Chestnut Hill, MA—More than thirty Boston College students staged a die-in against the Iraq War on the campus green on March 20, 2006. March 19, 2006 was the third year anniversary of the U.S. led invasion of Iraq—a war that has cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $250 billion and claimed the lives of more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians and 2,300 U.S. soldiers.

a brief report on the March 18 anti-war march and rally held in Duluth, MN

First 51 minutes of the Mike Cannon Show for March 20th. Interviews at March 18th Anti-War Rally in Stevens Point, WI.

Sheboygan PeaceSeekers, Vets for Peace and Between the Lakes Greens worked on a couple of events in the Sheboygan Area March 18th 2006. 8 minute video.. 256 winmedia

Thank you very much for posting all of your event announcements on San Diego Indymedia. As a volunteer that spends a lot of time on this site, I want to ask people to please post a report from your event if you're going to post your event announcement here.

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 http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2006/03/114434.shtml

Tens of thousands gathered this weekend across the U. S. to protest the continued occupation of Iraq, and call for accountability as four polls published last week put Bush's approval ratings at an all-time low.

Below are firsthand reports from some of the over 500 protests in all 50 states this week. Tens of thousands also gathered in cities abroad, including the Iraqi cities of Basra and Baghdad.

In Philly
Independence Mall | Sen. Specter's House | Banner Drops

National Rallies & Marches
Akron, OH 1 2 | Albuquerque | Arlington, TX | Ashland, OR | Binghamton | Boston 1 2 | Chicago | Colorado Springs | Columbus 1 2 | Concord, NH | Connecticut | DC | Eugene | Fayetteville, AK | Fresno | Houston | Kansas City | Los Angeles | Milwaukee | Minneapolis/St.Paul | Nashville | New Hampshire | New York | Orange County 1 2 | Pittsburgh | Phoenix | Portland | Rochester | San Diego | San Francisco Bay Area | Santa Barbara | Santa Cruz | Seattle | Springfield, Mass | Tuscon, AZ | Vancouver, WA | Vermont | Worcester

On Monday morning, March 20, at around 11:00am, 10 protesters gathered outside the Northeastern University Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) office on Huntington Avenue to protest the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. "We wanted to make sure nobody forgets that both Iraqi civilians and American soldiers are dying everyday," said one protester. The protesters used colorful chalk to transform the sidewalk into a collage of messages such as "100,000 Dead for what?", "Military recruiters out of our schools," "Death zone," and "Recruiting the poor to die for the rich." Protesters also drew chalk body outlines to represent the dead, both Iraqi and American.

Veterans For Peace (VFP), Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), and Gold Star Families for Peace (GSFP), at the call of the Mobile Veterans For Peace Chapter #130, marched between Mobile, AL, and New Orleans, LA, from March 14-19, 2006 -- the third anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. This historical event highlights the connections between the economic and human cost of war in the Middle East and the failure of our government to respond to human needs at home, especially the needs of poor people and people of color.

March 19, 2006 was a beautiful sunny day. So sunny I decided to leave for the rally early. When I reached the waterfront a little after one o'clock, I was surprised to see a crowd already around one to two thousand people. I saw some familiar faces and made my rounds. Everyone I spoke to felt the rally was not going to get us out of Iraq any sooner, but everyone seemed to be enjoying the sunshine.

After about an hour, the crowd had doubled. Someone came up and greeted everyone and there was some peace and love music. Because I was at the rally to support the end of the Iraq war and not peace I went to the back of the crowd and watched the anarchist cheerleaders (they were awesome!).

A little while later I found the "bloc" and met some of the people from the Seattle Anti-imperialist group. The bloc had a banner that read "Fuck The Troops!" complete with a yellow ribbon crossed out, a circle A, and a circle E. Personally I thought this banner was great. It did not scape-goat our "leaders"; instead it called upon those holding the weapons to realize what they are doing is wrong. ] read more [

AUDIO FILE: Rally and March, March 19, 2006

What was accomplished? Each of those who attended will have to answer that for themselves. A thousand reasons for resisting oppression, all arising from one love of freedom, one compassion for all Human Beings, one faith in the general resilience of the Human Spirit.

