On October 19, thousands of activists from across the country will protest at the Pentagon to demand a radical shift in our nation's priorities and an end to the growing militarization of our country. I hope that you'll be among them. The update below provides imporant logistical information, local organizing contacts, and schedule. Please reply to this e-mail if you need more materials. Hardcopies are available from the national office. Peace, Chris Ney A Day Without the Pentagon Day Without the Pentagon Local Organizing Committees Update 2 September 23, 1998 Four Weeks to Go! Exciting developments are underway as we get closer to October 19. Puppets and banners from Bread and Puppet Theater will lead the march from Arlington Cemetery to the Pentagon. Thousands of people will join us, having traveled for hours – in some cases, for days – to reach Washington, by bus, train, plane, car and caravan. More speakers and performers are calling every day to say they'll be with us at the Pentagon on October 19. The DC-based band Jaléo will perform, and we hope to hear soon from folk singer Odetta and acapella folk/gospel/jazz group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Speakers so far include Pam Africa of Concerned Families and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Mandy Carter of the National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum, veteran peace activists Dave Dellinger and Daniel Ellsberg, Hala Maksoud of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, war tax resister Clare Hanrahan, David McReynolds of WRL, human rights journalist Allan Nairn, Puerto Rican activist Luis Nieves-Falcon, African-American veterans rights activist Greg Payton, Barbara Smith of Jobs with Peace, and speakers from YouthPeace. Media activist Mackie McLeod is working hard to get word about A Day Without the Pentagon into the alternative press, mainstream media, and cyberspace. Let us know if you've got connections with national or local writers, reporters or producers we should contact. See you on October 19! -Linda M. Thurston and Chris Ney National Organizers, A Day Without the Pentagon Get on the Bus! Join the Seattle, Washington to Washington, DC Bus Caravan The Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia (NACC), a WRL local based in Seattle, is organizing a media bus trip from Seattle to DC for A Day Without the Pentagon. NACC is looking for people who want to join the bus trip. We are asking $200/person (which covers about half the cost of the trip). We hope organizations can help raise funds to send people on the Caravan. People can also arrange for work exchanges. The bus will leave Seattle on October 9th and will arrive in DC in October 16, returning to Seattle by Oct 26th. The bus will travel from Seattle to Boise via Portland and Eugene. Then it's on to Salt Lake City, Denver, Colorado Springs, Kansas City and St. Louis. From there we'll head to Chicago, South Bend, Kent, Ohio, Pittsburgh and on to DC to shut the Pentagon down. In addition to picking people up along the way, we will hold events in Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, and Kent. If you're in any of these towns and can help organize events, let us know. We plan to do press conferences, interviews, public speaking, rallies, and marches. To get on the bus or host an event as it travels through your town, contact: John Reese or Geov Parrish Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia 4554 12th Ave. NE Seattle, WA 98105 206-547-0952 cmtc@igc.org A Day Without the Pentagon 339 Lafayette Street New York, NY 10012 800.975.9688 wrl@igc.apc.org www.nonviolence.org/wrl/nopentagon.htm Local organizing contacts for A Day Without the Pentagon Bethlehem, PA The LEPOCO Disarmament Working Group is coming to the Pentagon with five banners reading "A Day Without the Pentagon Saves $1.7 Billion". Contact Nancy Tate at 610.691.8730 Boston area Sam Diener is doing outreach in the Boston area. Contact him at 781.646.6094 or SAMDIENER@USA.NET Connecticut The Green Party bus from Eastern Connecticut leaves Willimantic on Monday, October 19th, at 12:01 am, arrives in Arlington at 8 am, and leaves Arlington at 7 pm, returning to Willimantic at 3 am on Tuesday. $35. Call Gail at 860.455.1315. Harrisonburg, Virginia Liz Abercrombie of SEAC at James Madison University is bringing a van of people to A Day Without the Pentagon. For information, contact Liz at 540.434.5766. Indianapolis, Indiana Contact Kent Moore at the Indianapolis Peace & Justice Center, 317.955.8121 Kent, Ohio Sue Jeffers and the Mad Anarchist Baker's League are doing outreach in the Kent State University community. Contact them at 330.676.9421 or mablsplace@geocities.com Maine INVERT (WRL Maine-wide local) is coordinating transportation from Maine to both the WRL Conference and the Action at the Pentagon. Contact Larry Dansiger at 207.525.7776 or invert@acadia.net New Jersey Melissa Jameson and Oliver Hydon of the Root and Branch Collective are doing outreach in Northern New Jersey. Contact them at 201.251.9591 New Hampshire Sean Donahue and New Hampshire Peace Action are coordinating outreach and transportation. Contact Sean at 603.228.0559 or nhpeaceact@igc.apc.org New York City area Chris Ney and Linda Thurston at the WRL National Office, are working with the NYC Organizing Committee. Contact them for local and national information at 212.228.0450 or wrl@igc.apc.org. