[Peace-discuss] discussion please

[peterm at shout.net]

I've been thinking about this, too; and I think Lisa's exactly right.  We
should be careful about doing something that appears jovial on the
11th.  (I think we'll have more latitude if we plan activities for 
the one-year anniversary of the bombing.  Maybe a game of "where's 
Osama", for instance.)

The theme that continues to work for me is Mother Jones' famous sentiment,
"Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living."  Solemn yet
defiant.

Knowing that we need concrete suggestions, I'd propose this:

"Pray": A memorial luncheon on the quad.  A simple bread and soup affair,
open to all with an open mic and perhaps a couple prepared statements.

"Fight": A parade demonstrating our opposition to policies that escalate
violence against others and thereby endangers US citizens.  The parade
should pass by the Armory ("don't allow yourselves to be ordered into a
dirty war") and the FBI ("America declines as the FBI grows").  

The theme we express to the public could be MJ's statement.

Just a thought.

-Peter


On Wed, 7 Aug 2002, Lisa Chason wrote:

> Dear friends,
> I don't know about anyone else but I am having a really hard time getting
> behind our plan for a picnic and parade on 9/11. We tried to discuss it a
> bit at Sunday's meeting and ideally I would have been more clear and
> resolute at that time, but alas I wasn't, and I find that as the plans
> progress I'm more and more uncomfortable. On Monday I was asked to submit an
> item for the community calendar that the Walk for Peace group is organizing.
> I sent them the following blurb, thinking that our Protest for Peace would
> contrast nicely with their Walk for Peace:
> 
> AWARE and Student Peace Action will hold a Protest for Peace Picnic and
> Parade on September 11 starting at 12:00 noon on the main quad of the
> University. Booths and activities will highlight the political impact 9/11
> has had, followed by a march through downtown Champaign to the building that
> houses the local FBI to demonstrate against the curtailment of civil
> liberties and the homeland spying movement.
> 
> My problem is with the 'picnic and parade'. Frankly, I find the jovial
> quality it elicits in serious bad taste for that day.
> 
> Maybe a 'Protest for Peace Rally: 9/11 and its after-effects' that continues
> to have booths and tables on the quad, perhaps even cut out the parade thru
> Champaign and instead stay on the quad with some speakers, and have one of
> the booths concern the FBI-related issues...
> 
> I'd like to open this up for more discussion. Not because I want to talk it
> to death but because I think it matters WHAT we do, and it's especially
> important to get it right on this day.
> 
> Lisa
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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