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911: Looking Back
It was just like "being there".....

By Pame^


It was like "being there".....Like going back some 30+ odd years to MY roots, back to a beginning. I really didn't want to, but HAD to...

On January 20, 2003, at 1:00 pm I marched along with an estimated 8000 to 10,000 other assorted people in Atlanta's MLK Day's annual march...I straddle the line since Dr King's philosophy of Peace for Mankind has always been a personal philosophy of my own and my own love of this country and what it stands for....

I teamed up with the Fulong Gong group (since I couldn't find my own group in the sea of people)...More peaceful and loving group of folks, I can't think of off hand....Their "peace within" was refreshing and lent a very nice atmosphere to the march...Going down the "canyons" of Peachtree St (one of the oldest in Atlanta) I thought about how "War" had almost destroyed beautiful Atlanta...

The march lasted just over an hour down to the MLK Center....The marchers were not like so many years ago when I marched to end the Vietnam War...This group was savvy, eloquent and mainly young ....Young FAMILIES this time, women with babies in strollers, young children, young upper middle class people... No dirty, long haired hippies this time...There were college students and fraternities and sororities....It doesn't appear to be a "rich man's war" this time... There were Veterans for Peace and some older grandmotherly type women... A group with a common heart, a common voice, a pressing cause....

The day was perfect with the exception of the wind.... It was cloudly on and off all day, 59 degrees with high winds.... The wind was so strong it took my sign and blew it out of my hands as I stood waiting for the train... That sign sent MY message and echoed Dr King's philosophy....It simply said "I Have A Dream....No War".... I saw signs that echoed my own at the march, including one hand made sign that started off with "War is not good for children and other living things" .... An old friend seemed to be there I remember that from my Vietnam War protesting days.... A kindred spirit with a like mind and a like heart....

For the most part the march was silent.... With just an occasional "Stop the War Now!".... Or an old familiar "Give Peace a Chance".... Orderly and profoundly moving was the order of the day.... This was serious, deadly serious and we meant business....

The march ended as it had begun.... Quitely, orderly, without incident...There was more then enough "Press" to cover it, but largely it went unnoticed and unreported... That didn't matter, WE knew we were there and we knew the "silent" message we sent... The whole world is watching.... and not all of us agree...

Stop the War NOW!

Altanta March for Peace 2003

Video of the Atlanta March for Peace(Quicktime)

Pame^
Jan 22, 2003



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