FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MELINDA SHELTON, 767; DIANE MINOR, 773
Activist Dick Gregory, who once fasted for 71 days, today joins NOW and other activists who are fasting to convince President Clinton to re-examine his conscience and veto the welfare bill.
Gregory and NOW President Patricia Ireland will lead a candlelight vigil at sunset tonight (8:30 - 9:30 p.m.) in Lafayette Park, across from the White House. Activists have been maintaining a vigil in the park since Thursday, when hundreds of people joined in a protest that kicked off the fast.
Gregory met with fasting activists Friday to advise them about long-term fasts. He also joined dozens of activists attending candlelight vigils the past two nights.
Meanwhile, NOW is planning another large demonstration immediately after Clinton takes action on the bill. Not only hundreds of individuals, but at least a dozen different groups joined the NOW-organized demonstration Thursday after Clinton announced he planned to sign the bill.
Among the diverse groups participating in the ongoing protests: NOW, the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Feminist Majority, the National Rainbow Coalition, the National Welfare Rights Union, the National Union of the Homeless, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Human Rights Campaign, the Gray Panthers, the Mexican American Women's National Association, the United Methodist Church, the National Council of Jewish Women, Network -- the National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and Ralph Nader's Center for Study of Responsive Law.