CODEPINK to Lead Women's Delegation Saturday in National Mass March on Wall Street

Women for Peace will join thousands of Americans
in the mass mobilization planned for this Saturday here on Wall Street,
"Beyond War: A New Economy Is Possible."

WHAT: CODEPINK women to lead women's delegation of UFPJ's national march on Wall Street
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 4

WHERE: Gather at Franklin & Lafayette Streets, march to Wall Street, New York City

In vibrant, creative pink, CODEPINK will lead hundreds of women
from Long Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts and D.C. in the women's
delegation of the march, organized by the largest anti-war coalition
group, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ). They will call for a new
direction of American policy -- one that rejects war spending and
bailouts for the wealthy and instead invests in new jobs, health care,
quality education for all, and sustainable, clean energy.

"We voted last fall for change, and as citizens, women and
peace-makers, we're here today taking our vote to the next level," said
Dana Balicki, CODEPINK campaign coordinator. "Saying the 'Bailout is
bullshit' may be crass, but it's not nearly as crass as hundreds of
billions of dollars spent in war and occupation and in bailing out
millionaires on Wall Street rather than going to our schools, our
hospitals, and infrastructure."

The march will mark the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s
historic 'Beyond Vietnam' speech at Riverside Church in New York and
his death exactly one year later. It will reflect King's messages
linking the exorbitant costs of war abroad to injustice and disparity
at home.

U.S. spending in Iraq has reached about $610 billion, and in
Afghanistan, Obama recently announced plans to spend 60 percent more
than current levels of $2 billion per month. Americans do no want, nor
can they afford, another war without end. A USA Today/Gallup Poll
earlier this month found 42 percent of Americans felt the Afghanistan
war was "a mistake," an increase of 30 percent earlier this year and 34
percent in August 2008. More war in Afghanistan will fuel the Taliban
and Al-Qaeda, increasing their numbers, will lead to more civilian
deaths -- in 2008, amid U.S. military operations, civilian casualties
climbed 40 percent and further alienate Afghans, who increasingly view
the U.S. as an occupying force.