Cindy Sheehan To Speak in Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 16
April 6, 2006
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED PEACE ACTIVIST, CINDY SHEEHAN, TO SPEAK IN KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN ON MAY 16, 2006.
With the assistance of many local activist groups, the Kalamazoo area members of Gold Star Families for Peace are proud to host Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wright and Rev. Deborah E. Lake for a rally at Bronson Park in downtown Kalamazoo. Additional speaker(s) include: Arnold Stieber - Veterans for Peace - Michigan Chapter 93 (Graduated from Michigan State University in 1969, drafted into the Army - Vietnam -January 1970 to March 1971).
Rally scheduled from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. followed by a presentation by Gold Star Families for Peace at an area auditorium TBA.
Cindy Sheehan's son, Casey, was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004. When Cindy camped out in front of George Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch, she put a face to the nation's Peace Movement. Her determination to have George answer the nagging question - For what "Noble Cause" have our children's lives been sacrificed?
To this day, he refuses to speak to her. She is a mother, sister, friend, Peace Activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
Ann Wright resigned from the State Department after 26 years of government service over the Bush administration's policies. In her letter to Colin Powell dated March 19, 2003, she wrote, "I believe the Administration's policies are making the world a more dangerous, not a safer, place. I feel obligated morally and professionally to set out my very deep and firm concerns on these policies and to resign from government service as I cannot defend or implement them."
She attained the rank of Colonel during her military service and oversees operations at Camp Casey I and II in Crawford, Texas.
Rev. Lake is Executive Director of Sankofa Way Spiritual Services and Co-founder of the Chicago Chapter of The Interfaith Alliance. A graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York and an ordained non-denominational minister, she has resided in Chicago since 2002. Rev. Lake provides leadership in opposing those who abuse religion to promote political agendas. She states, "I am very concerned about the direction our country is being taken, and I am determined to be able to look my daughters and grandchildren in the eye and tell them that I did everything possible to preserve their heritage."
Gold Star Families for Peace (GSFP) is a non-profit organization with this specific Mission: We as families of soldiers who have died as a result of war (primarily, but not limited to the invasion/occupation of Iraq) are organizing to be a positive force in our world to bring our country's sons and daughters home from Iraq, to minimize the "human cost" of this war, and to prevent other families from the pain we are feeling as the result of our losses.
The founding members of GSFP: Cindy Sheehan, Bill Mitchell, Pat Sheehan, Jane & Jim Bright and Dede Miller.
The Purpose of GSFP: To bring an end to the occupation of Iraq and to be a support group for Gold Star Families.
For additional information, contact:
Dara Klimp - Gold Star Families for Peace - Kalamazoo area
269-303-4445
dkklimp@yahoo.com
www.gsfp.org
St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN