Every Friday afternoon for almost three and a half years, members of Laramie, Wyoming's
Stand Up for Peace have stood on a downtown street corner from 4:45-5:15 PM with a variety of antiwar messages urging people to "honk for peace." We were there when it was 30 below and we're there even if only one person shows up. Every Friday. Count on it.
Stand Up for Peace, organized in October 2002 to protest Dick Cheney's visit to the University of Wyoming to sell his war, has also done a variety of things since then: marches, vigils, radio interviews, tables, films, speakers, dances, die-in, names readings, art parties, etc. Throughout it all and despite all our press releases and advertisements, the local newspaper has managed to ignore us.
Last Friday/Saturday, that all changed!
more on the flip...
Our faithful group of weekly protesters numbers 5-6 with an additional group of 5 or so irregular regulars. Not infrequently, people walking by will grab a sign and join us. On a good week, we get 2-3 people on 2 or 3 corners.
Two weeks ago, we gained 3 new regulars. I asked one if she was new to Laramie. "No," she said. "I'm not new to Laramie. And I'm not new to hating this war. I'm just new to thinking I need to do something about it."
Last week, those three were back, along with two others with their own signs! (Always a good indication of commitment.) Then, from all directions, semi-regulars began appearing. It was a mega-stand up! All four corners covered with at least three on each. On the home corner, it was downright crowded with 6 adults and 2 children.
We were feeling great when, out of the blue, a reporter and photographer from the Laramie Daily Boomerang appear with camera and notebook at the ready. They hung out for about 15 minutes, took lots of pictures and asked lots of questions. When I finally asked what had prompted the coverage, the reporter said they were just driving by and saw the story. Based on past experience, I wasn't real confident their serendipitous discovery would result in coverage.
But, Saturday morning, there it was! With photo. On the front page, no less...
They are there every Friday, whether you want them there or not.
On the corner of Third and Grand, protesters gather every Friday evening from 4:45 to 5:15 to hold signs encouraging drivers to honk for peace. They have other concerns, too, but mainly they want people to know that they care about U.S. policies.
"Maybe it won't change anything, but at least it reminds us that there is a war going on, and that Bush lied to us," said Lesley Wischmann, an organizer for Stand Up for Peace. "Anyone that questions that he lied to us at this point just doesn't pay attention to news."
Protestors have been doing this since October 2002, when Vice President Dick Cheney came to Laramie for a visit. That core group formed Stand Up for Peace, which constitutes the majority of people at the protest, but anyone is welcome.
(emphasis added because I love that quote!) The reporter does a great job of quoting us. A few errors, but minor and understandable. (I, for one, talk much too fast and am surprised he kept up at all.) He covers the varied response we receive. Mentions the time a driver tried to jump the curb at us, that we believe honks are up recently, that high gas prices always produces more honks, that the day after Bush's second inaugural brought the best honks ever, that people routinely flip us off and yell obscenities but we're used to it. They mention the person last week who drove by with a sign taped to his window: "If you don't like it, MOVE." That was one of my favorite moments of the week. It was good, creative counterdissent and proved he knew to expect us there.
some more:
Sixteen protesters were there yesterday, but the number varies. Even in cold weather, the protestors gather, though they don't always last the half hour in severe cold.
"This is important, especially in the early months of the war, when people felt intimidated to say anything against it," said Wischmann. "We needed to express our dissent. You were told you were unpatriotic if you didn't support the war, but we don't feel that way.
"An important moment for me was when we didn't hold up signs one week and instead went to the post office and read aloud the names of all the Americans killed in the war. People told us they missed us and wanted to know where we were. People actually go out of their way to make sure they drive past us every Friday and honk."
and
Jerry Martin held a sign that read, "2,327 GIs murdered, Iraq War costs $100,000 a minute, Secret spying on Americans, Secret torture gulags, Feel safer now?"
...
Another sign reads, "Everyone owes $1,000 for the war," referring to the amount of federal money spent on the Iraq War.
Then they talk about the fact that we have several veterans in the group and that we worked with the local National Guard unit before they were deployed to get them phone cards and disposable cameras (their choice for contributions).
And, finally, they give us a great how-to-get-involved boost:
Stand Up for Peace has an informational table set up in the Wyoming Union every Wednesday, and they have Sunday night vigils at the courthouse from 6 to 7. They hold a potluck on the fourth Monday of every month at the Albany County Public Library, and they hold fund-raisers for different causes, such as supporting Cindy Sheehan.
To learn more about the Wyoming chapters of Stand Up for Peace, go to www.standupforpeacewyoming.org
It took them a long, long time to discover us but they did a hell of a nice job once they did!