People will tell you you're naive for thinking one person can't make a
difference. Civil rights
activist Addie Wyatt once said, "Lord, I wish my eyes had never been
opened." Plenty of people open their eyes
and close them again, and tell themselves what they see is merely a
dream, and even if it is real, what can they do? Better to stay still,
and not get involved. Wouldn't make a difference anyway.
Never let anyone tell you one person can't make a difference. Never let
anyone tell you you shouldn't stand up. Always do whatever you can.
Give money if that's what you can do. Grab a sign and paint it and
stick it on the freeway if that's what you can do. Send a care package
to a soldier, an e-mail or a letter to a friend. Write. Call. Blog.
Talk. Use whatever voice you have.
DC actually has a buzz
today...and this city never has that feeling of energy. From what I
could see, it really is an eclectic crowd. Chimpy's out chasing
hurricanes, but the message is loud and clear from the anti-war protest:
Opponents
of the war in Iraq marched by the tens of thousands Saturday in a
clamorous day of protest, song and remembrance of the dead, some
showing surprisingly diverse political views even as they spoke with
one loud voice in wanting U.S. troops home.
The surging crowd,
shouting "Bush out now" and "Peace now," marched in front of the White
House and then toward the Washington Monument in an 11-hour marathon of
dissent.
Right at the beginning of the march was a table of right wingers with a
big "Trust Jesus" sign and bullhorn saying something like "Jesus would
bomb Iraqi children and so should we." It was glorious to have everyone
(thousands of people) surrounding them yell "GO ENLIST GO ENLIST GO
ENLIST GO ENLIST." Just absolutely drowning out their bullhorn. A true
"Operation Yellow Elephant" moment.
On
Washington's National Mall, they set up a faux military cemetery of
hundreds of small, white crosses in neat lines. In Los Angeles, 60 mock
coffins draped in American flags were laid out in rows on a downtown
street. "This is what we are losing every day," said Vickie
Castro, of Riverside, California, standing in front of the coffins with
a picture of her son, Cpl. Jonathan Castro, who was killed in action in
Mosul, Iraq, in 2004. Demonstrations in Washington and London took aim
at the Bush administration, calling its policies and actions
"criminal."
Some protesters carried signs calling Bush and Cheney "Liars." One sign
said, "Bush is a Cat 5 Disaster," in a reference to the recent
hurricanes that have hammered the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Some of my favorite posters/slogans:
"I can't believe we still have to protest this crap"
"If you don't support peace, I'll kill you"
A picture of bush looking like a chimp with the question Intellligent Design?
Cindy Sheehan, the California mother who drew thousands of
demonstrators to her 26-day vigil outside Bush's Texas ranch last
month, won a roar of approval when she took the stage before the march.
Her 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in Iraq last year.
"Shame on you," Sheehan admonished, directing that portion of her
remarks to members of Congress who backed Bush on the war. "How many
more of other people's children are you willing to sacrifice?
She led the crowd in chanting, "Not one more."
A
very cool group of people with what looked like mud people on pogo
sticks. I have no idea what it was supposed to be or represent, but the
mud people bopping up and down to the beat of drums it was very cool -
I am guessing it was Art Students for Peace or something.
They were young people with green hair, nuns whose
anti-war activism dates to Vietnam, parents mourning their children in
uniform lost in Iraq, and uncountable families motivated for the first
time to protest.
The protest in the capital showcased a series of demonstrations in
foreign and other U.S. cities. A crowd in London, estimated by police
at 10,000, marched in support of withdrawing British troops from Iraq.
Highlighting the need to get out, protesters said, were violent clashes
between insurgents and British troops in the southern Iraq city of
Basra.
On
Washington's National Mall, they set up a faux military cemetery of
hundreds of small, white crosses in neat lines. In Los Angeles, 60 mock
coffins draped in American flags were laid out in rows on a downtown
street. "This is what we are losing every day," said Vickie
Castro, of Riverside, California, standing in front of the coffins with
a picture of her son, Cpl. Jonathan Castro, who was killed in action in
Mosul, Iraq, in 2004. Demonstrations in Washington and London took aim
at the Bush administration, calling its policies and actions
"criminal."
Some protesters carried signs calling Bush and Cheney "Liars." One sign
said, "Bush is a Cat 5 Disaster," in a reference to the recent
hurricanes that have hammered the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Cindy Sheehan, the California mother who drew thousands of
demonstrators to her 26-day vigil outside Bush's Texas ranch last
month, won a roar of approval when she took the stage before the march.
Her 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in Iraq last year.
