Wednesday, August 23, 2006
"...working for the same system..."
Vigil, vigil...
Rhonda and I participated in the vigil last night in front of the recruiting center on Broadway. We had some interesting conversations with the recruiters.
First, there were a good handful of people there. One of them hadn't been in a while, Johnny, and he was back. A man from Veterans for Peace, Grant, was there with a great big flag. Deva and Elaine were there as usual, as well as a few other familiar faces.
I held two signs: "Killing is Wrong" and "In Memory of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, 14-years-old."
Rhonda had her Erin Watada quote sign and "Ask your recruiter about Stop Loss..."
A couple of recruiters came out and I would hold my signs in their direction. One is a young Black man. He told Rhonda that they should have been at some fair they had because they signed up some 100 guys. She told him that she has a job and other things to think about but if she had the time, she would have been.
I asked the man if he knew the name of the little girl I was holding up. He said no. So I explained to both recruiters the story of Abeer and how she was raped and murdered by his colleagues, whom I named. They claimed it was an isolated incident (which it is not). They felt no empathy for the little girl and her family murdered by their colleagues.
I mentioned to the black man that he works for the same system that enslaved his people, allowed lynchings of his people in the South, wiped out 98% of Rhonda's and my people and a few other things before I was distracted. This information seemed to visibly move him, but who really knows. The rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl meant nothing to any of them. I also wanted to mention how this system murdered Kendra James for fleeing a traffic stop; James Jahar Perez for failure to use a turn signal; the Tuskogee experiment; segragation; etc. By then he was already inside, so I didn't get a chance to say those things to him.
All in all, it was a good turn out and we got lots of support from pedestrians and drivers by.
Sooner or later we'll all bring an end to war. It is just too offensive of a crime not to stop.
Rhonda and I participated in the vigil last night in front of the recruiting center on Broadway. We had some interesting conversations with the recruiters.
First, there were a good handful of people there. One of them hadn't been in a while, Johnny, and he was back. A man from Veterans for Peace, Grant, was there with a great big flag. Deva and Elaine were there as usual, as well as a few other familiar faces.
I held two signs: "Killing is Wrong" and "In Memory of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, 14-years-old."
Rhonda had her Erin Watada quote sign and "Ask your recruiter about Stop Loss..."
A couple of recruiters came out and I would hold my signs in their direction. One is a young Black man. He told Rhonda that they should have been at some fair they had because they signed up some 100 guys. She told him that she has a job and other things to think about but if she had the time, she would have been.
I asked the man if he knew the name of the little girl I was holding up. He said no. So I explained to both recruiters the story of Abeer and how she was raped and murdered by his colleagues, whom I named. They claimed it was an isolated incident (which it is not). They felt no empathy for the little girl and her family murdered by their colleagues.
I mentioned to the black man that he works for the same system that enslaved his people, allowed lynchings of his people in the South, wiped out 98% of Rhonda's and my people and a few other things before I was distracted. This information seemed to visibly move him, but who really knows. The rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl meant nothing to any of them. I also wanted to mention how this system murdered Kendra James for fleeing a traffic stop; James Jahar Perez for failure to use a turn signal; the Tuskogee experiment; segragation; etc. By then he was already inside, so I didn't get a chance to say those things to him.
All in all, it was a good turn out and we got lots of support from pedestrians and drivers by.
Sooner or later we'll all bring an end to war. It is just too offensive of a crime not to stop.
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