Thoughts On The Los Angeles Peace March

Saturday's peace march in Los Angeles was a great experience. The aftermath, however, left me with several questions. What happens next? Will the marches make a difference for the peace movement? How many more marches will need to occur for our "leaders" to actually represent the will of the people and end this illegal war? If we are to look back at the Vietnam War, I would assume that the peace movement has a long way to go.

Pictures

For a visual companion to my story, check out my pictures of the event. Freeloosedirt has some great pics of the actual march through downtown LA. It looks like his son even got a picture with President Bartlett. Matt has some good pictures of the huge event in D.C. if you're interested. Also, check out the social change group in Flickr for protest pictures from around the county.

Arrival

I went to the event with my two uncles. For both of them it was a pure case of deja vu considering 35 years ago they were attending Vietnam War protests. They were also very active in Alliance For Survival--an anti-nuclear organization--back in the late 1970s.

We parked by the entrance of Chinatown and walked a few blocks over the US-101 towards the intersection of Los Angeles and Temple. We didn't participate in the actual march (a 1.5 mile jaunt through Downtown LA) but rather congregated at the march destination in front of the stage. We surveyed the booths for about an hour before the marchers arrived in droves. Between 25,000 and 50,000 people turned out for the LA event.

Fringe Booths

I got into a discussion with representatives at the Socialist Worker booth. They advocate revolution, pure and simple--as if that would ever happen here! The United States is probably one of the last places in which a socialist or communist revolution could ever take place. We spoke in agreement about several issues but when they tried to recruit me into their organization I casually strayed away from their booth. Then there were the "9/11 Truth" people who argue that 9/11 was an inside job. I've watched the film Loose Change and I still have trouble accepting that 9/11 was carried out by our own government. I know our government is bad, but could they be that bad?

There were also folks from World Can't Wait which is organizing mass movements on November 2, 2005 to "drive out the Bush regime". Upon further inspection this group turns out to be a front group for Bob Avakian's Maoist Revolutionary Communist Party. Who knew there were still people who proudly call themselves Maoists? Needless to say there were some interesting and bizarre far-left characters on the scene. It's for this reason that Roxanne doesn't like attending protests, although she attended the D.C. protest and was glad she did.

The Marchers Arrive

When the marchers arrived on Temple Street with their large banners it was truly an amazing site. They were led by a cadre of LAPD on bikes and in squad cars. We quickly moved close to the stage as thousands of marchers fell in behind us.  The speakers all stressed that our work has only just begun--that we must continue making our voices louder if we wish to create change in the political system. The most powerful speaker in my opinion was Vicki Castro. She lost her only son Jonathan in the December 21, 2004 suicide bombing of an army mess hall in Mosul, Iraq. She argued that it is not the anti-war protesters who are hurting soldiers' morale. Rather, what hurts morale is when Generals in charge of base security refuse to protect their soldiers by spot checking everyone who enters the base because it would be too "inefficient". State Senator Gloria Romero noted that our state has incurred the highest casualties in the nation. Currently California has lost 202 soldiers in Iraq.

What Now?

The march left me feeling empowered knowing that there are thousands of others who share my disgust with this current regime and their endless imperial wars. It also left me with a sense of bewilderment as in how to proceed. Upon leaving I said to my uncles, "That was great, but I don't see how that's going to change anything right now--our elected officials don't care." In response to my youthful cynicism they explained how the marches were more like pep rallies for our side. It's a time and place for like-minded individuals to congregate, vent their shared feelings and then re-invigorate the movement.

The cries and rallies of the peace movement have mostly fallen on deaf ears in Congress, but not the American people. Americans are rejecting this phony war--59% think the war was a mistake and 63% believe that the U.S. should either "withdraw some" or "withdraw all" troops. So, where the hell are our elected officials? Democrats? Hello? Now's the time to step up to the plate and fill the leadership void. My new personal litmus test for voting will be a candidate's stance on the Iraq War.

We're in for the long haul, and I'm ready.

Related Writing: Juan Cole explains why we should withdraw U.S. troops immediately. The Washington Post has some good coverage of the D.C. event.

Comments

[Night Bird]

Agi - It is reassuring to see that you are in for the long haul, because that is what it is going to take. Looking back in history, shows us that deaf ears were present for 5 years in the 60's.

[the quitter]

heh.. maoists. for the love of... do these folks think the 'cultural revolution' was a tea party? wtf? they are as bad as the neo-cons.

[Chuck]

That's a good point Lizzy!

Agi-

Excellent pictures (I only looked at yours so far). I especially liked the "Wanted For Mass Murder"!

Was Martin Sheen wearing a coat???

[Agi T. Prop]

Chuck, he was wearing a gray jacket.

[Jed]

Keep fighting the good fight Agit. You're not the only one in for the long haul, there are thousands of voices adding to the chorus, and it will only continue to grow.

I was at the DC march over the weekend and had a similar post-march thought process, coming to similar conclusions. Check it at: daysbreak.blogspot.com

Keep writing.

[fred bieling]

ditto jed