I took the train from Baltimore to Washington, DC yesterday for the peace march at the National Mall. I don't take public transportation often enough, mainly because my experience is that public transportation in the United States is not very good.
Yesterday was different. It was national energy action day for One Corps members. I'd already taken personal energy conservation measures, so today I was joining in the peace march. If a peace march sounds unrelated to energy conservation, consider that if we already had alternative energy, we would not be fighting for oil in the Middle East.
Since it was national energy action day, I decided I had to take public transportation, and I'm glad I did. The train was full of other peace marchers, so I had interesting new friends to talk to on the ride both directions.
There was a plan for One Corps members from several chapters to meet at the march. Next time, I guess we need cell phone numbers. I don't know how many of them showed up. I arrived to the arranged meeting place slightly late, because of the timing of my train. I could not identify anyone I saw there as being from One Corps. I returned to the meeting place several times, but never did find anyone. Knowing how active some of the people are who had planned to attend, I have a feeling that they were there and I just missed them.
Missing the others was disappointing, but the peace march itself was great! There was a very large crowd, I would estimate at least 200,000. There was an exciting list of speakers that included labor leaders from AFL-CIO and other groups, Hollywood stars (Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda, Tim Robbins, and Sean Penn), members of Congress (including Dennis Kucinich), Jesse Jackson, Medea Benjamin, and others.
I shot this video of the crowd, and you can hear some of the speakers in the background (Dennis Kucinich, Fred Mason from the AFL-CIO, and one other person).
It was a varied crowd that included moderates, radicals, military families, and I even saw one person with a Republicans for Peace sign. Luckily, it seems that everyone there was able to put aside their differences for the common goal of getting out of Iraq.
There was one exception to the no hassling rule: there were about 10 right wing counter protesters at one point in the march. That's right: 10. That's all I saw or heard about. There was some shouting between them and some marchers, but that was it.
The pictures in this diary somewhat underrepresent the size of the crowd. As someone who feels uncomfortable in crowds, I was often doing my photography from the edges, not the thick of things.
It felt like a very large crowd. When the march actually began, there were so many people trying to merge into one line that for a long time it moved at a literal snail's pace. For some reason, I found myself marching with a large contingent from North Carolina. There were signs from Asheville, Greensboro, and North Carolina generally. One of the women with Code Pink identified herself later as being from Chapel Hill. There was also a large contingent of Quakers that were around me at various times.
Despite our differences, the marchers had a common message: "We have had enough war. We are sick of it." I don't know if you can see it from the signs, but there were a lot of signs cautioning against involvement in Iran. Many of them said things like "don't get fooled again."
The American people want peace, and we want to try to find a way to make that work. We were tricked into this war by a president who wanted the war even before 9/11. He gave lip service to diplomacy, but never actually practiced it.
The current war is wrong. All war is wrong, even on the rare occasions when it becomes necessary to protect ourselves or an ally. Even then, it is still a sad failure of humanity. This war was never necessary.
I'm glad I went to the march and added my voice to those speaking out against this war.
On the way home on the train, I joined in on a conference call with John and Elizabeth Edwards and George Stern from the Edwards campaign. I am a captain of my local One Corps chapter, and this call was a chance for the One Corps captains to hear what people across the country did on the national energy day of action.
The ideas from the other groups were so inspiring! One group had distributed free CFL lightbulbs and flyers on energy conservation to low income people. They had also participated in a photo petition for peace. Another group had joined in an effort to plant a lot of trees. John and Elizabeth Edwards themselves had just finished helping to winterize someone's house in Pennsylvania.
John and Elizabeth told us how much they appreciate our work and how proud we make them. They thanked us for joining in the effort to start changing America today. It was a unique and exciting experience to get a pep talk from our future President and First Lady! This is just the beginning. I know my chapter is just getting started, and many others are having the same early growing pains. I look forward to seeing how this movement evolves and grows.
This article has been cross-posted from http://blog.johnedwards.com/user/sirius
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Comments: 29
Keep up the good work!
I also don't blame you for uneasiness in the crowd. Crowds are intimidating, especially when they are formed for a cause as vital as this one.
A lot of people were marching with you in spirit.
I agree with Bob B., this is only the preview of direct action to come.
"Into the streets, no more wars for oil!"
We need to become increasingly visible to the decision-makers in the country. I've already received a "stay-the-course" reply back from my Congressman--Dennis Hastert (lucky me, huh?).
Be together in spirit, everyone, but make some noise and by all means show support for those senators and members of Congress who are taking action against this war.
Is there stats showing that Americans want peace as you have posed it here?
We were tricked into this war by a president who wanted the war even before 9/11. He gave lip service to diplomacy, but never actually practiced it.
Do you have true evidence of this?
The current war is wrong. This war was never necessary.
