Haight Ashbury, in the Golden Gate Park Panhandle. Our first post-election vigil had a small (but enthusiastic) crowd (we counted nine). Cool weather had returned to San Francisco. We were pleased to see new people again:
We were also happy to see our old friends: As usual, passing motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians were supportive.More photos of this vigil and of past vigils can be seen
Cornwall, CT
On November 19, the Iraq Moratorium: Cornwall Edition went back indoors to hold one of our best programs so far. Around 20 of us turned out to hear Jeff Bartos, a Connecticut member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He talked about his experiences in the Army, how the damage the war had done to him affected him on his return, and the change running into IVAW had made for him. While he says he still hasn't spoken in public much, you could not tell that from the floor. The Q&A period was notable for a lively discussion of our government's use of private contractors (mercenaries) to do what the Armed Forces used to do for themselves. Jeff had several horror stories about how the big corporations have been cashing in on the war. Did you know that contractors get $30 every time a troop swipes his card to go into the mess hall, even if it's just to pick up a soda? He also talked about convoys of contractor trucks running nearly empty, because the government was billed by the run. Local residents suggested that this wasn't unplanned corruption but a premeditated way for the administration to funnel tax dollars to the military-industrial complex. We took up a collection to help the growing Connecticut chapter of IVAW keep on with its work.
Jackson, CA
We had another good vigil in Jackson, Amador County, California with about a dozen participants. We have a core of about 20 relatively reliable peace people in what is essentially a pretty "red neck" county of unenlightened voters. Still we've had very little negative reaction the past two months at our vigils and hope that minds and hearts are being changed. After 20 years here, I can attest, it's been a long, hard slog, to coin a phrase.
Macon, GA
Sewanee, TN
Cumberland Center for Justice and Peace: Eleven very chilly folks braved the below freezing temperatures to stand on the corner of University Avenue and Hwy. 41A from 4 pm until dark. We jokingly referred to ourselves as the Few, the Brave, and the Frozen, reminding ourselves how fortunate we were for not being in a war zone in Iraq or Afghanistan. Peace to all and for all.
Santa Barbara, CA
Vets for Peace, Chapter 54: A war memorial honoring 18- and 19-year-old military personnel, men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, was erected on a lawn overlooking the ocean at Santa Barbara City College. The local chapter of Veterans for Peace and students set up the memorial, which currently honors 303 young men and women. Dr. Gilberto Robledo, former faculty member of SBCC and VFP member along with several other VFP/SBCC students sets up the memorial the Third Friday of every month in conjunction with the national Iraq Moratorium. As students, faculty, staff and community members pass by, they're asked to place a placard on a white tombstone. The military person's picture, name, unit, circumstance surrounding the death, and birth date is on the placards. This interactive memorial depicts the cost of war, especially to the college age students, who in many cases are in the same age range as the teen casualties of these two current conflicts. Photographer and reporter from the SB Daily Sound were in attendance.
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Roseville, & Sonora, CA; New York; St. Petersburg, FL
Raise Hell for Molly Ivins Campaign. We called and faxed our demands to our Congr. Repres. and Senators local offices regarding getting out of Iraq NOW. We have not been emphasizing the taking of pictures and/videos, but we will from now on. This will be to create a more permanent record. We estimate that one hundred and fifty calls/fax were made on 11/21/08.
Hayward, WI
Twenty some Moratorium vigilers took to the street corner in Hayward on Friday to continue their stand against the war in Iraq. The election may be over but the war and occupation continue, and so will we! We made a dozen or so calls to our congressman and senators and asked them to start spending our tax dollars on health care and not warfare. We also collected non-perishable items for our local food shelf, which has seen a 25% increase in requests since this time last year. With thousands of our soldiers dead, and perhaps over one million Iraqi's dead since the invasion and occupation began in 2003, we have a moral imperative to continue our efforts. Please join us in December. President elect Obama needs our/your help in bringing this great tregedy to an end, and in forging a new set of national priorities for America.
Rice Lake, WI
Bitterly cold winds and a spate of local events conspired to drive the turnout down in Rice Lake on Friday, though almost 10 hardy souls came out anyway to stand for peace for a couple of hours. A half a dozen telephone calls were made to congressman Dave Obey's office in Washington urging him to support health care and not warfare, and callers report they were very well received by the congressman's staff. On to December and an end to this war!
