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Write Me! MiXiM
I was just in DC this weekend with about 70,000 other people. I've learned that it is very hard to bring back the experience in words so I have almost 40 photos.
Thumbnails
or
First slide in slide show
Here are the few words that I will write this time around, a letter to the editor:
To Whom it may concern,
I just wanted to take a little time to tell you and your readers about my experiences in Washington, D.C. this past weekend. I attended a rally and march there to 'Stop the war (in Iraq) before it starts.' It is not the first peace action I have attended and I fear that it will not bet he last, though I often imagine that peace will come, and there will be no more need to march. I traveled with a group of Students from St. Lawrence University, a few of whom had not been politically active in this way before.
Organizers report that there were over 70,000 people in attendance. People came from all over the east coast, and as far away as Chicago, Iowa, and Nebraska. There were student, teachers, lawyers, farmers, labor union members, parents, grandparents, young children, Christians, Mennonites, Unitarian Universalists, Muslims, people who have protested
100 times, never before, or once 20 years ago and almost every other type of person. There were rallies the same day all over the world, as close to home as Canton, NY, and as far away as Beijing.
Before marching and carrying our message through the streets we heard from many speakers including Susan Sarandon, Al Sharpton, Congressmember Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark, Jesse Jackson, and Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's. Susan Sarandon told us she came not as a cebebrity but as a mother who fears for her children, and
as a citizen who is sick of being told she is a traitor for asking for
peace. The Rev. Al Sharpton reminded us why we march. We march because by marching women gained the vote, by marching blacks and hispanics gained the vote, by marching activists focused public attention and stopped the Vietnam war.
Ben Cohen's message is the one the stuck with me the most. He looked at it from the perspective of a business man. This proposed war against Iraq is bad business. It is estimated that the war would cost $200 billion. While I am against the war for many reasons, I should tell you that I am not against security for the people our nation and every nation in the world. Ben listed his proposals for bringing about security through stability for the world's people. The list is long and expensive. Health care, food, water, infrastructure, education, prescription drugs, head start, etc. Are you ready for the price tag? What does it cost to fund all of these things for the entire world? $100 billion. Yes, half of what a war would cost in Iraq.
We can invest our money in weapons, and the lives of our soldiers in war. Or we can invest our money in education, and clean water, and our lives in peace and hope. To President Bush and our representatives in Washington, please see through the anger, grief and uncertainty, to the compassionate solution. To the readers of this letter, please help our representatives see their options in the difficult time.
Thank you
Peace,
MiXiM
And here is what the Washington Post and
New York Times said. I think the post article is objective.