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Teresa Fitzgerald is coordinating buses. Contact her at 1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102. Mario Hardy of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors is working with her. Contact Mario at 215.563.8787. Rhode Island Rhode Islanders for A Day Without the Pentagon is organizing art exhibits, entertainment and a parade on October 16 & 17. Contact Greg Gerrit for information on times & places at 401.331.0529 or gerritt@edgnet.net. Website: www.as220.org/dwp. Richmond, Virginia The Catholic Worker in Richmond is coordinating rides. For information, contact John at the General Strike Collective, 804.355.6914. Seattle, Washington The Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia is organizing a cross-country bus caravan to the Pentagon (see page 1). Contact Geov Parrish at 206.547.0952 or cmtc@igc.apc.org Syracuse, NY Syracuse Peace Council is doing outreach for A Day Without the Pentagon. Contact Beth Mosley at 315.472.5478. Vermont Joe Gainza of the American Friends Service Committee in Montpelier is organizing transportation from Vermont. Contact Joe at 802.229.2340 or afscvt@together.net Washington, DC John Judge War Resisters League 1247 E Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003 ph: 202.544.9355 Western Massachusetts Sue Dorazio is coordinating rides from Western Massachusetts. Contact her at 413.367.9356 WRL New England Regional Office Joanne Sheehan P.O. Box 1093 Norwich, CT 06360-1093 ph/fax: 860.889.5337; email: wrlne9@mail.idt.net Organizing Resources order from WRL National Office phone: 212.228.0450 or email: wrl@igc.apc.org. A Day Without the Pentagon posters (free) see page one Pentagon Action Tactical Manual ($2 each/$1 for 10 or more) Handbook for Nonviolent Action ($3 each/$1.50 for 10-50) Street Leaflets ($15/100) A Day Without the Pentagon brochure Where Does Your Income Tax Really Go? Five Deadly Myths About the Pentagon Battered by the Pentagon 15 Ways to Work for Peace Violence in Our Communities Abolish Corporate Welfare A DAY WITHOUT THE PENTAGON--LOGISTICAL INFORMATION AND SCHEDULE MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1998 A national action calling for an end to militarization of American society, major cuts in the post Cold War Pentagon budget, and funding of human needs instead. Over 100 local and national organizations are endorsing and participating in this march, rally and protest at the Pentagon. No national march has focused on the Pentagon in over a decade. Join us in calling for an end to the priorities of Congress who cut funds for health, education and welfare, and fund instead massive machinery for war and intervention at home and abroad. Challenge the militarism which is invading every aspect of our society, and supporting illegal and immoral military actions abroad. The Pentagon spends $1.7 billion a day on past, present and future wars. One day without the Pentagon could make a significant difference in meeting human needs in America. BANNER DROPS, ACTIONS 5:00 - 8:00 a.m. Banner drops will greet morning rush hour traffic coming into DC and the Pentagon. Additional actions and strategies will be discussed at the Nonviolence training on Sunday, October 18 at the Wilson Center. For details contact WRL-DC Organizing office at 202-544-9355. DEMONSTRATION GATHERING—9:00 a.m. ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY Metro access or public parking available on Arlington Memorial Boulevard. People will gather just beyond the entrance pillars to the cemetery, southwest of the traffic circle between the Cemetery and Memorial Bridge, across the Potomac from the Lincoln Memorial. Bring signs, banners and props relating to the human costs of war and violence, the health of ourselves and our planet, the welfare of our neighborhoods, the education of people not bombs, and an end to war and militarism. MARCH TO PENTAGON—10:00 a.m. NATIONAL CEMETERY TO PENTAGON Focused on the human costs of war, this march will feature mock coffins designed to represent the many US military interventions abroad. We will cross G.W. Parkway and march along the eastern border to Boundary Channel Road, then follow the edge of Boundary Channel around North Parking to the