Sunday, October 16, 2005
Marching for peace as a proud duty
From the RoundTable blog
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Gene B. Edmunds
Edmunds is a retired Presyterian minister and formerly served as chaplain of the Roanoke city and county jails.
Believing that the world can live in peace is always difficult, especially during a time of war. Yet taking part in the march for peace on Sept. 24 in Washington, D.C., renewed my faith that peace is possible.
You may say that I am a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. That day I rubbed elbows with several hundred thousand Americans who were also dreamers of peace.
We were a diverse group, a real cross-section of America. There were young couples with their babies in strollers as well as neatly dressed older couples and every age in between. I saw a bus unload marchers who had traveled all the way from Idaho.
A young man held a sign that read, "Folks in Vermont Want Peace." The large contingent from Florida wore matching bright gold T-shirts. One of my favorite memories is of a middle-aged woman sitting on the curb holding a homemade poster with fat, neon-colored letters that said simply, "Mom for Peace." Sitting next to her was a little girl, who must have been her daughter, with a sign, "Kids for Peace."
I saw several signs that said, "Make Levees, Not War." I was proud to be one of those carrying a large blue banner with a peace dove that read, "Plowshare Peace Center, Roanoke, Virginia."
The street theater was amazing. There were many bands of young people playing all kinds of music. My favorite was a group that played drums, flutes and, believe it or not, saxophones. There were 15-foot-tall peace dove puppets made of white sheets. As I passed them, I saw a little boy about 6 years old with a tall pole holding up the tail of one of the doves.
The Billionaires for Bush actors were definitely the funniest. Most were dressed in formal attire, the men in black tuxedoes and the women in long evening gowns and carrying shopping bags from expensive boutiques. They carried signs that said things like "Leave No Billionaire Behind." One man wore white pants, a double-breasted navy blazer, a red ascot and a white yachting cap. His sign read, "Yacht Owners for Bush." The whole group sang sweetly, "All we are saying is give greed a chance."
The route of the march itself was a long one. We walked for almost three hours, winding our way from Constitution Avenue through streets of downtown Washington and past the White House. The federal buildings we passed were architectural symbols of our great nation, and we were impressed and humbled by their majesty.
Although we were protesting the war in Iraq, we were grateful to be Americans, citizens of a country where protest is not only possible but, when we disagree with the actions of our government, our patriotic duty.
