From: ww@nyxfer.UUCP
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Subject: King Day Protests:Roundup
Date: 26 Jan 93 07:44:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:9syyXB9w165w@nyxfer.uucp:96935037:000:3768
Nf-From: nyxfer.uucp!ww    Jan 25 23:44:00 1993


Subject: King Day Protests:Roundup
From: nyxfer!ww (Workers World Service)


Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit


King Day actions protest racism, layoffs, war

By Sharon Ayling

Thousands of people passing through busy midtown Manhattan Jan. 
18 on their way home from work or shopping were surprised by the 
presence of a lively outdoor rally against racism and 
unemployment marking Martin Luther King Day. In spite of the 
bitter cold, many stopped to listen to the rally called by the 
Job Is a Right Campaign of the Movement for a People's Assembly.

Organizer Larry Holmes opened the rally as 150 circled the 
picketline: "Ten million people are without jobs and millions 
more are forced to work part-time. This is a national crisis that
requires extraordinary action. President-elect Clinton has the 
authority to put people back to work. 

"Our Job Is a Right Campaign is calling on Clinton to order 
companies to halt layoffs and plant shutdowns and to rehire 
laid-off workers. And Clinton must make good on his promise to 
create decent paying jobs by starting a massive national public 
works program, especially in the areas of health care, education 
and housing."

When the Pentagon bombed Iraq a few days before the rally, 
organizers expanded the event's focus. Speaker Gavrielle Gemma 
from the International Action Center hit the Bush administration 
for once again "choosing the anniversary of Martin Luther King's 
birthday to launch a massive bombing of Iraqi cities. This newest
attack on Iraq is a racist outrage and an insult to the memory of
Dr. King, who stood for peace and social justice. "During the war
over 200,000 died," said Gemma. "Today civilians are dying again.
This is a rich man's war against a Third World country."

Speaker Teresa Gutierrez of the IAC asked: "Why is it that the 
government can find billions of dollars every time it wants to 
bomb the cities of Iraq but says it has to cut funds for cities, 
jobs, housing, education, and health care here at home? The 
reason is that the Bush administration, and apparently now the 
Clinton administration, has made corporate profits its top 
priority rather than meeting the needs of the people.

Speaker Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General and author of 
the book "The Fire This Time," which documents U.S. war crimes 
against Iraq, called the bombing a "criminal act" and said that 
the "Bush administration is in violation of U.S. and 
international law. Bush is attempting to justify a military 
presence in the region by building a renewed fear of Iraq. 

"We have to stand firm like Dr. King did against racism and war. 
We must liberate government from militarism if we are to have any
hope for jobs."

Other rally speakers included Miguel Maldonado, Committee for 
Immigrant Rights, Rebeca Toledo, lesbian rights activist, Hillel 
Cohen, Local 1199 delegate, Gary Phaneuf, Staten Island Stand 
Against the Klan, and Kathy Boylan, Catholic Peace Fellowship.

Larry Holmes closed the rally by inviting everyone within earshot
to join the Job Is a Right Campaign, which will be holding 
rallies in major cities May 1 to mark the first 100 days of the 
Clinton administration and the one-year anniversary of the Los 
Angeles rebellion against racism and police brutality.

 
                               -30-

Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if
source is cited. For more info contact Workers World, 46 West 21st
Street, New York, NY 10010; e-mail: ww%nyxfer@igc.apc.org or
workers@mcimail.com.


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