Diary of an Anti-war Protester

As one of the organizers in the Anti-War Committee (AWC), I traveled by bus to the national protest against the war in Iraq in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24. There we were joined by thousands of others across the country who are protesting the war and the ongoing occupation of Iraq. The AWC is an all-volunteer group that was founded out of a civil disobedience against U.S. war moves against Iraq in 1998. My first protest ever was against the Persian Gulf War in 1991, so for many reasons Iraq is very important to me.

As a Vietnamese-American I have felt the effects of war on my family and my community. I’ve seen my grandfather separated from his wife and children for more than 15 years. Though I was too young to remember my country or the war in Vietnam, I have felt the pain of my family and other families that have been torn from our homes due to war. War is destructive for all involved, not just those whose land it is fought for. But for those who see their homes destroyed, their family members and neighbors killed, the damage is huge. We are lucky that most of us in this country have not had to live through a war on our land. Many felt terror on 9/11. What if 9/11 happened every day? This is what war is. We should not enter war and occupation lightly. We need to keep asking ourselves, is this justice? And if it isn’t—we must speak out against it.

This protest comes at a time when the anti-war movement is growing. Several peace and justice organizations from the Twin Cities sent busloads to this protest for a total of nine buses filled with about 400 protesters. Many, many others drove or flew out to join us in protesting this war.

Friday, Sept. 23

8:46 a.m. The press conference is over and we are getting ready to drive out of town. The speakers reflect a good example of the cross section of the people that will be there. We have a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, a young college student who has family in the military and a number of more seasoned anti-war activists. The protests of today are more inclusive and diverse than those of even years ago. That being said, the anti-war protests are still overwhelmingly white, but that is also changing as the growing anti-war movement is reflecting the changing U.S. population.

10:24 a.m. Since we will be spending so much time together we are going around and doing introductions of ourselves and why we are going to this protest. We have a pretty wide mix of people; a lot of first-time protesters, a number of high school students, welfare rights activists, teachers, trade union activists and experienced protesters who’ve been going to protest since the ’60s. I am constantly reminded of how inspiring I find these trips. I know that we don’t always feel like we have a lot of power as individuals, but I know we have strength in our numbers. The people on this bus are one of the reasons why despite the discomforts, I come back time and time again. To see first-time activists who say that this protest in Washington, D.C., is their first protest ever and knowing that this trip might inspire them to become lifelong activists or to build work in their school, workplace or community to oppose unjust wars makes the work leading up to this always worth it. Seeing the experienced activists who have been protesting for decades inspires me that we will continue to have our elders that will pass on their knowledge and experience and that no matter how many protests you’ve been to, there is always more to learn.

11:07 a.m. We’ve just heard from our drivers that there are more than 50 coach buses from Minnesota and Wisconsin alone that are driving to the protest in Washington. This is the largest number of buses I remember hearing of going to such a protest.

7:49 p.m. (EST) We’ll be stopping for dinner soon. We had just met up a few hours ago in Madison with a busload of students. Whoever wants to tell me that there is no student anti-war presence needs to go on this trip. Students are here and they are an important part of the anti-war movement. Considering the number of people who have told me that this is their first protest ever, I’m convinced our movement is just going to keep growing.

I’m sitting here talking to a member of our committee who has friends from Louisiana. Our conversation inevitably returns to Hurricane Katrina and what has and hasn’t happened there. We talk about the groups and people that would be mobilizing for this protest from the south if only they weren’t caught up with disaster relief.

8:40 p.m. We’re currently watching a movie about Cuba on the bus … we are talking about how different Cuba is now from how it must have been before the revolution. It made me remember my trip there and the warmth and happiness of the people. It’s so different from the U.S. and another committee member who had been there has often talked about how it is so different from its Caribbean neighbors. As an island country, Cuba has weathered many hurricanes with none of the devastation like the U.S. has recently endured. It reminds me of the comment earlier by one of our riders that the thing that motivates her to be on this trip is that she is angry at this government for refusing aid from Cuba and Venezuela for New Orleans. This government can’t take care of its own people, yet it’s more than willing to impose its own brand of imperialism all over the world. I am remembering the sign I saw outside of Mayday Bookstore the night before I left: “Forget about the quagmire in Iraq, he can’t even solve the quagmire at the end of your driveway!” George Bush perhaps you should be in the White House this weekend and look outside, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be hiding from us.

