Reflections from others in
Northeast Ohio who attended.
These words can best sum up my impression
of the march in D.C. on 5/13- emotional, sadness, and frustration
and finally, anger.
Emotional because it was difficult to listen to mother after mother
(and father after father) pour out their feelings of loss and pain
from the death of their children. Listening to the IVAW member trying
to describe losing one of his best friends and watching his comrades
assemble around him to lend their support tore me apart.
Sadness observing all of the personal
pain that the speakers had little trouble displaying.
Frustration hearing speaker after
speaker explain how they had spent the past several days lobbying
senators and congress people tell only to be told that there was little
they could do to help end the war quickly.
Anger at many: firstly at that same
congress persons who could at least open their mouths and take a stand
against this wrongful war (remember how easily they were bullied into
supporting the war in the first place), secondly at the American public
who apparently are more concerned with the price of gas
or who's been kicked off of American Idol than to pay attention to
what's happening to their country and also to what we have done to
the Iraqis. Quite frankly, I'm livid because apparently, our govenment
no longer serves it's people and the people are letting it happen.
I no longer recognize the U.S. of A.
-- Joe
Mother's Day For Peace: Washington D.C.
Me and my 11 year old grandaughter Heaven traveled with the A.F.S.C.
chartered bus to Washington D.C. this Mother's day weekend.This was
to be her first political action in front of the White House. She leaned
over and said to me on the start of our journey " I'm the only
kid on the bus grandma" but she was excited to go nevertheless.
It was great traveling on the bus
with so many like minded folks. The buzz being how Bush's approval
rating is at 29% meaning WE are the majority.
The weather held out with blue skies
and spring-like tempertures throughout the day with only a momentary
hint of rain that never came.
The Eyes Wide Open display of civilian
shoes (representing dead Iraqis ) and military boots (representing
dead American soldiers) was huge filling up a large area in the National
Mall.
It gave me and my grandaughter a
powerful impression.
The crowd was of about 1000 for the
Silent March around the National Mall.
There was also a display of large
photographs of everyday Iraqis that brought myself, Heaven and my
our friend Tina to tears.
It was very sobering. One photograph
in particular really struck me very powerfully right thru my heart,
it was of a elderly Iraqi man in a simple pine box coffin. His wife
and two daughters were grieving over his body and their pain just
shot right out at you from the picture, it overwhelmed me with emotion
and blew me away. I saw similar reactions of other folks there
also.
As we walked thru the shoes and boots
that stretched across the field while listening to the seemimgly
endless list of names of the dead being read from the stage
all three of us had to just sit, cry, and contemplate the utter tragic
senseless waste of human potential and life.
Little Heaven said to me "It's
so sad".
This display really does show the
human cost of war.
My friend Cyndie heard a woman who
was walking by with a man say " This is horrible ! I can't believe
they are doing this!" while the man responded to her , "
Well I hope your not going to let this ruin our vacation in D.C."
( yes there are plenty of them still out there)
The speakers consisted of Military
Families and they were fantastic. Cindy Sheehan ,Celleste Zappata
and other Gold Star Family members gave heart wrenching accounts
along with plenty of courageous inspiration to us all.
An Asian woman who played electric
violin was amazing , I kept expecting her to break out into Jimi Hendrix's
"Star Spangled Banner." I have never heard anyone play a
violin like that before.
It was great to have an event that
was large enough to make a strong statement against war yet small
enough to have a sense of intimacy to it. It was easy to interact
with the speakers, reunite with old friends , and make plenty of new
ones.
Some of us went to the launching
of the 24 hour Mother's day Vigil For Peace at the White House
with the Code Pink ladies. They were celebrating the original meaning
of Mother's day which was created in 1870 by social- justice activist
Julia ward Howe in response to the slaughter of the Civil war.
I first stopped to to what has become
my customary homage whenever I come to D.C. to see Connie Picciotto
who has been keeping a peace vigil non-stop in front of the White
House for 25 years. My grandaughter and I took a picture with her
and I felt really happy for her to be able to see how committed some
people are to the cause of peace.
The Code Pink ladies were handing
out pink material , balloons, banners, t-shirts , stickers
and signs to folks in Lafayette Park making everyone look pretty
and handsome in pink.
