Tragically, there are over 370,000 child abductions in the United States alone each year. The majority of these are parental child abductions. Thousands of children are stolen across international borders each year. Too many of them do not come home. They can’t. They are gone forever.

Please show your sign of support for Senator Eleanor Sobel’s bill now before committee (SB1862), and Representative Rouson’s adjoining House of Representative Bill (HR787).

We urge all parents and children who have experienced abduction to share your stories (they will be submitted to the various Senate and House committees) at www.floridachildabductionpreventionact.info

Federal Judge dismisses much of claims in homeless lawsuit

By Michael Van Sickler, Times Staff Writer

Published Thursday, March 11, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG — Federal Judge Steven Merryday tossed out nine allegations in a federal lawsuit that accuses St. Petersburg of violating the rights of homeless people by enforcing a series of punitive ordinances, scoring what appears to be a major victory for the city.
Merryday also denied class action status for the lawsuit, meaning the scope of those making the allegations is limited to Anthony Catron, Michael Lile, Jo Anne Reynolds, Raymond Young and William Shumate, a popular homeless leader in downtown St. Petersburg known for repairing bicycles.
Essentially, Merryday upheld the city’s right to arrest people for sleeping during the day in downtown public rights of way and storing personal property on public land. The city also has the right to ban people from city property if they had committed crimes there before.
Assistant City Attorney Joseph Patner called the rulings significant, saying it showed the ordinances that were alleged to be unconstitutional were appropriate.
Merryday wrote in his ruling Wednesday that individuals don’t have a constitutional right to store personal belongings on public land. The city’s ordinance, he wrote, gives people 36 hours to remove items before confiscation and allows them a month to reclaim seized property.
“The risk is exceedingly low that an individual will be unjustly deprived of personal belongings,” Merryday wrote.
Banning those previously arrested from public buildings and parks was legal, Merryday wrote, because government has a right to control the use of public land “for its own lawful nondiscriminatory purpose.”
Three groups represent the five homeless plaintiffs: the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, out of Washington, D.C., and the Southern Legal Counsel and Florida Institutional Legal Services out of Gainesville.
Catron was cited in 2006 and 2007 for trespassing and is banned from city parks. Young got a warning for having too much property, which included two suitcases, bags, clothes, groceries and other belongings. He was told the city’s limit was two bags, a backpack and one blanket. Reynolds was removed from public property because she had too many belongings. Shumate had his property confiscated three times. Lile was arrested for public urination, and served five days in jail in 2008.
“We’re obviously disappointed with the court’s decision,” said Catherine Bendor, an attorney with the National Law Center. “We’d prefer that the city devote its resources to alternatives to criminalizing homelessness. We’re considering our options at this point with respect to this litigation.”
Last month, Kirsten Clanton, an attorney with Southern Legal Counsel, told the Times that St. Petersburg’s ordinances were exceptionally onerous.
“They make it difficult for people to move out of homelessness by putting them in jail for just trying to live,” she said. “It costs more to put them in jail then it does to actually address the problem.”
Two allegations remain: that police have no right to ask homeless people for identification and that it’s cruel and unusual punishment to arrest people for public urination when restrooms aren’t available. Patner said the city will file a motion asking for those to be dismissed as well.
More litigation may be ahead, according to city attorney John Wolfe. He told the City Council on Thursday that the same legal groups are expected to challenge the panhandling ordinance.
Bendor said her office wasn’t pursuing a legal challenge.
Wolfe has told city officials not to talk publicly about the suit or even discuss the general issue of the homeless.
“My concern is that something they say may be misconstrued” and affect the lawsuit, he said.
As a result, the city is in something of a holding pattern in dealing with a problem that most say is growing worse by the day. Council members can only discuss it privately, as they did Feb. 11 in a closed attorney-client meeting.
Mayor Bill Foster is limited in explaining how he will tackle the issue, which he said would be a priority in his administration. In December, he said he’d consider building permanent bathrooms at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul South Pinellas.
But now, with the litigation, those bathrooms are “off the table,” Foster said Thursday.
Michael Van Sickler can be reached at (727) 893-8037 or mvansickler@sptimes.com.

