Anti-War March this Saturday on the 9th anniversary of the US Occupation of Afghanistan

(The following information is based upon a Media Release sent out by the group Grand Rapids for Justice & Peace in Afghanistan.)

Grand Rapids for Justice and Peace in Afghanistan invites you to participate in a Count the Cost anti-war march for the 9^th anniversary of the US occupation of Afghanistan.

We ask the question what has 9 year in Afghanistan meant from Grand Rapids? According to the National Priorities Project the amount of tax dollars that have left Grand Rapids to fund this war since October of 2001 is $177 million and counting. Our city has a serious budget deficit, our schools are underfunded, people’s homes are being foreclosed and we don’t have enough money to keep community pools open. At the same time we can spend billions of dollars on one of the longest wars in US history, with no end in sight.

The march will start at Noon on Saturday, October 9 in front of the now empty Central High School – 421 Fountain St. NE in Grand Rapids.

The march will focus on four main themes. First, there will be a speaker addressing how the US military recruits young people and how it disproportionately targets youth of color. Second, at the cemetery on Eastern/Fulton people will read the names of Afghan civilians and US soldiers who have been killed during this bloody occupation of Afghanistan.

Third, near the Baxter Community Center people will speak about the cost of the US war locally in terms of housing, lack of resources for basic social services and how this war affects women, children and families. The march will end up at MLK Park where people will be motivated by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and invited to be part of future actions and campaigns.

In addition, along the march route, which will take people through neighborhoods, people will be dropping off information flyers to people that addresses the issues that the march is bringing attention to.

The group organizing the event has both a Facebook page for the march itself and the group in general.

Grand Rapids for Justice & Peace in Afghanistan was instrumental in organizing the benefit concert last week for 2 organizations doing solidarity work in Afghanistan and they also organized the October 8 lecture by reporter Anand Gopal who just returned from another trip reporting on Afghanistan.