More than 1,000 protesters arrived in Crawford Saturday to join with millions around the world, demanding to bring our servicemen and servicewomen home.
Ten of the protesters cycled from Austin, as they crossed the country. Other protesters drove from Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Denton, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, and other states.
The PantsOnFire Mobile was there, just in from Jacksonville, Florida, by way of Austin. (Ben Cohen was in Austin on Tuesday for its arrival.) Code Pink helped to get PantsOnFire to Waco.
This was a strong showing for Crawford, which is many miles from civilization (no, I didn’t forget Waco), and is the smallest Texas town many of us have seen for a while. To get to this out-there town, the effort required was larger than normal. It’s much easier to protest locally, but what a road trip.
I talked with a gentleman from Kentucky, whose main attraction was Nader.
An older woman who wanted water approached me. She turned out to be from Colorado Springs, Colorado, staying with her ailing brother from Beaumont. This elderly woman, who had survived a bout with polio, got on a 6-hour bus ride from Beaumont to take part in the protest.
There was a journalist from Spain (!Viva Espana!) who met up with activists she’d worked with 7 years ago! She was so surprised and thrilled to meet up with people she’d worked with so long ago.
Several bands were outstanding, most remarkably, Spoonfed Tribe (www.spoonfedtribe.com).
Also, the singer who intro’s Will Pitt’s audio commentaries, David Rovics, was there (www.davidrovics.com).
There were MANY vets from different organizations, including former Army Captain, Shannon Sharrock, representing Military Families Speak Out. Later in the day, I walked with her through the crowd. Many individuals stopped us and thanked her for what she said in her speech, and how moved they had felt when they heard what she had to say. It was amazing.
Our emcee, Prof. Robert Jensen (
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/home.htm), kept everyone posted throughout the day on global protests.
Many DU’ers were in attendance.
The town of Crawford was amenable to us if not outright friendly.
Media coverage was lame as usual but I am hopeful. Barely.
I have to say, I believe we all did our nation proud on Saturday, 3-20-04.
The World Still Says NO To War!