Pentagon River Side entrance, opposite the Metro stop. This route is not easily wheelchair accessible, though there is one biking path nearby. We suggested driving to River Side entrance instead for those needing wheelchair access. The Pentagon has Metro access, but due to construction it is necessary to walk around the building to get to River Side. Public parking is available on Army Navy Drive in Arlington, across from Pentagon City Mall, near the South Entrance. RALLY—11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. SPEAKERS AND MUSIC, RIVER SIDE OF PENTAGON Confirmed speakers include Dave Dellinger, Daniel Ellsberg, Mandy Carter, Pam Africa, Alan Nairn, David McReynolds, Luis Nieves-Falcon, Greg Payton, Barbara Smith, Alyn Ware, Youth Peace. Performers to be announced. This action is a legal rally on the upper parade ground near the River Side entrance. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE ACTIONS—2:00 - 5:00 p.m. ALL FIVE SIDES OF PENTAGON A series of legal and civil disobedience actions will take place on all five sides of the Pentagon relating to various themes of the demonstration. Affinity groups will form at the Non-Violence Training session on October 18 at the Wilson Center to plan these actions: HUMAN COSTS OF MILITARISM: Coffins transported from Arlington Cemetery to the Heliport Entrance will create a memorial to the victims of militarism, including veterans, international solidarity groups, survivors of domestic violence and violence against women at US bases, and victims of police abuse. FOR THE HEALTH OF OURSELVES AND OUR PLANET: The original plan for the Pentagon after WWII was to convert it to a hospital. Physicians, health care advocates, environmentalists, anti-nuclear and anti-toxics groups, and those opposing militarization of space will create a mock healthcare facility at the South Entrance. FOR THE WELFARE OF OUR NEIGHBORHOODS: The money cut from human needs to fund the Pentagon and the militarized, violent solutions to problems impact on all our communities. The Mall Entrance action will focus on the creation of jobs, housing and alternatives to violence. Homeless advocates, low-income housing promoters, anti-gun violence groups, prisoner, welfare and labor rights and union organizers will gather here. FOR SMART STUDENTS— NOT SMART BOMBS: What if education for life instead of death was a priority? Students, progressive and multicultural educators, children's advocates, youth workers, and young people's organizations will attempt to educate the Pentagon at the River Entrance. SHUT IT DOWN!: Those opposed to militarism and war in all its forms will express their protest at the Metro Entrance. This will include peace church members, peace organizations, war tax resisters and anti-militarists. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18 PEACE CONCERT & DISARM FAIR, 12 noon until 6:00 p.m.Wilson Center, 15th & Irving Sts, NW, A DC community event open to the public. This drug, alcohol and weapon-free concert and fair will feature Orange Whip, Big Village, Lucy Murphy and Friends, Jaleo, DC Freestyle Union and Lifepieces to Masterpieces, all local music and performance groups. Emcees Nkenge Toure and Ambrose Lane will be joined by speakers from local organizations working for an end to violence. $5-10 suggested donation will support the event and the October 19 action that follows. Local progressive organizations will also have literature tables at the event to interest and recruit local youth who attend. Don't miss it! (Sponsored by WRL, AFSC, DD Catholic Worker, WPC, Gray Panthers, Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Comm) NONVIOLENCE TRAINING afternoon/evening, time to be announced Wilson Center, 15th & Irving Sts., NW, DC Training in non-violent civil disobedience, arrest and legal issues will be provided by members of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, the Baltimore Emergency Response Network, and the National Lawyer's Guild. Affinity groups will form and meet following the training to plan civil disobedience actions for October 19. If you plan to take part in CD actions you need to attend this session. For more details contact WRL in DC at 544-9355, ext. 8. NATIONAL CONTACT: Chris Ney, Linda Thurston, WRL National Office, 339 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012, (212) 228-0450, (800) 975-9688, 212-228-6193 (fax) email: wrl@igc.apc.org, web: www.nonviolence.org/wrl/nopentagon.htm DC CONTACT: Jason Wallach, John Judge, DC WRL Office, 1247 E Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003, (202) 544-9355, ext. 8, (202) 584-1021 (fax) ********** War Resisters League 339 Lafayette St. New York, NY 10012 212-228-0450 212-228-6193 (fax) 1-800-975-9688 (YouthPeace and A Day Without the Pentagon) wrl@igc.apc.org web address: http://www.nonviolence.org/wrl