CITIZEN ACTIVISTS GO TO CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE: SOWING SEEDS OF HOPE FOR CHANGE

CITIZEN ACTIVISTS GO TO CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE: SOWING SEEDS OF HOPE FOR CHANGE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 21, 2015

Contacts: Joy First 608 239-4327 or joyfirst5 at gmail.com, Malachy Kilbride 301-283-7627or malachykilbride at yahoo.com,  or Max Obuszewski 727-543-3227 or mobuszewski at verizon.net

WHO:  Members of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR) have been speaking out against the illegal actions of the United States government since 2003.  They have organized numerous actions across the country involving nonviolent civil resistance as they call attention to the crimes of our government.

WHAT:  Members of NCNR have written letters calling on both Congress and the White House to make drastic policy changes to bring about real change in ending war, poverty, the climate crisis, and systemic violence.  NCNR has not received a response to either letter, so citizen activists will go to Ryan’s office and the White House to seek a meeting to discuss these urgent matters.  This action is part of the week of actions called for by Campaign Nonviolence with over 325 actions around the country between September 20-27.

Just prior to the historic visit of Pope Francis, when he will visit the White House and address Congress, we call on our government to heed his words and stop the warmongering, protect Mother Earth and end income inequality.  If our elected officials fail to heed the pope’s warnings, our planet will continue to suffer irreversible and deadly consequences.

WHEN AND WHERE:
SOWING THE SEEDS OF HOPE: FROM CONGRESS TO THE WHITE HOUSE
SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

CONGRESS
10 AM – Occupy Paul Ryan’s office in the Longworth House Office Building.  Ryan’s office was chosen as representative of all that is wrong with Congress, with their disregard for doing what is in the best interest of the people of the United States and of the world.

Noon RALLY
Edward R. Murrow Park – 1800 block of Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Speakers will include John Dear, Kathy Kelly, David Swanson, Medea Benjamin and others.

WHITE HOUSE
We will process together from the park to the White House.
There will be speakers at the White House as well as activists risking arrest.

WHY:  Under the banner of Campaign Nonviolence, thousands of Americans across the country will take a public stand against all violence in a movement for a culture of peace and nonviolence free from war, poverty and the climate crisis.  David Swanson from World Beyond War will be speaking at the event.  He talks about the need to take immediate action, stating, "As the climate crisis moves beyond reversibility and the war-made crisis of the Middle-East continues to be worsened by governments seeking to fix it with more war, we cannot afford to take a year and a half off for election-distraction. The world needs radical change in Washington right now."

During Campaign Nonviolence Week, people from all walks of life will take to the streets from Hawaii to Maine to protest ongoing U.S. warfare, extreme poverty, the devastation of the environment, and many other forms of violence, from the unjust detention of immigrants to police brutality to the continuing threat of nuclear weapons.  Through Campaign Nonviolence, historically separate movements are joining forces to tackle these many forms of violence and to build a more just, peaceful and sustainable world.

Kathy Kelly from Voices for Creative Nonviolence shares why she will risk arrest in the NCNR action on Tuesday,  "The Obama administration bears responsibility to educate the U.S. public about the greatest terrors we face, - the terrors of what we are doing to our own environment. Not one dime of U.S. resources should ever again go to war profiteers, war planners, and Pentagon exploits.  Instead, those resources should be used to alleviate the impact of climate change and to meet human needs within the U.S. and beyond."

Campaign Nonviolence is a grassroots movement to mainstream active nonviolence using the vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. that calls us to become people of nonviolence and to resolve personal and global conflicts nonviolently.

For information on Campaign Nonviolence contact Ryan Hall at info@paceebene.org or 510-268-8765 or www.campaignnonviolence.org .

For more information about the local events in Washington, DC on Tuesday, September 22, please call the contacts listed above.

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