We've been here in Crawford with Cindy Sheehan for three weeks now. We just heard a story that beautifully and compellingly reveals how grassroots action can end a war. And small donors and activists, online and offline, made it possible.
Mona Parsons is the mother of Army Spec. Jeremy Hagy, 28. Jeremy is scheduled to depart for Iraq on September 24. Back in June, Mona attended DriveDemocracy's Freedom and Faith Bus tour event in Columbus, Ohio. There she was given a Dvd of our April 4 event featuring Cindy. In her remarks in April, Cindy spoke of how she wished she had done more before the war and before her late son, Casey, was sent to Iraq. Mona was so moved by the "Break the Silence" Dvd that she resolved to join Cindy's vigil in Crawford. Her daughter had her call Ed Schultz's show on Air America to tell this story. Listeners then contributed the money for Mona to come to Crawford in the first days of the vigil.
This is how grassroots is supposed to work. Engaged activists contribute small donations to make possible events like the April 4 celebration of Martin Luther King, the Freedom and Faith Bus Tour and anti-Justice Sunday rallies. We touch the hearts and minds of citizens, who then join the struggle with the help of other modest contributers and activists.
It won't take many of these stories to turn our nation around. Mona has now joined Military Familes Speak Out. Her son, Jeremy, will depart for Iraq the very day of the scheduled anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. If she doesn't have to see her son off, if his departure is delayed, Mona will be in Washington with other friends and family. If Jeremy leaves that day, she will get to D.C. as soon as she can that weekend.
This is how one person can make a difference. This is how hundreds and thousand of people can make it possible for others to participate in politics in meaningful ways. This is how the world is changed.