Saturday, Sept. 24

8:26 a.m. (EST) We are just leaving the Breezewood reststop, the usual reststop for these trips. There we met people from Cincinnati, Chicago, Flint … it seems like the entire Midwest has turned out for this. Many on the bus are tired. Riding a bus almost 24 hours straight with only two stops is harder than it sounds. But the sound that greeted me when I walked out of the usually too long women’s bathroom line was great—“We say what? We say no to war!”—with that spirit I got back on the bus to go to Washington, just two hours away.

10:34 a.m. We have just arrived in Washington at the protest drop-off site. Immediately we are greeted by one of the protest committee organizers with instructions of where to go. As we walk toward the Ellipse, where the protest is taking place, groups of people are asking each other, “Where are you from?” The atmosphere is very energetic and friendly. We make our way through the massive crowd to where we had planned to meet other groups, and set up a location that will be our “base” for the protest. People have left to sell buttons and distribute newspapers and literature. Most people are using this time to talk to other protesters and getting to know the work of different groups.

1:45 p.m. The march had just started but it had stopped suddenly. I walked up to investigate what was preventing us from moving forward and there was a row of police cars that had decided to drive right through the protest. Since we have a permit for this protest and route I can’t help but be suspicious of the timing of this. Further up I see a row of cops on horses and have a surge of sympathy for the horses.

2:17 p.m. We have only made it past the first turn of this protest and protesters are filling up the entire width of the street and sidewalks. Looking back at the Ellipse I can still see people lining up in the park to join the march, and in front of me there are protesters stretching for blocks ahead and out of my line of sight. I know that organizers had hoped for at least 100,000 but I’m pretty sure we surpassed that by far. If I had a good aerial photo I could estimate the numbers but I cannot confirm my half million guess.

4:32 p.m. The march has just ended. I spoke with the people from our trip who stayed in the Ellipse and saw the march go by and they concur with my estimate of
possibly half a million. We’re hoping some real counts will come out soon.

8:37 p.m. We’re back on the road. People are exhausted but happy. We’re settling in for the night with a movie before our last dinner stop for the evening.

Sunday, Sept. 25

8:21 a.m. (CST) We have woken up to find ourselves in Chicago! This trip has gone by really quickly and we’re excited to get home and start working harder locally.

11:23 a.m. We just did a go around to see what people found most inspiring about the trip and protest, and some of the comments that stayed with me the most were that it seems like the movement has gotten more radical with the connections that are being made between Iraq and other struggles, especially struggles like ones in Palestine and Venezuela and the domestic struggles like Hurricane Katrina and its effects. The other thing that was said a lot was the inspiration that we derived from each other. One bus rider met a woman from New Orleans who gave him a necklace when he complimented her on it. It moved him a lot that someone who went through that experience still took the time to make someone else’s day brighter and this was a part of the spirit of the protest that he saw.

4:23 p.m. We are back in Minnesota. Despite being tired I am surprisingly energized. One of our bus riders said that this trip has given her the energy to organize for the next months. She is right. Most people would think it was crazy to sit on a bus for 48 hours to attend a protest that lasted less than eight hours. In my opinion this is not as crazy as the policies of this administration that seems to have no regard for the lives and well being of most of this country’s (or any other country’s) inhabitants. As an anti-war activist, I’ve seen the changes in our movement. I’ve seen it rise to the challenge it has been given. As attempts are made to dehumanize and depict these wars—fought for corporate greed—as nothing other than video games on your television screen, the anti-war movement has had to become more human. It has grown beyond the one-issue causes. People are no longer getting involved in only the wars that touch home, they are seeing the connections between the wars. There is a connection between the occupation of Iraq and Palestine, between Colombia and Venezuela— just as there is a connection between the wars abroad and the war against poor communities and communities of color at home. One of our bus drivers for this trip thanked us for the opportunity to travel with us and to learn about the anti-war movement. He was one more person that we reached. This I see as our task. To reach one person at a time, get them to hear us and to build this movement until we can get the country and this administration to end the occupation of Iraq. Until then we will keep protesting and keep speaking out.
www.antiwarcommittee.org