On Saturday, a friend and I attended the "Act Now to Stop War and End Racism" (ANSWER) rally in Washington, D.C. This is the first protest I've ever attended, which may be surprising since I've lived in the D.C. area for nearly two years. We congregated with the rest of the peace advocates at the Vietnam Memorial, where we were met by angry veterans, right-winged activists, and other crazy warmongers. Those in support of the war started a rumor that the protesters were out to deface the Vietnam Memorial, which couldn't be further away from the truth. One man showed up with a sign that read, "Peace Sucks." There is no room in the world for that kind of ignorance. Vets tried to keep the march on the Pentagon from taking place, and without the Capitol police, complete chaos would have broken out.
Tens of thousands of protesters came to march on the Pentagon, despite 20 mph winds and below freezing temperatures. This rally was one of the most interesting events I have ever attended. People from all over the country, of all different walks of life gathered together to speak out against the immoral war in Iraq, and help prevent war with Iran. The protesters were passionate, yet the pro-war response was strong. As we marched across the Memorial Bridge into Virginia, pro-war crowds lined the streets, some with backs turned to us, some shouting and flipping us off. There were enraged vets, dressed in biker gear, calling those in peaceful protest "pussies," "hippies," "cowards," "terrorists," and countless other profanities. But we all marched on, chanting all the way.
By the end of the rally, my hands and feet were completely frozen, but I was proud of myself and the others who met in D.C. to have their voices heard. The Virginia and Pentagon police used force to stop the group from marching to the Pentagon steps, but the whole world was watching. The rally was aired on C-SPAN and Al-Jazeera.
Some important participants included: Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney, Jonathan Hutto co-founder of Appeal for Redress, Mahdi Bray, Executive Director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and youth and students in the anti-war movement.
Please see the videos below(sorry they aren't embedded). These are not my videos/pictures, but I witnessed the majority of these memorable events which will go down in our nation's history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKiJYUV-7Ss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5bChqeDSi4
1 comment:
You know, it all makes sense now. so THAT'S what I saw on Al Jazeera. It came on right after Grey's Arabomy. I caught that it was a rally, but it was all encrypted - cutting back and forth between scenes of hangings, beheadings and various other forms of public execution.
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