One of the more insidious attacks by the cynical right has been on the very concept of peace vigils or peaceful demonstrations for human rights, civil rights and racial justice. These rich and pretend- rich yuppie GOPers like to swill their cocktails in their Washington hotel lobbies and make fun of those liberal fools who "sit around in circles holding candles and singing Kumbaya." They've been pretty successful in making the Kumbaya line a standard part of their repertoire, to show how impractical and out of touch these stupid hippie liberals are, with the additional touch of making them sound feminine, and relating the whole approach to African culture and the African American religious roots of the non-violent civil rights movement.
Don't fall for it.
It's not too late to plan to attend--- or even to plan to hold---a peace vigil or demonstration next weekend, March 18-20, which marks the beginning of the third year of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, begun with an unprovoked bombing attack two years ago.
Info in extended.
To find information about activities in your area, try:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
Or
http://hq.demaction.org/Sojo/event/nationalEventSearch.jsp?national_event_KEY=9
Information on how to set up a vigil is at Sojourner's:
http://hq.demaction.org/Sojo/event/nationalEventSignup.jsp?national_event_KEY=9
The idea that the rabid right has come dangerously close to making the conventional wisdom is that these phony folk singing liberals are too soft and too wimpy. Not like these steely warmongers who bravely send the sons and daughters of Latinos, American Indians, African Americans and poor people in general to fight and die for their simplistic self-serving theories and grand delusions.
You'll never catch one of these chicken hawks at a peace demo, nor will you find one on the front lines in Iraq or Afghanistan. They do their fighting by intimidating voters here at home, or launching guerilla warfare on the truth.
But we can't let them intimidate us, and separate us from an important and powerful expression. The peace vigil is a strong statement, because it enacts in a symbolic way the peace that it advocates. The candles and the singing are part of that symbolism and a great part of that power.
Here in the midst of a growing Dark Age, each of us holding that sliver of light and warmth is an individual statement for the future. Singing together and marching together is our collective statement for the future.
The power of these acts may not be felt immediately, as they manifestly were not when millions upon millions of people around the world demonstrated for peace and against American aggression before the first bombs fell two years ago. No, the circles and the candles and the singing and the marching did not prevent those bombs from falling. It may be a long while before they do.
But if no one sees or hears or feels the power of these acts except the children who will come together and light these lights when we are gone, then we are doing our job. We stand together for all to see, for all to hear. At the very least, we're saying we're still here.
No, peace vigils alone will not change the world. But they can help, and they help change us. People who have participated in a peace vigil do not automatically create peace, nor do they even become automatically peaceful, but they are never the same.
You're out there to save lives, Iraqis and Americans, including the children needing parents who are physically and psychologically whole.
Don't let this cynical age stop you. Maybe some people did do this sort of thing in the past because it was fashionable. People do all kinds of things for all kinds of crazy reasons. But that doesn't detract from the power in this ritual, in these symbols, that we share. They may laugh at us. But these are our lights, and our songs, and this our circle, and we believe in what it says.