From: Coastside Peace of Half Moon Bay Contact: Jeff Gilmore Phone: 650-888-4086 Email: jeff@coastsidepeace.org Contents: calendar item, press release, flyer, photos ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Calendar item - Please include the following in your calendar of upcoming events: Medea Benjamin gives a "Report from Iraq - First Hand View". Thursday January 29th at 7:30 PM at the Ted Adcock Community Center, 535 Kelly Ave. in Half Moon Bay. Admission $10 sliding scale. For more information, go to www.coastsidepeace.org. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release - All Press Points PULL DATE: 29 January, 2004 FROM: Coastside Peace, Half Moon Bay, California Contact: Hester Schell - (650) 726-5624 Hester@coastsidepeace.org EYEWITNESS: IRAQ INTERNATIONAL PEACE ACTIVIST - MEDEA BENJAMIN - TO SPEAK IN HALF MOON BAY JANUARY 29, 2004. 21 December 2003, (Half Moon Bay, California) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chances are you have seen or heard the name, especially if you have been keeping up with the myriad social and political issues of the past several years. Medea Benjamin: the name appears wherever political,
civil, social or economic rights are being fought for. Over and over again, her name has cropped up in formidable company: WTO/Seattle, International Labor Rights/China, East Timor, Cuba, Afghanistan, sweatshops, fair trade, human rights principles, hunger, homelessness, peace, war...the list goes on and on. Last month, Ms. Benjamin visited Iraq with families of some of our military personnel. This "reality tour" investigated the true living and emotional conditions which our nation's young men and women in uniform are exposed to on a daily basis. Not allowing moss to gather, Ms. Benjamin has also helped launch "Occupation Watch" in Baghdad, which will monitor conditions in Iraq. Ms. Benjamin will be presenting her "Report from Iraq: Firsthand View" in Half Moon Bay, on January 29. Who is this mover and shaker who goes where "angels need to tread?" In 1999, San Francisco Magazine named her one of the "60 Players who Rule the Bay Area." Benjamin, a Columbia University and New School for Social Research graduate, United Nations economist, global mother bear, co-founder of the feisty Code Pink: Women for Peace, and founding director of the human rights organization, Global Exchange, is a tireless force for social justice and peace. She is author of eight books, including "Bridging the Global Gap, The Peace Corps and More," and the award-winning book "Don't Be Afraid, Gringo: A Honduran Woman Speaks from the Heart." She helped produce various TV documentaries such as the anti-sweatshop video "Sweating for a T-Shirt". This activist, author, speaker, and former California senatorial candidate, is headed to the coastside. Sponsored by Half Moon Bay-based Coastside Peace, a growing community of local citizens, Ms. Benjamin will be speaking at the Ted Adcock Community Center, at 535 Kelly Ave, in Half Moon Bay, at 7:30PM, on Thursday evening, 29 January, 2004. There is a $10 admission fee, although no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Advance tickets are available at Moon News bookstore, 315 Main St, in Half Moon Bay. Ms. Benjamin's presentation is one in a series of monthly events planned for 2004 by Coastside Peace. This grassroots group is dedicated to creating a local dialog on global issues by sponsoring educational forums on issues of peace, justice, globalization, the environment and human rights. Coastside Peace meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 at Moon News bookstore, 315 Main Street, Half Moon Bay and all are welcome to participate. Next meeting is January 13th. For more information, visit http://www.coastsidepeace.org.