Witness Against War walkers bade farewell to Lauren Cannon, Bob Abplanalp and Kate Zilla, who left for Chicago early this morning.
Brad Lyttle, from Chicago, joined remaining walkers to participate in a solemn march organized by Veterans for Peace and Code Pink members. We carried tombstones bearing the names of people, both from the U.S. and from Iraq, who’ve died since the U.S. invasion in 2003. Forty five participants donned orange jumb suits and black cloth head masks, calling attention to prisoners at Guantanamo. “When you sweat a lot and perhaps have trouble breathing, that’s o.k.,” said Roger Cuthbertson, who helped organize the group wearing the detainee outfits. “That will help you identify with the detainees, and you just think of them and you’ll be able to keep going.”
Two of our walkers, Dan Pearson and Joshua Brollier, joined a contingent of the march which attempted, nonviolently, to deliver letters to people who are participating in the Republican National Convention. They had also hoped to speak with people who’ve begun arriving at the Excel Center, and perhaps interact with delegates. Instead, they were arrested and cited for trespass. They were released later in the afternoon.
Yesterday evening, the Veterans for Peace hosted John Yee and Jeremy Scahill as main speakers at a banquet which concluded the VFP convention. We were glad to attend and to hear compelling “summons” to help build the peace movement.
— Kathy Kelly Co-coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence 1249 West Argyle Street Chicago, IL 60640 773-878-3815 www.vcnv.org
