LAS CRUCES PEACE UPDATE
Monday, Sept. 23, 2002
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
It’s inevitable, I suppose -- that the most powerful empire the world has
ever seen is now in the grip of mass psychosis. Worldwide, far more
people fear George W. Bush than Saddam Hussein. It’s been awesome,
watching this unfold -- the stolen election, the relentless
hard-right, take-no-prisoners attack on America by the “Uniter, not a
Divider” Bush regime, culminating with the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks which handed Bush & Co. unlimited power. Since
then, of course, the Bush regime has been on a roll that appears
unstoppable -- between the bought-and-paid-for Congress, and the
corporate press, people like ourselves have been given short shrift, or
more accurately, no shrift at all. Our country has been hijacked,
and I for one am frustrated to the extent that I will take my picket sign
and literally stand for peace out in the hot New Mexico sun, because
nobody in power is listening to me. How about you?
THE SEPT. 20 DEMONSTRATION
We will never get fair reporting from the corporate-owned, pro-Bush
Sun-News, so I intend to write up an accurate description of every peace
gathering I attend. Here’s my first report:
Friday’s peace demonstration was very encouraging. More people
showed up than I had expected -- college students, baby boomers, retirees
-- an excellent mix. I wish I had counted the participants.
My best estimate is: significantly more than 100, maybe as many as
150. Did anybody make an actual count?
Also very encouraging was the response of the passing motorists -- WAY
MORE people honked, flashed the peace sign, or gave us the thumbs up than
yelled epithets while giving us the finger. And the protest
signs were just marvelous -- what a creative bunch of rabble
rousers! Many of us came away from the demonstration with a feeling
of relief, a feeling of “I am not alone.” We also realize
that our work has barely begun. Reclaiming the soul of this country
will take an incredible amount of remedial work.
PICKING THE SUN-NEWS COVERAGE TO PIECES
The Sun-News article about the demonstration was pretty typical.
It’s important to remember that the Sun-News, like virtually every other
newspaper in this country, is owned by a corporation. The Sun-News
is officially pro-Bush. (They once said about Bush in an editorial,
“He leads us, and he leads us well.” All I can say to that is, who
is this “us” they are referring to?)
I talked to the Sun-News reporter, Steve Ramirez, a couple of times
during the demonstration, and found him to be a personable guy. But
I also heard from a fellow demonstrator that Ramirez is known for getting
his facts wrong. Sure enough, the very first sentence in his
article was wrong. He said, “About 50 Las Cruces residents… staged
a peace march…” Of course, the press always underestimates the
number of demonstrators -- they were famous for doing this during
the Vietnam protests, as well.
Other errors included getting Susan Frary’s occupation wrong and my email
address wrong, but I will turn now to the main fault I found with the
article:
What I saw at the demonstration was that most passing motorists
didn’t respond to us, but of those that did, most were positive.
Let us now take a look at Ramirez’s account: He gave the positive
responses exactly one sentence, and he qualified his sentence to weaken
it: “As they marched some motorists honked their horns and waved at
the demonstrators, apparently in support.” (Wow, I sure appreciated
all that apparent support we received, didn’t you?) Then Ramirez
gave two extended examples of motorists “shouting vulgarities” and
“extend[ing] [the] middle finger.” The point I am making is
that most demonstrators, I’m sure, were pleasantly surprised by the
amount of positive response, whoops, I mean apparent positive response we
received, but a person reading the Sun-News article would conclude that
most Las Crucens are pro-war. This is slanted journalism at its
most insidious, but is all we can expect from the corporate
Sun-News. I hope that my words can help set the record straight to
some extent.
PEACE VIGIL
We hope to get as many people as possible at our weekly Wednesday
afternoon peace vigils. The Bush war machine isn’t going away, and
neither are we. We will be holding our peace vigil every week, rain
or shine, for… who knows how long? Months? Years? As
long as it takes for peace and justice to prevail on this planet?
EMPOWERMENT THROUGH EMAIL LISTS
In this age of email lists, it is no longer necessary to “form a group”
before organizing a peace event. We already know what to do, so
let’s do it! For example, the Friday demonstration was started by
one person -- Kevin Bixby -- who came up with a plan and sent it out to
the Southwest Environmental Center email list. People on his list
forwarded it to their lists, and so on. Thanks for getting the ball
rolling, Kevin!
There will always be a need for formal, organized groups, but
street actions can easily be organized with email. All you’ve got
to do is come up with a plan, and email it out. There are many
people in this town anxious to speak out against Bush’s war
machine. Thanks to email lists, thousands of people are potentially
but a few mouse clicks away.
If our Wednesday afternoon peace vigil doesn’t fit into your schedule,
all you’ve got to do is put out an email asking if anybody wants to do a
peace event whenever and wherever you choose. (NMSU would be a
fabulous location.) Send your announcement to us and we will
forward it to our list, who will forward it to their lists, etc.
Since ultimately everybody will be on everybody else’s lists, the beauty
of this system is that you can send your email pretty much anywhere at
random, and it will get forwarded to everybody. There is no longer
a need for leaders, just instigators. Our cyber tendrils are
everywhere.
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
Laura spent a lot of time on the phone contacting various authorities and
this is what she found out: She talked to the Federal Marshal, who
handles security for the Federal Building, and learned that we are free
to have peace events on the public sidewalks in front of the Federal
Building, but we aren’t allowed on the grass, or inside. Also, we
aren’t allowed to obstruct pedestrian access into the building.
Fair enough. Laura also talked to the Las Cruces Deputy Chief of
Police, who said that no permit is required to hold a peace event.
We are not allowed to obstruct vehicular traffic in the streets, or
pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks. Fair enough. It looks as
if we are free to do any kind of peaceful activity we want, on any public
sidewalk in Las Cruces, as long as we don’t make a nuisance of
ourselves.
WEBSITE?
If anybody out there wants to do a Las Cruces Peace website, that would
be very helpful to everybody. It could be used to post upcoming
events, etc.
THANKS!
Thanks to everybody who participated in the Sept. 20 demonstration, and
to everybody who will be participating in the future. I don’t know
what influence our actions will have, but we’re definitely doing the
right thing. If there was ever a time to stand up and be counted,
it’s right now.
Gordon Solberg
Las Cruces Peace Vigil Committee
earth@zianet.com
LAS CRUCES PEACE NEWSLETTER #2
Sept. 27, 2002
A SUCCESSFUL FIRST VIGIL
We held our first vigil on Sept. 25, and were very encouraged by the
turnout. One participant counted 40 people. It’s safe to say
that at least 50-60 people attended at one time or another during the two
hours we were there.
It was so good to connect with our fellow peaceniks. What a
relief! I heard the same comment over and over: “Thank
you for organizing this; I thought I was the only one.” A lot of
people in this country feel railroaded by Bush and the corporate media,
and have a feeling of hopelessness. After standing out there on the
sidewalk for two hours talking to my fellow vigil-antes and seeing how
many passing motorists gave us the peace sign or thumbs up, I feel that a
groundswell for peace is happening here in Las Cruces. (And if it’s
happening in Las Cruces, then it’s happening everywhere.) Al
Gore’s speech on Monday and Jeff Bingaman’s speech on Thursday have been
very encouraging. It’s hard to say where these small day-to-day
shifts of momentum will lead, but one thing is certain: If enough
of us speak out, loudly and persistently, we can rescue America from the
madness of war.
All we can do is give this our absolute best shot. This is an
exciting time. With breathtaking speed, a grassroots peace movement
is spontaneously arising all across our nation. We are, each of us,
making history.
We hold our Peace Vigil every Wednesday from 4-6 pm, in front of the
Federal Building, corner of Church and Griggs, in downtown Las
Cruces. We hope to see you there! If you can’t stay for the
entire two hours, no worries -- just come when you can; we will be
glad to see you.
