protests

Here are more photos from Sunday's march to close the School of the Americas.

Lerner Mckinney Bourgeois and Kucinich lead the march:

Being in the midst of a large community of people in a new place leads to a cascade of images and impressions I would not likely experience in a place that was more familiar. This is my first visit to Ft. Benning for the School of Americas Watch Vigil and it is very rich in such images and impressions.

The gathering and demonstration area is a fenced street, Ft. Benning Blvd, about 100 tables long from the last intersection to the official gate of the Fort. It has orange barricades at the public end of the street, eight foot high chain-link fence along both sides of the street, with police men and women outside the fences in clusters and individually for much of its length, and then a layer of three gates and fencing at the entrance to the Fort. The construct is of a cattle shute.

The Puppetista group has been working on a puppet based pageant for the SOA Watch Vigil over the past week. The resulting drama celebrates the life of Companera Rufina Amaya, sole survivor of the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador, who passed away this year, through a story of corn as the symbol of Life and Regeneration.

The window seat on the Air Tran flight to Atlanta, from National Airport in Washington D.C., opens to a clear view, from the Potomac corridor, of the Mall from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol, invoking a long history of marches for peace and social justice in the United States, as we head for the 2007 Vigil of the SOA Watch. Susana Pimiento, Liza Smith, Alejandra Tobar and I are off to a day of workshops on FOR’s Colombia Peace Program and our Plan Colombia Campaign with early arrivals for the SOA Watch at Ft. Benning Georgia. (We’ll Get Back To That – WGBTT.)

This is my fourth straight weekend of marching in solidarity with people suffering from oppressive regimes and the misappropriation of the earth’s abundance to the war economy and a culture of violence throughout the world.

I've been looking around for info to share about the SOA Vigil that gets underway tomorrow. I found some great pictures from previous years. Enjoy.

Vets for peace ("A.J. Muste chapter") (2004):

Presbyterian Peace Fellowship (2004):

Here is more information about FOR's participation the SOA vigil. If you are participating please come to one of our workshops and don't miss Susana Pimiento-Chamorro speaking on Sunday!