coalition building among diverse groups including Vegetarian Society of Dallas, Krishna religious community, Mt.Auburn neighborhood assoc., UPROAR (United People Resisting Oppression And Racism), Hindu organizations and others. Pressure had been building as the council's offices were flooded with phone calls,email, faxes, letters and visits. Even local media was critical of the corporate giants' insensitivity to the location.
The proposed site would have intruded into a largely low income, and Hispanic community adding dangerous amounts of traffic, pollution and trash. In addition it was a slap in the face to the vegetarian Krishna religion, that was established in the area in 1978, owns a large number of houses, a temple, and a school that were within 60 feet of the proposed site.
150 concerned people from the area showed up to say NO to the restaurant, McD's could only produce lawyers, charts and graphs. The citizens wanted to retain control for their community, and not give it to a trans-national corporation with no history or responsibility to the neighborhood as a whole. This is part of an ongoing struggle around the world where people are saying No to corporate domination over their lives and taking back control. If it can happen in Dallas it can happen in your community. In the coming months we hope the website www.stop-mcdonalds.org will become a clearinghouse for communities around the world to share information on stopping this corporate giant. |