"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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