STATEWIDE MASS MARCH AGAINST THE OCCUPATION!
SAT, JULY 3RD 4 PM RICHMOND, VA MONROE PARK
PLAN TO COME SHOW YOUR OPPOSITION TO WAR & TORTURE

WEEKLY PLANNING MEETINGS SUNDAYS, 7 PM IN RICHMOND
(AT THE PACE CENTER, 700 W FRANKLIN)

As violence and casualities escalate, massacres and torture are exposed,
and the Bush regime's lies become bolder and more dangerous, people all
over the country are waking up and making noise. In Virginia, a new
anti-war coalition has formed, with the goal of bringing the troops home
from Iraq. To this end, individuals and organizations are uniting and
planning a campaign to target Virginia-based war profiteers like CACI (the
mysterious VA private company that ran the torture, rape and murder
program at Abu Ghraib prison--- and got off scott free, with a hefty
paycheck, for it). In addition, the coalition is planning to bring
hundreds, and if possible thousands, of people from communities all over
Richmond and Virginia into the streets of the capitol on Saturday, July
3rd. We need you there in the streets with us. The stakes could not be
higher and we simply have no way to end this but to act for ourselves.

We plan to gather at Monroe Park (at the corner of Main and Belvedere,
near VCU in Richmond) on Saturday July 3rd at 4 PM, for a meal and
spirited rally. After that, we will engage in a nonviolent, permitted
march throughout downtown Richmond, visiting the offices of several
nefarious war profiteers -- ranging from the local racist newspaper to
torture-for-profit outfit CACI, to statewide politicians' offices -- to
denounce the violence their oil imperialism has mired us in, and show our
strength in numbers in favor of PEACE AND JUSTICE NOW! After the march,
we will head back to Monroe Park, where in the spirit of the weekend we
will have a fun, social antiwar cookout, with music and entertainment into
the evening.

The march is being organized by a broad coalition, ranging from antiwar
military families to Muslim students to homeless organizations to student
living wage groups -- but is united in the demand that real sovereignty
means no occupation for profit!, that supporting the troops means bringing
them home now!, and that Virginian communities need money for living wage
jobs, health care and education, not to fund torture, war and
occupation!!! We want our support for occupations to end, from Iraq to
Afghanistan to Haiti to Palestine!

And while we have a broad and diverse coalition, we NEED MORE FOLKS! No
movement has ever stopped a war without millions participating, and to
that end we are seeking involvement, ideas, and participation from antiwar
individuals and organizations all over the state and region. We hope to
see not just students, churches, progressives and radicals from Richmond
in our streets, but also religious communities from across Virginia, state
employee union members from Tidewater, peace and justice folks from
Charlottesville, and people of conscience and anger from all across the
state and southeast. Virginia is one of the most militarized and
conservative states in the US---if we can bring thousands out in force
even –here-, Bush will know his warmaking days are numbered!!

So please help us spread the word. Forward this email, or call Jen
Lawhorne at 804.643.0196, to find out more. Please try to make it to a
weekly Sunday night planning meeting if you can (Sundays, 7 PM, at the
PACE Center 700 W Franklin St in Richmond); or if you live elsewhere and
cannot make a meeting, feel free to contact the coalition's statewide
liaisons Jim at jimstraub-AT-riseup.net or Jess at jmjones_00-AT-yahoo.com, who
will work with you to make sure your voice and ideas are incorporated into
the protest. Tell a friend about the protest today. Tell five tomorrow.
Bring a dozen folks from your community, workplace, church, mosque or
synagogue to the march on July 3rd. We will only fill our country's
streets and bring this war to an end by each person teaching another; by
bringing millions of families, students, people of faith, workers,
soldiers and Virginians of all kinds into a movement against the
occupation.

See you in the streets July 3rd. See you at the victory party when we end
the war.