Love has power both to resist in our nature what we know we must resist, and to affirm what we know we must affirm. (Hedges, War Is a Force p.185) |
War and Activism
Historical Protests
The tradition of protests to war has a long history in this country.
Quakers
A founding father of Quakerism, George Fox, made a declaration in 1651,
I told (the Commonwealth Commissioners) I lived in the virtue of that life and power that took away the occasion of all wars and I knew from whence all wars did rise, from the lust, according to James's doctrine... I told them I was come into the covenant of peace which was before wars and strifes were.
Since the 17th century, Quakers have stood by their "Peace Testimony," derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. Often conscientious objectors, many Quakers participate in civil disobedience, such as refusing to pay the part of taxes that goes to the military. In 1947, Quakerism was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its members' efforts for peace after World Wars I and II.
Mother's Day
The first proposal of a day for mothers came from Anna Reeves Jarvis, who in 1858 organized Mothers' Work Days in West Virginia to improve sanitation in the Appalachian Mountains. During the Civil War, her group provided medical services for soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict. After the War, Jarvis led a campaign to get the former combatants to lay aside their animosities and forge new social and political alliances.
The other nineteenth-century precursor of Mother's Day began in Boston in 1872, when poet and philanthropist Julia Ward Howe proposed an annual Mother's Day for Peace, to be held every June 2:
Arise then, women of this day!...Say firmly: "Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage....Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
Howe's Mothers' Day was celebrated widely in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and other Eastern states until the turn of the century. Most of these ceremonies and proposals, significantly, were couched in the plural, not the singular, mode: Mothers' Day was originally a vehicle for organized social and political action by all mothers, not for celebrating the private services of one's own particular mother. (Coontz, The Way We Never Were, p. 152)
Thoreau
In July of 1846, Thoreau was jailed for refusing to pay his tax in opposition of the Mexican-American war and slavery. He spent one night in jail, and was freed the following day when his aunt paid the tax. The experience impacted the rest of Thoreau's life, and prompted him to deliver lectures, "The Rights and Duties of the Individual in relation to Government" in Concord, and continued to affect others such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, President Kennedy, Leo Tolstoy, to name a few.
- Theatre: The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, a play in two acts by Robert Edwin Lee and Jerome Lawrence
World War I
August 1, 1914 - As World War I begins, Harry Hodgkin, a British Quaker and Friedrich Siegmund-Schulte, a German Lutheran pastor, attending a conference in Germany, pledged to continue sowing the "seeds of peace and love, no matter what the future might bring," germinating the idea of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
May 13, 1915 - William Jennings Bryan Protest to President Wilson: Primary Documents: U.S. Protest Over the Sinking of the Lusitania (FirstWorldWar.com).
June 16, 1918 - American union leader, Eugene V. Debs makes anti-war speech and is arrested under the Espionage Act of 1917.
September 14, 1918 Debs is convicted, sentenced to serve ten years in prison.
December 25, 1921 - President Harding commutes
Debs' sentence.
World War II
December 23, 1947 - President Truman pardons 1,523 of the 15,805 World War II draft resistors.
Korean War
1950
August 2 - Mounted police break up anti-Korean War protest in Union
Square, N.Y.C.
Vietnam
1963
September 21 - War Resisters League organizes first anti-Vietnam War demonstration
in U.S., New York City.
1964
March 24 - Martin Luther King, Jr., publicly announced his
strong opposition to the Vietnam War.
1965
February 24 - District 1199 Health Care Workers becomes first U.S.
labor union to oppose war in Vietnam.
March 24 - First teach-in to
oppose the Vietnam War held at University of Michigan
March 28 - US Senators Frank Church & George McGovern come out
against the Vietnam War.
April 17 - First national demonstration against Vietnam War, 25,000 march in Washington, DC
November 27 - March on Washington for Peace in Vietnam' Washington, D.C. 15,000-30,000 march.
December 22 - Henry House becomes first U.S. soldier to be court martialed for protesting against Vietnam War.
1966
March 26 - Over 50,000 march in Fifth Avenue Vietnam
Peace Parade in New York City.
April 2 - 100,000 Vietnamese demonstrate in Da Nang against U.S. & South Vietnamese governments.
May 1 - 500,000 Vietnamese march for end of war.
June 30 - First GI's, Fort Hood 3, refuse to be sent to Vietnam.1967
Feburary 13- Carrying huge photos of Napalmed Vietnamese
children, 2,500 members of the group Women Strike for Peace storm the Pentagon,
demanding to see "the
generals who send our sons to Vietnam."
April 4 - Martin Luther King, Jr., preaches against Vietnam War & calls
for common cause between civil rights and anti-war movements, Riverside
Church, New York City. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assasinated.
April 6 - Tens of thousands protesting Vietnam War jeer Vice President Humphrey in West Berlin, West Germany.
April 15 - Over 150 people burn draft cards - Vietnam War protest in Central Park, NYC.
August 27 - San Francisco Peace Torch begins its journey to Washington, D.C. for a demonstration against the Vietnam War.
October 21 - 100,000 march on Pentagon to end Vietnam War, 700 arrested.
October 27 - Philip Berrigan, Tom Lewis, David Eberhardt, and James Mengel pour duck's blood over draft files in Baltimore, MD, protesting Vietnam War.
1968
January 15 -Jeanette Rankin Brigade, led by 87-year-old Rankin,
the first U.S. Congresswoman and the only member of Congress to vote against
U.S. entry to both World Wars, marches on Washington to protest war in
Vietnam.
March 17 - In London, at the largest Vietnam antiwar march in Britain to date, 25,000 people attempt to storm the American Embassy at Grosvenor Square.
Oct 27 - 120,000 march against Vietnam War. London, England.