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Dear Friends and Supporters,

I hope and pray that all is going well for you. So many good things are going on for the Refuge, as well as challenges. This includes several new outreaches. Just recently we opened the Refuge Thrift Store. It is a thrift stores designed to not only support the work of the Refuge financially, but it will also be a source support to needy individua ls and families in attempting to get resources for their residences. We will be offering a voucher program for poor families to get furniture and other household goods, including clothes. We are also looking for financial sponsors and donation of items for the store. The store is located at 510 49th st. North, in St. Petersburg. If you want directions or to make donations, please call 727 278 1547 . The store hours are Tuesday 11 – 5 pm, Thursday 11 – 5pm, Friday 11 – 5pm, Saturday 10 – 5pm, and Sunday 1 – 5pm.
In addition to this, we now have case management for clients that are homeless or in need of services. This includes helping clients navigate their way through the system. We also have another outreach happening with our bread outreaches. We are now distributing to needy families and to a local community center. We continue to do our regular outreaches, as well as planning for the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign’s Poor Peoples march this spring and summer (go to www.economichumanrights.org).
In closing, we are asking you to continue to pray and keep us in your thoughts. We are in a campaign attempting to raise support on a monthly basis. We are trying to encourage 50 people to give $25 a month in new giving or current giving. We are also in immediate need of $750 within the next days. We especially need that within the next 24 hours. If you can help, please call me at 727 278 1547. You can send gifts to The Refuge 1818 29th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, FLorida 33713. You can also go to pay pal at www.refugestpete.org and hit pay pal option. If you can help with immediate need of $450, please call me. Thanks, Bruce PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN NEED IS URGENT

From Constantine to Bush, power has needed to stifle Jesus’ revolutionary message

by Giles Fraser

Every Sunday in church, many Christians recite the Nicene Creed. “Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven; And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures.” It’s the official summary of the Christian faith but, astonishingly, it jumps straight from birth to death, apparently indifferent to what happened in between.

Nicene Christianity is the religion of Christmas and Easter, the celebration of a Jesus who is either too young or too much in agony to shock us with his revolutionary rhetoric. The adult Christ who calls his followers to renounce wealth, power and violence is passed over in favor of the gurgling baby and the screaming victim. As such, Nicene Christianity is easily conscripted into a religion of convenience, with believers worshipping a gagged and glorified savior who has nothing to say about how we use our money or whether or not we go to war.

Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire with the conversion of the emperor Constantine in 312, after which the church began to back pedal on the more radical demands of the adult Christ. The Nicene Creed was composed in 325 under the sponsorship of Constantine. It was Constantine who decided that December 25 was to be the date on which Christians were to celebrate the birth of Christ and it was Constantine
who ordered the building of the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem. Christmas – a festival completely unknown to the early church – was invented by the Roman emperor. And from Constantine onwards, the radical Christ worshipped by the early church would be pushed to the margins of Christian history to be replaced with the infinitely more accommodating religion of the baby and the cross.

The adult Jesus described his mission as being to “preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and to set at liberty those who are oppressed”. He insisted that the social outcast be loved and cared for, and that the rich have less chance of getting into heaven than a camel has of getting through the eye of a needle. Jesus set out to destroy the imprisoning obligations of debt, speaking instead of forgiveness and the redistribution of wealth. He was accused of blasphemy for attacking the religious authorities as self-serving and hypocritical.

In contrast, the Nicene religion of the baby and the cross gives us Christianity without the politics. The Posh and Becks nativity scene is the perfect tableau into which to place this Nicene baby, for like the much-lauded celebrity, this Christ is there to be gazed upon and adored -but not to be heard or heeded. In a similar vein, modern evangelical
choruses offer wave upon wave of praise to the name of Jesus, but offer little political or economic content to trouble his adoring fans.

