Two events are planned in San Francisco tonight, a protest and a speakers’ forum, to mark the ninth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan on Thursday.
The speakers’ program starts at 6 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco at 1187 Franklin St.
It will begin with a reading of a list of names of those who have died in the conflict, event spokesman Galen Workman said.
“This is meant to be a commemoration of the nine years, and a lead-in for the anniversary,” Workman said.
The event, “Afghanistan – Nine Years and Counting: Anti-War Perspectives from the Left and Right” features five speakers, including Republican Congressional candidate John Dennis and peace activist Daniel Ellsberg.
The other speakers are radio personality Karel; Mike Eisenscher, the national director of US Labor Against War; and Libertarian activist and blogger Angela Keaton.
The program will last about an hour and a half, Workman said. Some of the speakers will be available after the event for discussions.
More information on the event can be found on the church’s website.
The second event, a protest march, will begin at 5 p.m. at Powell and Market streets and continue to an unspecified hotel where hotel union workers are negotiating contracts, organizer Forrest Schmidt said.
“We have all the money in the world to invade and occupy Afghanistan, but we don’t have enough money to pay hotel workers a living wage,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt is an organizer with the ANSWER Coalition, which is one of the groups sponsoring the march.
The date and time of the event was set on the eve of the anniversary to accommodate ANSWER’s desire to participate in a budget cut demonstration scheduled for Thursday, Schmidt said.
