Subject: Rally, March, and Rally for Peace and Justice, Starting Tomorrow, OCTOBER 26, at 11:30 am! Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:03:54 -0500 Message-ID: <BDD0A3EABE40F04A8C7200805EDE5A6A0488D70E@PEPSI.uwec.edu> From: "Nowlan, Robert A." <RANOWLAN@uwec.edu>
Greetings, All:
Please remember to attend and participate in the rally, march, and
rally for peace and justice that will begin tomorrow at the UWEC Clock
Tower--at 11:30 am. The event will include an opening rally, a march
from campus to Phoenix Park and back, and a concluding rally.
Performances and speeches will begin at 11:30 am sharp, the march will
begin at 12 noon sharp, and we'll have time for approximately 30 to 60
minutes more of additional speeches and performances at the end.
Anyone is welcome to speak and/or perform, as long as we can fit you
in. Organizers will be at the clock tower at 11 am to get started
setting things up--and you can come by then and get signed up for a slot
to speak or perform, any time between 11 and 11:30--although you'll also
be welcome to do so afterward as well. And, especially for the closing
rally, anyone who feels particularly moved by that point to speak or
perform who didn't initially plan to do so will be welcome to come up
and share with everyone.
Please bring posters and signs, noisemakers, and any other march,
rally, and protest gear you think might usefully call attention to what
we're about. And bring friends!
In addition, bring ideas for chants for the march. You can pass
them on to the chant leader and we'll make sure everyone takes them up.
We've got room for a lot of them--and with the range of issues we're
addressing, plenty of scope for your creativity.
We'll have a megaphone and hopefully, a boombox with pre-recorded,
relevant music.
Also, tonight after 9 pm Sara Adams and Ryan Milbrath will be
working on preparing additional signs and posters for the march rally,
meeting at Davies Center. And they're going to do more chalking and
postering around campus tomorrow morning as well. If you are able and
interested in helping them out please do so. You can contact them as
follows:
adamssa@uwec.edu <mailto:adamssa@uwec.edu> (Sara Adams)
milbrarm@uwec.edu <mailto:milbrarm@uwec.edu> (Ryan Milbrath)
Let's aim for a good turnout. Just the other day a friend wrote to
me to tell me that I really should re-locate to Minneapolis because a
lot more of progressive -- and socialist -- interest is happening and
will happen there than in Eau Claire, and that the critical mass of
people committed and involved in the Twin Cities makes progressive --
and socialist -- work there easier for everyone involved, as well as
more fulfilling and successful as a whole. This friend expressed
serious doubt that Eau Claire, Wisconsin could ever possibly turn out
several hundred people for a rally and march of this kind. Let's prove
tomorrow that this notion is wrong--and that although we're a small city
we've got a substantial group of people deeply concerned about and
actively committed toward working on behalf of progressive values,
interests, and aims right here in Eau Claire.
In solidarity, all the best, and see you tomorrow,
Bob Nowlan
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On Thursday October 26, starting at 11:30 am, at the Clock Tower on
the UWEC Campus Mall, the UWEC Progressive Student Association and
Socialist Alternative --UWEC will be co-sponsoring a major march and
rally for peace and justice--
in opposition to the US war in Iraq, demanding the immediate
withdrawal and return of American troops,
and in relation to three upcoming ballot initiatives, this November 7:
in opposition to adding the civil union and marriage ban as an
amendment to the state constitution--and to the permanent denial of
equal access to hundreds of important legal rights for same-sex
Wisconsin couples and unmarried Wisconsin opposite-sex couples,
in opposition to the return of capital punishment to Wisconsin
for the first time in over 150 years,
and in support of an Eau Claire county health care referendum
that calls upon the state to reduce health care costs by 15% and
guarantee universal, affordable health care coverage for all Wisconsin
individuals and families by 2008.
The plan for the day's action is as follows:
brief speeches/performances at the opening of the event,
then a march from campus downtown to Phoenix Park and back to campus,
along a similar pathway to the World Can't Wait march of October 5,
and then further speeches and performances back on campus at the clock
tower.
This event is timed to precede a series of events at the Minnesota state
capitol Saturday October 28 (including a youth march at 12 noon, and a
rally at 1 pm) to protest the War in Iraq and demand the immediate
withdrawal and return of American troops. Socialist Alternative--UWEC
will be organizing a contingent to travel from Eau Claire/UWEC to
participate in these events; join them if you can.
For the march and rally on October 26, PSA and Socialist Alliance
urge as many of you as possible to please come join this effort and to
help make this a major event. 60 people participated on October 5--and
it was quite impressive. We believe we should be able easily to double,
it not in fact triple or quadruple that number. (After all, 154 people
are currently subscribers to the Progressive Student Association
listserve.) And we need your help to do so -- to make this happen. So
please come--and as necessary, leave your classes and your work to do
so, and make a statement--and do bring signs, noisemakers, and other
protest gear, including to share.
Musicians are encouraged to come and participate by playing in the
march and at the opening and closing rallies. Also, please, if you
would like to speak, or know someone who you think should or could speak
effectively to the issues we will be addressing who you can get to come
to do so, work with us to make this happen. We want everyone in the
area who is concerned about these issues--the War in Iraq and Peace in
the World, Justice and Equality for Same-Sex Couples and Non-Married
Opposite-Sex Couples, Opposition to the Death Penalty, and Quality,
Affordable Health Care for All--to come and participate on the 26th.
Those who want to speak will be welcome to do so--as long as you keep it
relatively short to allow as many as people as possible who want to to
do so to speak. And, again, musicians, are welcome to perform in
support of--and solidarity with--the causes we will be representing, and
fighting for publicly, at the march and rally.
We also need help publicizing this event on-campus and beyond.
Please do your part to spread the word, widely, and volunteer to help
out with chalking, postering, and media contact if you can.
For more information, please contact:
Dana Thompson, President, UWEC Progressive Student Association:
thompsod@uwec.edu <mailto:thompsod@uwec.edu>
Ryan Milbrath, President, UWEC Socialist Alternative:
milbrarm@uwec.edu <mailto:milbrarm@uwec.edu>
Sara Adams, Vice-President, UWEC Progressive Student Association:
adamssa@uwec.edu <mailto:adamssa@uwec.edu>
Bob Nowlan, Faculty Advisor, UWEC Progressive Student Association:
ranowlan@uwec.edu <mailto:ranowlan@uwec.edu>
In solidarity,
Bob Nowlan