Yet despite the silence of the baby, it should be perfectly obvious to anyone who has actually read the Christmas stories that the gospel regards the incarnation as challenging the existing order. The pregnant Mary anticipates Christ’s birth with some fiery political theology: God “has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly, he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty”, she blazes. Born among farm laborers, yet worshipped by kings, Christ announces an astonishing reversal of political authority. The local imperial stooge, King Herod, is so threatened by rumors of his birth that he sends troops to Bethlehem to find the child and kill him. Herod recognized that to claim Jesus is lord and king is to say that Caesar isn’t. Christ’s birth is not a silent night – it’s the beginning of a revolution that threatened to undermine the whole basis of Roman power.

Little wonder, then, that influential US Christian commentator Jim Wallis created a storm earlier in the year when he penned an attack upon “Bush’s theology of empire”, helpfully illustrated with a picture of Bush made up to look like the emperor Constantine. “Once there was Rome, now there is a new Rome,” argued Wallis.

Constantine was converted to Christianity by a vision that came to him on the eve of the battle of Milvian Bridge: “He saw with his own eyes, up in the sky and resting over the sun, a cross-shaped trophy formed from light, and a text attached to it which said, ‘By this sign, conquer’ “. Soon the cross would morph from being a hated symbol of Roman brutality into the universally recognizable logo of the Holy Roman Empire. Within a century, St Augustine would develop the novel idea of just war, trimming the church’s originally pacifist message to the needs of the imperial war machine.

Like Constantine, George Bush has borrowed the language of Christianity to support and justify his military ambition. And just like that of Constantine, the Christianity of this new Rome offers another carefully edited version of the Bible. Once again, the religion that speaks of forgiving enemies and turning the other cheek is pressed into military service.

The story of Christmas, properly understood, asserts that God is not best imagined as an all-powerful despot but as a vulnerable and pathetic child. It’s a statement about the nature of divine power. But in the hands of conservative theologians, the Nicene religion of the baby and the cross is a way of distracting attention away from the teachings of Christ. It’s a form of religion that concentrates on things like belief in the virgin birth while ignoring the fact that the gospels are much more concerned about the treatment of the poor and the forgiveness of enemies.

Bush may have claimed that “Jesus Christ changed my life”, but Jesus doesn’t seem to have changed his politics. As the carol reminds us: “And man at war with man hears not the love song that they bring, O hush the noise ye men of strife and hear the angels sing.”

· The Rev Dr Giles Fraser is vicar of Putney and lecturer in philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford – giles.fraser@btinternet.com

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday’s to Everyone. I trust that the business of season has not caused us to lose focus and what it is all about. Consumerism too often suffocates the true meaning of this time. A time when Peace on Earth and Good will toward all people can be lost.
As I reflect on this time of year, I often spend time with my children trying to instill in them a sense of what it is all about. Recently, we watched the film, ” A Christmas Carol” based on the novel by Dickens. During the film, which is one of my personal holiday favorites, there is a scene where representatives of a charity ask the main characted, Scrooge, if he would contribute to their charity and he states that he must be about his business of making money and tells them to go about their business. They then state that humanity is their business. As I reflect on that and what the Christian tradition teaches about Wealth and poverty and the meaning of this season, as well as what other faith traditions teach about Greed and power, I am reminded of the fact that all of us should be about the “business” of humanity. That we should be concerned those struggling to make it. That their struggle is our struggle.
It is with that in mind, that I must be candid with you about both myself and the ministry of the Refuge. We are really struggling to make it. We have recently lost 2 donors due to the Economy. Their combined gifts amount $725 per month. This has really hurt us! We have greatly appreciated their support. And, they have expressed sincere regret at having to stop supporting us. Both of them have supported us since the begining of the Refuge, more than 16 years ago. We have truly appreciated their support. And, of course, in addition to all that, we continue to more families and individuals coming to us that are in great need. Let me just share you some of the current needs.
First of all, thanks to everyone who responded to the call for help. We were able to serve about 200 homeless on Thanksgiving. We were also able to help 32 families with complete Thanksgiving dinners. In addition, we were able to help several pay their bills, including some medication for some. Thanks for you help.
However, many families we could not help. We hope and pray that support will come in for the Christmas Season. We help anyone regardless of Race, Creed, Ethnicity, religion or no belief, marital status, or sexual orientation. At this time we have some various serious need. We need to raise about $700 to help with 3 different electric bills for 3 families. THey are facing shut off in next few days. Additional, an older gentleman, who has physical limitations is going to lose his auto insurance and it is the only way he can get to appointments. We need $100 for that.
Lastly, the Refuge is in desperate need of nonperishable food items, gift cards, a lap top and a minivan, as well as blankets for out street outreach to the homeless and for our food pantry. If you can help in any way with any of this or support us in an ongoing way, please email me at bgcwright @aol.com or go to www.refugestpete.org for paypal. Checks can be sent to the Refuge 1818 29th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, Florida33713

