PEACE WALK

Susan Livingston — Fri, 06 May 2005 18:33:56 -0400

You go, man!! What a great idea for a DoP campaign activity! Many of my Viet Nam era contemporaries complain about the apathy of today's youth, but the information you've given shows that such an accusation is false. Furthermore, as I point out repeatedly to those who voice that complaint, apathy is often a diguise for deeper emotions such as fear and despair. Our propeace efforts must span generations as well as other demographic categories.

Your blog entry clearly shows that the best thing about such activities is that they are just as rewarding for the participants as for the beneficiaries. Do you have an active enough group to continue the walks on your own during the summer vacation months? Then you could include the school-age children as well - another generation, and the voters of the future. Where did you get the data for the signs? Are there any with pictures? What time of day do you have your walks? Lunch time? Rush hour?

I applaud the simplicity and non-confrontational nature of the activity, too. Just the signs and the flyers, right? No speaker truck shouting out slogans, no interference with traffic.... Did you need to get a permit? I guess if the group is small enough and you keep moving, you wouldn't need one - yet it must be big enough to attract attention.

I disagree with Marianne Williamson; I think walking the halls of Congress is a necessary strategy, but it augments rather than replaces such demonstrations as you describe. We must wage peace on multiple fronts. I believe that in order for DoP groups to be successful consciousness-raising units, they need to promote activities like this that get them in the public eye. It does us little good to sit in living rooms or meeting halls and preach to the choir.

"Blue in a Red State"

simple acts, walks of life

Jason White — Fri, 06 May 2005 06:48:18 -0400

On Wednesday I joined the Suffolk University Peace Walk for their last walk of the term. (Walks will resume in September.) This group is the sister group of the Harvard Peace Walk group that I joined two weeks ago for a walk around the Harvard University campus. Both are part of the Inter-university Coalition, which includes Boston College and Boston University as well. (continued, click "read more" below...)

the propeace community - simple acts, walks of life - Comments

PEACE WALK

simple acts, walks of life