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Beyond War, A New Economy is Possible! - St. Augsutine - 04/04/09
Beyond War, A New Economy is Possible! - St. Augsutine - 04/04/09
St. Augustine People for Peace and Justice, Central Florida Veterans For Peace, and Grandparents For Peace participated locally as part of the nationwide action “Beyond War, A New Economy Is Possible,” to demand an end to the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to find a fair and just solution to the economic crisis. As Dr. King spoke out on April 4th, 1967 against the war in Vietnam and presented a broader vision of a world without war, poverty or racism, we gathered to speak out against our current wars and to demand the fulfillment of his dreams. Rev Lorenzo Laws began the gathering, interspersing portions of the 1967 speech with the lively kind of current relevance and historical fact that only a preacher in the tradition of Dr. King could do. Rev. Laws was followed by a number of people who spoke about the wars, our current economic crises and some of the on-going actions to improve our community. (list below)
The audience was an unsurprising disappointment. About 25 people at any given time, mostly the speakers and their families. A few new faces came and went, tourists and locals. Many tourists actually walked between the speakers and the audience, continuing their bland meaningless conversations about where to buy the best genuine-St. Augustine-made-in-China-sweatshop souvenirs, seeming annoyed that we would dare to use our own public space in an attempt to improve our community. And of course St. Augustine's finest paid us a visit, in the person of Cpl. Ethridge. After long multiple radio and phone calls he advised us that our banners were illegally attached to a valuable historic structure in violation of city ordinances and needed to be removed immediately.
Beyond War, St. Augustine - 04/04/09
Beyond War, A New Economy Is Possible - St. Augustine - 04/04/09
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Chad Smith's report in the St. Augustine Record
Photo by Daron Dean, St. Augustine Record
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Speakers:
Rev. Lorenzo Laws, Pastor Mt. Zion AME Church
Tom Santoni, Veterans For Peace - speech text
Rafe Pilgrim, Veterans For Peace - speech text (on OpEd News)
Faye Armitage, Economist, Former Congressional Candidate
Russell Harper, President IBEW Local 177, President Central Labor Council
Zollie Goodman, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Winter Soldier
Mary Lawrence, Co-founder of People United to Stop Homelessness - speech text
Sandi Newman, Society of St. Andrew's NE Florida Gleaning Project
Cole Lee, Youth and Young Adult Farmworkers Ministry
Chris Greer, St. Augustine Bicycle Collective
Dana Usina, Food Not Bombs
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As one of the organizers of the event, I would like to express my appreciation of the Record's coverage. I would also like to comment about the "indigent woman" mentioned in the article. She is well known to those of us who have spent time downtown. She is a long time resident of St. Augustine who is homeless. She has become one of the the city's "non-persons" as a result of St. Augustine's desire to not be "crippled by compassion." Our event had disturbed her sleep. We offered her some of our lunch and a bottle of water when we learned she hadn't eaten. We gave her a little time to privately express her feelings. She was not escorted away, not turned over to the police and not run off. She remained for all of the speeches and helped us pack-up when we left. She is one of our citizens who has been left in the gutter (literally) by our nation's quest for wealth and military dominance. She is one of the reasons we were there. We were not angry with her nor did we pity her. We only felt sorrow that there are so many like her and even more on their way to being in her situation.
Terry Buckenmeyer
Veterans For Peace
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