Sincerely, Rev. Bruce Wright MA, DMin., CPAC, MAC

PS. From a personal note. These loses in financial support have taken their toll personally. My own ability to support my family is in jeopardy. I am having a hard time making bills and at this point I am what is called “couch homeless”. Please consider supporting us with special gifts and with regular monthly support. Any amount of support helps. No gift is too small. Thank you and God bless.

Consumerism too often suffocates the true meaning of this time. A time when Peace on Earth and Good will toward all people can be lost.
As I reflect on this time of year, I often spend time with my children trying to instill in them a sense of what it is all about. Recently, we watched the film, ” A Christmas Carol” based on the novel by Dickens. During the film, which is one of my personal holiday favorites, there is a scene where representatives of a charity ask the main characted, Scrooge, if he would contribute to their charity and he states that he must be about his business of making money and tells them to go about their business. They then state that humanity is their business. As I reflect on that and what the Christian tradition teaches about Wealth and poverty and the meaning of this season, as well as what other faith traditions teach about Greed and power, I am reminded of the fact that all of us should be about the “business” of humanity. That we should be concerned with those struggling to make it. That their struggle is our struggle.
We must be concerned about those who continue to struggle to make in the times we live. With the high unemployment rate and the foreclosure rate, more and more are ending up on the streets. And, it seems that the power brokers in both Government and the Corporate world seem more and more removed and unconcerned.
It is in times like this that we must pull together. Dickens in his novel, “A Tale of Two Cities”, characterized the period in which the novel took place as, “ It was the best of Times, and the Worst of times”. We live in a time like that again. It is the best of times for those with money and power as they continue to exploit the poor, but it is the worst of times for those who are at the bottom, especially those in poverty or those who are struggling with homelessness.
We must be committed to one another and to a movement that seeks human rights for all. It must be a struggle from the bottom up. It must be informed and led by those affected by the struggle. We can no longer afford to allow solutions from the top down. Most of those who attempt to solve the problem from an “Ivory Tower” have no understanding of the struggle and therefore have no vested interest in solving the problem. We can and we must work together to create a just and cooperative society. A society where those who struggle are counted and looked to for leadership. It is something that must be done. If it is not sooner or later the people must stand up and demand that it be so. We can no longer afford to allow the Rich to be bailed out at the expense of the poor and the working people of this country.
As a minister of the Gospel, I am told to preach the Gospel of the Good News to the poor (Isaiah 61). I therefore have a call towards justice for the poor. All people of Faith must commit themselves to this call. The one we call the Prince of Peace demands this. And, states in Matthew 25 that those who are part or not part of God’s Beloved Community, Dr. King called it, are judged by what they do with or for those who are oppressed in society. Dr. King stated that “the arch of history bends towards justice”. If that is true, then may we work toward that end.

By Rev. Bruce Wright MA, DMin., CPAC, MAC

Dear Friends and Supporters,

As we approach the holiday season this year, it is with the backdrop of 2 wars, the highest unemployment rate since the 60′s (almost 13% in the Tampa Bay Area), more people that are homeless than ever (6200 in Pinellas County), Millions have lost their homes due to foreclosure (Tampa Bay Area in the top 5), and 50 million people without Healthcare, it would seem difficult for many reading this newsletter to consider what they may do to help those that are struggling to make it. I know some who read this newsletter are barely making it. But, we are in need of your help.
The situation has gotten to the point where it is even difficult to get bread to serve the homeless community and needy families. Sources that we normally go to for that simple item are having a difficulty getting bread. It should not be that way. But, unfortunately it is. Currently, our food pantry is empty, our bank account is empty, and our resources are exhausted. We urgently need you help! It is our believe that God will provide, but that God will do it through people of Faith and people of good will. We are literally turning people away that need financial help or food. This is very difficult to do.
We have been blessed in the past by many of you. But, now your help is urgently needed. We are trying to build up our food pantry again. We are trying to build up our benevolence fund again. At this point, we are in need of several items. These items include gift cards (gas cards, dept store cards, mall cards, grocery store cards), canned goods, blankets, jackets, sleeping bags, a lap top, and financial support. We are trying to increase our financial support by $1800 per month. Gifts of any size would help. Please consider giving monthly.
Fortunately, some resources are coming through. It appears that we will be getting 200 “ditty” bags with basic survival items for people on the street, including hygiene items. Additionally, it appears that we will be getting enough Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, as well as toys for 30 families. But, we have several more families that need help.
In closing, let me share one positive story with you. For several months, a single mom who is part of our ministry and on government assistance, has been looking for a job. Well, yesterday, while we were helping her look for a job, she was offered a job at no less than 3 eating establishments. Thanks be to God! This one small thing that we do helped someone get out of depression.
So, please consider helping the Refuge. You can go to www.refugestpete.org to our pay pal site to support us financially. You can also send checks to the Refuge at 1818 29th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, Florida 33713. If you have any questions, please call me at 727 278 1547 or email me at bgcwright@aol.com. Thank you.

Sincerely, Rev. Bruce Wright

PS. We are in desperately in need of a minivan to pick up donated items and transport people to appointments. We are also looking for volunteers. For more info. about issues of poverty go to www.economichumanrights.org

Wow, has it been a busy time both for the Refuge and the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, and for Social Justice issues. Many of you have been reading about our updates during the G20, some of you have been following the whole Civil Liberties and Free Speech issues at Baywalk, and of course some have followed the issues around the attempt to get a tent city, run by Catholic Charities and the Local Government, started in Tampa.
All of this, which we have had some involvement in, is happening while we continue to serve the poor, the addicted, the homeless, and troubled youth through our programs and outreaches. And, with the backdrop of many families and individuals coming to us for financial help to avoid utility shut off or evictions. Things do seem out of control at times. But, I also believe that we, potentially, live in very revolutionary times and have some important opportunities. So, my hope is that you consider the times we live in and also look at these opportunities and consider some of thoughts that I will share.
First of all, let me say that the potential for the expansion of the “Police State” is of grave concern. What we saw at the G20 was horrendous and over the top. The Militarized Police and the National Guard were out of control. Unprovoked attacks by the Authorities on Students, Neighborhoods, Journalists, by-standers and nonviolent protesters was uncalled for and over the top. They used teargas, rubber bullets, sound disrupters, shields, and batons. They had armored vehicles and helicopters and high tech surveillance and weaponry. All this for peaceful protesters. For more info. go to www.resistg20.org, www.economichumanrights.org, and www.bailoutpeople.org. You can also go to utube to see the many videos. During this time the Poor People’s Campaign continued it’s mantra of Housing for All, Jobs for All, and Healthcare For All.
Not only has there been a battle against the Corporate Greed Monster at the G20, but locally there has been some very important battles against the Rich and Powerful. Case in point, is of course Baywalk and CW Capital, an 11 billion dollar Corporation, with ties to the multi-billion dollar bailed out Wells Fargo. The Fact, that the City would consider giving away public space to a multi-billion dollar corporation is bad enough. But, to blame the failed business, due to a bad economy and poor management, on protesters, black youth, and the homeless is unbelievable! But, to make matters worse, after voting to not give away public space, it appears that city council may give way to greedy corporate interests and re-vote to give away public space. So much for democracy and the people! Needless to say, if it is given away, we and others will be out there demonstrating, letting our voice be heard, in non-violent civil disobedience, as well as a law suit being filed. Let’s hope and pray that the council comes to it’s senses and doesn’t vacate the sidewalk. Kudos to the Council members that have stuck to their call to uphold the constitution and not giving up public space.
Another controversial issue is the whole city/Catholic Charities sponsored bureaucratic mess called tent city or Pinellas Hope. So many in the community have been duped by this very expensive ( more then 2.1 to 3 million dollars) venture. Why is it that the City and our Mayor push the homeless out of our city? Why is it that ordinances have been passed that criminalize the homeless? Why does it cost so much to put people in tents on donated land with donated food? Where is all the money going? Why can’t the homeless community run it? Why are Police there and allowed to question anyone? Why is it near the county jail and a graveyard? Could this be part of the reason why many did not want it in Tampa? Why is there no real investigation into the lack of success of Pinellas Hope? Why hasn’t there been shelter’s put in St. Pete? What about all the vacant land and property in St. Pete? Could someone answer these questions? This is very important to the Refuge and The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign.
All of the above mentioned things are interconnected. Cause harm to one, cause harm to all. Dr. King said, “Injustice anywhere, is a threat to Justice Everywhere”. Isaiah the Prophet warned, “Woe to You who make unjust laws to deprive the Poor of their Rights…..” (Isaiah 10: 1-4). It is time to Rise Up and Fight, to be counted! Not only with protest, but with financial support, especially to those who are hurting, homeless, foreclosed on or about to be. This month is “Zero Evictions” month and it is time for people to stay in their homes and not be foreclosed on, to take over abandoned homes and homestead. It is time to take to the streets and highways and byways!!
Please consider joining us in this struggle and helping us, work alongside and support the hurting. They are us, we are them. If you can help us in this struggle, please consider supporting the Refuge and send checks to help the hurting or go on line to support us. Our address is the Refuge 1818 29th AVe. North, St. Petersburg, Florida 33713 or go online to www.refugestpete.org. You can also support the Poor People’s campaign by going to www.economichumanrights.org. Please help us we are $3200 short this month. Thanks for your thoughts, gifts, and prayers. God Bless!!! Rev. Bruce

Baywalk’s owners have bribed the city to privatize the sidewalk in front of baywalk, saying it is a “deal-breaker,” meaning that without it the owners will not go through with plans of spending up to $6 million revitalizing the property. On Oct. 1st, despite st. pete mayor Rick Baker’s [7] backroom dealing [8], the city council voted down [9] the proposal: 4-4. Following the victory for free speech, St Pete For Peace [10], one of the protest groups, announced that they would not hold protests at baywalk [11] for at least a year as long as the city didn’t again move forward to stop protests.

But the city undermined the peace group’s good faith effort after a St. Petersburg Times editorial [12] convinced one council member, Herb Polson hepolson@stpete.org [13], who previously voted to protect free speech, to call for a revote [14].

Activists have used a variety of tactics to convey their opposition to the city’s plan including protests, letter writing, power point presentations [15], a free speech flash mob [16], and radical cheerleading [17].

