The WNC Peace Coalition had it's annual Peace Rally on Wednesday, March 19th. We have had a Peace Rally every year since 2003, and starting in 2004, we hold them on (or near) March 19th. The rally in February 2003 was the largest one - we had over 2000 people show up on a cold windy day to say that they did not want this war. We were not alone - there were millions of people who protested that day.
We usually hold the Peace Rally outdoors and have about 300-500 people there. There was a jump in the number in 2006, but not last year. Last year, we held the rally in front of City Hall, thinking it was best to use our public spaces. But the Asheville Parks and Recreation are a major pain in the behind, and they make it rather expensive to hold a rally. On top of that, we had to get a sound system, and that was expensive. We decided this year to hold a short rally indoors, and then go out on the street to protest. Part of the reasoning behind this was the fact that the invasion anniversary was on a Wednesday, and the weekend before was Winter Soldier. The weekend after was Easter.
So, we were allowed to use the sanctuary of First Congregational Church for our rally. We had Jason Hurd of Iraq Veterans Against the War speak, and his picture is above. He was at Winter Soldier last weekend, and he was shown on Democracy Now this week. He is a very good speaker about what has happened in Iraq and why we need to get out of there. This was followed by the Raging Grannies, some of whom are shown in the photo above. They do a great song routine about the current situation we are living in. I really enjoyed hearing them again, but some of them had reservations about singing their songs inside a church.
We had about 40 people at our short rally, and the pouring rain stopped just before we ended the program.
Move On had called for a vigil, and since it was pouring rain all day, they decided to hold their vigil indoors - in the basement of First Congregational Church. The sun came out about an hour before their 7 PM vigil, and some folks were upset that we were all indoors instead of out on the street. I had left the church and walked to a local deli downtown to get some dinner, and directed the people I saw downtown to where the vigil was being held. After the program ended (they read some statements from our veterans of this occupation and war), some of them went out to Pack Square to protest.
One of the problems that we have here in Asheville - in regards to public protests - is that the city has torn up the available parks in downtown Asheville. At Pritchard Park, they put in a huge ugly statue were we used to stand to vigil to mark the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But in Pack Square and City-County Plaza, what they did is much worse - they have had this torn up for over two years now - and they still are not done! It is a total mess. They took out the nice fountain that was there, and turned the stage area into a swamp when it rains. I wonder if they will ever finish it and I also wonder if they are doing their best to chase out the public and turn this area into a "courtyard" for elite condos that they have tried to build around it. They have stopped them from building one huge condo building already.
They seem to be set on chasing out the drummers and the homeless in Pritchard Park, and they don't want any "free speech" or candle light vigils either. They put up a guard house in Pritchard Park in their efforts to chase off the homeless and keep it quiet for the new rich people in the neighborhood. One has to wonder why someone would buy a condo in a downtown area and expect it to be quiet.
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