HUDSON VALLEY ACTIVIST CALENDAR
April 29, 2011, Issue #662
Send event announcements to jacdon@earthlink.net
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Dedicated to Helping Build Activist
Movements in the Hudson Valley
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Editor's Note: The May calendar will be emailed Saturday or Sunday.
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Sunday, May 1, NEW YORK CITY: There will be separate May Day worker rights/ immigrant rights demonstrations in Manhattan on this historic international worker's holiday, but both groups will unite later in the afternoon behind the slogan "May Day, Our Day." The two coalitions — The Labor Rights, Immigrant Rights, Jobs for All Coalition and the May 1 Coalition for Workers and Immigrant Rights — held a joint press conference April 26 to announce their plans to end the day with a message of unity. The May 1 assembly — mainly composed of immigrant, community and left organizations — will start at 12 noon in Union Square Park (14th St. and Broadway) for a rally, and eventually march downtown to the other rally at Foley Square. The Labor Rights assembly, mainly composed of unions and immigrant groups, will begin in Foley Square on Worth St. at 1 p.m. Union sponsors include 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, District Councils 37 and 1707 AFSCME, Transit Workers Union Local 100, Domestic Workers United, Teamsters Locals 210, among others. A bus to the rallies will leave Albany at 8 a.m. Bus details: (518) 273-2759, alad@verizon.net, www.hudsonmohawkmayday.org. Information, (Labor Rights Coalition) (212) 239-7323, Jason@advancegroup.com. (May 1 Coalition) (212) 633-6646, iacenter@iacenter.org.
Monday, May 2, ALBANY: A major protest will be held here today demanding a statewide ban on the dangerous process of fracking (hydraulic fracturing for natural gas). Daylong events include a rally and march to the DEC, delivery of a petition to the office of Gov. Cuomo, lobbying, music and networking. Participants will travel to this capital city from throughout the state, many by chartered bus. (Information on buses from Poughkeepsie, New Paltz and New York City — http://bit.ly/BanBusSignup.) The event is initiated by Frack Action, which declares: "Let's mobilize our communities, unite a diverse network, and bring out the big numbers to show the power behind our demand. We know that nothing short of a ban on hydraulic fracturing for oil or gas will protect our water, our air, our land, our communities, our farms and economy, and our health —and we will not accept anything less than a full and permanent ban."
• The day's events begin with music at 10:30 a.m. as people gather on the Capital West lawn. The 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. rally is at the same location. The opening ceremony will be led by Sid Hill, Tadodaho [influential Native American leader] of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Speakers include Josh Fox, the director of the documentary Gasland, which exposed the dangers of fracking; State Senators Joseph Addabo, Tony Avella and Liz Krueger; Assemblymember William Colton; Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch; Susan Zimet, Ulster County legislator; and others.
• Following the rally will be a 12:30-2 p.m. march to the Dept. of Environmental Conservation, and to the offices of gas industry lobbyists. The marchers will then return to the State Capital by 2:30 p.m., where there will be "self-organized lobby visits, networking, sharing materials, petitioning, and music on the lawn." The day ends officially at 4 p.m.
• Following is a list of sponsors in addition to Frack Action: Food & Water Watch, Democracy for America, Citizen Action of New York, Josh Fox, New Paltz Climate Action Coalition, Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation, Shaleshock, Sustainable Otsego, Ommegang Brewery, Capital District Against Fracking, New York Action Network, Syracuse Peace Council, New York Residents Against Drilling, Syracuse Cultural Workers, Students Against Fracking, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, NYH2O, Cornell Sustainability Hub, Coalition to Protect New York, Frack Free Catskills, Mountain View Movies, Ithaca College Frack Off!, Honest Weight Food Co-op, Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition, CDOG -Chenango Delaware Otsego Gas Group, Gray Panthers, The Green Bus Tour, KyotoNOW!, Water Back Project, Davenport Concerned Citizens, The Ad Hoc Committee to Uphold Environmental Law, Allegany County Nonviolent Action Group, Concerned Citizens of Allegany County, Delaware Action Group and Sullivan Area Citizens for Responsible Energy Development, and more.
• Information: http://www.FrackAction.com, (347) 709-3585, j.walsh@frackaction.com
Facebook information, http://on.fb.me/g2mT8N
