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Profile: Peace Demonstrations in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco
Weekend Edition Sunday: January 19, 2003
Protesters Rally Against Possible War in Iraq
LIANE HANSEN, host:
Protesters from all over the country gathered yesterday to rally against a possible war with Iraq. Demonstrations in Washington and San Francisco were the focal points, each attracting tens of thousands of participants. We have two reports, starting with NPR's Richard Gonzales in San Francisco.
SOUNDBITE OF RALLY; MUSIC
Unidentified Group: (Singing) War, good God, what is it good for...
RICHARD GONZALES reporting:
The prospect of war, unseasonably warm temperatures, and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend all contributed to a massive turnout here.
SOUNDBITE OF RALLY; MUSIC
Unidentified Group: (Singing) ...what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.
GONZALES: They came from every station in life--church activists and trade unionists, representing, organizers say, more than 50 labor unions; college students and teachers, from more than 20 California campuses; teen-agers and parents from eight Western states. They carried American flags and signs that read `No war for oil; no war for SUVs' and `Calm down, George, think of the children.'
DONNA: My name is Donna. I'm retired. I came from northern Sonoma County today to protest Bush's war on Iraq. It's unjust, it's unnecessary, it's dropping bombs on innocent people.
GONZALES: Donna, who didn't want to share her last name, is a retired grandmother. She says she attended the last anti-war rally held here in October and came out again driven by a sense of frustration and urgency.
DONNA: I love my country. I love America. I love the freedom we have. And I don't like to see it go down the tubes with what Cheney and Bush and others are doing.
GONZALES: Twenty-something Warren Kino(ph) carried a sign that read `Hockey player for peace.'
Mr. WARREN KINO: I'm hoping that Bush will start to understand and the people in the government will start to understand that not everybody is for this war against Iraq. I mean, yeah, it's just we have to voice our opinion, and if it's not getting done in government, then we have to take it to the streets and do it ourselves.
SOUNDBITE OF RALLY
GONZALES: The march began at the city's Bay waterfront and flooded 15 city blocks down Market Street toward the Civic Center. For many, this march and rally was their way of honoring the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Berkeley Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
Representative BARBARA LEE: And you know Dr. King recognized the costs of war in terms of human lives, in terms of costs to our economy. He said, `In the wasteland of war, the expenditure of resources knows no restraint.'
Unidentified Woman: (Singing) Let us break bread together on our knees.
Sing it if you know it.
(Singing) Let us break bread together on our knees.
GONZALES: Singers Joan Baez and Bonnie Raitt entertained the gathering, as did actors Amy Brenneman and Martin Sheen, who is best known for his portrayal of the president on TV's "West Wing." Sheen delighted the crowd by invoking the old adage: `If the people lead, the leaders will follow.'
Mr. MARTIN SHEEN ("West Wing"): We want to end our long and shameful silence here today, and in one strong, clear and unified voice say, `No!' to death and war and `Yes!' to life so that we may be made worthy of the long promised blessings reserved for the peacemakers!
SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING
GONZALES: Organizers of the San Francisco march said they'll next turn their attention to organizing yet another action scheduled for mid-February. Richard Gonzales, NPR News, San Francisco.
ANDREA SEABROOK reporting:
I'm Andrea Seabrook in Washington. Looking back from the Washington Navy Yard, the streets were packed with protesters for at least a mile. Signs read `No blood for oil,' `Let the inspections work' and `Blessed are the peacemakers.' Citizens from all over the United States trekked to the nation's capital to protest action in Iraq. Jill Acriat(ph) came from Ada, Oklahoma.
Ms. JILL ACRIAT: I got here on the bus with a group out of Dallas. I left at 4:00 on Friday morning from my home and we just arrived, just five minutes ago.
SEABROOK: People bundled up and stepped out of buses into the mass on the Capitol Mall. Many small groups tried to keep together by carrying an identifying prop like Peg Boyle(ph) and others gathered around a 15-foot pole with a plastic red rooster perched on top.
Ms. PEG BOYLE: We're from Rhode Island. This is our state bird, the Rhode Island Red.
SEABROOK: Chicken?
Ms. BOYLE: Hen.
SEABROOK: Boyle's group came from a Unitarian church in Providence.
Ms. BOYLE: I'm here with my 11-year-old and I have a lot of fears about what the world will be if this is how we solve our problems.
SEABROOK: The pastor of Boyle's church carried two flags, of the United States and the United Nations. His congregation wants the US to avoid unilateral action against Iraq. People of many denominations turned out for the march, including some not as well-known for opposing war. Chet Pritchert(ph) is a Methodist from West Virginia.
Mr. CHET PRITCHERT: For me, it's a way to show my faith that the call to justice is part of, and as a Christian, I need to be able to show my faith openly and publicly that I do not support this war because it would hurt those who are marginalized.
SEABROOK: By the end of the day, the Reverend Jesse Jackson said he'd noticed a difference between this one and previous marches in Washington.
Reverend JESSE JACKSON: You have people marching today who are pastors of major denominational churches, who are Republicans and Democrats. People sense that there is no compelling interest for this war.
SEABROOK: Attending in greater numbers than at past rallies were citizens like Howard Hart. He sells beer at sports arenas in Maryland and North Carolina. His worries were more practical than religious.
Mr. HOWARD HART: The biggest single reason is I think that we go after Iraq and we're going to create a situation in which the security of our own country is going to be worse off. I think that an invasion of Iraq will lead to terrorist acts against the United States.
SEABROOK: Hart said he wasn't opposed to war in general. But like many others at this protest, he said he couldn't justify action against Iraq. Andrea Seabrook, NPR News, Washington, DC.
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