This was an enormous event, both physically and emotionally. While standing at Broadway and Morrison, with the orange clad and black masked "detainees," the march stretched out away out of sight in both directions, north and south, while eastward I could see the vanguard of the March working its way north up 4th Avenue. Easily 30 blocks in length, probably more.

We take so much for granted in this country. It's good to get out into the streets and demonstrate the fact that we appreciate our Civil Liberties, and when Bush comes to shove, we will stand up for them and resist their gradual disappearance. It's necessary to respond as a Community to any assaualt upon the sovereignty of the people, upon their institutions, upon their capacity to trust one another. ] read more [

pictures: [ m19 (3) photo essay | M19 Rally and March Photos, 3 of 3 | M19 Rally and March Photos, 2 of 3 | M19 Rally and March Photos, 1 of 3 | Photogs of M19 March and Rally | M19 Pics and Report | Peace Rally & March Photos, 03/19/06 | Waterfront Park Rally | Spontaneous action in the burbs ]

related: [ Report from the M19 Rally and March | breaking news for m19 | Radio Call-ins to PDX IMC Web Radio on March 19th ]

portland indymedia m19 coverage

On March 19th, somewhere between 150 and 200 people rallied at the clock tower in Santa Cruz before marching down Pacific Avenue and up Front Street. Demonstrators called for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the removal of George Bush from the White House and for government money to be spent on education instead of warfare. Read more and view photos

see also: An Open Letter to the SC Activist Community

Protests also took place in cities throughout California, the United States and across the world.

An open meeting facilitated by the Southern California Anarchist Federation (SCAF) was held at this Saturday's rally in Hollywood. The topic of discussion was the pros and cons of permit marches and how best to move the anti-war movement forward.

In what is believed to have been one of the largest anti-war protest in the United States, upwards of ten thousand people hit the streets of the Gold Coast Saturday night for the Festival of Rights march — the culmination of a day of activities marking public opposition to the war in Iraq on the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion.

The day began with over a dozen feeder marches throughout the area staged to mobilize grassroots opposition to the war. Those actions converged at a mass rally in Union Park, and protesters reassembled later that evening for the "Festival of Rights" march down Michigan Ave. in what activists described as the return of free speech to Chicago's most high-rent corridor. Protesters won a permit from City bureaucrats for the march, an important victory in the battle to win back civil liberties that have been increasingly proscribed since 9/11. The City effectively banned antiwar speech on Michigan Ave. three years ago after police arrested over 800 peaceful protesters on March 20, 2003.

Video: [ 1 | 2 ] Photos: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 (New!)]
Text: Honest Assessment of M18 | Early corporate coverage | Tribune coverage | The antiwar march in Chicago
Radio: Excerpt one from 3/18 Live Radio Webstream | Excerpt two

Other Resources and press coverage: M18 Coalition, and assorted corporate press coverage | Indymedia US: Other weekend actions nationwide | Global IMC: Worldwide protests

March 19th, 2006, a group of over 30 Deaf &Deaf-Blind protesters and their supporters held a four-hour sit-in at a local doctor's office demanding that the doctor agree to provide sign language interpreting services for those who need them. The protest was the first ever of its kind in the country. The Deaf &Deaf-Blind Committee on Human Rights (DDBCHR), a grassroots advocacy group based in North Olmsted, Ohio organized yesterday's protest. In the same way that civil rights groups held sit-ins at restaurants in the 1950's &60's to draw attention to the discrimination faced by African-Americans, DDBCHR's sit-in action yesterday hoped to bring attention to the fact that many doctors still refuse to provide sign language interpreters for Deaf and Deaf-Blind patients despite the fact they are required to do so by law.