National March for Justice/Jena II

From DC Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas. Details below the fold.

Dear GLBT Community,

I personally extend an invitation to you to participate in the National March for Justice, which is slated for 12 noon at Freedom Plaza, with local groups having times to participate from 6am to 12 pm, located at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. The purpose of the event is to march to the U.S. Justice Department to demand federal intervention into the alarming number of local hate crimes occurring across the country. The GLBT community has been victimized by hate crimes, here in DC and across the nation, so your involvement in this civil rights march is important and critical to the success of the event. Attached is background information on the event, which I ask you to forward to your members. If you need more information on the March, please contact Vicky Leonard-Chambers of my staff at 202 727 8204. We will send out more information to you about the event as it becomes available.

Sincerely,

Harry “Tommy” Thomas, Jr.
Ward 5 Councilmember

Time and Place Date: Friday, November 16, 2007
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Location: Freedom Plaza - March to Justice Department
Street: 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
City/Town: Washington, DC

On November 16th, 2007, local and national civil rights and community leaders will rally at 12 noon at Freedom Plaza, located at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, and march to the U.S. Justice Department to demand federal intervention into the alarming number of local hate crimes occurring across the country.

The National March for Justice/Jena II is sponsored by the National Action Network, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Realizing the Dream. D.C. Councilmembers Marion Barry (Ward 8) and Harry “Tommy” Thomas, Jr. (Ward 5) are local co-chairs of the event.

Reverend Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network; Martin Luther King III, President of Realizing the Dream; and Charles Steel of the Southern Christian Leadership Coalition will lead the march. Councilmembers Barry and Thomas will accompany Reverend Sharpton, Mr. King, and Mr. Steel. Other local elected representatives are also expected to participate. In addition, prominent black radio talk show hosts Steve Harvey, Tom Joyner, and Warren Ballantine will be at the march, providing live broadcast coverage.

The rally is a cornerstone of the Fall Campaign for Justice, which originated in response to the alarming number of hate crimes and instances of injustice occurring across the country. These incidences range from a noose hanging at Columbia University, swastikas appearing on synagogues in New York, the beating of a gay man leaving a bar near the DC Convention Center, an attack on a transgender youth in Gallery Place, to the Jena 6 in Louisiana. The unprecedented number of incidents of bigotry cannot be allowed to continue and it is time for the federal government to step in and intervene.