Personal Voice: Saving Our Troops, Saving Ourselves

On Sept. 24, an electrified mass of Americans from red and blue states moved toward the White House in the largest protest to date against the war in Iraq.

As the mass of an estimated 300,000 people pushed past the corner of Lafayette Park, waving signs, chanting, posing for pictures and singing, a lone woman stood waving her holy book, trembling, screaming into the crowd as if she were in a trance, "We must repent. We must repent. We're bombing children; we must repent."

Captured by her eerie presence, I shifted my attention from the moving crowd to her, an elderly African-American woman, hunched over a cart with a white scarf covering her hair and the Bible in her hand. She screamed repeatedly, "We must repent!"

Every time she uttered those words, a chill engulfed me. The woman wailed vociferously, clutching her Bible with work-worn hands, as if she was vulnerable and the Bible was her only protection from harm. Her screams shook me and for a moment, I really felt as if the sky would fall.

After many attempts to drown her out, I relented and listened to her words. I turned to my friends who were marching with me, and we were all struck by her words and her passion.

Like others who stood nearby, we stared, somewhat trancelike. We watched as children pointed, passersby laughed uncomfortably, and reporters photographed her.

This lone woman has reserved a place in my memory forever -- a reminder of the wretched conditions that exist in 21st century America.

She was fed-up with the American system -- a system

that had forsaken her and her kind. Her testimony was one of pain, which she shouted to anyone who would listen.

*****

After the march, my friends and I discussed why the screams of one "seemingly demented" woman left such an impression on us. I wondered how and why this woman grabbed my attention in a town where wandering, screaming, and proselytizing, as well as disenfranchised derelicts, are not uncommon.

I thought about this woman and realized that the essence of her being penetrated the deepest crevices of my soul, because I admired her. I thought about the many times I have wanted to scream at my fellow citizens, asking them to turn off their TV and fight against the increasing lack of democracy in America and our occupied territories.

*****

On Sept. 24, an estimated 300,000 people traveled to D.C. to take action. The march focused on a united message, protesting our continued deployment of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The key message of the march was "Bring the troops home now!" But despite the focus on the war, marchers were united in their criticism of our current leadership.

Diverse affinity groups like "Republicans for Impeachment," "Black Voices for Peace," student groups, labor organizations, interfaith religious delegations, veterans groups, "Women in Black" and countless others rallied together to oppose the war and the negative economic, political and social problems that exist in our country.

The community of marchers expressed their resistance in a variety of ways: some carried signs, others chanted and others prayed. Protesters were motivated to march for a variety of reasons; however, they were unified in their demand for peace.

It was clear from their signs, conversations, chants and banners, that even though the protesters' overwhelming goal was to end the occupation of Iraq, many marched to promote peace in Palestine, Afghanistan, in the Gulf Coast, and for all of America's poor.

Participants in the rally also expressed their outrage at domestic problems that lacked funding and attention as a result of the war. Colorful signs with messages like "Renewable energy not war," "Books not Bombs," "Education not Deportation," "Make Levees Not War," and "Money for College Not Combat" created a mosaic of artistic dissent throughout the march route. Marchers demanded an end to occupation, imperialism, and racism in America and abroad. Many compared the war to Vietnam, questioning our motivations and our withdrawal plan.