Superior, WI
Grandmothers for Peace, Standing for Peace. 15 sturdy anti-war enthusiasts showed up for the Grandmothers for Peace first Iraq Moratorium event in Superior on Friday, including newly elected 73rd District assemblyman Nick Milroy. Single digit windchills, frozen fingers and rapidly encroaching darkness didn't stop peace supporters from making a dozen telephone calls to 7th district congressman Dave Obey's office asking him to support "Healthcare Not Warfare." The Grannies vowed to be back next month and every month afterwards, no matter the weather, until this war is over. If the Grandmothers can do it, SO CAN YOU! See you in December.
Berkeley, CA
Strawberry Creek Lodge Tenants and Berkeley Gray Panthers November 21 Iraq Moratorium Vigil. Lovely weather, lots of singing of peace songs, a pleasant afternoon was had by all as we continue to express our demands to the incoming administration that the wars and occupations must end. We numbered about 30. See you next month.
Duluth, MN and Superior, WI
Despite the biting cold temperature, we had small but spirited gatherings in both Duluth, MN and Superior, WI to mark the November Iraq Moratorium. In Duluth we held a picket at Pennell Park along the busy Central Entrance street. A dozen hearty souls participated. And across the bridge 15 people held a picket on the corner on Belknap and Tower Ave. in downtown Superior.
Eau Claire WI
Eau Claire had its 1st Iraq Moratorium event on Friday, Nov. 21. Thirty hardy souls braved 15 degree temps and gusty winds to show our opposition to the continuing Iraq occupation. Some people, whose fingers weren't frozen, made calls to Wisconsin senators and representatives to urge them to make bringing the troops home the first priority of the new administration. After the event a number of energized people retired to Woo's Pagoda restaurant to thank them for the use of their parking lot, to enjoy great Asian food, and to begin plans for the December event. More from Voices for Peace Institute here.
Madison WI
Citizens in Madison Friday night, Nov. 21, were thinking about ending war and torture, not only in Iraq but throughout as hemisphere. The Iraq Moratorium event collaborated with a School of the Americas memorial service and rally this cold night in Wisconsin. Peace activists first gathered at the State Street corner of Capitol Square, and quietly processed around the Square -- in commemoration of all who have suffered from the military machine -- especially thinking of those in Central and South America tonight, where the SOA at Ft. Benning has trained soldiers from abroad in crowd control and torture techniques. We finished the rally with a memorial service in the United Methodist Church near the Square (pictured.) This weekend there is a massive gathering in Georgia, near Fort Benning, to protest this school, and our event was in solidarity with that event. "We remember you!" All wars against people must end - and this gathering tonight provided an opportunity to connect Iraq and Colombia..... Judy Miner, SOAW and Iraq Moratorium advocate.
Saint Paul, MN
Students, veterans, and community members gathered at Senator Norm Coleman's office to demand an end to the occupation of Iraq. We are marking the Iraq War Moratorium to publicly denounce elected officials' perpetuation of violence in Iraq; to present Norm Coleman with specific petitions and demands on this account; and to re-claim and re-appropriate his office as a public anti-war space through creative representations of the consequences of state violence. Iraq is not simply a "mismanaged war", but has been waged and maintained in the interest of the United States' corporate and political elite. Norm Coleman's office is but one of the spaces elected "representatives" occupy, a space in which the collusion of multinational corporations and American government leads to the suffering and death of thousands. We do not limit our critique to Coleman but extend it to all officeholders, Republican or Democrat, who do not enact an immediate end to the occupation. Today, for a short time, artwork and sculptures turned a war-wager's and war-profiteer's office into an antiwar space. Our reclamation of this space is a rejection of the unethical actions taken in our name by the U.S. government and a call for the self-determination of the Iraqi people. We demand from Norm Coleman and all other U.S. officials--an immediate end to the war in Iraq and US wars of aggression in the Middle East.
New York City
Once again, I posted numbers in my street-facing windows here in Harlem, representing today's total of US troops who have died since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and kept them visible for the whole of Moratorium Day #15. With current talk about bringing the troops home by 2012--maybe--I try and remind people that the sooner we bring them home, the more of them will be coming home alive.
Milwaukee WI
The return to Central Standard Time guarantees that it will be dark and cold for vigils in Wisconsin for the foreseeable future. Friday's 25-degree temperature didn't faze about 60 participants in a rush hour vigil, march and rally in the heart of downtown.
A large campus contingent from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society brought a lot of energy to the event, the 15th Iraq Moratorium observance sponsored by Peace Action-Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Coalition for a Just Peace.
People stood on all four corners of the intersection with flags, banners, and signs, interacting with drivers who honked their horns to show support for ending the war and occupation.
After half an hour, an SDS-organized march toprotest the School of the Americas went three blocks north to a corner across from City Hall, with chants along the way and a short rally before the marchers headed back to the start, where a handful of people had stayed behind to keep the street corner vigil going. More in Fight Back! newspaper.
