Anti-war movement returns to West Bank, Seward

by Burt Berlowe

Down by the Minneapolis riverside, the peace movement has come home again.
Some three decades ago, The University of Minnesota campus, and specifically, the counterculture-based West Bank, was a focal point of student and resident led resistance against the Vietnam War. In subsequent years, Cedar-Riverside and the adjoining Seward neighborhood have become a home for many of the graduates of the anti-war movement who have formed their own communities of social and political activism.

Now, with U.S.-led war once again looming on the horizon, the West Bank and Seward are again at the forefront of a movement for peace. “No War With Iraq” lawn signs proliferate, and residents of both communities are active participants in this latest version of peaceful dissent. Two current efforts stand out as models—Neighbors for Peace and Students Against War.

Seward Neighbors for Peace (SNP) is just a few weeks old. It was started last month by neighborhood resident Tony Simon. While volunteering at Friends for a Non-Violent World, Simon found out about Neighbors for Peace groups being organized in several other Twin Cities communities and decided to duplicate that effort in his own neighborhood.

Simon scheduled the group’s first meeting in late February at the Seward Café, which he cites as an example of the co-op movement that arose out of the counter-culture era. With the help of an Augsburg College student, Simon made a flyer about the meeting and distributed it to all of the houses he could find that had a “No war with Iraq” sign in their yard (about 100 of them, he says). The turnout and enthusiasm at SNP’s first gathering was encouraging enough that subsequent meetings have been held weekly at the Faith Mennonite Church and at private homes in Seward.

During those formulative meetings, Seward Neighbors for Peace has joined at least 19 other similar Twin Cities groups in urging the Minneapolis City Council to pass a resolution opposing war with Iraq and another one in opposition to the U.S. Patriot Act. As word has gotten out about a planned student walk-out the day after an Iraqi war would start, Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson issued a warning that any student who left school that day would receive an unexcused absence. SNP wrote to Johnson objecting to the policy, which they claimed denied students their first amendment and citizenship rights.

Most recently, the neighborhood peace group has been promoting a presentation on Iraq led by Seward resident anti-war activist Steve Clements that is being held on the evening of March 19 at the Matthews Park Center. SNP members have been distributing flyers about that event door-to-door and hope to get people with divergent viewpoints to attend.

The neighborhood meetings have also proven to be a cozy forum for residents to share views on war, peace and other mutual interests. “Our (primary) objective now is to galvanize the neighborhood in opposition to the war,” Simon said. But he emphasizes that Neighbors for Peace “is not only about the war. We want to continue to discuss ongoing issues of peace and justice and democracy.”

Students Against War (SAW), formed soon after 9/11, is based on the West Bank and is led by Seward resident Nathan Middlestadt, a U of M senior. Middlestadt is Midwest Coordinator of SAW and has helped to organize numerous anti-war activities throughout the area, as well as leading groups of students to national demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and to the School of Americas in Fort Benning, Ga. SAW doesn’t have an official office. Its meetings are generally held in West Bank campus classrooms. Middlestadt does much of his organizing work out of his basement apartment, where he keeps a computer file of relevant contacts and resources and makes anti-war buttons that are sold to raise funds for SAW. He has often had to reach into his own pocket to help defray expenses for the activist group.

SAW has been a main campus organizer of protests against a U.S. war with Iraq. Its recent projects have included conducting a survey of U of M student attitudes towards the proposed war, orchestrating many rallies, marches, vigils and teach-ins, and starting affiliate groups in local high schools. SAW is currently leading the aforementioned campaign to encourage students to walk out of class and attend a rally the day after war begins in Iraq.

Middlestadt formerly was active in Ralph Nader’s campus campaign and started Students for a Democratic University, which became the precursor to SAW. After a rocky start and some resistance from University administrators, SAW has been accepted on campus and seen its participation and accomplishments grow. “We’ve done stuff that has attracted attention and brought issues to the forefront,” Middlestadt said. “Now we need to expand our boundaries and get our message to a larger audience. “ Sometimes, SAW has attracted the wrong kind of attention, such as when it was recently included on a list of local subversive organizations by Hennepin County law enforcement authorities.

As he prepares to graduate this year, Middlestadt wants to make sure that others assume the leadership of SAW. Meanwhile, he plans to stay active in peace and justice work. “I won’t be satisfied unless I’m having an impact on our political system,” he said. “To me, politics is personal. I can’t separate what I want to do in life with what I want the world to be. And I can’t sit idly by and let someone else do what needs to be done.”

For more information on Neighbors for Peace, contact Tony Simon at 332-1307 or ynotwrite@hotmail.com. Nathan Middlestadt can be reached at 339-3092 or studentsagainstwar@yahoo.com.