Laura and Larry Buffam
“The man in the White House is the best political organizer we have ever
had. He generated the largest protest demonstrations the earth has ever seen
last month. He has us organizing on the peace front, the civil liberties front,
the environmental front, the domestic front—everywhere people are waking
up after a long sleep. It is a dangerous time, but a great time, a great awakening.”
—Doris Haddock (Granny D), March 8, 2003
On March 8, International Women’s Day, between 5,000-10,000 people marched to the White House to say NO to George Bush’s war and YES to many alternatives: negotiations and other means of nonviolent problem-solving, international law, care for human needs, and respect for the innocent victims of political power games. The march was organized by Code Pink, a national organization of women that calls upon women around the world to rise up and oppose the war against Iraq. The rally and march were characterized by a very positive uplifting energy. The Code Pink organizers were much in evidence with their pink dresses and pink feather boas. Large numbers of people along the route provided vocal support for the marchers.
We were most inspired at the rally by Granny D’s speech. She is a 93 year old native of New Hampshire who gained fame in 1999 when she walked across the US to gain support for campaign finance reform. She got a tremendous response from the crowd as she called us to focus our energies on removing George Bush from office. Her plea was to organize from now until 2004 to elect a peace candidate. She pointed out the importance of not insisting on perfection in a candidate and encouraged a focus on the swing electoral states. For more information contact www.GrannyD.com or www.Swingstate.com.
We returned to Cayuga County recommitted to talking directly to our legislators to encourage them to listen to the world, as we say: This foreign policy is a disaster. Let us return to a more multilateral, cooperative relationship with the nations and the peoples of the world. Let us end this madness of pre-emption, preventive war, unilateralism, and military buildup instead of disarmament talks and treaties. This is making a more dangerous, not safer, world for us all.
We also returned committed to working with Granny D. to remove George Bush from office in 2004.
Laura and Larry Buffam are members of the Cayuga Coalition for Peace and the Syracuse Peace Council.