STATEMENT ON OCTOBER 25TH WASHINGTON MARCH AND
DEMONSTRATION

We, the undersigned activists, scholars and representatives of people
of African descent in the United States, issue this call in support of
the massive mobilization for October 25th march and demonstration in
Washington, DC.  This March, being called jointly by the coalitions United
for Peace and Justice and International ANSWER, is demanding an
immediate end to the US illegal occupation of Iraq and the immediate return of
US troops.
It is essential that people of African descent, that segment of the US
population which overwhelmingly opposed the Bush administration?s war
of aggression against Iraq, continue to make their collective voice
heard and their presence felt in the halls of government.  That can only be
done through making ourselves visible and outspoken in opposition to
the bankrupt and disingenuous policies of an Administration committed to
promoting domestic fear while our sons and daughters are killed or
wounded in an illegal and needless conflict.
We call upon people of African descent to assert themselves at
precisely the moment when programs and services are being cut to the bone here
in the USA, while funds are being siphoned off to prop up a failed
Middle East policy of illegal war and occupation.
Rather than creating a sense of security, the Bush administration?s
failed policies have increased hatred of the United States overseas, led
to the loss of thousands of lives in Iraq, and destroyed any semblance
of economic security for people at home.
For these and many other reasons people of African descent must march
on October 25th!

Signatures with affiliations for identification only unless otherwise
noted
Adjoa A. Aiyetoro, Washington, DC.
African American Women for Peace and Justice
Jeanne Baraka-Love, Ed. D., President & CEO of Ujima Enterprises, Inc.
Roderick Bashir, member, Service Employees International Union,
Chicago, Illinois
Black Radical Congress [endorsed by the Coordinating Committee]
Black Voices for Peace
Salih Booker, Africa Action, Washington, DC
Bonnie Boswell, African American Women for Peace & Justice
Herb Boyd, author/activist, New York
Yvonne Brunot, DC chapter of TransAfrica
Ron Daniels, Haiti Support Project
Dr. James Davis, Board of Directors, TransAfrica Forum
Manthia Diawara, New York University
Ajamu Dillahunt, President, Local 1078, American Postal Workers Union
James Early, writer/activist
Bill Fletcher, Jr.,   TransAfrica Forum
Glen Ford, The Black Commentator
Patricia Ann Ford, Executive Vice President, Service Employees
International Union
Danny Glover, human rights activist and actor
Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, Senior Minister Plymouth Congregational
United Church of   Christ; National President, Ministers for Racial, Social
& Economic Justice
Lester Greene, New York Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
Donna Brown Guillaume, Los Angeles, CA
Lela Harris, President, Washington, DC chapter of TransAfrica
Karega Hart, co-chair Bay Area Black Radical Congress & labor activist
Dr. Sylvia Hill, Board of Directors, TransAfrica Forum
M. Thandabantu Iverson, labor educator & human rights activist, Gary,
Indiana
Julianne Malveaux, economist/commentator
Professor Manning Marable, Columbia University
Charlene Mitchell, Committees of Correspondence for Democracy &
Socialism
Leith Mullings, City University of New York
Professor Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School
Carl Pinkston, Freedom Bound Center, Sacramento, CA
Steven C. Pitts, University of California-Berkeley Labor Center
Jamala Rogers, Organization for Black Struggle, St. Louis, Missouri
Don Rojas, General Manager, WBAI-Pacifica Radio, New York
Malika Sanders, 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement
Dennis Serrette, Sr., Vice President, United Association of Labor
Educators
Erica Smiley, ChoiceUSA
Damu Smith, Black Voices for Peace
Stefan Spencer, Public Citizen?s Global Trade Watch
Dr. Ronald Walters, Distinguished Leadership Scholar, Professor of
Government & Politics, University of Maryland-College Park
Toni Woolfork-Barnes, Ed. D., Director, Western Michigan University?s
Upward Bound Program
Conrad Worrill, National Black United Front