DC Protest, Day 2 Thoughts

My associate, Jennifer Hicks, is still in Washington DC. This is her report for today (yesterday's report is here):

It's Time for Me to Be Second
By Jennifer Hicks

A few years ago, I was part of the anti-war rally in New York -- where several hundred thousand people gathered to say no to any unilateral invasion of Iraq. There were people of all colors and hues... and enough police in riot gear to make one hark back to the Vietnam days.

It was different in DC. Police presence amounted to surprisingly little... but then of course, President Bush was out of the district and only two Democratic political people were part of the protest -- Coyners and Kucinich (who certainly deserve our thanks) -- and maybe the powers that be decided those two weren't really worthy of extra protection. The others -- like Dean, Clinton, anyone who gets sort of listened to, apparently decided that being seen as anti-war wasn't for them. Of course, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were both there, as was Cindy Sheehan*, but they're likely seen as liberal fringe anyway.

In a moment of disenchantment, before the march commenced, I wandered away from the protest, moving east on the Mall, and wound up in the First Lady's national book festival. There were tents galore, extremely easy and accommodating media access (unlike the rally on the Ellipse), gigantically tall NBA players, give-aways, planned readings and speeches, and a quintessential feeling of being among the privileged -- those that have money for books and time to read them.

Young parents wheeled their children; grandparents tagged along. College-aged students were the hosts and information-givers -- always ready with a smile and a walkie-talkie to chirp into if they couldn't provide a ready answer. But there were two women in particular that I encountered who caught my attention: Margaret Kaiser and Joanna Mon.

I met them by overhearing a rabidly angry anti-war protester tell them they were wrong -- that they should understand we were in a war of lies and misinformation. It was their response to that tirade that captured my attention. While sitting under one of the very few barely-able-to provide-shade trees along the Mall and holding signs saying "Support Our Troops," they looked the gentleman in the eyes and quietly said, "Thank you for your ideas."

Margaret's fiance is in his third month of a year-long tour in Iraq. Joanna's boyfriend is at sea -- his second time out. They met at a support group for wives and girlfriends of those in Iraq. And, without any national planning, without any leadership above them, they decided to quietly hold their signs -- far from the demonstrators and quite near the privileged. As Kaiser said, "I'm not here to say yes or no against the war. I just want to support our troops."

I thought about the two of them this morning when, perched on a bench in Washington Circle, a homeless man approached, politely asking for a cigarette. I gave him one; he took it and sat on a bench a good distance away. After a few moments, he asked for the time, and then got up and approached me again. He stood, towering above me, asking a question, until I asked him to join me.

For the next 30 minutes, I learned about earning $6.75 and hour, and being disabled and homeless and very black in the capitol of our nation. I re-learned that racism exists and is practiced and I re-learned the manner of thinking when one feeling dominates all others -- be it "I just want to support our troops" or "I just want a place to live" -- neither of which is dissimilar from the voice of yesterday's protesters whose dominant thought is "This war is wrong and I must do something."

Yet what each of the three groups are missing is a strong voice -- a voice that makes others hear even when they don't want to. And part of that comes from there being so heart-breakingly many causes that need such a voice.

How does one choose that voice? We've tried doing it by electing those to hear our myriad voices and carry them forward. We've tried doing it by letter writing campaigns, lobbying, protesting, and pulling out our hair. Yet no Martin Luther King, Jr., has come forth -- no Jerry Rubin, no Mahatma Ghandi, no Bella Azbug, no Delores Huerta, no Wilma Mankiller.

Of course, none of those people - those catalysts - put their own needs before the needs and rights of others. And as I wandered M Street in tony Georgetown today, I realized that most of us are not yet able to say that of ourselves. And until we can make that sacrifice and put our own wants and needs second, it's likely we'll still have the equivalent of these two book fair signs:

 

 

 

 
 

Of course, our government has asked for no sacrifices from us -- except of the families who have loved ones in the gulf and for those of us who weren't in the upper echelons of tax cut heaven. Doesn't mean though that we don't owe -- especially if we believe in our causes.

[Note: this part was added 7 hours after the original post]...About Cindy Sheehan... I just met her for the first time a few hours ago. I got to watch her interact with more people than I could count. I got to see her respond to what seemed like a bazillion people. She is real. She really cares. She is no one's mouthpiece... Although, perhaps we could all learn from her ability to say what she thinks... and then act on it.