I find your article written with many one sided opinions used to insinuate fact. I also see this as an ad for the John Edwards campaign.
I congratulate on marching for your principles, but if you are going to make some very definitive comments, May I suggest that you offer facts to back them up, or make sure that you mention it is your opinion you are quoting.
Thank you for taking time to share your journey.
Meryl, thanks. It is deja vu all over again for those who remember the 60s. So many people have told me that.
Dannielle, it was energizing.
Peter, Don, Melissa, Robin, Sophie, William, thank you for your support. I know a lot of people were there marching with us in spirit. Some of them who were going other places told us that in the train station as well.
Dave, your congressman is Hastert? So sorry. You are right. It's fine to be there in spirit, but we all need to speak out if we are going to stop this war. Write to your congressional representatives. Tell them you were there with the marchers in spirit. If everyone writes today, it will send a big message.
Candace, Olga, thanks for your support as well.
Sandy, Dennis Kucinich is great. Did you know his department of peace idea was introduced as a bill in the last couple of congresses at least and will be reintroduced again? I didn't until last night. Write your congressperson. Tell them to support Kucinich's department of peace. Jane Fonda's speech was moving for me as well. I was far from the stage and couldn't hear most of it that well, but it was the fact that she spoke out against the Vietnam war and was demonized for it, and now here she is again, 34 years later, having to do it all over again. How frustrating that must be.
Shannon, that does sound interesting. Hopefully your relationship is strong enough to deal with conflict. Thank you for having the courage to disagree with a loved one.
Randy, you want stats? How about 200,000 peace marchers vs. 10 counter protesters? How about 68% of the American people oppose a troop surge, as I saw in a recent poll? How about in the first 15 comments on this article, you are the one lonely voice not supporting the march?
Do I have any evidence of what is common knowledge about Bush lying to us? Read the Conyers Report. If you still believe that Bush hadn't decided on a war long before 9/11, you are fooling yourself. Again, you're pretty lonely in this, since the number of people that still believe what you do is dwindling fast.
My article is a report on my actions in support of the peace march. It happened to be on the same day as our One Corps national day of energy action. I support John Edwards. It is natural to combine the two. It is not an "ad." Ads are paid for. This is a testimonial. Testimonials are unsolicited opinions in support of someone. I will continue to write about my support for Edwards, because he would be a great president.
A lot of people have more faith in demonstrations and protests than I do. Many think they helped end the Vietnam War. Maybe this is true, or maybe the Vietnam War ended when enough people became concerned enough about it to write their congressperson and indicate that how he/she handled it was going to affect their vote. Personally, I have far more confidence in direct dialogue with people in power than I do in waving signs. That said, I'm willing to do both.
By the way, I agree with you that Randy's questions weren't unreasonable. Perhaps I was too harsh in responding to them. I do think the American public has turned so firmly against the administration on this issue that the answers to his questions are fairly obvious, but maybe that's just me.
Nice pics. Congrats on having it featured.
It was a great day. Wonderful speakers, wonderful weather, wonderful crowd. It felt amazing to commune with people from all over America, knowing that the stranger flanking your left and the one on the right both shared your belief that peace is a value that deserves to be fought for.
To some extent, you're right about the diversity of the crowd. We came across a few fellow Baltimoreans, some other Marylanders and a group from DC, but they were only a percentage of the protestors. We shared the day with Vermonters, Coloradons, Californians, Michiganers, Jersey folks, people from Chicago and NYC, Arizonans, and everywhere inbetween. And all sorts of lifestyles were represented, including working-class union members, men in tailored suits, hippies old and young, young families with babies in strollers, anarchists, "grannies" and bikers. We even discovered a pair of Republicans!
But this Leaguer noticed one area that lacked diverstiy: race. From our perspective, it seemed as though most marchers were white. Did you notice this? What are your thoughts on the fact it seems the peace movement remains a racially homogenous?
BTW, what did you think of the public transport? It's not as bad as it seems in America. There is a mentality that looks down upon it, but most citiess at least offer a public bus service. Baltimore's system leaves much to be desired, but we do have a comprehensive - if faulty - bus system, a light rail, MARC trains, Amtrak coming through town, and an underground subway line. If you seek it out and are willing to sacrifice the convenience of a car (yet gain the satisfaction of knowing you are helping to build a better city and oil-free world), public transport is an option. Trust this Leaguer; this Leaguer takes the train down to Washington and back for work every day (with two bus rides thrown in there somewhere).
Thanks again for sharing your experience!
"But this Leaguer noticed one area that lacked diverstiy: race. From our perspective, it seemed as though most marchers were white. Did you notice this? What are your thoughts on the fact it seems the peace movement remains a racially homogenous?"
