Matt De Vlieger
Matt De Vliegar... is Florida born and raised, and living to "kvetch" about it. He grew up in Sunrise, where he attended Piper High School and broadcasted on "South Florida's Radio Alternative", 88.5FM WKPX. He graduated from UCF in Orlando with a degree in International Relations and Broadcast Journalism. At UCF he began organizing with fellow students, with the original purpose of preventing a U.S. invasion of Iraq. Through this work he learned what led him to organizing around student rights, ecology, energy issues, government accountability, civil liberties, and human rights. De Vlieger moved from his job at the Orlando office ACLU of Florida, to become Greenpeace USA's Florida Field Organizer in Tampa. He served on the Steering Committee of United for Peace and Justice, the nation's foremost anti-war coalition, where he was the co-convener of their Afghanistan & Pakistan Working Group.
UFPJ rally
On October 27th 2007, United for Peace and Justice held an Anti-war National Mobilization, near Orlando, Florida at Lake Eola.[1]
Speakers Included:
- Michael Albert - activist, author of "Remembering Tomorrow: From SDS to Life After Capitalism" & founder of Z-Magazine
- Lucas Benitez - Coalition of Immokalee Workers
- Debra Booth - AFL-CIO & Central Florida Labor Council
- Congresswoman Corrine Brown
- Scott Camil - Veterans for Peace
- Michael Canney - Green Party of Florida, Co-Chair
- Matt De Vlieger - Students for a Democratic Society @ UCF (M.C. of the day)
- Denise Diaz - Central Florida Jobs with Justice
- Senator Mike Gravel - Anti-war Candidate for President '08
- Clifton Hicks - Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW)
- Jesse Kern - Veterans for Peace (Korean War Veteran)and Communist Party USA supporter.
- Omar Masri - Speaker from UFPJ Steering Committee
- Peg McIntire (97yo) - Grandparents for Peace, St. Augustine
- David Rucker - Metropolitan Democratic Black Caucus & former President of the Orange County NAACP
- Bruce Wright - St. Pete for Peace
- Lydia Vickers - CodePink
United for Peace and Justice
In Dec 2008 Matt De Vlieger, Orlando Peace and Justice was voted onto the Steering Committee for United for Peace and Justice[2]