Not In Our Name – 2004-08-28 10:55:28
www.notinourname.net/rnc
For months, voices of conscience have been calling for a massive demonstration in New York’s Central Park that would serve as a great and visible repudiation of the whole Bush administration agenda.
As the No in Our Name call has put it: NO WAY! NOW HOW! NO MORE! JUST NO! NO TO THE BUSH AGENDA. See the full call and its signers at www.notinourname.net/rnc
But the government has been determined to prevent any gathering of a million or more in the only public space that can accommodate a protest of that size: Central Park. The issue is quite simply: do people still have the right to peacefully assemble and make their rejection of this whole agenda of war and repression known in a way that is visible to the whole world?
President Bush, Mayor Bloomberg, and the police say no. We say yes. And the battle for a march and rally permit is now at a critical stage. If mass public protest is now to be outlawed, we have entered a whole, new, and dangerous period of our national history. This battle is not about the grass, it’s about the future.
We need you to act right now. We want to publish a poster-size “I Say No!” ad in the New York Times on Friday, August 27, that people can cut out, post in their window, or carry with them on the march. The cost is $70,000. We are asking you to go to our web site and make an on-line contribute of $100 right away. Go to www.notinourname.net/donate.
Then come to New York on August 29 and be part of making history! Not in Our Name will have an opening (permitted) rally at 10:00 am at Union Square with Steve Earle and Saul Williams performing.
“Unconventional Heroes” Courageous Resister Awards
New York City, Thursday, August 26 ~ 7:30 pm
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University
566 Laguardia Place at Washington Square South
If you are in the New York area, we also want to call your attention to an incredible program Thursday night to honor “Unconventional Heroes” in this Age of Ashcroft. The program is presented by the Artists Network of Refuse & Resist!, and sponsored by The Nation, National Lawyers Guild/NYC Chapter, Center for Constitutional Rights, Artists Against the War, Bread and Roses 1199/SEIU, and the initiators of the Not in Our Name Statement.
The program will present “Courageous Resister Awards” to individuals from all over the country who have stood up to war and repression in unconventional ways, and will feature a distinguished roster of artists. With performing artists: Dan Bern, Blair Brown, Steve Earle, Reg E. Gaines, Andre Gregory, Vijay Iyer, Erik Jensen, Ellen McLaughlin, Omar Metwally, Odetta, and Beua Sia. Please forward this message to your NYC friends.
For more information: www.artistsnetwork.org
The Not in Our Name Project needs your tax-deductible support!
Not in Our Name
PO Box 20221
Greeley Square Station
New York, NY 10001-0006
phone: 212-760-1722
email: info@notinourname.net
www.notinourname.net