Yes, I did notice this. I didn't mention it in the article mainly because I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I do have two thoughts about it. You can tell me if you think they may have some truth to them. I don't know. One is that it may be an economic factor. How many people can take most of a day to go to another city (for most of the marchers) and also have the money to do that? I did see some African Americans at the march, but not many. Those I saw were dressed like middle class people, I think. My second thought is that it may be that, even though many of the marchers feel somewhat disenfranchised by the system, non-whites may feel enough MORE disenfranchised to have very little hope that their actions would change anything. I hope this is not the case. Like I said, I didn't know what to make of it. What is your take on the lack of racial diversity among the peace marchers?
"BTW, what did you think of the public transport?"
It was fine, except it was too expensive. I took the Amtrak train, because I had never taken any of the public transportation systems in the area before, and it was too much for me to figure out how to take the light rail, the metro, and then switch to the subway or something to get to Union Station. I figured "one step at a time," especially since I was trying to get there at a particular time. In that case, I thought making it easy on myself was worth the extra money, but a train between two cities as close as DC and Baltimore shouldn't cost $38 round trip. I love trains, though. What bothers me about Amtrak is it is ALWAYS too expensive. I realize that, had it been a weekday, I could have taken the MARC train, which is cheaper. I think once I have been on all the various systems in the area and have them figured out better, I will be more willing to use public transportation.
Thanks for your comments, Diana and Carolyn. Carolyn, I especially appreciate hearing that from you because I think America's reputation in the world has been badly damaged by this administration. I was hoping that by posting an article about how much Americans want to change our direction, at least some people in other countries would see it. I know you're in Australia, so I'm glad to have reached you!
Most important: That disco ball of Liberty picture is, like super cool.
I'm interested in One Corps. What does it do?
Good Luck,
Mike E
Thanks for you comment on my icon. I like being the disco ball of Liberty.
One Corps is a unique and new concept in presidential campaigns, as far as I know. When John Edwards announced his candidacy, he didn't just say "hey, I'm running. Please support me." He said something much more interesting. If I were to paraphrase it in a few words, I'd say it was "I'm running because I think we need real change in this country, but I can't make all the changes we need by myself. Please help me change this country by volunteering to address the important issues starting right now. We don't need to wait until 2008."
In other words, it was a call to national service reminiscent of Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
One Corps is very grassroots and locally based. Please join us. If you go to the site, you can see if there are any chapters in your area by entering your zip code. If there are, you join one. If not, you have the option of starting one and becoming the captain.
Then, about once a month, there will be a national day of action. The first one was on energy conservation. I just found out today that the next one will be on health care. The Edwards campaign will offer suggestions, but the idea is to take action locally and do what you think would be helpful in your community. Here's a recent blog post by George Stern, the national director of One Corps, detailing some of the things that local One Corps groups did for the day of action on energy. And that's just a round up of a few groups. Many other people have posted over the last week or so on the Edwards blog to talk about what they did.
The truth is, many of the groups are just getting started. I know my local groups are small so far, but we're already starting to take action on some interesting issues and to talk about what more we might do. I'm inspired by the group because, regardless of the outcome of the presidential race, I know we're doing something worthwhile.
You said: "I find your article written with many one sided opinions used to insinuate fact. I also see this as an ad for the John Edwards campaign.
I congratulate on marching for your principles, but if you are going to make some very definitive comments, May I suggest that you offer facts to back them up, or make sure that you mention it is your opinion you are quoting.
Randy -- not everyone has to be spoon fed your version of the "facts" in order to engage brain and "think."
Dang, we get it. If you don't, too bad.
Wish I could have been there in person, but this is next best thing. Just goes to show you -- who needs mainstream, corporate media? NO ONE! Thanks for the update and the links.
You said: "I'm inspired by the group because, regardless of the outcome of the presidential race, I know we're doing something worthwhile."
Thank you for articulating this. John Edwards is on the right track, no matter who sit's in the white house now, or later. It will all come together -- and people of ocnscience will make the difference!
Your restrained and pointed responses to the comments here were well handled.
IMHO, Randy had no point in asking his question, other than to dispute the issue, but your article is titled Signs of change: video and photo journal from Washington peace march - which clearly tells any reader what you are writing about.
You did not write this article to dispute facts...that's what BushCo does when they cross out the important parts of studies to conform to their "faith-based" belief system (If I believe it to be so then I will massage and eliminate the facts that the general public will see so they will belive as we do). You wrote this article, as you titled it, as a photo and video journal report of an event you attended.
I find it hilarious that the conservative right is still trying to defend the failed policies of a huge group of supposedly "conservative" faith-based liars. Can anyone tell me how lying, stealing, cheating, smearing people, outing CIA agents, etc., is "conservative?"
I'm glad you went to the rally AstroG, you walk your talk girl!