From an email I received from United For Peace and Justice:
March for Peace, Justice and Democracy
Saturday, April 29 — New York CityAssemble beginning at 10:30AM — 22nd Street & Broadway
March steps off at noon
Grassroots Action Festival in Foley Square, 1:00PM-6:00PM
Maps: Assembly Area & March Route | FestivalFive days from now, people from diverse communities, from all walks of life, will fill the streets of Manhattan with outrage at our country’s current policies and hope for a better future. Unified in our determined opposition to the ongoing war in Iraq, we are also demanding new priorities and a new direction for our government.
As Bush’s approval ratings keep sinking to historic lows, we need to turn the widespread unhappiness with this administration into action for change. Will you be there with us on Saturday, April 29? Will you help us in these last few days as we spread the word far and wide?
The early weather forecast looks great (low to mid 60s, mostly sunny), but rain or shine, we are marching! Puppets, marching bands, street theater groups, and other performers will all be participating in the march. We encourage you to bring musical instruments, banners, and other things you create to help express the messages of the day. (Reminder: The NYPD only allows signs and banners to be carried on cardboard poles; wooden, metal, and fiberglass poles are prohibited.)
We still need people to volunteer with every aspect of the day — please sign up on our website or call our office at 212-868-5545.
A powerful array of activities are planned both before and after the march. Some highlights:
* Pre-March Labor Rally: 10:30 am, 19th Street between Park Ave. South and Broadway
A very large turn out is expected from the labor movement, and as people gather for this contingent, there will be a rally with representatives of the many unions involved in this effort. As part of the Festival at the end of the march, there will be a Labor tent that will help you get more involved in connecting the labor and antiwar movements.
* Pre-March Interfaith Religious Service: 9:40 am, 19th Street, between Broadway and Fifth Ave.
People from many faiths and religious traditions will gather for a shabbat service before the march begins. Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq is also organizing an afternoon of activities at their tent at the Festival after the march.
* Grassroots Action Festival: 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Foley Square.
The festival will feature 19 themed tents, providing resources from hundreds of groups and campaigns. You’ll find information about a wide variety of ways to take action against the war — from pressuring legislators to resisting military recruitment efforts to engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience. You’ll find displays and materials that will highlight the connections between the war and the struggles for women’s rights, for racial justice, for immigrant rights, and for a sustainable environment. There will also be a special tent with peace activities for children, and much more.
If you are still looking for transportation to NYC, please check the Transportation Board on our website. There are some offers of housing available on our Housing Board, and if you live in the NYC area and can offer housing, we encourage you to post your information right now.
While a great deal of work has already been done to get the word out, there is still more to do — and we need your help. Wouldn’t it be a shame to get calls on Sunday from people telling you they would have marched but they didn’t know about the demonstration? In these next few days we can make sure that doesn’t happen:
1) Send this email — or your own message — to your friends, relatives, and every appropriate email list. And be sure to send that out today!
2) Tell your friends, family, and people you work with or go to school with. There are leaflets you can download from the website, and we encourage you to make as many copies as you can and get those out to folks.
3) If you are part of a group or an organization, make sure they are contacting their members and posting the information on their websites.
4) Call in to a radio talk show over the next few days, and talk about why you are coming to NYC. Be sure to mention www.april29.org, so everyone can get the information!
Sounds like a great time if you can make it.
Thanks so much for front paging this.
I’ll be there with bells on. Have been e-mailing and calling everyone I know in NYC and environs trying to get a large turnout. It’s going to be great!
Thanks for this information. I’m about 40 or so miles north of the city, I hope to make it there.
I expect ask and curly, possibly also the asklets to be there.
From the comments, it seems that we may be several Tribbers there. The actual march starts at noon – should we try to hook up and march together?
We could meet at a cafe just outside of the assembly area.
OK, so I’ll be there.
At Pete’s Tavern – E 18th St/Irving Place – from 11am, wearing my Bootrib t-shirt (check map-link in diary).
Anyone else?
I’m going to try and make it too. No promises this time though. That backfired on me last time.
Thanks for front paging this Steven. And since I never said this the other day. Thanks also for your beautiful diary about this community. Who says your’e not particularly passionate? ;o)
Peace
Yeah, I’ll be there as well–let me see if I remember to wear the bells this time!
I very much wanna go, but I’m tied up here for the weekend. Looking forward to recaps from the community though.
Is sending a bus. I won’t be on it. Already gave my travel quota for the year. But a friend from the local peace movement will be there, with camera. Good luck. Stay safe. Hope you have seven figures, and it actually cracks the MSM.
The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing is primarily directed to sexual justice and healing issues, but remembers that these issues are profoundly affected by the larger brokenness in the world, and supports the March for Peace, Justice, and Democracy.
Read Rev. Haffner’s blog post on the march at: http://debrahaffner.blogspot.com/2006/04/iraq-darfur-and-showing-up.html
Or, visit the Religious Institute’s homepage at http://www.religiousinstitute.org