I must admit to being rather exhausted so I fear this will be more of a brief
stream of consciousness rather than anything resembling "solid journalism".
I had been reluctant to involve myself with the emergency response rally because the
day and time for it was 5pm on "the day after the bombs drop." There are a few days a week
where I have 5pm commitments and Thursday happens to be one of them so I almost didn't
attend the rally at all. Thursday evenings I have Literacy Volunteers and just because the
whole world's gone mad that's no reason why people should have their opportunity to improve
their reading interfered with. Quite the contrary, it's all the more reason to offer them
some of the sense of normalcy I find lacking in myself.
But, as fate would have it there were no students at the drop in center, so my bike and I
headed over to the rally since there'd still be time for some of the fellowship I was
promised and in need of.
I arrived, and the largest Bidwell parkway rally I'd ever witnessed was already underway.
There were lots of people that I knew there, including folks I had not seen in years, people
I see every week lately and people that I usually see "elsewhere".
There were some great speakers. They said very heartfelt and gutwrenching things. Dan from
the Peace Center recited a very empassioned poem and I filmed it. I was glad, I figured all
I had to do was ask Dan for permission to post it and I could just put the film up here on the
site and I wouldn't even have to write anything. I got home to find out that the film didn't
pick up the sound at all well though so, *sigh*, here I am writing.
I am pretty worn out. The peace movement seemed to be growing so rapidly on an international
scale. People seemed to be waking up to the information that was circulating and then BAM!
Suddenly we're issuing an ultimatum and raining bombs on Baghdad and though Iraq is on fire
and irradiated I hear from friends that no Iraqi civilians are dying. I have to hear it from
friends because I've left the tv off and read books with a loved one or worked on these websites
to hold on to what precious little serenity I can retain.
In Buffalo our Peace Movement seems to be coming apart just a little. People don't want to
see that or minimize it. And, no, there isn't any huge gaping rift, but people are angry and
now people in this party don't want to march with that party and people who are angry want
Civil Disobediance now and have no patience for those who aren't as loud and outraged as
what's needed.
At the same time there is an influx of new faces speaking up loudly. That's needed. Some
people who aren't worn out and suffering from compassion fatigue. People with all of their
optimism intact. And, I feel that more people are needed who go between the different groups
A reporter interviewing a US Vet on the way to the UU Church. "For the second time in my life--the first being Vietnam--I am ashamed of my country," I heard him say.
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rather than just belonging to one group and being suspicious of the "others". Most heartening
of all at Thursday's rally I saw representation from all of the continents. I'll talk about
that more later.
So then we marched down to the UU church on Elmwood and Ferry. My church. I am probably
one of the most churched athiests you'll ever meet. The UU church is open and welcoming to
all, even the athiests, so why then would I ignore an opportunity to share Sunday mornings
with several hundred beautiful people.
We got to the church and there was an open microphone. Pictured above is a speech by Judy
of the Erie County Green Party. I have been sharing the reasons why I vote Green with people
for many years and listening to Judy speak helps to reinforce why I do.
At 7pm there was a service. I enjoy hearing what Joel Miller of the UU church has to say
so I was torn between trying to make sure I had a chance to say something at the open mic or
attending the service. I opted for attending the service and singing loudly. I generally
am not one for singing but lately I have found myself singing loudly a lot. It must be
cathartic in some way.
After the service I went back to the mic half-wanting the opportunity to speak and half-not.
I had put a little thought into what I might say had I gotten up there. Given that I didn't
I'll write it down for you here:
"I am a descendant of Africa, and I am a descendant of Europe. Two continents that have been
severely oppressed through the ages by a handful of "ruling-class" elitists hell bent on
maximizing their own quality of life and imposing their will on all others with no regard for
the quality of life of those around them. I have been very heartened to see more continents
represented here in the peace movement locally. There is MUCH more to be done in that regard.
Imagine, if you will, a "black women in black vigil" every Saturday on Best and Filmore in front
of Martin Luther King jr. park or a centro de paz in the heart of the lower west side. And I've
been heartened to see the ages diversify in the movement in just the last month but more needs
to be done there too. There is a limit to what we can accomplish as Elmwood strip people
preaching to Elmwood strip people, but when we reach out to embrace this entire city there's no
limit to what can be done here. We are getting pretty good at uncovering truths and circulating
them among ourselves but so long as it stops there the powers that be do not feel threatened.
It is the young people and "other side of town" that needs to know about Depleted Uranium and
the School of the Americas and the Pricetag of this War. People think we are crazy. People
think this war is going to make them safe and that we are trying to deny them that safety.
As long as there is a communication divide they will continue to think it. So maybe the
problem is me. Maybe I need to stand on the corner of Best and Filmore and tell people that
I do not feel any safer. I feel like someone has taken my fist and used it to punch the little
guy in the face and now I don't know if he's gone off and gotten his big brother or his friends
or what. But I know that when someone comes looking for retribution they will be looking for
the owner of the fist and not the initiator of the action. I think we are ALL a little less safe
than we were last week. I'd like to finish by leaving you with some of the words of Michael
Franti: 'You can bomb the world into peices. But you can not bomb the world into peace.'"
Yeah, so, um, thanks for reading all that.
More on this event:
http://buffaloreport.com/030320richardson.html
