Keene Protesters March On Washington
WASHINGTON, April 20–Tens of thousands of people arrived in tour buses at the U.S. Capitol Friday night and yesterday morning, but rather than coming to see the cherry blossoms, they arrived to decry the U.S. government’s war on terrorism. And wedged in between people from all across the country were Erik Gillard and Nick Pumilia, students at Keene High School.
They and at least 150 other protesters arrived from New Hampshire, organized through groups such as Peace Action and the American Friends Service Committee. By noontime they had joined the thousands who had gathered for the weekend to protest corporate globalization, U.S. policy in the Middle East, and the drug war in Colombia, among numerous other issues.
Gathered near the Washington Monument, New Hampshire activists watched as hip-hop artists, fiery orators, and a singing group known as the “Raging Grannies” offered political commentary and entertainment. Meanwhile, volunteers with Food Not Bombs distributed day-old pastries and salad from local restaurants.
Dan “The Bagel Man,” who helped found the group in Boston more than a decade ago, greeted activist friends and served food, “because if the people are hungry, we have to feed them, so they have energy to march,” he said.
And march they did, thousands of demonstrators with signs and puppets, down Pennsylvania Avenue and toward the U.S. Capitol. Helicopters hovered overhead while police officers, wielding batons and shields, cordoned off several city blocks for the rally.
The police presence was far less conspicuous than at the demonstrations held in Washington, D.C. two years ago to oppose the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The violence, tear-gas and mass arrests of protesters that marred those demonstrations was also absent from yesterday’s events.
The protesters that arrived from New Hampshire came in all ages.
“A lot of the time, older people tend to be more patriotic, but I’m glad to see a bridge between generations,” said Nick Pumilia, 17, a junior at Keene High School.
However, Pumilia expressed frustration with the apathy of other teenagers. “It’s daunting to think that the generation responsible for reinventing society is already so absorbed in the established culture,” he said.
Many younger protesters were convinced their presence in Washington would change public policy.
“[President] Bush could be in the White House right now, shaking his head and seeing what effects his decisions are making,” said Will Nallett, 18, from Chesterfield, who became politically active while trying to help Keene High School implement a recycling program.
While the protests could be seen from the White House, President Bush would not be looking out his window. Bush was spending the weekend at Camp David in Maryland.
The protests in Washington are a larger-scale version of the weekly peace vigils that have been held throughout New Hampshire since September 11th. Ed Bowser, 50, who began in October to organize vigils in Henniker, said that though the general response was supportive, “occasionally somebody stops by to tell us what we’re doing is wrong, and we talk about it, but you can see the fear in their eyes because of what happened on September 11th, and how the government turned that fear into anger,” which fueled popular support for the current war on terrorism, Bowser contended.
Many New Hampshire protesters expressed frustration with the U.S. support of Israel in the current Middle East conflict, and said that the “war on terrorism” unfairly targeted Palestinian civilians. “If anything, it’s made the degree to which people suffer from all aspects of war a lot more clear to people,” said Arnie Alpert, 47, coordinator of the Concord chapter of the American Friends Service Committee.
One of the students who came to protest was Maria Damato, 17, president of her senior class at Keene High School, and who helped organize a concert with the New Hampshire Hemp Council to support the decriminalization of marijuana. Damato reached out to other students last month to oppose on-campus military recruiters at Keene High School.
Damato said that her father, a Vietnam veteran, and her mother, the campus minister at Keene State College, raised her to “love life, then do your homework,” she said. Active in her church, she traveled to El Salvador last year to help rebuild a village affected by an earthquake.
Another student organizer, Erik Gillard, 17, said his classmates were receptive to their ideas “if you get them in a comfortable situation where they’re willing to listen.” Soft-spoken, with long dreadlocks and rolled-up cargo pants, Gillard worked as an intern at an organic farm in Stoddard last summer, where he became interested in issues like genetic engineering and rainforest conservation.
Several students attributed their political ideas to the influence of their teachers. Two well-loved teachers to be precise: Tim and Brenda Dunn, English professors at Keene High School, who met while protesting the Gulf War at a peace vigil in Boston a decade ago.
“I think it’s easier for kids to understand the two sides of the coin than for adults,” said Tim Dunn, 62, president of the teacher’s union and an army veteran. Clad in a camouflage fatigue jacket adorned with a bronze medal and a button of Albert Einstein, Dunn defended his use of left-leaning essays in his classes, even if parents disagree with his lessons. “That’s why they send their kids to school,” Dunn said. “If I wasn’t changing people, I wouldn’t be teaching them.”
Dunn’s military experience furthered his pacifist ideas.
“I don’t think shooting at each other is the way to solve things, I just don’t,” Dunn said with a shrug, while his wife Brenda, 55, agreed. They both see themselves as role models for their students. “There’s so much inside them you can help them discover,” she said.
Other demonstrations are planned for today and Monday near the Washington Monument grounds and outside of the Washington Hilton, the site of a pro-Israel lobbying group’s annual conference.
Police officials said the crowds were larger than they had anticipated and put the number at about 75,000. Metro transit officials said ridership increased significantly Saturday, but estimates would not be available until today. Organizers of the Palestinian-rights rally at the Ellipse said the gathering was the largest demonstration for Palestine in U.S. history.
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire
