Last Nights Vigil in Cincinnati

[curt_b]

“Madewell and about 100 others carried the names of all 2,000 members of the U.S. military killed in Iraq during the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center's memorial vigil Wednesday evening downtown.”

The overview reported here:
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051027/NEWS01/510270372

is somewhat accurate. It took place on a very busy boulevard at rush hour to maximize the number of people driving by. The number of supportive reactions was 100 to 1 compared to negative ones (in fact we only heard two hecklers in the 2+ hour event).

Of course, the snip from the article:

“The 40-minute walk ended at Central Parkway and Vine Street, where the marchers walked in circles.”

shows the brilliance of our local fishwrap’s nuanced reporting.

I’d like to add an anecdote from last night’s event to the ongoing discussion of tactics for the Anti-war movement. This boulevard divides downtown from a predominantly African American section of town, making much of the foot traffic passing by people of color. One 30 something black man stopped me as we were walking, asking “Why doesn’t anybody here look like me?”. (There were one or two blacks participating.) He told me he and his friends think the we are exactly right to oppose the war, but if we (meaning the vigil’s participants) “don’t fight for them, how can they fight for us?”. We carried on a long conversation about the troubling white face of the movement in Cincinnati. I was wearing a badge promoting a drive in Ohio to raise the minimum wage from $4.25/hour through a constitutional amendment (a ballot initiative), so I pointed to it and explained the campaign. He responded with “that’s what I’m talking about. You have to let us know these things”.

Frequently, the tactical discussion centers on how best to “market” dissent, concluding the movement should focus on the single issue of Iraq. The faith based groups that were at the center of this event work on a wide array of admirable Economic Justice campaigns. I understand organizers trying to avoid the appearance of exploiting the deaths of US Troops at this tragic milestone, but building a successful movement depends on upping the ante to include those most affected by economic and social injustice.

PS. Someone who knows them told me Paul Hackett’s wife and children made a brief appearance (this is full disclosure from a Brown admirer and supporter).

Curt

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