The Nelson Mandela Peace Event will take place on West Schoolhouse Lane(at Vaux Street) in Germantown, one block from Senator Specter's home. On this date in 1918, Nelson Mandela was born. Mandela would become president of South Africa in 1994, following a life dedicated to ending apartheid (segregation) for which he spent 27 years in prison.
The demonstrators will ask Specter (who remains our Senator until January 2011) to endorse a bill which will cut off Pentagon funding in Afghanistan and Iraq except what is needed for the safe return of all U.S. troops. They also want the closure of all Pentagon bases there.
The Nelson Mandela Peace Event has been endorsed by Brandywine Peace Community, Bryn Mawr Peace Coalition, Bucks for Progress, Catholic Peace Fellowship, Chester County Peace Movement, Code Pink Philadelphia,Communist Party of Eastern PA and DE, Delaware Valley Veterans for America, Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia, Green Party of Delaware County, Green Party of Montgomery County, Green Party of Philadelphia, Maine Line Peace Action, Military Families Speak Out, Northeast Philly for Peace and Justice,Northwest Greens, Peace Action of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network (PRAWN), Philadelphia War Resisters League, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Saint Vincent's Peace and Justice Ministry, Suburban Philadelphia Greens, Turn Around America, Veterans for Peace, Chapter 31, and Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (Philadelphia Branch).