The Declaration of Peace

Peace activists from all walks of life call for an end

By Rebecca Huval
South Florida Sun-Sentinel September 21, 2006

A choir of seniors, pink-clad protesters and a Catholic prayer group initially may not seem to have a lot in common, but they all want peace.

And they’ll do whatever it takes to get it, even making fools of themselves in a very public way.

“We look like a pink, Pepto-Bismol nightmare when we go places,” said Lori Russell, co-coordinator of Code Pink and co-organizer of Peace Week. “If that’s how you’ve got to do it, that’s what you’ve got to do. I have red hair and pink doesn’t go with it, but that doesn’t matter. It’s a conversation opener and makes people feel more at ease instead of shouting.”

The Raging Grannies, Code Pink and Pax Christi all are part of the Palm Beach County Peace and Justice Coalition, which will run South Florida’s second annual Peace Week starting today and running through Sept. 28. Protest events will highlight the Declaration of Peace, a national campaign that asks signers to take action if a plan for troop withdrawal from Iraq is not reached by today.

“People coming out to express their view is how the Vietnam War ended,” said Susan Mosely, coordinator for Palm Beach County Peace and Justice Coalition and the other co-organizer of Peace Week. “We want the needless waste of human life to stop.”

The 23 groups in the coalition range from the Green Party to Teachers Retired in Florida. Some have been protesting regularly since just after 9-11. The Peace Week events in Palm Beach County are the regular weekly protests that highlight the war and the Declaration of Peace.

“We want to let people know there are local vigils where they can show their emotions weekly,” Mosely said. “Otherwise we’re made to feel like there are few people against the war.”

The Raging Grannies has members who are 45 or older and wear a shawl, apron and straw hat covered in protest buttons. They sing protest songs to popular tunes. The 15 to 40 members meet most often noon to 1 p.m. Saturdays at the Boca Peace Corner, at the corner of Glades Road and St. Andrews Boulevard, and will be there Peace Week.

“We’re singing to the choir,” said Marijo Beckman, of Delray Beach, a member of Raging Grannies and Code Pink. “We haven’t had anything negative. They applaud and cheer, they want copies of our songs so they can sing with us.”

Raging Grannies from the United States and Canada recently released Not Your Grandmother’s Sing Along for $15. The South Florida Grannies sell the CD at protests, and they have two songs on it.

Code Pink also tries to win peace with silly tactics. The women-initiated peace protesters wear pink hats, pink sunglasses, pink shoes, pink parasols and write with pink flamingo pens. The eight male members wear pink shirts, too.

“We have so much pink stuff you can’t not notice us,” Russell said.

Pax Christi reaches out to passers-by with a more somber premise. Members pray individually and hold signs of peace 5 to 6 p.m. Fridays at Martin Luther King Memorial, 2400 North Flagler Drive. They end the rush-hour vigil with a collective prayer asking for war to end.

“I believe Christ wanted us to live in harmony, and war is not of God,” said Phyllis Jepson, 61, of West Palm Beach, a Pax Christi member.

Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The Tampa Tribune
By SEAN C. LEDIG
Sept 22, 2006

TAMPA - While the lighted sign at Hillsborough Community College flashed a welcome to President Bush, dozens of demonstrators flashed signs of their own.

Signs with messages such as “Impeach Bush,” “Support our Troops, Bring Them Home,” and “Where is Bin Laden?” One large, painted banner depicted Bush as a vampire biting the Statue of Liberty on the neck.

About 100 demonstrators gathered Thursday on each side of Raymond James Stadium during the president’s visit. Bush was in Tampa to raise money for Republican Gus Bilirakis, who is campaigning to replace his father, Mike Bilirakis, as representative of District 9 in Congress. Gus Bilirakis will face Phyllis Busansky, the Democratic nominee, in November’s election.

Thursday’s demonstrators consisted of members of Military Families Speak Out, St. Pete for Peace, Code Pink, the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice and others.

Jay Alexander, an executive committee member of Veterans for Peace who served in the Persian Gulf War and the Panama invasion, said the groups were united in their opposition to the war in Iraq.

“We want to support our troops and bring them home,” he said.

The event also was an observance of the United Nations’ Peace Day, which was Thursday, Alexander said.

Jenn Coolidge, 50, of Lakeland, said she came on behalf of her son, Staff Sgt. Ryan Thornton, who is stationed in Afghanistan. A former Russian language interrogator for the Pentagon, Coolidge said she switched her political affiliation from Republican to Independent because of the Iraq war.

“My son was caught in a backdoor draft,” she said. “He was supposed to come home six months ago, but now his stay is extended indefinitely.”

Wearing a T-shirt supporting Busansky’s candidacy, Michelle Kenoyer of Riverview said she thinks the best hope for the situation in Iraq rests in electing Democrats to Congress.

“The Democrats may disagree about how the war should be handled, but they all agree it was handled badly,” Kenoyer said. “We should never have gone into Iraq.”

Clearwater resident Joe Ricker said he thinks the resources being used in Iraq could be put to better use.

“We could feed the world and stop AIDS on what they’re spending on that war alone,” Ricker said.

Ricker said he was encouraged by honks of support from passing motorists. He also praised police for keeping things calm and looking out for the demonstrators.

“One [police] sergeant gave us his phone number and told us to call him if we needed him,” Ricker said.

A few passers-by offered the only opposition to the demonstration’s prevailing antiwar theme. They shouted or made obscene gestures while driving past the groups.

“If we gave peace a chance in World War II, Hitler would have won!” shouted one driver on Dale Mabry Highway.