LAS CRUCES PEACE NEWSLETTER #4
Oct. 4, 2002
OUTSTANDING TURNOUT AT WEDNESDAY’S PEACE VIGIL
Considerably more people turned out for this vigil than for the first
one. We filled the better part of two blocks along Church St., and
made an impressive visual statement with all our signs and flags.
We were very gratified to see all the high school and college students
there, along with the boomers and seniors. Our camaraderie was
fabulous.
I counted the crowd on three occasions; my high count was 61. (The
previous week’s high count was 40.) Since a lot of people
came and went during the two hours, it’s impossible to make an accurate
estimate of the total number of people who attended -- I would guess 80
or 90.
We had several “Honk for Peace” signs, and they did their job very
well. It seemed like hundreds of cars honked during the two hours
we were there. Often several cars would honk at once, or cars would
give one long continuous honk for the entire 2 blocks, with drivers and
passengers giving peace signs out the windows. Once again, positive
response far outweighed the negative response.
Americans who believe in peace are finding out that we aren’t
alone. Standing up to the Empire takes courage. But if
we don’t do it, who will? By standing out there on Church St.
with our flags and signs, we are helping to build consensus for
peace. We are showing the world that we care -- about
freedom, democracy, justice, the Earth itself. Thanks
for coming!
From newsletter #6:
SUNDAY’S PEACE REFLECTION
A GREAT SUCCESS
One hundred people gathered in Pioneer Women’s Park last night (Oct. 6)
to celebrate peace with singing, drumming, and candles. Considering
that the peace movement in Las Cruces is barely three weeks old, this is
a great achievement. The open mike was very popular, featuring a
wide variety of speakers and musicians. Many new connections were
made, and old connections were strengthened. We appreciate all the
energy that went into making this event happen, and we anticipate a lot
more Las Cruces peace events in the future.
LAS CRUCES PEACE NEWSLETTER #8
Oct. 10, 2002
PEACE VIGIL #3
We had our third peace vigil yesterday at the Federal Building. The
usual suspects showed up, plus some new faces. (It’s always good to
see the young folks, such as radicalraver.) My high count was 50;
total attendance was probably 60 or 70. In my role as peace vigil
committee member, I say: Way to go, keep it up! In my role as
concerned citizen I say: Why don’t we have 500 people
attending every week? Can’t people see that history is in the
balance here?
Pardon my frustration. I’m sure you understand. At any rate,
the response from the passing motorists was, as usual, overwhelmingly
pro-peace. The print media were, as usual, not there, even though
they had been invited. The KVIA cameraman stuck his camera
literally an inch from my nose and asked me to deliver, and
quickly. I knew I had a ten-second sound bite, so I said, “I’m
concerned about Bush and his right-wing colleagues’ power grab, and that
really bothers me.” What did you say? Did any of this get
broadcast?
DISAPPOINTED IN THE SUN-NEWS
A couple of people, and especially my wife Laura, have encouraged me to
apply to be guest columnist at the Sun-News. So I emailed the
editor some samples of my writing, and then, realizing I had a unique
opportunity to speak directly to the editor himself, I finished with a
final paragraph:
“While I have your personal attention, I want to let you know that I
appreciate the Sun-News fairness policy, as far as it goes. I
appreciate the variety of opinions in your Sound Off section, and the
fact that you evidently print most letters to the editor, even the ones
that are critical of you personally. However, I have been
disappointed by the lack of Sun-News coverage of recent peace events in
Las Cruces. Over the past three weeks, hundreds of Las Crucens have
stood in front of the Federal Building every Wednesday afternoon, in
opposition to war with Iraq. Yesterday KVIA interviewed some of us,
but the print media were conspicuously absent, even though they had been
invited to yesterday's event. The results of our informal
"honk if you're for peace" survey indicate that there is a very
strong undercurrent of pro-peace sentiment in Las Cruces. America
is being railroaded into war, and the Sun News's failure to report the
pro-peace sentiment in Las Cruces goes against every standard of decency
and fair play our country supposedly stands for.”
As you can tell, I don’t really care about being guest columnist.
