Release: World Without War Action Camp, Rally, March in Portland Saturday
For Immediate Release
Friday March 14, 2008
Contacts:
Kelly Campbell, American Friends Service Committee
503-720-1815 (mobile), kcampbell@afsc.org
Rachel Larson, Physicians for Social Responsibility
971-533-5380 (mobile), rachel@oregonpsr.org
NEWS RELEASE
March 15 World Without War: A Day of Resistance and Hope
All Day Action Camp, March and Rally to “Stop the War, Bring the Troops Home Now!”
(PORTLAND) After five years of war in Iraq, the PDX Peace coalition and many other groups and individuals are organizing “World Without War: a Day of Resistance and Hope” to be held on Saturday, March 15th at the South Park Blocks.
Where: South Park Blocks (SW Park and Madison), Portland, Oregon
When: Saturday, March 15, 2008
10:00-6:00 Action Camp featuring workshops, exhibits, performances, music
2:00 Rally and March
Interviews with speakers, performers and organizers are available throughout the day.
Media check-in is at north end of the main stage in front of the Portland Art Museum.
Rally speakers include:
* Zahra Sultan, Iraqi Social Worker, director of Saverefugees.org
* Sean Lewis, First Gulf War Veteran, member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace Chapter 72
* Bob Watada, father of Lt. Ehren Watada, the first Commissioned Officer to refuse deployment to Iraq
* Tom Chamberlain, President of Oregon AFL-CIO
* Andrea Cano, Executive Director, Oregon Farm Worker Ministry
* Youth organizers Terell Wilson, freshman at Madison H.S. and Lizo Wallace, United Voices Youth Program
* Barbara Dudley, Professor in the Hatfield School of Government, former Executive Director of Greenpeace USA
The rally will be hosted by spoken word artist Walidah Imarisha and Megan Brooker of the PDX Peace Coalition and Military Families Speak Out.
Action Camp
Participants of all ages are encouraged to come early to take part in the Action Camp from 10:00-6:00. Nine "Action Camp" tents organized by dozens of area organizations will provide workshops, activities, performances and exhibits on:
Military Resistance and Recovery
Costs of War
Iraqi Crisis Under US Invasion
PDX Youth M.O.V.E
Stop the War on Working People at Home and Abroad
US out of the “Middle East”: Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran…
No Human Being is Illegal! Defend Human Rights for All!
Palestine: 40 Years of Occupation and 60 years of Dispossession
Visions of Peace: Building Bridges of Faith to a World Without War
World War None: the PDX Peace Music Festival
A talented and diverse anti-war music line up including March Forth Marching Band, Mic Crenshaw, Commotion with Ben Darwish, Dave Rovics and more.
For more information, including maps of the march and the action camp, schedule of the day, speaker bios, performer bios, detailed description of the action camp, visit http://www.pdxpeace.org
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PDX Peace is a coalition of organizations and individuals in the greater Portland, Oregon area building a movement for peace and justice. Our immediate and vital goal is ending the war in Iraq and bringing US troops home. We are committed to US policies based on democratic principles, human rights, and nonviolent resolution of conflict.
March 15 cosponsors include: AFSCME Local 88; Alliance for Democracy; American Friends Service Committee; American Iranian Friendship Council; Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights; Amnesty International, Portland Group 48; Ash Creek Press; Augustana Lutheran Church; Bridge City Friends Meeting; Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Portland; The Bus Project; Center for Intercultural Organizing; Church of Scientology Youth for Human Rights; Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon; Education Without Borders; Episcopal Peace Fellowship; First Unitarian Peace Action Committee; Freedom Socialist Party; GlobalFam; Hawthorne Wellness Center; ILWU Local 5; International Socialist Organization; IUPAT Local 10; Jim Brunke Real Estate; Justice and Witness Ministry Team, Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ; KBOO; Laughing Horse Books; Lewis and Clark Students for a Democratic Society; Living Earth; Lutherans for Justice in the Holy Land & Social Ministries of Central Lutheran Church; The Master Peace, organic clothing store; The Medical Empowerment Program & Counseling Services, Inc.; Metanoia Peace Community, United Methodist Church; Mirador Community Store; MoveOn PDX Council; Multnomah Monthly Meeting's Peace and Social Concerns Committee; Music Millennium; National Association of Social Workers, Oregon Chapter; No More Victims Portland Project; Nonviolent Peaceforce; Old Wives' Tales Restaurant; Oregon AFL-CIO; Oregon PeaceWorks; Oregonians Against the War; Pacific Green Party of Oregon; La Paloma Clothing; Peace, Justice and Environment Committee, Portland Mennonite Church; People of Faith for Peace; Physicians for Social Responsibility; Portland Area Rethinking Schools; Portland Books to Prisoners; Portland Code Pink; Portland Peace Memorial Park; Portland Peaceful Response Coalition; Portland Solidarity; Presents of Mind; Puppetista Project; Radical Women; Recruiter Watch PDX; St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church; Save Refugees; SEIU Local 49; SEIU Local 503; September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows; Sisters of the Road; Spirit Moves Peace Center; Students for Unity; Tikkun Olam (Social Action) Committee of P'nai Or; Tom Dwyer Automotive Services, Inc.; United Voices; Vancouver for Peace; Veterans for Peace Ch. 72; West Hills Friends Peace Committee; White Feather Peace Community; Women's International League for Peace and Freedom--PDX Branch; Workers International League; Willamette Reds; www.AllRightOnTheMoney.org; Yamhill Valley Peacemakers; Amanda Fritz; Jeff Bissonnette for Portland City Council; Jeff Merkley for U.S. Senate; Joe Walsh for Congress; John Frohnmayer for U.S. Senate; John Olmsted for Congress (G.P.); Oregon Democratic Party's Peace Caucus; Oregonians for Ron Paul; Steve Novick for Senate. Endorsers: ActivismResource.org; Collateral Repair Project; Committee to Elect Mark Welyczko; Community Independence Project; Community Alliance of Lane County; Direct Aid; East Timor Action Network; Jobs with Justice; Libertarian Party of Oregon; Oregon Action; Oregon Peace Institute; The Portland Alliance Newspaper; Rural Organizing Project; Senator Avel Gordly; Social Action Council of Michael Servitus Unitarian Universalist Fellowship; St. Mary's Peace Club; Stumptown Earth First!; Witness for Peace Northwest.