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NEWS & LETTERS, April - May 2008Anti-war demonstrations around the countryChicago--On March 19, 3,000 of us rallied and marched on a cold overcast day in the heart of downtown, kicking off two days of protest, to show our determination to end this deadly and unconscionable war NOW! We were a diverse crowd. Along with different Left organizations were suburbanites who brought their children, high school and college students, and people getting off from work. One group of local college students had a huge banner, looking beyond this atrocity. It was a collage of many depictions of society coming out of war into something different, to a world based in peace. Another group of four people stood on a pedestal in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, representing those tortured by the U.S. at Guantanamo. Ending torture, as well as the obscene amount of money spent on death and destruction, were some of the themes raised by demonstrators in their rage against the Bush administration. Demands included ending funding for the war and bringing the troops home NOW. After an hour-long rally with speeches and song, the march began at Dearborn and Adams streets, proceeded up Michigan Avenue, and ended at Washington Square Park. On the way we shut down major streets, Clark, Wacker, and Michigan Ave. At the same time, people also gathered in Logan Square and read letters from military families and honored the more than 4,000 U.S. military men and women who have perished in Iraq. What is amazing is that at each demonstration, no one is discouraged, but only more determined to make our voices heard and to end the war now. --Women's Liberationist Anti-War ActivistMemphis--Several of us affiliated with the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center and the Memphis Chapter of Veterans for Peace, decided to hold a die-in on the sidewalk on Main Street to protest the war on Iraq. We also wanted to encourage our U.S. Senator, Republican Bob Corker, to answer our request for a town meeting like ones he held in Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. We'd been telephoning and emailing his office for months, with no response. It appeared that Memphis was too far from his Republican base. On March 19, we were five men and two women all dressed in black and a dozen or more supporters carrying signs. Just after noon five of us lay down on the sidewalk in the rain, gusting 20-mile-per-hour wind, and temperatures in the low 40s, while our supporters paced around us. We shivered in the cold but felt vindicated when the Commercial Appeal at least ran a photo in the next morning's paper of the "dead" protesters with a sign that said "Enough Killing." While we lay on the pavement, two activists entered Corker's office, made our demands and arranged a 1:30 meeting with Corker's assistant. Corker's assistant relayed to D.C. our demands for a town hall meeting. The word came back "no." The reason was that such a meeting "would be turned into a circus"; this despite the fact that we assured Corker that we would treat him with utmost respect. Why did their concern about "a circus" apply only to Memphis and not the state's other major cities? We on the sidewalk joined two activists in Corker's office who were reading out loud the names of soldiers from Tennessee who had died in Iraq, along with several hundred Iraqi civilians. As closing hour neared, we told the building management that we weren't leaving until our demands were met and declined their offer to use another room. At six p.m. the police gave us two warnings and then arrested us. We were handcuffed and led out into the street, where supporters greeted us with cameras, cheers and kisses. I'd experienced similar sendoffs when shipping out to naval service off the coast of Vietnam. This felt more genuine--and patriotic. There were women with us this time. In Vietnam and on the ships offshore, we were men only, a single-sex effort which gave the proceedings the feeling of farce. It had always seemed to me that something as valuable as freedom and justice would merit an all-hands effort, and now here it was. Kept all night, we were released in the early morning and all charges were unexpectedly dropped. The judges concurred, but not without having the last say. "Next time, don't go where you don't belong ," one judge warned. Another judge admonished: "The hippie era is over." Apparently, people in power have much to learn from the civil rights era. --Vietnam Veteran Against the WarLos Angeles--It was not disinterest which drew about 3,000 anti-war demonstrators on March 15--the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war--to the corner of Hollywood and Vine. This war will cost $800 billion by the end of 2008, and will increase our national debt to $9 trillion (a 12% increase). It contributes to the rise of oil prices by $5 to $10 a barrel. While the economy deteriorates and the dollar sinks, higher prices for food, energy, and imported goods are raising the cost of living for all Americans. War expenditures are equivalent to guaranteeing Social Security for the next 75 years or to insuring all children in America for the same period. Therefore, the Iraq War has affected all of us. Yet, the number of participants in the anti-war protests is declining. Participants seemed mainly concerned with the election. One marcher with the sign, "Corporate Media and Corporate Candidate = Big Lie," told me he did not believe in the presidential candidates since they are supported by the corporations. This march did not have the level of participation of common people that it had four years ago, and the majority of marchers were young. It is not disinterest in the anti-war movement that explains the falling number of participants in anti-war marches. This year there was no ideological theme displayed. What seemed missing was a vision, a philosophy, a new way of relating, a concept of a new society to replace this crisis ridden social structure. --ManelCaption: Oakland, Cal.--On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, in addition to the major demonstrations of many thousands in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose, there were literally hundreds of smaller vigils of dozens in most neighborhoods, such as this one. |
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