'End the Occupation of Iraq' Event Energizes Phoenix Activists and Citizens
By Michael Shelby,AZ- PDA Activist
October 15, 2006, Phoenix, AZ
Cindy Sheehan, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, and Ann Wright at the End the Occupation of Iraq event in Phoenix, AZ – photograph by Michael Shelby
Nearly 400 people, about half of whom said this was the first event of this kind they had attended, attended a rally in Phoenix, AZ, to demand an end to the occupation of Iraq.
Seeking a change in the political status quo they were energized at the PDA sponsored End the Occupation of Iraq event in Phoenix on Saturday, Oct. 14. Organizers Dan O’Neal, the Phoenix PDA coordinator, and Sherry Bohlen, PDA’s national field director, together with End the War Coalition members from PDA, Code Pink, Arizona Alliance for Peaceful Justice, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and Democracy for America provided for an enthusiastic, animated, and successful rally. Tremendous support from a robust Air America Phoenix KPHX 1480 AM, generated significant interest in the event throughout the valley, and it was well covered by local print and broadcast media.
The event was emceed by PDA Board Member Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and Phoenix Air America talk show host and activist, Jeff Farias. The audience responded passionately to speeches from Col. Ann Wright, local Libertarian KFNX 1100 AM radio talk show host Charles Goyette, PDA-endorsed candidate for Congress in the 3rd District Herb Paine, “Peace Mom” and PDA Board Member Cindy Sheehan, PDA National Director Tim Carpenter, and Hip Hop Caucus Director Rev. Lennox Yearwood. Also included in this multi-media experience were visits by the Bush Chain Gang and Billionaires for Bush.
The speeches began with a slide show sight-and-sound presentation of the real costs of the war and occupation in Iraq, in dollars and lives lost, showing Arizona citizens what they were not getting (schools, healthcare, infrastructure development, etc.) because of the money wasted to occupy Iraq.
Ushered in by the Veterans Drumming Corps through the various booths and displays outside the auditorium, Cindy Sheehan provided a book signing, a heartfelt speech, and of course her usual magic touching of people’s hearts. Speeches by Wright, Goyette and Carpenter were a combined telling of the crimes and tragedies of the Bush administration with fervent calls to action, most immediately voting and getting out the vote in the coming November general election. PDA-endorsed candidate for Congress Herb Paine brought the audience to its feet in applause and cheers as he articulated what a real progressive democrat sounds and acts like!
The speech of the day came at the end when Rev. Lennox Yearwood brought the audience to tears with his account of how he first met Cindy Sheehan and then roused the audience to cheers and ovations with righteous indignation demanding the end of the occupation of Iraq and that we all work to change the status quo in Washington, D.C.
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