NEW YORK - August 31 - On Thursday, the day that George Bush slips momentarily into Madison Square Garden to accept the Republican nomination, the Not In Our Name project is calling for a visual NO! to spread throughout the city of New York, with t-shirts, posters and other creative actions building on yesterday’s largest ever protest at a political convention.

On-the-ground estimates from police yesterday were 750,000. The official number later released by the police department was a paltry 120,000. News reports filed by hundreds of news organizations portrayed the great anger in the crowd at Bush, particularly against his wars, and the great diversity of the crowd.

“The Bush regime planned to cynically use the pain and loss of New York City over the September 11th attacks to justify wars they were previously planning, and never expected the huge outpouring against the Bush agenda. We’ve been saying all summer that millions across the country are infuriated at the atrocities which have been committed without our permission, in our name. What we saw Sunday was a breathtaking example of this: even though there was no permit for a Central Park ending rally, even though it was 90 degrees outside, nearly a million people came out to the streets and thousands came to Central Park. Had the City not denied a permit, who knows what the numbers would be?” said Tanya Mayo, National Coordinator of the Not In Our Name project.

Not in Our Name is suggesting a way for millions more people in the course of their daily life Thursday to participate in mass political action. Simply wearing a t-shirt, button, or sticker saying “NO” will be a way to signify opposition to the Bush agenda. Not in Our Name has produced a popular “I Say NO” t-shirt, and is urging people to produce their own versions.

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