The Coalition Against the Marcos Dictatorship was a North America-based antiimperialist organization that was at the center of the international movement opposing the dictatorship of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos from the 1970s. CAMD changed its name to Committee to Advance the Movement for Democracy and Independence (CAMDI) in February 1986, after the People Power Revolution toppled the corrupt and brutal Marcos regime. History Following the proclamation of martial law in the Philippines, the Katipunan ng mga Demokratikong Pilipino (KDP) was established in July 1973 by young activists and students in Santa Cruz, California. It had a dual program of supporting the national democratic revolution in the Philippines and fighting for social justice in the United States. Its founders wrote: “[In] the struggle for national democracy in the Philippines,” the KDP must address the “exploitation and racist oppression of U.S. monopoly-capitalism” in America and in the Philippines. In 1974, the KDP was among various anti-martial law groups to petition the U.S. Congress to stop support for Marcos. The campaign was followed by the first national anti-martial law conference in Chicago. The conference established the National Coordinating Committee of the Anti-Martial Movement, which later became the Anti-Martial Law Coalition (AMLC) in New York. The AMLC set up its task force in Washington, D.C. to act as a watchdog on congressional action and to help coordinate mass pressure campaigns. It also developed policy positions and conducted patient work with congressional personnel to help sway opitions. Expansion Local formations of AMLC and anti-martial law alliances were developed in various cities to allow the participation of individuals who were not members of existing anti-martial law groups, such as the Movement for a Free Philippines (MFP) and the Friends of the Filipino People (FFP). KDP leader and AMLC organizer Rene Ciria-Cruz wrote: AMLC launched well-coordinated campaigns, educating the community and non-Pilipino sectors on the plight of political prisoners, the U.S. motivation in supporting the regime, Marcos' maneuvers for legitimacy and more... These campaigns took the form of petition drives, demonstrators, Christmas caroling, speaking tours of exiled or deported oppositionists, and fund-raisers for the workers movement. The AMLC also sent human rights delegations to the Philippines, and during the rigged 1978 election, staged occupations of Philippine consulated in five cities. After Martial Law and Renaming In 1981, after the formal proclamation of martial law was lifted, AMLC became the Coalition Against the Marcos Dictatorship (CAMD), and had