Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Anti-war Rally in Providence Saturday March 19

MAJOR ANTI-WAR MARCH AND RALLY IN PROVIDENCE ON MARCH 19, 2011:
“END THE WARS NOW! -- US OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST!!”
Media Contacts:
Jared Paul (401) 345 7705 / jaredpaul1@gmail.com
Paul Hubbard (401) 580 4518 / joeypaul@cox.net
Important note to the media: Press attending Armory Park Rally should be ready to film at 2:00 PM, not at 1:00 PM, as set up may still be taking place and the crowd is expected to swell around 2:00 PM in preparation for the peace march downtown.
On March 19th, a diverse group of Rhode Islanders, young and old, will be taking to the streets to demand an end to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The date marks the 8th anniversary of the illegal invasion of Iraq, and community action groups across the state have planned a day of poetry, music, workshops, and protest to demand an end to all U.S. military occupations and air strikes in the Middle East and around the world.

An opening rally will be held at Armory Park (Dexter Street and Division Street) featuring Iraqi, Afghan, Egyptian, and Palestinian speakers, as well as poetry from the Providence Youth Poetry Slam Team and the Brown University WORD performance crew. There will also be music by local anti-war songwriters Joyce Katzberg, Jan Luby, Alan Hague, and Roz Raskin, as well as an all-star line up of Providence radical marching band members and puppet/performance art street theater from the Big Nazo Lab.

After the rally, a march will leave from the park, stopping at several sites in downtown Providence to peacefully protest military recruitment practices, weapons manufacturing, and civil rights violations against community organizers. There will also be a special vigil to remember the civilian and soldier deaths resulting from the occupations, as well as to honor Bradley Manning, the U.S. military whistleblower who has been in solitary confinement for over eight months without a trial.

This is expected to be the largest Providence anti-war protest of the year. Recent polls have clearly shown that the majority of U.S. citizens are against the war in Afghanistan and are in favor of drastically reducing military spending. On March 19, Rhode Islanders are gathering in the spirit of democratic people’s movements from Egypt to Wisconsin to demand an end to occupation, and to call for taxpayer dollars to be spent on schools, roads, and jobs, not for endless war and predator drones. All are welcome!

WHEN AND WHERE:
Saturday, March 19th
1PM: Rally at Armory Park: Music, Poetry, Speakers
*(Located at the corner of Division St. & Dexter St.)
2PM: March For Peace (to downtown)
4PM: Community Dinner (Potluck Welcome!) at DARE Community Action Center *(Located at 340 Lockwood St.)
5PM: Workshops: “From Activism To Organizing” & “Students For Justice In Palestine”
6:30PM: “Know Your Rights” Legal Clinic with members of the National Lawyers Guild and the D.A.R.E. Behind The Walls committee *Childcare available during workshops & clinic!

Endorsing organizations include: Anti-War Action, Students for Justice in Palestine (Brown University Chapter), Rhode Island Mobilization Committee to Stop War and Occupation, International Socialist Organization

For further information please visit:
RIMC on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/RIMCfacebook
RIMC Website: http://www.ristopwar.com/

RI Mobilization Committee to Stop War and Occupation
http://ristopwar

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Your post on the anti-war rally in Providence puts your blog in bad light - I spent too much time living in socialist countries to have much luck with socialists organizations in RI amd the US - being against war is fine but these groups have much broader agendas.

Also one of the objectives of this rally is to honor Bradley Manning, the U.S. military whistleblower who has been in solitary confinement for over eight months without a trial.

Whistleblower is not quite the right term.