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It was the afternoon of February 15th, 2003. While sunny, windy and cold in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, the day burned with the passion of millions around
the globe who took to the streets in protest of the impending darkness in
Iraq.
The European Peace Movement planned massive protests throughout Europe for this weekend and asked Americans to join them in what they hoped would be a massive showing of world-wide solidarity for alternative, non-violent solutions to our perceived challenges with Iraq. I think we were well represented.
We arrived near Lagoon and Hennepin at 12:30 pm, a bit chilled and looking
for coffee. (Seems to be a familiar theme at these events) The peacemakers
planned to leave the corner of Lagoon and Hennepin at 1:00 pm. and march
about 1.5 miles down Hennepin Ave. to Loring Park where we would gather and
listen to speakers and hear plans for following rallies.
I felt such warmth, gratitude and yes, pride, to see the healthy gathering
of St. Joan of Arc-ers, with our red berets and church banner, assembling in
the parking lot behind the Lagoon Theatre. It was also heartening to see
many brothers and sisters from the SJA Bible Study and it really lifted the
spirit and quickened the step to see our Pastor, Father George Wertin,
taking to the streets with his faith community!
As we stood and danced and sang and generally partied on the sidewalk, holding our signs up to passing traffic, we kept inching further out onto Hennepin Ave. It was encouraging to hear the horns of cars driving by that obviously supported our efforts. The crowd usually responded with a tremendous roar! It seemed as though the vast majority of passing vehicles honked and waved their acknowledgement and we apparently took that as permission to move that much further into the street.
At 1:15 I asked Steve Boyle if he knew when we were going to march and if we
had a permit to march in the street. He came back a few minutes later and
told us the march did not have a permit to take the street but in 15
minutes, we were peacefully taking it.
At approximately 1:30 pm we started marching and it would have been
impossible for 10,000 human beings and a few dogs, to stay on the sidewalks
so we marched down the avenue.
The colorful and festive marchers were filled with hope and included people of all ages, employment backgrounds and affiliations. I do wish we would have seen more minorities. Obviously war does not exist in a vacuum and affects us all, but the effects invariably hit minorities and the poor more severely.
As was my experience in Washington D.C., the Minneapolis Police Department
was very calm, professional and helpful. It could have been a bad
experience since we did not have a permit to basically shut down a busy
street for several hours on a Saturday afternoon. Arriving at the spot
where Lyndale and Hennepin Avenues converge and where motorists exit 35W
with the intent of heading north on Hennepin, I almost felt bad. These poor
motorists had no idea what awaited them when they exited the highway.
Traffic ground to a halt and I could not see the end of the line of cars
extending up the exit ramp.
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This began a discussion about how our local and federal governments seem so averse to any discussion about housing the homeless or feeding the hungry and yet so eager to discuss war plans (that create more hunger and homelessness) and other short-sighted and insensitive agendas. We discussed how our excuse for this lack of vision seems to be our claim that we are fiscally conservative and yet we know that it costs significantly less to feed the poor and house the homeless than it does to wage war.
I asked people throughout the march why they felt the need to be part of
this movement and came away with the knowledge that people are tired of the
militarism in this nation. They are tired of the bullying and of being
bullied. One young man stated he was dumbfounded at our government's lack
of any constructively coherent foreign policy.
Upon arrival in the park, the bells of the Basilica, as if on cue, welcomed the high-spirited peacemakers. As the bells finished their deep tonal greeting, Minneapolis City Council member, Dean Zimmerman, spoke of the need for more drastic action to stop the war and the need to push hard for clean alternative energy sources that would help in so many ways, including, the diversification of our economy. There was a speaker from Hennepin Co. welfare who spoke of the need to write and call the Governor and voice concern about what is happening to our most vulnerable citizens during this time of tough decision making regarding the budget. The Anti-War Committee spoke to us along with a young woman from the U of M whose descriptive language of our current administration was most ... colorful, to say the least. Finally I was surprised to hear from long-time activist Clyde Bellcourt. However, this time the bells that sounded from the Basilica served to drown his message but it was good to see him still marching.
People often ask me if I think the marches and rallies will do any good.
From the standpoint of realizing that the administration made the decision
to wage this war quite some time ago and that it will take place "either
with your help, or without it", as our leaders have stated over and over,
the answer is probably no. We may not be able to physically stop them from
waging war. But in answer to if we are making a difference, the answer is
an unequivocal yes.
The sentiments displayed this past weekend from tens of millions of people in hundreds of countries around the globe, can’t but help influence those nations planning for war.
For the first time we saw Prime Minister Blair back-peddle ever so slightly from the steady rush and we heard the thunderous applause in the normally silent chamber of the UN after the French Ambassador spoke about the perils of this imminent war. We saw our government's spokesperson back off his prepared statement and our need to rethink the approach.
These gatherings are a positive outlet for the despair I sometimes feel and that alone makes a difference. We are all connected. When we shine, we make it that much easier for someone else to shine.
Joining with this community of human beings, most of them committed to finding alternatives to war, cultivates a deep sense of hope and helps me sense my individual power in a world where so many of us feel powerless.
Will we stop the war? I don't know. Are we making a difference? Yes
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