A day of empowerment
I simply cannot get this picture out of my mind. Just yesterday I was walking down Broadway in New York City and there it was. There were so many people. As far back as my eyes could see there were people. It was like I always imagined to be, or was it because I barely woke up from the five-hour ride to get here from Rutland that left at 4 a.m.
After realizing that it wasn’t because I was tired, I was left speechless.
I couldn’t imagine. All these people were here organized for a cause – a rally for an end to the war in Iraq.
It was democracy at its best. It wasn’t only a rally against the war, it was so much more. People came from near and far to share ideas. We marched together, sang together, and shared ideas of peace.
It was the first of its kind for me. I met many people with names like Meadow and Moon. I did an interview in Spanish for Univision and I sang songs like ‘We Shall Overcome.’
I chanted with the multitudes yesterday. I screamed “Hey hey, ho ho George Bush has got to go.”
The sounds resounded in my chest and mind all day long. With Vermonters and students from all over the country I saw first hand what change is. I made my statement to the world or just to those in NYC.
My back told my message, which my roommate helped me scribble on. “Tengo sed de Justicia,” it read in different colored Sharpie markers. “I am thirsty for justice.”
It was a day that I won’t soon forget. I was one of them, those who took part in a peace march to get people to listen. Even though CNN or Fox didn’t say much about this march, I will.
I wish everyone could feel the power and energy we created yesterday. I saw the future in the eyes of a 10-year-old who marched with her mother, the hope in a grandmother being wheeled through the march by her grandson, and the voices of the students around me which validated my message.
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