PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

D.C. Anti-War Protest Included Pittsburghers
by Corey Ballantyne Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003 at 2:33 PM
cjbst57@pitt.edu (email address validated) 412 687 3996

Comments from Pittsburghers: why they went, first-time and experienced protesters, what they thought of the day's events. Description of the events.

Four charter busloads of Pittsburghers rode to Washington, D.C., on Saturday (1/18/2003) to protest the Bush Administration�s push toward war on Iraq. The Pittsburgh buses were organized by the Thomas Merton Center, �Pittsburgh�s Peace and Social Justice Center,� named after the late monk and nonviolent writer-activist Merton (http://www.thomasmertoncenter.org). Almost exactly one bus was filled by members of the Pittsburgh Association of Peacemakers and Proactive Youth (PAPPY), a city-wide high school student group connected with the Merton Center. Riders huddled in the dark waiting for the buses at 6:00 A.M at the William Pitt Union and returned around midnight.


Passengers included both first-time and experienced protesters. �I have no idea what it�s going to be like,� said CMU student Robin Meyer while waiting to depart from Pittsburgh. Joyce Martinson, 48, had attended more protests than she could recall. An Ellis High School student reported having attended protests before with her father, including one against Pres. Bush�s inauguration.


Pitt student Sean Rowley stated that he would be protesting �because there�s no reason �[for the proposed war on Iraq] except to promote American corporate interests,� and that the money required to wage war should instead be spent on social programs. Martinson stated that, as a Registered Nurse (R.N.), �I know what ugly disease, [and] maiming looks like�,� and that she therefore supports �helping people� rather than harming them. This war is �a human issue, not a political issue,� she said.


Police on horseback and atop walls supervised the 11:00 A.M. rally on the west lawn of the Capitol Building and the afternoon march ending at the Navy Yard Station. News helicopters circled, but from the ground the events were a colorful artistic and musical extravaganza, with paintings, portable murals, moving street bands, and costumes including a Santa Claus, a few grim reapers, and Women for Peace in pink berets and outfits. Signs and chants included the popular �No Blood For Oil,� �Who Would Jesus Bomb?,� and many attacks on the President such as, �Down With Bush; Up With Peace,� and even �Frodo Has Failed; Bush Has the Ring.� Police and caution tape separated protesters from a few counterprotesters.


Hypothermia was a real concern, and Red Cross medical tents directed cold people to the �warming bus.�


Students interviewed on the return trip reacted favorably to the protest. Jake Davidson of PAPPY called it �amazingly powerful and motivating,� citing the �positive energy� and �edgy protest posters and signs.� Charlie Horowitz (PAPPY) pointed out the �tons of different age groups,� and Ian Sullivan (PAPPY) agreed, �It�s great to see people that are as old as my Grandma�.� Margot Goldberg (also of PAPPY) said, �I hope that the message gets across�.�

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