Democracy Rising was an American organization founded in 2001 to oppose corporate corruption. It later became an organization opposed to the military actions of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and, after the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, to promote an

exit strategy An exit strategy is a means of leaving one's current situation, either after a predetermined objective has been achieved, or as a strategy to mitigate failure. An organisation or individual without an exit strategy may be in a quagmire. At wors ...

to end the occupation of Iraq. It began with three volunteers, Jason Kafoury (National Coordinator), Matthew Zawisky (National Organizer), and Richard Martin (National Operations Manager and Web Administrator). It collaboratively organized stadium and smaller sized manifestations called "Super Rallies" across the Eastern United States (Tampa, Florida, Wall Street, New York, Buffalo, New York, Trenton, New Jersey, and others) under the umbrella of a 501 (c)(4) non-profit organization (US Federal EIN # 54-2043043) that had been founded by

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He is a Perennial candidate, perennial presidential candidate. His 1965 book '' ...

. It focused on corporate corruption during the run up and aftershock of the

Enron Enron Corporation was an American Energy development, energy, Commodity, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both re ...

debacle, and eventually merged into an anti-war group led by

Kevin Zeese Kevin Bruce Zeese (October 28, 1955 – September 6, 2020) was an American lawyer, U.S. Senate candidate and political activist. He worked to end the war on drugs and mass incarceration, and was instrumental in organizing the 2011 Occupy encam ...

following the 2004 elections. At that time, it changed its website domain from a "democracyrising.org" to "democracyrising.us". It was then that it became a member of

United for Peace and Justice United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. Its web site hosted

's interactive blog and one by

, director of the organization and a 2006 U.S. Senate candidate in Maryland.American Chronicl
"In Maryland, Kevin Zeese Takes On The Power Brokers"
, (October 2005) The organization folded in late 2007.

References

External links

November 2002 democracyrising.org web site from Archive.org

October 2007 DemocracyRising.US web site from Archive.org

Protesting Capitalism on Wall Street- October 7th, 2002 from TheNation.com

Failed re-election candidate may seek Green Party presidential nomination September 12th, 2002 from OnlineAthens.com

* ttp://portland.indymedia.org/en/2001/08/2805.shtml How Nader made me an anarchist August 7th, 2001 from Indymedia.org
Ralph Nader Democracy Rising Rallies 2001-2003 from GWU.edu
{{US-org-stub Organizations established in 2001 American political blogs Anti–Iraq War groups Ralph Nader Organizations disestablished in 2007