[Peace-discuss] Fw: Reportback on June 5 Coast to Coast People's Speak Outs in DC, SF and LA

[jencart at mailstation.com]

Just in case you weren't INUNDATED w/ info about this, dwarfing even the deification of Ronald Reagan......

-----Forwarded Message-----
From: ANSWER at InternationalANSWER.org
Sent: Jun 8, 2004 1:49 PM
To: jencart at mycidco.com
Subject: Reportback on June 5 Coast to Coast People's Speak Outs in DC, SF and LA

20,000+ JOIN JUNE 5 COAST TO COAST PEOPLE'S SPEAK
OUTS IN DC, SF & LA

More than 20,000 people participated in June 5
Coast to Coast Speak Truth to Power rallies in
Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The
demonstrations were sponsored by the A.N.S.W.E.R.
Coalition. While the main demand of the
demonstrations was to immediately withdraw all U.S.
and foreign troops from Iraq, the demonstrations
also supported the Palestinian people's struggle
against colonial occupation, including the right
to return; called for an end to the U.S.
occupation of Haiti and a restoration of the
democratically elected President Jean Bertrand
Aristide, who was overthrown by a U.S.
orchestrated coup; and voiced opposition to the
Bush administration's war against social, economic
and civil rights at home.

See below for a link to media coverage of the
protests.

In Washington DC, 5,000 people participated in
the People's Speak Out in front of the Bush White
House and then carried out a militant march right
to the doorstep of the home of Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld. In San Francisco, nearly 10,000
people took to the streets, and in Los Angeles, 7,
000 people carried out a spirited march and rally.

Speeches and messages at the Washington DC, Los
Angeles and San Francisco rallies included Michael
Berg; actor and activist Danny Glover; Martinza
Castillo, Carlos Mejia and Norma Castillo, all
relatives of Camillo Mejia, a soldier and
conscientious objector to the Iraq war;
Congresswoman Maxine Waters; Ron Kovic, author of
Born on the Fourth of July; Hussein Agrama, Free
Palestine Alliance; Gloria Jackson, mother of U.S.
soldiers that just returned from Baghdad; Sue
Niederer, mother of U.S. soldier killed in Iraq;
Serge Lilavois, National Popular Party (Haiti)
Support Committee; Fernando Suarez del Solar,
father of U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraq; former U.S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark; Rev. Graylan Hagler,
Senior Minister at Plymouth Congregational Church,
President of Ministers for Racial, Social,
Economic Justice; Brenda Stokely, Co-Chair of New
York City Labor Against the War, President of
Local 215 AFSCME; Pierre Lavoffiere, Haiti Action
Committee; Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, Muslim
American Society Freedom Foundation; Deborah
Potter, S.I.S.T.E.R.S. (Sisters In Solidarity To
End Repression Secret Evidence, Spying, Search and
Seizures - a Muslim woman's organization); Ismail
Kamal, Muslim Students Association of U.S. and
Canada; Yoomi Jeong, Korea Truth Commission; Omar
Sierra, Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle; Macrina
Cardenas, Mexico Solidarity Network; California
State Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg; West
Hollywood Mayor John Duran; Lera Kiswani, Free
Palestine Alliance; Walter Johnson, San Francisco
Labor Council; Henry Clark, West County Toxics
Coalition; and many more.

In Washington DC, the mood of the demonstrators
was undeterred by pouring rain and thunderstorms.
The demonstrators marched through working class
neighborhoods and were greeted with the support of
people as they came out of their homes, workplaces,
coffee shops and restaurants. Then the crowd
marched to the wealthy neighborhood where Donald
Rumsfeld lives in a $3.5 million house. As the
crowd approached the neighborhood, the police put
up a blockade to try to prevent the crowd - who
came from cities across the East Coast, South and
Midwest, including Charlotte, North Carolina;
Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Saint
Helena Island, South Carolina; West Chester,
Pennsylvania; and more - from reaching the
Secretary of Defense's residence. The people
refused to accept the police's illegal effort to
stop them and were eventually able to march right
up to the doorstep of Rumsfeld's residence.

The demonstrations received widespread media
coverage, both in the United States and around the
world. See below for a link to several major
articles.

The June 5 protests are the first step in a
Summer of Protest and Resistance.

On April 15, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition called
for demonstrations to take place at the end of
June exposing the Bush administration's phony
transfer of sovereignty in Iraq as nothing but a
cover for the continued occupation. Other
organizations have now joined in issuing calls for
demonstrations to take place in the days leading
up to and on June 30. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
urges activists everywhere to stage protests,
rallies and other actions in solidarity with the
people of Iraq and to call for the immediate
withdraw of all U.S. and foreign troops from Iraq.
To list your city's June 30 action on the A.N.S.W.
E.R. website, fill out the form at
www.answercoalition.org/campaigns/j30/event.html

The third planned step in the Summer of Protest
and Resistance is for a mass mobilization on
Sunday, July 25 outside the Democratic National
Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. If elected,
Kerry and the Democrats have pledged to continue
the criminal occupation of Iraq and to add tens of
thousands of additional U.S. troops for that
purpose.

The Summer of Protest and Resistance will
culminate with a massive protest in New York City
on Sunday, August 29, timed to coincide with the
Republican National Convention. The A.N.S.W.E.R.
Coalition and many other anti-war and progressive
groups are planning for huge demonstrations in New
York City on August 28, August 29 and throughout
the week of the conventions.

To read the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Call to Action
for protests at the DNC and RNC, and to endorse,
go to
www.answercoalition.org/campaigns/dncrnc/index.
html

The anti-war movement is getting stronger and the
Bush administration and the supporters of the Iraq
war are getting weaker. We need your help to carry
out all of the organizing work in the next few
months.

Please make a generous donation today to help
continue the work of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
and the anti-war movement. We are grateful to the
many people who have donated in the past and we
urge you to consider making another vital
contribution today. If you are one of those who
have never donated, please consider making a
financial contribution now. To make an online
contribution over our secure server, go to http:
//www.answercoalition.org/donate.html , where you
can also find information about how to write
checks.

To see MEDIA COVERAGE of the JUNE 5 PROTESTS, go
to
http://www.answercoalition.
org/news/update/060704j5media.html

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
www.ANSWERcoalition.org
info at internationalanswer.org
Washington 202-544-3389
New York 212-633-6646
Los Angeles 323-464-1636
San Francisco 415-821-6545

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