Posted on 01/24/2003 9:44:37 AM PST by Asclepius
Hundreds to Participate in Die-In During Regional Anti-War Convergence
Sunday, January 26th, 3:30 pm, Fifth Avenue (Oakland)
The culminating event of the Regional Anti-War Convergence on the weekend of January 24-26, 2003 will be a ?die-in? in the middle of Fifth Avenue, near the Software Engineering Institute (corner of Fifth and Craig) in Oakland. Participants in the ?die-in? will wheel into the street a ten to twelve foot puppet of George W. Bush holding a missile in one hand and an oil can in the other. Hundreds of people are expected to lie down in the street around the puppet to demonstrate the humanitarian disaster that would be caused by the proposed war against Iraq being planned by the Bush administration. ?The human cost will be enormous. Over 100,00 Iraqis and 10,000 US soldiers, young men and women, could die in a full-scale military invasion and take-over of the country,? says Bette McDevitt, co-president of the Thomas Merton Center and one of the participants in the die-in.
This is not a permitted event and many of the participants are willing to risk arrest in order to get their message out to the American public. However, conversations with local police lead the organizers to believe that they will be allowed to engage in this action without disruption by the police. ?The purpose of engaging in this form of direct action in the streets is not to get arrested, but to dramatize the real human cost of this proposed war by the Bush administration. If we can complete the action without being arrested, we can all go home and watch the game,? adds Tim Vining, Executive Director of the Thomas Merton Center and one of the organizers of the die-in.
Among the participants are union members, students, members of the Raging Grannies, religious leaders and families willing to join together in this action. Jessica Staller, a University of Pittsburgh student, plans to take part in the action with her five year old daughter, Phoenix. ?The reason I choose to include my child is because war has a disastrous effect on everyone, including children,? says Staller. Those not directly participating in the die-in in the street will be able to observe from the sidewalks lining Fifth Avenue.
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For Immediate Release
Contact:
January 23, 2003
Marie Skoczylas 412-361-3022 or tmc.development@verizon.net
Radical Queers and the Pink Bloc Descend Upon the Regional Anti-War Convergence
On January 25th and 26th queer activists from the Northeast, Midwest and Mid Atlantic regions will converge upon Pittsburgh to peacefully demand an end to America's imperialistic warmonger tactics, planning three fabulous events. RESYST, a radical queer project of the Thomas Merton Center, will be hosting a workshop entitled ?Abolish Patriarchy! Abolish Gender! Abolish War!? on Saturday, January 25,12:00 pm, at the St. Regis Convergence Center - 3235 Parkview in South Oakland. The Pink Bloc will then assemble for the Parade for Peace in the South Side, meeting at Station Square at 3:00 pm. On Sunday, January 26, 12:00 pm at the corner of Fifth and Bigelow in Oakland, the Pink Bloc will host a game of Spin the Missile to demonstrate love without borders and illustrate the dangers of our government?s unchecked power through a crowd interactive street theatre performance.
The organizers say that the point of the Pink Bloc is to insert a recognizable, queer presence into the weekend. ?The term ?queer? stretches the limitations of the current gay liberation movement which has begun to strive for equality while increasing and perpetuating economic injustice,? says Marie Skoczylas, a RESYST organizer. ?To be out as queer is to assert the importance of recognizing the race, class, gender intersections into oppression that cannot be separated from the struggle to abolish heterosexism - the war on Iraq, and war in general, is illustrative of those other oppressions.?
The workshop will be an interactive session that focuses on the interconnectedness of movements and oppressions locally and globally, with an emphasis on how the everyday struggles are vital to the current movement for peace and nonviolence. ?It will be an innovative experience for people to relate through common oppressions and rethink ways to be active that are all-inclusive and therefore, more representative and effective,? says Branden Dudek, a RESYST organizer and member of the Pink Bloc. ?We feel that no group should be the scapegoat for the government's racism, bigotry, or capitalistic greed, and by organizing a queer resistance we can speak to so many people by sharing our historic liberation.?
A Pink Bloc presence at the Saturday peace parade promises to be one big pink display of celebration. The Spin the Missile action, taking place at noon on Sunday, an hour before the anti-war march and rally through Oakland, will provide an opportunity for any interested peace supporters to queer culturally constructed gender/orientation norms by showing affection free from identity divisions through the classic game of Spin the Bottle. The action will transform into a symbolic performance that illustrates the controlling tendency of the Bush administration and its seemingly indiscriminate attacks to continue as the world?s dominant superpower.
For more information about the events or to schedule interviews with the participants or organizers, call Marie Skoczylas at 412-361-3022 or email tmc.development@verizon.net. You can also visit the RESYST website at www.ThomasMertonCenter.org/RESYST.
