[Flyingbrickupdates] Speaking Event at the William Byrd House, tonight at 7!

[theflyingbrick at riseup.net]

This is Tonight! Hope people can attend!

from the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality

PO Box 23202, Richmond, VA 23223 l Ph: 804.644.5834 l Fax: 804.332.5225 l
Email: DefendersFJE at hotmail.com


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 4, 2012

MEDIA CONTACT: Phil Wilayto – 804.247.3731 – philwilayto at earthlink.net



CODE PINK cofounder MEDEA BENJAMIN

to join peace activist COL. ANN WRIGHT (Ret.)

at Defenders May 5 meeting in Richmond




Internationally known peace activist Medea Benjamin will join former U.S.
Army Col. Ann Wright for presentations on U.S. foreign policy at 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 5, at the William Byrd Community House, 224 So. Cherry St.,
Richmond, Va. The free public event is being sponsored by the Defenders
for Freedom, Justice & Equality. Children are welcome. Donations to help
cover costs are appreciated.

The talks by the two prominent anti-war activists and authors will take
place after President Barack Obama opens his 2012 re-election campaign
with a rally just blocks away at Virginia Commonwealth University's Siegel
Center.

Ann Wright is a former U.S. Army colonel and State Department diplomat
who, on the eve of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, cabled Secretary of
State Colin Powell to inform him that she was resigning from the military
and the diplomatic corps because of her opposition to the impending
invasion and occupation. Since then, she has been writing and speaking out
for peace with a courageous eloquence that has earned her the respect of
the entire anti-war movement. She is the co-author of “Dissent: Voices of
Conscience; Government Insiders Speak Out Against the War in Iraq,” which
includes a forward by Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame.

Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of both CODEPINK and the human rights
organization Global Exchange. Called “one of the high profile leaders of
the peace movement” by the Los Angeles Times, Benjamin is a former
economist and nutritionist with the United Nations and World Health
Organization. She is the author/editor of eight books. Her latest, “Drone
Warfare: Killing by Remote Control,” supplements her campaigning to get
lethal drones out of the hands of the CIA.

Both women have played leading organizing roles in solidarity trips to
Palestine, including the 2011 Gaza Freedom Flotilla II that challenged the
Israeli sea blockade of Gaza.

The presentations will be preceded by brief reports on community efforts
to support Ashley Williams, a young Richmonder wrongfully convicted in
connection with the tragic death of her two-year-old son; an update on the
case of the 31 women's rights activists arrested March 3 on the steps of
the Virginia Capitol Building; Richmond's celebration of International
Workers Day (May Day); and recent events in the West African country of
Mali.

The Richmond event is part of a three-city tour. Other stops will be in
Charlottesville on May 3 and 4 and Norfolk on May 6.

For more information, call the Defenders at 804-644-5834 or e-mail
DefendersFJE at hotmail.com or long ontowww.DefendersFJE.org or
www.DefendersFJE.blogspot.com.



Founded in 2002, the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality is an
all-volunteer community organization based in Richmond, Va. Among other
activities, we publish The Virginia Defender, a statewide quarterly
newspaper with a press run of 16,000; produce DefendersLIVE!, a news and
commentary radio program heard Mondays from noon to 12:30 pm on WRIR
community radio, 97.3 FM and online at www.wrir.org; and sponsor the
Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, which played a leading role
in the successful community struggle to reclaim Richmond's African Burial
Ground. The Defenders are affiliated with the United National Antiwar
Coalition. See DefendersFJE.org and DefendersFJE.blogspot.com.