About 2 dozen people attended the screening of LinkTv and and Amnesty International's short Movie, "Torture On Trial". The screening was sponsored by the St. Augustine Chapter of Amnesty International, St. Augustine People for Peace and Justice and Central Florida Veterans For Peace. The screening was part of Amnesty International's Torture accountability Week.

St. Augustine People for Peace and Justice and Central Florida Veterans For Peace set up a Memorial Wall bearing the 4290 names of the "official" military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. The names of civilian employees of the military, CIA employees and CIA civilian contractors were not listed. Added to the list was Army Specialist Ahmed Qusai al-Tai. He was reported as MIA/POW on 10/23/06 in Iraq after he was captured by the Mahdi Army. The event was held as an alternative to the politicized, commercialized, militarized, greeting card version of this important holiday. It was a quiet sharing among ourselves and others of the memories of loved ones we have lost to war. Among those stopping by were several current and former members of the military, including the Florida National Guard. Food Not Bombs provided lunch.

About a dozen and a half people participated in Grandparents For Peace' "Mothers Day For Peace Picnic in the Plaza." The event was co-sponsored by St. Augustine People for Peace and Justice and Central Florida Veterans for Peace. Ms. Carrie Johnson did a dramatic Reading of Julia Ward Howe's Mothers Day Proclamation and Kathy Bracewell did a short presentation on CodePink: Women for Peace. Food Not Bombs provided lunch.

St. Augustine People for Peace and Justice, Central Florida Veterans For Peace, and Grandparents For Peace participated locally as part of the nationwide action “Beyond War, A New Economy Is Possible,” to demand an end to the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to find a fair and just solution to the economic crisis. As Dr. King spoke out on April 4th, 1967 against the war in Vietnam and presented a broader vision of a world without war, poverty or racism, we gathered to speak out against our current wars and to demand the fulfillment of his dreams. Rev Lorenzo Laws began the gathering, interspersing portions of the 1967 speech with the lively kind of current relevance and historical fact that only a preacher in the tradition of Dr. King could do. Rev. Laws was followed by a number of people who spoke about the wars, our current economic crises and some of the on-going actions to improve our community. (list below)

The audience was an unsurprising disappointment. About 25 people at any given time, mostly the speakers and their families. A few new faces came and went, tourists and locals. Many tourists actually walked between the speakers and the audience, continuing their bland meaningless conversations about where to buy the best genuine-St. Augustine-made-in-China-sweatshop souvenirs, seeming annoyed that we would dare to use our own public space in an attempt to improve our community. And of course St. Augustine's finest paid us a visit, in the person of Cpl. Ethridge. After long multiple radio and phone calls he advised us that our banners were illegally attached to a valuable historic structure in violation of city ordinances and needed to be removed immediately.

Beyond War, St. Augustine - 04/04/09


Beyond War, A New Economy Is Possible - St. Augustine - 04/04/09

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Chad Smith's report in the St. Augustine Record

Photo by Daron Dean, St. Augustine Record

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Speakers:

Rev. Lorenzo Laws, Pastor Mt. Zion AME Church
Tom Santoni, Veterans For Peace - speech text
Rafe Pilgrim, Veterans For Peace - speech text (on OpEd News)
Faye Armitage, Economist, Former Congressional Candidate
Russell Harper, President IBEW Local 177, President Central Labor Council
Zollie Goodman, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Winter Soldier
Mary Lawrence, Co-founder of People United to Stop Homelessness - speech text
Sandi Newman, Society of St. Andrew's NE Florida Gleaning Project
Cole Lee, Youth and Young Adult Farmworkers Ministry
Chris Greer, St. Augustine Bicycle Collective
Dana Usina, Food Not Bombs

On Saturday, March 28th, 120 to 150 activists from across the state marched through downtown Melbourne against US wars and interventions. These include the occupation in Iraq, the escalation in Afghanistan, attacks against Pakistan, our support of Israel’s aggressions against the people of Palestine, and others.

A rally was held at the end point at Melbourne City Hall. A diverse collection of speakers and performers from across the state addressed the crowd. Food Not Bombs did what they do best and shared food with anybody who was hungry. Raging Grannies sang songs against profiteering and the ludicrous escalation planned in Afghanistan. A radical minister spoke of the need for revolution. A couple of long-time activist spoke of the need to support freeing the Cuban 5. A speaker from the Miami Mayday Alliance called on the crowd to join the upcoming May 1st action in Miami.

The rally was organized by the Brevard County based Patriots for Peace. Broward AntiWar endorsed this action along with 66 other groups from across the state.

After the march and rally, a group of about 30 to 40 of us gathered on the balcony of a local bar to form the Florida Peace Congress. We hope that in forming this organization we can offer better communication and support for peace and social justice events throughout the state. The first act of the new group was to endorse the Mayday event in Miami.

It was a great day for the peace and justice communities in Florida. Not only did we boisterously and enthusiastically march and rally against wars and injustice, we laid the groundwork for uniting for greater work in the future.

Jim Sanders
Member, Broward AntiWar Coalition

Pictures from Marilyn and Carol

Florida March For Peace, Melbourne - 03/28/09

Text of Mary's Speech

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Keyonna Summer's report in the Florida Today

Photo Gallery by Christina Stuart, Florida Today



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Photos Courtesy of Progressive Democrats of Indian River County
Click on Photo to see more