Eugene weekly., March 13, 2008, Page 16, Image 16

Betsy Steffenson leads the Peace Train in the 2007 Eugene Celebration Parade
TED TAYLOR
MARCH.
SING.
LAUGH.
PRAY.
CRY.
Meeting the fi fth anniversary of Iraq invasion with community resistance
BY SUZI STEFFEN
I
n the face of an ongoing war (or wars)
on several fronts with military actions
that are costing the U.S. trillions of
dollars and almost 4,000 lives — not to
mention costing the world hundreds of
thousands of Iraqi and Afghan lives —
what’s a peace-loving Eugenean to do?
Why, what she did decades ago during
the “police action” in Vietnam: Rally.
March. Sing. Laugh. Pray. Cry. And come
together with many others in pursuit of
justice, in pursuit of building coalitions, in
pursuit of peace abroad and at home.
A simple task or two, right? But the many
options in Sunday, March 16’s “Sowing
the Seeds of Peace” events aren’t limited
to those experienced with protesting the
Vietnam War, says the Take Back America
coalition’s Michael Carrigan. Carrigan,
development director for the Community
Alliance of Lane County (CALC), feels
especially good about a rally at the UO that
ON THE COVER
EW staff and interns compiled and
interwove names of U.S. and Iraqi
War dead from the websites Iraq
Coalition Casualties (icasualties.
org/oif) and Iraq Body Count (www.
iraqbodycount.org).
16 MARCH 13, 2008 EUGENE WEEKLY
kicks off the day. With student organizer
Zach Barasaba and speakers ranging from
the UO’s MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil
Chicano de Aztlan) to the director of
the Black Student Union and the ASUO
president, the UO rally’s set to start making
connections.
Why an on-campus rally?
Diego Hernandez, a student senator
and MEChA member who’s on the
Multicultural Center staff, explains: “The
rally will bring in students who don’t have
cars, and it sends a big message when the
press takes pictures of campus rallies.”
UO student and veteran Noah
Mrowczyski, who served with the Oregon
National Guard in Iraq from 2004-2005,
says that it’s important to keep the wars
in the news. “I’m in dismay. I just think
it’s unbelivable that this is the fi fth
anniversary,” he says. “You have to really
stop and think — and make a bunch of
noise. Hey, people, there’s a war going
on!”
Speaking of making noise, the student
rally culminates in a march called “Look!
The Empire Has No Clothes” that will go
from the UO to the old Federal Building
at 7th and Pearl. Last year’s march on the
fourth anniversary of the invasion seemed
a bit dispiriting, Carrigan says, so this year
it will be more celebratory of the various
groups working for peace. “It’s going to be
a hopping, powerful parade,” Carrigan says.
Samba Já, Eugene’s “mobile percussion
ensemble,” will meet the parade halfway,
and Betsy Steffenson notes that the Peace
Train (famous from many a Eugene
Celebration parade) will play its role.
“It’s a fun and festive theme to
encourage people to come and take part,”
Carrigan says. He knows that staying
hopeful isn’t easy for activists who have
been working for peace, whether that work
has been over decades or the past few
years, so it’s important for part of the day
to include celebration of the connections
among various activist groups.
The second rally of the day starts at the
Federal Plaza around 2:30 pm, once the
parade arrives. That’s when the diversity of
coalition interests will fully emerge with a
call for peace and justice on many fronts.
“Not everyone knows everyone else’s
issues,” Hernandez says, so the speakers
at the Federal Building rally will both be
educational and inspirational. “It shows that
we’re willing to stand up for all of the issues
we care about.” Speakers include Savannah
Martin, a Springfi eld High School student
whose speech draws parallels between Iraq
and Vietnam and between the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr.’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech
and the day’s events.
Claire Syrett, a speaker and fi eld
organizer for the Oregon ACLU, says that
although the ACLU doesn’t take a position
on the war and therefore hasn’t spoken
at any of the previous rallies, the focus
of this rally is slightly different. “There
have been a range of issues with how the
war has been prosecuted,” she says. The
ACLU’s concerns include “the denial
of habeas corpus rights to prisoners in
Guantanamo, whether our forces and the
people in our employ have tortured people
and are planning to use evidence gained
from torture in court, and the president’s
warrantless wiretapping,” she says.
Other speakers include Mayor Kitty
Piercy, Lane County Commissioner Pete
Sorenson, Josh Schlossberg of the Native
Forest Council, Ibrahim Hamide of the
Middle East Peace Group (and Café
Soriah), Jefferson Smith of the Bus Project
and Bob Watada, father of Lt. Ehren
Watada, last year’s star speaker who was
the fi rst commissioned offi cer publicly
to refuse deployment to Iraq. Local fave
Iana Mathews-Harris will perform spoken
word, music will come from Beth Rose and
Friends, and the MCs are Carmen Urbina
and Johnny Lake.
How is the Native Forest Council, for
instance, related to the war in Iraq? “The
issue isn’t just about stopping the war; it’s
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM