National and Local Speakers for Friday “Peoples’ March” Announced

Thomas Merton Center Prepares for Largest Pittsburgh Demonstration in Years

The “Peoples’ March for money for human needs, not for war”, organized by the Thomas Merton Center’s Antiwar Committee, will feature a national and international cross-section of speakers. The opening rally, at Fifth and Craft Avenues in Oakland at noon, will feature music by folk troubadour Anne Feeney and Pittsburgh’s Raging Grannies. President of the National Organization for Women (NOW) Terry O’Neill will address the G-20’s impact on women around the world.

Ngawang Tashi from the Tibetan Youth Congress will address the thousands of demonstrators, and Madea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink and Global Exchange, and Colonel Anne Wright, who resigned from the State Department in opposition to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, will issue statements to illustrate how G-20 style policies contribute to war and occupations. “Many of our speakers,” says Jessica Benner of the Antiwar Committee, “will also highlight how we the people have the power to create the change we want to see in this world.”

At 1:30pm the “Peoples’ March” march down 5th Ave. for another rally at Pittsburgh’s City-County Building on Grant Street. Tom Conway from the United Steelworkers, Jihan Gearan from the Indigenous Environmental Network, and State Senator Jim Ferlo will address the crowd on Grant Street.

After a several-month struggle to find a route acceptable to the federal government, the city of Pittsburgh, and organizers, the march route and rallying spots have been finalized, and the groups’ organizers “expect this to be the largest mobilization in Pittsburgh in many years,” says march organizer Pete Shell. Lawyers are planning to return to federal Judge Lancaster’s court this morning at 10am to ensure that the permit is issued by the city.

“This peaceful mobilization promises to be very exciting and family-friendly,” says Michelle Gaffey of the Antiwar Committee. “The march will be adorned with puppets, banners, and a marching band. We invite anyone interested in sign and banner-making to meet at the Thomas Merton Center at 5125 Penn. Ave. in Garfield at 5 pm on Tuesday.” Peace marshals have been recruited and trained to help ensure that everything goes smoothly and to avoid confrontations.

“The ‘Peoples’ March’ speakers will clarify how the policies that stem from the G-20 Summit negatively affect working people, indigenous communities, the environment, and peoples’ access to their basic needs,” explains Lacy MacAuley of the G-20 Media Support Team. “They will underscore the diversity of voices and demands from diverse populations around the globe.”

After crossing the 7th St. bridge, the march will conclude with a rally at East Park on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Organizers of the Peoples’ Summit and Peoples’ Voices will deliver the demands and solutions stemming from their events that will take place earlier in the week. “The whole world will be watching Pittsburgh this week, and we need the people to know that Pittsburghers stand in solidarity with workers, the earth, and victims of war and occupation,” says Pete Shell of the Antiwar Committee. “We need to make sure the people are seen and that their demands are heard.”

For more information about the “Peoples’ March,” go to www.pittsburghendthewar.org. For a complete list of this week’s events in opposition to the G-20, go to g20media.org and click the “Sectors” tab.

Media Contacts: Pete Shell, 412.422.7435, pshell1@earthlink.net
Edith Bell, 412.661.7149 or 412.728.3341, edith.bell4@verizon.net
www.PittsburghEndTheWar.org

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