The beat of downtown Los Angeles on Saturday was best
characterized by a young activist with a bullhorn, rapping to the
vibrant rhythm of throngs of cheering people:
“We don’t want to hear it / We don’t want to
see / We don’t want to be in a World War III!”
This performance and others like it were the rule rather than
the exception that afternoon when the streets were taken by storm
as thousands of flag-waving, drum-pounding protesters flooded city
blocks, crying out against a prospective war with Iraq and
declaring their solidarity with much of the rest of the world.
Chanting anti-war and anti-Bush slogans, protesters of all ages
and ethnicities marched down Broadway to City Hall and the downtown
federal building, where celebrities, politicians, activists, and
university students rallied them behind calls for drastic change
and defiance.
“We must resist,” Reverend James Lawson of the
Interfaith Communities United for Peace and Justice proclaimed to
thunderous applause.
“(We must) help people understand that this is the
beginning of a protracted struggle until we change what governments
are to what governments ought to be.”
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, staunchly
agreed.
“I am here with you today because I want to send a
message: I am not afraid of George W. Bush,” she shouted.
“I do not support a strike on Iraq. I do not support a
strike anywhere!”
The protest was primarily organized by Not In Our Name and
ANSWER, two nationwide peace advocacy groups, but groups in
attendance ranged from the Green Party to Free Palestine to the
National Coalition of Free Men.
Celebrities in attendance included actor Martin Sheen, Ron
Kovic, the author of Born on the Fourth of July, poet Saul
Williams, and Slash from the rock group Guns ‘N’
Roses.
The march carried strong overtures of the Vietnam era protests
from the 1960s and 1970s. Songs like “We Shall
Overcome” and “For What It’s Worth” blasted
from amplifiers, and many of the speakers evoked the legacies of
past activists to inspire a new generation of anti-war mongers.
One young activist burned his selective service card to roars of
approval from the crowd.
“Not since the Vietnam War has there been a demonstration
like this,” affirmed Kovic.
“This is democracy in the truest sense.”
Police estimated attendance to be between 5,000 to 7,000, but
protest organizers put the figure at around 15,000 to 20,000.
Whatever the number, there was no denying the diversity of the
marchers. Flags ranged from those of the United States to Palestine
to the United Nations. Traditional Mexican dancers kept pace with
marchers at the head of the protest. One protester carried a sign
with the word “Peace” written in five languages.
California assemblywoman Jackie Goldburg, D-Long Beach, a
veteran of the UC Berkeley free speech movement, saluted the
marchers on their diversity, saying, “The only thing that
will stop this war is everyone in the streets.”
Sheen, leading the march to City Hall, also applauded the
turnout.
“It’s very gratifying, and I’ll say it’s
about time. But it’s just the beginning.”
Elisa Tagnozzi, an Italian professor at UCLA, said that she
brought her 11-year old son to the rally to help protest.
“I’m questioning the motives (of the war),”
she explained.
“I don’t think war is the solution anymore in the
modern world.”
Tagnozzi also said that a large number of the UCLA Italian
department and grad students attended the protest.
Despite the noisy presence of demonstrators, a recent CNN-USA
Today-Gallup poll suggested that Bush still has the support of the
majority of Americans in the event of a war.
According to the poll, 56 percent of Americans favor sending
troops into Iraq and just over half of those polled felt Iraq was
worth going to war over. About four out of ten Americans said it
was not.
Also, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed deployment orders
to 62,000 troops to the Gulf region, doubling the number of
soldiers in the Gulf. Analysts estimate that the United States
should have sufficient strength to attack Iraq by early February,
although Bush has yet to take a definite course of action.
The protest organizers especially emphasized the participation
of youth in the movement, and both Not In Our Name and ANSWER have
a large youth following.
“This is the time for a new generation to come out,”
said Edith Lagos of Not In Our Name.
“We have a responsibility to stand up and say: “˜No,
we will not take what the powers that be try to give us as a
future. Our future will not be defined by war.'”
And the message seems to be sticking with the majority of the
youth in attendance.
“The burden of proof lies with the people who are trying
to wage the war,” said Rich Borater, a philosophy student
from Cal State University.
“There hasn’t been any proof offered.”
Louis Escamilla, a second-year undeclared student from Citrus
Community College, said he almost lost his job at a courthouse
because California doesn’t have enough funds.
“We’re caring more about tanks and missiles and
bombs instead of people in our own country,” Escamilla
protested, also pointing to a decline in national healthcare.
Kovic placed a good deal of emphasis on the youth movement.
“We encourage all the students at UCLA and colleges all
over the country to join with us in this growing protest
movement.”
“This is not only to stop the war, but we’re going
to change the priorities of this country.”
With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.