Cleveland meeting builds April 20
1985Shirley Pasholk 1985-04Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 7 →
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CLEVELAND-On March 3 the Peace Action Coalition of Northeast Ohio (PACNO) sponsored a town meeting at Cleveland State University to help publicize the April 20 demonstration in Washington, D.C. Over 300 people attended. Sixty also attended a fundraising reception before the meeting.
Leon Lynch, United Steelworkers of America international vice president, discussed the negative impact U.S. foreign policy has on jobs. He said, "Peace doesn't just mean not being in a shooting war, and explained that he considers unemployment, plant closings, and cuts in social services as well as nuclear freeze and non-intervention to be peace issues.
Lynch also described his personal involvement in demonstrations against South African apartheid. He said he'd been arrested at the South African embassy and would continue to speak out on the issue which he called an abomination aided, abetted, and supported by the Reagan administration.
He announced his attempts to obtain a visa so he can travel to South Africa to meet with trade unionists there. He discussed the successes in Pittsburgh. After numerous pickets, the South African consulate in that city closed. Pressure forced the City Council to enact legislation prohibiting financial support to apartheid by investment of city funds. He urged other local coalitions to press for similar gains.
Lynch expressed his support …to PACNO, saying that the goals of the coalition can only be achieved through action. He announced his plans to participate in the April 20 demonstration in Washington, D.C., and promised his help in trying to actively involve the Steelworkers union.
Helen Seidman, field coordinator of the Ohio Freeze, described the dangers of the U.S. military build-up. Roberto Vargas, counselor for labor and cultural affairs of the Nicaraguan Embassy, discussed the escalating U.S. threats against Nicaragua. Sister Cindy Drennan reported on the recent attacks on the sanctuary movement.
Following the speeches, Carl Edelman, one of the five PACNO coordinators, presented a proposal for a March 30 outdoor rally to focus on opposition to apartheid and U.S. intervention in Central America. Meeting participants enthusiastically voiced their support to this idea.
Support for April 20 is picking up in other northern Ohio cities. The Toledo coalition has already filled one bus and has plans for one or two more. At least three buses, including a large contingent of Palestinians from the November 29 Coalition, will leave from Youngstown.
The Youngstown Peace Council also plans to send a bus to Cleveland on March 22 to participate in the weekly Friday picket lines held outside the South African consulate. Over 500 students attended a debate on apartheid at Oberlin College.