Protestors Praise Peace from Town Green to National Mall

Author: Megan O'Keefe

Three thousand peace activists rallied in Montpelier on Saturday, Jan. 18 to voice their opposition to a possible war with Iraq. Despite single-digit temperatures and abundant snow, protestors chanted, spoke and sang enthusiastically for an hour on the Statehouse lawn. The Montpelier protest was one of hundreds of similar anti-war gatherings held across the United States and around the world on Jan.18. Protests coincided with both Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and a continuing buildup of American military forces in the Persian Gulf.
The Monteplier rally began in front of Montpelier's City Hall where activists shouted political slogans and carried protest signs carrying messages such as "Bush is disturbing," "(nonviolent) Jihad for Peace" and "Peace is patriotic." The crowd marched slowly towards the capitol, singing and shouting.
Joseph David Budbill, a poet and author from Wolcott, Vt., spoke to the crowd of activists in front of the Statehouse. Budbill was greeted with overwhelming applause and cheers when he affirmed the intention of the peace rally. "Today we want to stand out here in the snow and freeze our butts off so we can tell George Bush where to go. It's not time for war. It's not time for war and killing. It's a time for singing and dancing."
According to Joseph Gainza of the American Friends Service Committee, one of the rally's organizers, the protest was one of the largest ever held in Vermont. Many of the peaceful demonstrators said they were proud to be from a state whose congressional delegates have all voted against war with Iraq. Gainza told a cheering crowd that the rally is one example of what a small state can do. "The congressional members of Vermont said no," he announced proudly.
Vermont's three congressional delegates prepared statements that were read at the rally. Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy wrote, "It is a privilege for me to represent a state whose citizens have always been among the most thoughtful voices, and sometimes also the most outspoken voices. I applaud you for giving voice to your convictions."
Nine busloads of Vermonters also traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in a rally of 200,000 peace protestors on Jan. 18.
In addition to holding large rallies around Vermont, citizen groups are voicing their concern in peace vigils held in small towns and communities. A growing number of Addison County residents have taken part in the escalating peace movement, meeting locally in peaceful protest each Saturday morning on Middlebury's town green.
While the national rise in peace rallies has developed with the growing threat of war with Iraq, "peace vigils" on the Middlebury Green were taking place well over a year ago, immediately following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Winslow Colwell, a Middlebury resident who coordinates the weekly peace vigils and oversees e-mail communications among group members, noted, "The idea came about through the Middlebury Friends meetings, through the Quakers. We have a committee, which is kind of our political wing, which is called Peace and Social Concerns. And at a meeting that we had right after 9/11 we thought that it would be wonderful for us to have a public vigil, basically to witness publicly that this is not a time for violent retaliation."
Since that first peace vigil, residents have gathered each Saturday from 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. While vigil participants began their efforts as an immediate response to the precarious political situation that followed Sept. 11, the vigils have since continued, taking on increased importance. As the possibility of war with Iraq looms large, participants have become increasingly aware of the significance of their protest.
"The notion that this would be something that would be continuing this long is something that we wouldn't have anticipated at that point. But it seems like there has never been a time when it seems like we can rest and not go out. In other words, the need for us to be there seems to actually be stronger now than ever," said Colwell.
Since the vigils began, participants have only seen their ranks grow. What began as a gathering of six people has now become a dedicated group of 35 to 45 protestors. Initially, the group was largely composed of Quakers, but Colwell said, "As many other people started to join us and to ask about it, we decided that it was really more appropriate to open this up to a wider circle."
The vigils are now coordinated officially by the Addison County Peace Coalition, a group of people from all over Addison County. Colwell proudly reported, "People come from Bridgeport and Shoreham, people come from Ripton, from all over on Saturday mornings to join us."
Colwell noted that despite plummeting winter temperatures, the group has only seen their numbers increase. Though vigils focus heavily on Iraq, the group has maintained its focus on peace and non-violence in all parts of the world.
Colwell explained, "It's hard to miss the fact that the drums of war are beating so loudly right now. Our focus is very much on Iraq. But I'd say that we are looking at a lot of potential for war with North Korea, too. I myself, when I am standing there, I'm trying to think about all the different parts of the world that are erupting into a horrible violent situation."
The Addison County Peace Coalition is firmly committed to peaceful, quiet protests. While participants choose to hold an number of protest signs with slogans such as "Sew seeds of Peace," "No War in My Name," "Let the Inspectors do their Job," "Why War Now?" and "Let's Retaliate With World Peace," Colwell maintained that protesters have no dogma about their presence on the town square. "We are trying to be positive, we are trying to encourage people to mediate, to communicate, to be compassionate. I am pro-peace."
Describing the intent of the vigil participants, Colwell said, "When I am standing there, we are not being militant. We are not shouting slogans. We are really there silently as what we call in the Quaker world a 'witness.' We are there to stand publicly and to allow our feelings, our thoughts to be seen by others. It's partly a prayer, it's partly a matter of saying, 'I feel so strongly on this issue that I want everyone in my community to know how I feel.' I am not simply going to say this to my friends or write it in my journal, I am going to state my feelings for anyone who sees me, because this is the strength of how I feel. This is a strong situation that requires a strong, strong response."
The presence of the protestors in Middlebury has already motivated others to become more politically active and involved in the peace movement. "We get lots and lots of honks. I think that as more people have joined us, more people get the sense that from a group of only six or eight that now we are a growing movement, so people are publicly seeing that more and more people seem to be feeling this way. There is a power to that. It gives people permission to think for themselves and come to their own conclusions about it," said Colwell.
Protestors have not missed a single Saturday since the vigils began and say that they will meet on the town green as long as they have to.
Colwell explained, "I look forward to the day when we don't have to. I think that will only come about when we are not looking constantly at the threat of an outbreak of war. I'm not hopeful that it will be too soon. My fear is that George Bush is a man who is intimidating many countries and that he uses the threat of war in a way which he considers to be politically powerful. And until he stops that, we need to stand and be witnesses to another way to heal conflict."