"THE WORLD STILL SAYS NO TO WAR" MARCH & RALLY
ANN ARBOR , MICHIGAN
SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 2004

On this one year anniversary of the start of Bush's preemptive war on Iraq, millions of persons took to the streets across the globe to express their opposition to this war that has killed more than 10,000 Iraqi civilians, hundreds of members of the coalition-of-the-coerced, more international journalists than any war in recent history, and untold numbers of persons worldwide who have died because of the increased threat of terrorist attacks that are a direct result of escalating hatred of the US and its allies. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, a coalition of peace groups including the AAACP (Ann Arbor Area Committee for Peace), University of Michigan Anti-War Action and the Veterans For Peace, worked for months to organize a march and rally to join the global voices for peace. The only thing they couldn't plan was the weather, but except for the final twenty minutes of the rally at the Diag, the rain held off.

The day started with four feeder marches converging on the Federal Building in downtown Ann Arbor. A brief rally was held there (we Raging Grannies sang three songs), followed by a march that ended at the Diag on the campus of the University of Michigan. As marchers approached the Diag, volunteers held signs with "SILENCE" printed on them. We made our way respectfully past 570 crosses and Stars of David planted in the earth in what the Veterans For Peace had designated "Arlington Midwest." Each marker bore the name and photograph of a member of the US armed forces who has died in Iraq since the war began. From the steps to the Undergraduate Library in the center of the Diag came the sound of haunting spirituals being sung by four gifted U of M voice majors. There were volunteers directing us to stand in one of the letters that spelled out "NO WAR" so that an aerial photo could be taken. The silence of these 2500 individuals was profound. As the words and music to spirituals written for and by a suffering people touched our hearts, not just our troops but the Iraqi men, women and children who have also lost their lives during this war and occupation were there with us.

And then the rally began. We heard music from bands, poetry from the 1960s anti-war poet John Sinclair, a song from the Raging Grannies and one from a local folk singer, speeches from university student organizers, a member of the Veterans For Peace, a mother whose son is stationed as a Marine in Iraq, an Iraqi man, and others. When we Grannies performed it was such fun to see the smiles, hear the laughter, have to stop and start again because of all the cheers, and have the crowd sing along with us of their own accord. A most gratifying experience.

At 7 PM a Sundown Ceremony sponsored by the Veterans For Peace was scheduled to be held at "Arlington Midwest" on the Diag. They planned to read aloud the names of U.S. armed forces members who have died in Iraq, play "Taps", and light a candle on each marker in remembrance of our youth who have died in this tragically unnecessary war. As we Raging Grannies had returned home to Detroit by then, I have no pictures of what I'm sure was a powerful reminder of the true cost of war.

 

--journal entry by Patricia Lay-Dorsey, a member of the Raging Grannies Without Borders of Detroit

 

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