Logistics information for the NATO bus trip on 5/19

Please come to St. Joan of Arc’s church (4537 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, 55419) between 9 and 9:30pm  on Saturday night.  We’ll be checking in and loading up the buses from their parking lot.  You will not be allowed to park in the church parking lot but there is plenty of street parking in the area.  We also encourage you to carpool.

We will be arriving in Chicago well ahead of the protest and will be dropped off at Grant Park where the protest will be.  We encourage you to bring a book or some cards, etc so that you can be entertained when you wake up.  We need to get there early so our bus drivers can sleep so they can safely drive us back home.

The protest will start at the Petrillo Bandshell in Grant Park.  Music starts at 10:30 with a performance by Tom Morello and the rally starts at noon.  There are a lot of great speakers coming and the speakers list is near the end of this email.  Then there will be a march to McCormick Place where the NATO summit is happening.  Many of us will be in the Committee to Stop FBI Repression contingent and you are invited to march with us.  There will be a bus following the march to pick up people who can’t do the full 3 mile march.  At the closing rally Iraq Vets Against the War will have a program where vets from the war in Afghanistan will give back their service metals.  The protest ends at 4:15 and our bus will pick us up from the protest by 4:30pm.  We’ll hopefully be home around midnight and we’ll return to St. Joan’s.

• food money or food
• something to entertain yourself with Saturday am
• comfortable shoes for the protest
• a camera
• a positive attitude
• a sign
• a shirt to change into, toothbrush, toothpaste
• a pillow

Check out this article by the MN CANG8 Committee – http://www.worldwidewamm.org/newsletters/2012/0512/g8.html

Interested in more info about the protest? – Go to cang8.org

Cultural performers at the protest will include Tom Morello and Rebel Diaz, as well as the Anti-Eviction Campaign and Southside Together Organized for Power performers Fearless Leading by the Youth; Frank Mu and Mic Terrist.

The speakers list includes;
Rev. Jesse Jackson – Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Ann Wright – retired colonel, US Army
Armando Robles – United Electrical workers
Carlos Montes – Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Chicago Teachers Union
Hatem Abudayyeh – U.S. Palestinian Community Network
Inge Höger – Member of European Parliament
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Jean Ross – National Nurses United
Kathy Kelly – Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Malik Mujahid – Muslim Peace Coalition
Medea Benjamin – Code Pink
Mumia Abu Jamal
Vijay Prashad – author
Abayomi Azikiwe – Pan African News Wire
Ahmed Shawki – Egypt Solidarity Campaign
Alison Bodine – Mobilization Against War and Occupation, Vancouver
Angela Walker – Amalgamated Transit Union
Bernadette Ellorin – BAYAN
Bruce Dixon – Black Agenda Report
Chris Gavreau – United National Antiwar Coalition
Coalition to March on the RNC
Crystal Vance Guerra – Occupy El Barrio
Dave Schneider – Students for a Democratic Society
Gay Liberation Network
Jes Cook – UIC Graduate Employees Organization
Kari Fulton – Environmental Justice Network
Kathleen Desautels – 8th Day Center for Justice
Larry Holmes – International Action Center, NYC
Leah Bolger – Vets for Peace
Luis Gutierrez-Esparza – No to War-No to NATO, Mexico
Malalai Joya – former member of Afghan parliament
Maria Pizarro – immigrant rights activist
Martin Unzueta – Chicago Community and Workers Rights
Meredith Aby – Twin Cities Anti-War Committee
Michelle Morales – National Boricua Human Rights Network
N’Dana Carter – Southside Together Organizing for Power
Newland Smith – Interfaith Committee CANG8
Reiner Braun – No to War-No to NATO, Germany
Rick Rozoff – Stop NATO
Said Umar Khan – Pakistan Federation of America
Sarah Finkl – Pilsen Environmental Rights & Reform Organization
Stan Willis- National Coalition of Black Lawyers
Tania Unzueta – Immigrant Youth Justice League
Zoe Sigman – Occupy Chicago

The emcees will include:
Andy Thayer – Chicago Coalition Against War & Racism
Gihad Ali – US Palestinian Community Network
Joe Iosbaker – United National Antiwar Coalition
Joe Lombardo – United National Antiwar Coalition
Keeanga Taylor – Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign
Pat Hunt – Chicago Area Code Pink