From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Mid-Hudson Recipient List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 6:45 PM Subject: Ramsey Clark keynotes Feb. 2 rally in NYC RAMSEY CLARK NAMED KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT FEB. 2 NYC RALLY AGAINST WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM; MID-HUDSON CONTINGENT JOINS THOUSANDS FROM THROUGHOUT THE EAST COAST REGION Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark heads a list of speakers at a giant rally in New York City Saturday, Feb. 2, to oppose the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) taking place across the street in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The WEF will bring together a thousand or so corporate, financial, industrial and political leaders from the industrialized nations to devise plans for increasing their power and profits around the globe -- plans that organizers of the protest charge invariably ignore the interests of working people and the poor. The rally, for which permits have been obtained, will take place at 11 a.m. at 50th St. and Park Ave. It is organized by the Act Now to Stop War and Racism coalition (ANSWER), the group which organized the major antiwar demonstrations in Washington Sept. 29 and around the world Oct. 27. In addition to Clark, the founder of the International Action Center, speakers include Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the foremost member of Congress to take a staunch stance against the Afghanistan war; Ron Daniels, the director of the Center for Constitutional Rights; Rev. Lucius Walker, the leader of IFCO/Pastors for Peace; Pam Africa, the head of International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; Larry Adams, president of the National Postal Mail Handlers Local 300; Larry Holmes, International Action Center; Nadia Ahmed, of Students for International Peace and Justice; Asha Samad-Matias, of Muslims Against Racism and War, among many others. A special taped message from Mumia Abu-Jamal -- the African-American political prisoner -- will be played during the rally. A contingent of Mid-Hudson activists will join the thousands attending the rally. They will arrive in a chartered bus from Kingston and New Paltz, leaving between 8-8:30 in the morning. They will depart for home around 4 p.m. Information about reserving a seat may be obtained from the Mid-Hudson National People's Campaign at (845) 255-5779 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] The round-trip costs $20. Checks should be made out to the Mid-Hudson NPC and mailed to MHNPC, P.O. Box 523, Highland, NY 12528. Other out-of-town buses will arrive from the Northeast and Middle-Atlantic states, including several from upstate New York. The buses will bring passengers to within a block of the rally. The WEF has met for decades at the Swiss resort town of Davos -- but anti-globalization protesters created such a disruption last year that the annual conference was changed to New York City. Many such anti-globalization protests have taken place since the first one in Seattle over two years ago, but this will be the first major action of its kind in New York. According to a statement from the Mid-Hudson NPC, "Now it is New York's turn to say Not Welcome to these corporate tycoons and political bigwigs." There will be protest activities throughout the World Economic Forum meeting, which is scheduled from Jan. 31-Feb. 4, but Saturday, Feb. 2, is the date agreed upon by scores of organizations to launch protest events. In addition to the ANSWER rally, the Another World is Possible coalition will begin a march from 59th St. and Fifth Ave. at 1 p.m. Others plan to engage in civil disobedience in various locations. The political slogans of the ANSWER rally include No to Corporate-Centered Globalization! No to War in Afghanistan and the Middle East! No to Unemployment, Poverty and Mass Layoffs! Yes to Jobs, Education, Healthcare and Civil Liberties The ANSWER coalition was formed immediately after the Bush administration launched its "war on terrorism," and within two weeks organized a march and rally in Washington that drew some 20,000 participants. The coalition steering committee consists of the Nicaragua Network; Mexico Solidarity Network; IFCO/Pastors for Peace; International Action Center; Partnership for Civil Justice; Kensington Welfare Rights Union; Middle East Children's Alliance; Elias Rashmawi; Korea Truth Commission. Additional endorsers of the ANSWER rally include Green Party USA; School of the Americas Watch; Black Voices for Peace; Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior minister, Plymouth Congregational Church; American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice; Bishop Thomas Gumbelton, Auxiliary Bishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit; San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO); Rev. Curtis Gatewood, Durham, N.C.; Students for International Peace and Justice; Edward Asner, the actor; NYU Peace Coalition; Committee for a New Colombia; Network in Solidarity with the People of the Philippines; Filipino Workers Center, N.Y.; Millions for Mumia; Peace for Cuba; Muslim Student Association, U of Toledo; Bay Area Iranians for Peace and Social Justice; Ben Dupuy, former ambassador-at-large, Haiti; Ray LaForest, District Council 1707 AFSCME; Queers For Racial & Economic Justice; NYU Peace Coalition; U.S.A./Cuba InfoMed; I.L.W.U. Local 400, Vancouver B.C.; Western Mass. Mobilization for Mumia; Caribbean and Latin America Support Project (CLASP); Mid-Hudson National People's Campaign, and many more. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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