------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 16, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
JAN. 11 PROTEST IN LOS ANGELES: MOBILIZING AGAINST RACIST ROUND-UPS AND WAR By Preston Wood Los Angeles As the Bush administration rushes toward a war on Iraq, activists across Southern California are not sitting still. In recent weeks, they have been roused to protest by massive detentions of Muslim and Arab immigrants in this area--where the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II concentration camps is not forgotten. Before that, unions responded with solidarity when the Bush administration threatened union busting in the name of "homeland security" if longshore workers walked out to get a contract. Now these communities are preparing to mobilize on Jan. 11 in a rally that will address these issues in the context of the war drive. The rally is a kick-off to national anti-war marches on both coasts on Jan. 18. Bus tickets for the West Coast march and rally in San Francisco are selling like hotcakes here. Initiated by the ANSWER Coalition in Los Angeles, the Jan. 11 demonstration is being jointly organized by four major anti-war formations in the area: ANSWER, the Coalition for World Peace, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, and the Not In Our Name Project. The rally will include such noted speakers as Miguel Contreras, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor; actor and activist Martin Sheen; Ron Kovic, Vietnam veteran and author of "Born on the Fourth of July"; Michel Shehadeh, Free Palestine Alliance; James Lafferty, National Lawyers Guild; Gloria La Riva, National Committee to Free the Five Cubans Held in U.S. Jails; performers will include world-renowned singer Jackson Browne, spoken- word artist Jerry Quickly; the Burning Star band and others. Labor unions, immigrant-rights and grassroots community organizations are among the many that have endorsed the demonstration and are actively mobilizing for it. They include the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates, Centro CSO, Service Employees Local 660, International Action Center, Korea LA Forum, Mindullae, Sweatshop Watch, Garment Workers Center, BAYAN and SOL Foundation. "The phones are ringing off the hook," said Bobby Bastarache, one of the coordinators at the ANSWER organizing center "People are so happy that a major anti-war event is going to be happening in Los Angeles. They feel that we're at a crossroads of history, and they want to look back and know that they did something to stop the war. January 11 in Los Angeles is the perfect kick-off event for the National Day of Demonstrations on Jan. 18 in San Francisco and Washington, D.C." Large contingents will include a broad array of immigrant-rights organizations, a "Healthcare, Not Warfare" contingent by SEIU Local 600 and other health-care organizations, and a contingent of youths and students that is assembling at L.A. Trade Tech College and marching to join the main rally. The march will assemble in Downtown Los Angeles at the corner of Broadway and Olympic Blvd. at 11 a.m. After an opening rally, the demonstrators will march through downtown to the Federal Build ing for a closing rally. For more information, call ANSWER Los Angeles at (213) 487-2458 or go to www.answerla.org on the web. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
