LOS ANGELES: MULTINATIONAL CITY UNITES AGAINST WAR
By Adrian Garcia Los Angeles
Feb. 20, 2003--If Los Angeles has been viewed as a city of lukewarm and sometimes dormant activism, the massive protest in Hollywood Feb. 15 should dispel that notion.
Some 100,000 protesters answered the call for global anti-war solidarity. They rallied and marched down world-famous Hollywood Boulevard, calling for the Bush administration to halt its war campaign against the people of Iraq.
Angelica Houston, Rob Reiner and Martin Sheen were among the numerous Hollywood celebrities and artists who lent their support to the burgeoning anti-war movement.
"I'm here to support peace against this war with Iraq," said Tom Morello, guitarist for the rock group Audioslave. "I think it's entirely about oil and about Bush trying to get his horrible domestic record off the front pages."
The demonstration included a diverse assembly of religious groups, labor organizations, students, environmentalists and families.
"I don't believe that a war on Iraq is good for children anywhere in the world," said 10-year-old activist Marcus Rogers, who was accompanied by his mother at the demonstration.
An electrifying rally preceded the march. Many speakers took note of the enormous protests being held around the globe.
Writer Gore Vidal commended the crowd for its struggle against the Bush administration's tyranny. "I never once believed that I would ever see a day like this, where the great part of the nation of we the people should be obliged to march against an arbitrary and secret government preparing wars for us to fight in," he said.
A broad array of issues and causes were brought to the forefront. Civil- rights lawyer Leonard Weinglass urged the crowd to become involved in the campaign to free the five Cuban political prisoners being held in U.S. prisons. Weinglass represents the five in their appeals process. He equated the struggle for freeing the Cuban Five, who worked to end U.S.- based terrorism against their homeland, with the struggle to end U.S. imperialist aggression against Iraq.
The march made its way toward an Army recruiting station on the corner of Sunset and La Brea boulevards. Protesters found that their strength had forced the military recruiters to close their doors for the day.
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: mailto:iacenter@action-mail.org
En Espanol: iac-cai@action-mail.org
Web: http://www.iacenter.org
Support Mumia Abu-Jamal: http://www.millions4mumia.org/
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
Make a donation to the IAC and its projects
The International Action Center
Home ActionAlerts Press
Share this page with a friend