Houstonians Ignore Weather to Sing for Peace : Houston Indymedia

Activists from the peace community joined with others from area churches, synagogues, and mosques to sing out for peace, in an event organized by the Progressive Action Alliance (PAA), with support from the Harris Co. Green Party and individual donors and volunteers.

The event combined a candlelight vigil and a memorial for the victims in Iraq, with a sing-out for peace. The PAA distributed candles to attendees, along with copies of a publication called "Iraq Notebook/Cuaderno de Irak" which contained stories, articles, and pictures to better inform the public about the things happening in Iraq that they are not seeing on TV.

Although severe thunderstorm and hail warnings were issued about an hour before the event, the worst part of the weather bypassed downtown Houston, and the crowd at City Hall only had to put up with light rain. Threats of severe weather, though, apparently kept many people away.

One of the scheduled musicians was unable to make it to the event due to weather in her area, but the other musicians and speakers provided a sober and respectful tone to the event.

The speakers included Rabbi Saul Osadchey of Congregation Or Ami, Sherry Glover of MFSO (Military Families Speak Out), University of Houston professor Hosam Aboul-Ela, and Father Richard Wahl of Pax Christi and the Congregation of St. Basil. They, along with PAA's co-chair Anjelea Gabriel who also served as MC for the event, spoke of the need for peace and non-violent solutions to conflict, and for an end to the occupation of Iraq. They also called for respect for both US military members who have been sent to Iraq after thinking they had signed up to defend the US, and for the huge number of Iraqi victims who have died because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Volunteers read names of US military casualties before the official start of the Sing Peace event, and during several intervals in the program. Other volunteers read the names of Iraqi victims at different locations in the crowd, during parts of the program.

Musicians Dino Marcaccio, Gary Yokie, Bart Boyce, and Tom Loud sang peace songs, including some with which the crowd sang along. They provided an uplifting and hopeful tone to what might have otherwise have been a very somber event. Numerous people at the end of the program commented on how they were touched by the music, by the speakers, and by the reading of the victims' names.

Kathy Kidd, chairperson of the Houston area Department of Peace group, asked the crowd to support the establishment of a cabinet-level Department of Peace, to help promote and educate people about non-violent conflict solving in family, domestic, and international relations.

Bill Crosier, also a co-chair of the PAA, said that, as Congressman Dennis Kucinich has stated, "War is not inevitable. Peace is inevitable." Crosier said that it was just a matter of time before people everywhere realized that violence only promotes more violence. He said that violence will continue, though, if people of conscience sat back and did nothing. He reminded the crowd that there were Congressional representatives like Kucinich and Sheila Jackson-Lee who have opposed the invasion and occupation. He asked everyone to continue speaking out for peace, and to continue contacting their elected representatives in Congress, even those who have supported the occupation, because the people in Congress need to keep hearing the concerns of those who feel the US is morally wrong to be in Iraq.

Crosier also thanked KPFT and Indymedia for their support of peace events and for providing news on events that most other news media ignores.

Members of the Progressive Action Alliance also displayed 2800 printed names of Iraqi casualties -- those for whom names could be obtained, and whose names were being read. Bill Crosier noted that "these names, although higher in number than the reported number of US casualties, are only a very small fraction of the total Iraqi casualties, because most Iraqi deaths from the occupation, especially in places like Fallujah, are not reported by the press".

Photos from the event will be posted later on Houston Indymedia and the Progressive Action Alliance web site.

Copies of the Iraq Notebook/Cuaderno de Irak are available for other peace groups to distribute. Most stories in it are in both English and Spanish. This publication is also posted on the PAA web site, in the Downloads section.