[Peace] Fwd: Protest Announcement/invitation

[Karen Aram]

Former President Barack Obama will receive the “Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government” from the University of Illinois at Foellinger Auditorium on the UIUC campus on Friday, September 7th, 11:00 a.m. He will lecture on “authoritarian politics” and the “responsibilities of citizenship.”

In response and protest, a coalition of local peace and social justice groups plans to voice criticism of Obama’s policies and of the appropriateness of this award, beginning at 10:00 a.m. in front (on the north side) of Foellinger.

Informed speakers will address Obama’s war-making policies, especially in Libya and Syria, as well as his drone assassination program; his support—even before becoming President—for the bail-out of Wall Street bankers rather than homeowners, and his continuation of neoliberal economic policies that continued to devastate working families throughout his administration; his deportation policies, which were precedent to those of the current administration; and his betrayal of campaign promises made to the labor movement in general and regarding pro-union “card check” (Employee Free Choice Act) legislation in particular.

Speakers representing a variety of organizations will have an opportunity to counter the university administration-promoted propaganda inherent in this visit, award, and lecture; and to do so in a truthful and dignified manner that attracts attention to the popular desire for peace and justice, and away from the cult of personality that is inherent in such a visit by a primary representative of American and global ruling elites.


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