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Voices for Peace
?The whole thing [the war] is inhumane and it defies everything we believe in?justice and fairness.??Kristin Saucedo, Radical Cheerleader
?The policy of preemptive strike undermines all principles of democracy, especially in a situation like this. Poor innocent people will be the victims of this mess while the rich, morally bankrupt members of the upper class will remain unaffected, or, worse yet, stand to profit form it.? ?Pat Thetic, member of Anti-Flag
?I volunteered for Vietnam because I believed what my government told me about Vietnam, and now we know that the government lied to me and to the nation about Vietnam.??Marty O?Malley, Veterans for Peace
?I think that the United States should use their power and resources to help people not hinder them?in other words we should be building schools not bombs.??Kate Daher, high school teacher and member of Palestine Solidarity Committee
?The war is wrong, immoral, it?s going to kill innocent people and further inflame the Arab world against the American people. Those who will be dying for the cause, the working class and the poor, will be paying for the war with their tax dollars and the blood of their sons and daughters.??Mike Stout, member of USWA Local 3403, Pittsburgh Musician?s Union Local 60-471
?The proper channels for diplomacy with Iraq just aren?t being utilized. Instead of being patient and waiting for peaceful solutions, the White House has opted for a cowboy approach to our foreign relations, without exhausting all other options.??Chad Skaggs, Progressive Freedom Alliance, Point Park College
?I want to help to build the peace and pass on its joy to those who will be following, not foster destruction and pass on to them the task of mopping up the blood.? -- Rev. Don Fisher, Pastor, St. Regis Parish, Oakland, participant in ?die-in?
?I am willing to do this as a pacifist in solidarity with those US and Iraqi citizens who will be killed if we once again fail to reject violence as a solution to violence." ? Edith Wilson, 59, teacher?s aid to special needs kids, resident of Edgewood who is participating in the die-in with her two daughters, Meredith Drahnak, 25, and Katherine Drahnak, 19 (see descriptions below)
"I am a member of the human race willing to do this as a visual demonstration of the horrors of war.? ? Meredith Drahnak, 25, secretary for a chimney sweep business and a budding peace activist.
Katherine Drahnak, 19, waitress, describes herself as ?a member of the human race and a budding peace activist.?
?The reason I choose to include my child is because war has a disastrous effect on everyone, including children.? ? Jessica Staller, University of Pittsburgh student and a participant in the die-in, along with her five-year old daughter, Phoenix.
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A complete schedule of convergence events is attached and can also be downloaded at www.thomasmertoncenter.org
See you in the streets of Pittsburgh!
Thomas Merton Center
5125 Penn Ave.
Sampling of Continuous Media Coverage
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist has come through again as a voice for peace:
http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20030124tonycolump2p1.asp
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Magazine on the concerts
http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20030124hotlist0124fnp3.asp
City Paper Coverage of "Hyperactivsm" in Pittsburgh
http://www.pghcitypaper.com/archives/newsarch/briefs/briefs03/nb0122
03.html
Pittsburgh PULP Says "Give Peace Protests a Chance" http://www.pittsburghpulp.com/content/2003/01_23/news_inshort.shtml
An example of the Regional Coverage We Are Getting http://www.observer-reporter.com/283630453617522.bsp
The Tribune-Review is Doing Their Best to Scare People Away (is this the best they can do?) http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/s_114474.html
Indymedia is Keeping Us in the National Spotlight http://www.indymedia.org
You beat me to it on that one. Shudder!
And what is it with these people and puppets?
If you do a search there's a thread here a few weeks back where the local FRepers - there's a bunch of us here BTW - were kicking the idea around.
prisoner6
DAY of SUPPORT…Tues, 1/28/03....FLY your flags (U.S., British, Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Spanish, Quatar, Kuwaiti, Australian and Japanese one, too if you have them)....and put up your BUSH/CHENEY signs, (and the BIG W's on your SUV's) for the STATE of the UNION next Tuesday, Jan 28th, if you support the President, our MILITARY and the United States of America. PSST....pass it on.
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Just proves what many have been saying (especially regarding last weekend's event in D.C.). This isn't about opposition to war, at al. It's just the usual assortment of anti-everythings, a giant catch-all for their lunacy.
I was hoping to be able to get to the parade on the South Side and carry a few signs of my own:
Parasites of Freedom
Where were you
When Clinton was
Bombing Belgrade?
and the like, but I don't see how I can make it this weekend, alas.
prisoner6
As far as me going it looks like I'll be able to squeeze a few minutes, maybe an hour. I have to talk to Oldest Son and check his work schedule. I have a feeling he's working overnight and that will make things a bit difficult, especially when you take my work schedule into consideration.
Still, it was SO rewarding when we FReeped at the City-County building and we met so many fantastic people....patriots!
prisoner6
Hi, 22° F
Lo, 2° F
Snow
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