Get out on Inauguration Day – there's plenty to do. Thanks tonz to the incredible folk at counter-inaugural.org for "facilitating protest around the 2005 presidential inauguration" and providing much of this information.WEDNESDAY, JAN. 19 and THURSDAY, JAN. 20
Student Walkouts!
College and high school students will engage in a walkout against the inauguration on both the 19th and 20th. These are likely to merge into larger actions. Get involved, and organize with your friends!
THURSDAY, JAN. 20
9 a.m. to noon
RISE Against Bush/SHINE for a Peaceful Tomorrow
Malcolm X Park
The DC Anti-War Network (DAWN) has called for a permitted anti-war rally and march. Rally with DAWN at 9 a.m. at Malcolm X Park (16th and Euclid Streets NW; U Street or Columbia Heights Metro). Speakers will include Amy Goodman, David Cobb and Medea Benjamin; David Rovics and Son of Nun are among the musical guests.
At 11:15 a.m., after the rally, DAWN will march toward the White House down 16th Street and ending at McPherson Square Park (15th and I Streets) at approximately 12:30 p.m. From McPherson Square, march participants may join in several actions. Many are expected to join protests along the inauguration parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue, only a few blocks south of the march's end point. The parade is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. after Bush's inauguration ceremony at the Capitol building, leaving plenty of time for participants to find locations on the parade to continue their protest.
9 to 11 a.m.
Women's March and Funeral Procession
Dupont Circle
Diverse protest groups will gather to mourn the loss of American freedoms while the Bush administration celebrates. Join the Women's March and Funeral Procession, in the style of a New Orleans jazz funeral. A pre-march rally will convene at Dupont Circle at 9 a.m., featuring speakers, information tables and entertainment. This legal, permitted march will leave Dupont Circle at 11 a.m. and merge with the DAWN march at McPherson Square around noon.
10 a.m. to noon
Shadow Inauguration 2005
Stanton Park (4th and Mass. NE)
Rally with The Rev. Al Sharpton, The Rev. Walter Fauntroy, Damu Smith, Anise Jenkins and Joe Madison
10 to 11:30 a.m.
The Cost of War: The Price We're All Paying
Foundry United Methodist Church (1500 16th St. at P Street NW)
Several speakers will illustrate the price we are all paying for our war-occupation of Iraq. Speakers include Erik Leaver of Foreign Policy in Focus, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, Elias Vlanton of www.costofwar.com, Alice Zachmann of Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International, Iraq war veteran and conscientious objector Aidan Delgado, and Sue Niederer and Celeste Zappala, mothers of soldiers killed in Iraq. The event starts promptly at 10 a.m. and will end before the DAWN march passes by Foundry United Methodist Church.
11 to 11:30 a.m.
Doris "Granny D" Haddock: Velvet Revolution – American Style
McPherson Square Park (15th and I Streets NW)
Join this rally in the park before the DAWN march arrives. "Granny D" turns 95 years old in a few days, and she'll explain our Velvet Revolution – American Style – which she sees as the logical next step for progressive U.S. politics.
2 to 4 p.m.
Turn Your Back on Bush
This is a non-violent, mass action that will powerfully demonstrate the broad opposition that exists in this country to the presidency of George Walker Bush. We call on people to dress neutrally and line the parade route. As the presidential motorcade approaches, many will simply turn our backs on him. We invite you to join in!
3 to 6 p.m.
Alternative Inaugural Concert
All Souls Church (1500 Harvard St. NW; entrance at 16th & Harvard Streets)
Celebrate the heart and hope of America at a free alternative inaugural concert. The event will feature outstanding performers from America's diverse musical traditions, plus distinguished speakers addressing poverty, peace and the future of our planet. A reception will follow the concert to offer opportunities for networking and learning about organizations now working on these issues.
5 to 7 p.m.
Town Hall: "Empire & Resistance"
First Congregational Church (945 G St. NW)
Sponsored by the International Socialist Organization, this town hall is being organized to help provide ideas, energy and focus to our common movement for progressive change.
6 p.m. to …
Not My President! Punk Rock Counter-Inaugural Ball
Sanctuary Theater in Casa del Pueblo of Calvary Methodist Church (1459 Columbia Rd. NW, Columbia Heights Metro)
$5 donation
Speakers and/or tables from Iraq Veterans Against the War, Empower DC, Positive Force DC, Brian MacKenzie Infoshop and more. Presented by Positive Force DC in conjunction with the Rorschach Theater.
7 to 9:30 p.m.
Counter-Inaugural Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Provisions Library (1611 Connecticut Ave. NW; Dupont Circle Metro)
Members $5, nonmembers $8
"Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin"
A master strategist and tireless social activist, Bayard Rustin is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States. Raised as a pacifist Quaker and steeped in Mahatma Gandhi's protest techniques, Rustin brought his deep convictions into the heart of the American civil rights movement, helping Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. become an international symbol of peace and nonviolence. Panelists include Lawrence Guyot, a Mississippi civil rights activist and a former field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He is a program monitor for Washington DC’s Office of Early Childhood Development, ANC Commissioner in Washington DC, and active in local efforts to promote citizen empowerment and youth leadership.
8 p.m. to midnight
Inaugurate This!
Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW), backstage
$5-$10 sliding scale donation, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds!
Inaugurate This! is a radical spoken word and music concert. Some 20 performers will take to the stage to celebrate Inauguration Day in the most American way possible: Through their art, they will protest, condemn, join with, cheer, combat, and commemorate our United States. Featuring: Bitch (NYC), Sini Anderson (San Francisco), Athens Boys Choir (Georgia), Grover (Asheville), Cliterati (Georgia), Michelle Sewell (DC), The Original Woman (DC), Natalie E. Illum (DC), J. Scales (DC), Gina Young (NYC), mz.imani (Maryland), Stevie B (Oakland) and SkyBear (Boston).
8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Noise Against Fascism
Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW), front stage
$12
Noise Against Fascism is intended as a positive (albeit brutally loud) response to the inaugural activities otherwise fouling the air on Jan. 20. It was cooked up by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and DC writer/musician Chris Grier while the two of them wandered around Capitol Hill one late November afternoon. Grier and Moore drew up a wish list, called and e-mailed musicians from Miami to Montreal to Los Angeles, and quickly filled a bill with some of North America's most blistering improv artists.
Headlining are Magik Markers, a three-piece from Canada and Massachusetts who toured with Sonic Youth last summer to much acclaim, and To Live and Shave in L.A., fresh from a three-year hiatus. Other bands on the bill are Buzzardstain – a duo featuring Nautical Almanac's Twig Harper and Wolf Eyes' Nate Young that was formed solely for this show – and Mirror/Dash, a Kim Gordon/Thurston Moore duo that has, to our knowledge, never before appeared live. Nautical Almanac and Metalux, both improv duos from Baltimore, are also playing, as are 16 Bitch Pile Up, Double Leopards, Monotract, the Believers and the Chris Corsano/Paul Flaherty Duo.
8:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
Billionaires for Bush Re-Coronation Inaugural Ball
Platinum Nightclub (915 F St. NW)
Tickets from $20, including advance Internet purchases at $10 (restrictions apply)
All the Excess, Twice the Greed! Bigger, Larger, More Unchecked! The Billionaires for Bush host a black tie ball to celebrate the re-coronation of the president we paid for. Entertainment includes Afro-funk Big Band, Chopteeth!, Billionaires Follies Cabaret!, Swank Swing and Hip House DJ with three floors of dancing.