The city is scheduled to take their final vote on the sidewalk privatization, around 3pm on Oct. 15th at St. Petersburg City Hall (175 Fifth St. N.) The vote will be made without an opportunity for public comment. Activists have responded by writing on one website [18], “there are ways to speak without words. And they will have a tougher time silencing our actions.”

read more: 1 [19], 2 [20], 3 [21], 4 [22]

listen: 1 [23], 2, [24] 3, [25]

watch: 1, [26] 2, [27] 3, [28] 4 [29], 5 [30],

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Source URL:

http://sarasota.indymedia.org/local/free-speech-activists-battle-baywalk

Hello Everyone. It is now Monday, September 28th, 2009. It is 3 days after the last day of the G20 demonstrations and actions. Our contingent from Florida arrived back in Florida on Saturday night. We were tired, but encouraged and excited about what happened there. For more than 5 days and encampment of the poor, the homeless, the unemployed and their supporters camped out at Monumental Baptist Church, on their grounds in of the poorest, historical African American Districts called the Hill District in Pittsburgh, PA. We participated in the March for Jobs on the 20th with more than 1000 people,including PPEHRC, the Refuge, Bail Out the People, several Unions and others. We had to opportunity to speak at this event and talk about how movements to end poverty must be informed and led by those effected by it. We had workshops on endin poverty, worker rights, unions, and global issues. We viewed several films, including “Explicit ILLs”, which talked about healthcare and poverty with PPEHRC and a protest as the back drop. We did a speak out on ending Police Repression, and one about Healthcare. We had a March on Mellon Bank in the middle of the day on Wednesday and managed to get serious attention and disrupt traffice. At this March, we spoke of Predatory lending, foreclosures, and the housing crisis.
We also participated in several large Marches, including a large March on Thursday that was unpermitted. The authorities claim we had only 500 people, but it was more like 3000 to 4000. It was at this event, the Police Repression was the greatest, though throughout the week the Police harassed by Flying helicopters overhead at all hours, sending Police by in their Patrol cars, randomly stopping people and asking for ID’s for no apparent reason, in one case we were visited by Secret Service. At first, we thought they were there for a funeral the Church was having, but when I discovered they were Secret Service, I went up and talked with them and took a picture of them. I got more than 80 pictures at this event this week. So, we have lots of footage. During the unpermitted march on Thursday, the Police used Tear gas in a residential neighborhood effecting both protesters and residents, including children. They used tear gas on the University of Pittsburgh campus, and got both protesters and students, who were looking from their dorms. The Police used high intensity sound machines, which gave me at headache, and they used rubber bullets and concusion grenades. I, as well as the group with me, were victims of tear gas. Several news reporters were hit with batons, tear gased and hit with Police fists, including a New York Times Reporter and a CNN reporter.
At the permitted march, several thousand (at least 15,000) marched. Cheri Honkala, National Organizer with PPEHRC, spoke as did Union Organizers, Cindy Sheehan, and many others. Our march was blocked several times by a massive Police Presence and Military presence. They had helicopters, including Chenok troop carriers, Blackhawk helicopters, and Apache Attack helicopters, as well as armoured vehicles and humvees. So, the Militarized presence was enormous. But, we were undaunted and got our messaged out of justice and peace and economic human rights. Several news organizations from the International community covered the event, including Al Jazerra, the BBC, German Television, Australian Television, and Japanese Television among others.
In closing, we believe it was a very worthwhile demonstration. We were especially pleased that the message of the poor, oppressed, unemployed and homeless were heard by those who were effected by the current economic crisis. Without your help and support, we could not have done this trip. We thank you. However, the work locally, must continue. Our struggle for economic human rights for the poor and oppressed continues. We continue to serve and work alongside the homeless, the poor, and the unemployed. So, we need your continued support, help, and prayers. The Refuge, as well as the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, needs your financial help. We still have expenses from our trip and need to raise $700 for that, as well as regular support. If you can help in any way, please call me at 727 278 1547. Gifts can also be sent to the Refuge at 1818 29th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, Florida 33713. You can also go online to paypal at www.refugestpete.org. For more info. about what happened on this trip you can go to www.economichumanrights.org or www.bailoutpeople.org. Thank you again. Rev. Bruce Wright