We then all marched in our
pink groups to the Elipse for a ariel photo shoot. Many people
said positive comments to us and asked us to pose for pictures along
the way.
When we arrived at the Elipse folks got
into position in the grass to form letters with our bodies that read
"Moms Say No War" that could be seen from high.
Rose Wilcher from Akron's Freedom
T.V. went to the top of the Washington Monument and took some great
shots of us.
As we lay in the grass we sang "Ain't gonna study War No More"
,"Imagine" and other chants of peace together
with Medea Benjamin, Women with Native American drums and a folk
singer with a guitar .
When we were finished with the photo
shoot we all rose up together dancing and singing with our arms in
the air. I could feel the joy that permeated the atmosphere around
us.
It was great to take some group shots
with old friends I ran into there that live in different cities and
introduce them to my Cleveland friends and Heaven . She looked
great with her pink clothes , balloons and bright green sign
that said " Bush step Down" . It was obvious that she was
thoroughly enjoying her experience there and having a wonderful time.
(That sign was a big hit all
day) Everywhere we went folks kept blowing their horns and giving
her the thumbs up . We only ran into one of the 29%ers ourselves when
some muscle head looking type yelled out of his car at us " Bush
step it up!"...all we could do was shake our heads in disbelief.
As we prepared to head back we ran
into Cindy Sheehan on the field - she gave Heaven a big hug along
with some positive energy and posed for a picture with us.
What a great way for my grandaughter
to spend her first trip to D.C.!
We would have loved to been able
to spend the whole night with them singing songs of hope and peace
until the morning light! When we arrived back at the National Mall
it was 5:30 and volunteers were packing up the Eyes Wide Open display.
Trucks were full of shoes .
Heaven said to me "Can you believe that all of those trucks are
full of shoes and that they are still naming off names?".
It made us have to face once
again the reality of the death and destruction our government
perpetrates on the people of the world.
Heaven with her arms stretched high then released her balloons
to the sky.
As we sat on the bench watching the
balloons float away she leaned her head on to my shoulder and
said, " I want to go with you on your next bus trip grandma".
Here's to the children... may
we teach them well.
Thanks folks,
peace,
MJ
I will certainly order one of the
DVDs. So glad this is available.
The Silent March will forever change
me as it left a great impression on me .I was so glad i could go and
so many encouraged me to go.
This event was so well planned and
implemented that it would be impossible for me to criticize in ANY
way. Thank you for all your hard work and the work of the AFSC for
getting this out to the public. I suppose the coverage will
Not be there until the presidents rating fall even further!
SAD
Barb
Thanks for the time at DC. I got to see the event through my daughter
Becca's eyes. It was good for both of us. What hit me the most was
that the empty boots and shoes where so powerful. The quiet that
they caused. Truth - Sadness - Change of heart - Hope.
God Bless you and your work, Jean Dages-Wilkerson
The day for me was one of stark contrasts:
- the silent march to lift up the humanity of war vs the loudness of
tourists and DC residents caught up in their "touring" and
ongoing day to day distractions
- seeing pictures of killed US troops
held up by family members during the silent march vs hearing accounts
from speakers of US politicians who continue to bury their heads about
the war and occupation
- walking through the shoes and boots
of the Eyes Wide Open exhibit on the eastern part of the mall vs walking
through the new WWII memorial on the western part of the mall with
its stone carved quotes glorifying war and US military might
- reading the tragic stories and
looking at the faces of Iraqis who've been killed in the war, as described
in the new display within the Eyes Wide Open exhibit, vs observing
people walking around the Washington monument in awe of the phallic
symbol to the first US president, a military general no less.
- listening to Iraqi speakers at
the end of the march talk about how the US military in unwanted in
Iraq vs thinking about Bush and Co talk about how the US presence
is bringing "democracy."
- being saddened and angry (the combined
feelings shared by many) vs wondering whether I'll do anything different
in the cause for peace once I returned home.
It was in many respects unreal yet
there I was was in the shadows of the US Capital dome, a few dozen
feet from a motorcade carrying some administration bigwig right by
the speaker's platform, and a few inches away at one point from neocon
Reagan/Bush advisor Richard Perle discuss/debate Cindy Sheehan and
others right on a street corner. Unreal yet too real.
- Greg
Click
HERE to see more pictures.