And you know what? The best zinger is the simple, honest truth,
delivered in a no-nonsense manner. I just love zinging them with
the truth.
LAS CRUCES PEACE NEWSLETTER #9
Oct. 14, 2002
WE HAVE JUST BEGUN
Several people have asked us, “Now that Bush has won the war vote,
do you plan to continue with the vigil?” Our answer is,
ABSOLUTELY! We have just begun to organize and speak out for
peace.
Consider this timeline:
Sept. 11,
2002 -- Many Las Crucens are disturbed by the knee-jerk, pro-war,
“my country right or wrong” tone of the 9/11 anniversary
commemorations, but feel helpless and alone
Sept. 20 -- Demonstration in front of City Hall
Sept. 25 -- First downtown peace vigil
Oct. 2 -- Second downtown peace vigil
Oct. 6 -- Peace Reflection in the park
Oct. 7 -- NMSU peace vigil
Oct. 9 -- Third downtown peace vigil
In only 9 days, we started a series of peace events that show no sign of
slacking off. More people are finding out about us every day.
Judging from the response from passing motorists at our peace vigils,
there is a strong undercurrent for peace here in Las Cruces. We can
only get stronger as time goes on.
********
Well, that ought to give you something to work with. Let me know if
you have any questions. Feel free to quote from any of my
writings. Good luck with your article!
Gordon
p.s. What the heck, I'll just paste the historical article
below. I can't stop pasting.
SOME LOCAL PEACE HISTORY
(written for the Las Cruces Peace Newsletter, but not uploaded because that
issue was already too long)
One advantage of a newsletter written for peaceniks by peaceniks is we
get to create our own mythology, without having to filter it through an
“acceptable” worldview. With that in mind, I thought I’d jot a few
words about how the Las Cruces Peace Vigil got started.
Like a lot of Americans, I became very disillusioned by the way Election
2000 was handled, or should I say, mishandled. When the Bush
Administration hit the ground running, literally from the first day they
took power, I knew that something was terribly wrong, and my
disillusionment grew with every passing day. What a sick, helpless
feeling that was.
We now fast forward to Sept. 14, 2002. (Which is only two weeks and
two days ago, though it feels like much longer.) The frustration
had become unbearable. Bush’s war plans seemed unstoppable.
Wasn’t anybody going to DO anything?
(As it turned out, a couple weeks beforehand, our friend Vickie Aldrich
had told Laura and me about how she did a weekly Peace Vigil with some
Quakers in Denver during the Vietman War. Thus the vigil seed was
planted, and, thriving in the rich mulch of frustration, quickly sprouted
and bore fruit.)
It was on Sept. 14 that I talked to Tim Reed, Vickie’s husband, and told
him that Laura and I felt a strong urge to do a peace vigil. He
said that sounded good to him, and he would bring up the subject at the
next day’s Quaker Meeting. That afternoon (Sept. 14), Vickie and I
emailed back and forth and set up a meeting for Wednesday, Sept.
18.
On Sept. 16, Kevin Bixby emailed out his plan to hold a peace
demonstration on Sept. 20. We jumped in enthusiastically and told
everyone we knew.
Laura, Vickie and I held our Sept. 18 meeting as planned (nobody else
came), sitting around Vickie’s kitchen table. We decided to call
ourselves “The Las Cruces Peace Vigil Committee” rather than “The Three
of Us Sitting Around Vickie’s Kitchen Table Committee,” though this would
have been just as accurate.
The Sept. 20 demonstration went off as planned (actually better than we
had hoped). On Sept. 23 I sent out the first issue of this
newsletter, and on Sept. 25 we held our first Peace Vigil. The next
Vigil will be Oct. 2, and the Oct. 6 Peace Reflection will be the most
powerful peace event ever held in Las Cruces, and this includes the
Vietman War.
What’s important here is the pattern we see of people just jumping in and
doing things, without asking, and without being told. When
something comes up in our face to do something, it seems the obvious
thing to just go ahead and do it. Aren’t grassroots dynamics
wonderful to behold?
Gordon Solberg
Sept. 30, 2002