1969
March 26 - John and Yoko Ono-Lennon start seven
day bed-in against the Vietnam War.
October 15 - 2 million take part in rallies, teach-ins and vigils on Vietnam Moratorium Day.
November 15 - 500,000 peacefully demonstrate in Wash DC against Vietnam War.
November 27 - U.S. Army medics stationed in Pleiku stage a fast to protest the Vietnam War.
1970
Kent State Shootings
On
May 4, 1970, Kent State University in Ohio witnessed the shootings of students
by the National Guard, with 4 dead and 9 wounded. Some of the students
were protesting the American Invasion of Cambodia as announced at the end
of April by President Nixon. However, some were also bystanders and passerbys
who happened to be on campus near the protest at that time. On May 1st,
a large demonstration was held, including the burial of a copy of the constitution,
and the repercussions of the day's activities ended with arson in the Kent,
Ohio streets that night. May 2nd, a state of emergency was called by the
Kent mayor and the National Guard was called. Sunday, May 3rd, there were
1000 National Guardsmen and a demonstration that day was dispersed by bayonets
and tear gas.
Shortly before noon, General Canterbury made the decision to order the demonstrators to disperse. A Kent State police officer standing by the Guard made an announcement using a bullhorn. When this had no effect, the officer was placed in a jeep along with several Guardsmen and driven across the Commons to tell the protestors that the rally was banned and that they must disperse. This was met with angry shouting and rocks, and the jeep retreated. Canterbury then ordered his men to load and lock their weapons, tear gas canisters were fired into the crowd around the Victory Bell, and the Guard began to march across the Commons to disperse the rally. The protestors moved up a steep hill, known as Blanket Hill, and then down the other side of the hill onto the Prentice Hall parking lot as well as an adjoining practice football field. Most of the Guardsmen followed the students directly and soon found themselves somewhat trapped on the practice football field because it was surrounded by a fence. Yelling and rock throwing reached a peak as the Guard remained on the field for about ten minutes. Several Guardsmen could be seen huddling together, and some Guardsmen knelt and pointed their guns, but no weapons were shot at this time. The Guard then began retracing their steps from the practice football field back up Blanket Hill. As they arrived at the top of the hill, twenty-eight of the more than seventy Guardsmen turned suddenly and fired their rifles and pistols. Many guardsmen fired into the air or the ground. However, a small portion fired directly into the crowd. Altogether between 61 and 67 shots were fired in a 13 second period. (from "The May 4 Shootings at Kent State University: The Search for Historical Accuracy").
May 14 - Two African-American students are murdered by government troops
at Jackson State University in Mississippi. The two students were watching
anti-Vietnam War demonstrators from a nearby dormitory tower.
- How Many More? The Jackson State Murders, May 14, 1970 (Counterpunch) May 14, 2005.
May 15 - Several million students on U.S. campuses strike against Vietnam War.
August 29 - Thousands of Chicanos gathered at Laguna Park in East L.A. to protest disproportionate number of deaths of Chicano soldiers in Vietnam. LAPD shot and killed journalist Ruben Salazar, accused of inciting the Chicano community.
- The Chicano Moratorium August 29, 1970 Still Remembered After 35 Years "The Day Police Rioted!" (La Prensa San Diego) 2005.\
September 4 - Vietnam Veteran's Against the War (VVAW) begin Operation RAW (Rapid American Withdrawl). Through Sep 7, more than 200 veterans, assisted by the Philadelphia Guerilla Theater, staged a march from Morristown, NJ to Valley Forge, PA, reenacting the invasion of small rural hamlets along the way.
1971
April 12 - 90-year-old Jeanette Rankin leads 8,000
in protest of the Vietnam War in the Women's peace march on the Pentagon.
April 16 - Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) throw medals
on Capitol steps.
Also, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates over 2,000 people openly refused
to pay part or all of their income tax in protest over the war in Vietnam.
April 24 - 500,000 demonstrate against Vietnam War in Washington, DC.
December 27 - Vietnam Veterans Against the War peace protest at historic Betsy Ross House, Phila.
1974
July 19 - Martha Tranquill jailed nine months for tax refusal over Vietnam War,Sacramento, California.
September 16 - President Ford announces a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War deserters and draft-evaders, providing they agree to work two years in public service.
1982
November 13 - The Vietnam War Memorial is dedicated in
Washington, D.C.
Iraq Protests
Prior to invasion of Iraq Sept. 12,
2002 CA
Invasion to fall of Baghdad March 20-24,
2003 various |
After the fall of Baghdad April
12, 2003 various
|
- Pictures of Protests from Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace
- Protest.Net: Iraq Protests
Lift Sanctions off of the Iraqi People RESIST THE SANCTIONS! PROTEST THE BOMBING! Protest.Net now has an news service which has Iraq realted news, commentary, and action alerts. This is a list of 'Day After' and 'Day Of' protests that will take place if the US follows through on it's threat to bomb Iraq. We must act quickly to try to prevent an air strike rather than protest such carnage after the fact, and click here to find a list of other Iraq related protests that are being organized to prevent the bombing. If you can't find a protest in your area on this listing, check out Peace Action's listings or Pacifica Radio's list. AntiWar.Com also has a page devoted to the iraq bombing & sanctions issues. - TroopsOutNow.org
WASHINGTON DC: Day of/Day after attack: first 5pm after U.S. attack at the White House (16th St and Pennsylvania Ave NW--on the sidewalk)
International Action Center 202-588-1205
Books
- Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse 5 (Delacourte Press) 1969.
- Heller, Joseph. Catch-22 (Simon & Schuster) 1961.
- Grass, Günter. The Tin Drum (Luchterhand) 1959.