All-nighter! 25th Anniversary of Peace Park Vigil! June 3
Twenty-five years ago, Thomas and Connie began a vigil against nuclear War outside of the White House in Lafayette Park. This vigil has continued 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the past 25 years.
At Noon, in Lafayette Park, an all daymike speak out will take
place, with featured speakers scattered throughout the day, among them
Coleman McCarthy. At night, the DC Anti-War Network (DAWN) encourages
people to STAY ALL NIGHT in honor of the vigil, MAKING NOISE in honor
of the 40 days and 40 nights of drumming at the vigil in 1991 during the first Gulf War, noise that led the elder President Bush to complain
about sleepless nights due to those "damn drums." The weather is expected to be much more pleasant.
Unfortunately, nuclearization remains with us. Just this month, in
Nevada, activists, among them Western Shoshone Indians, managed to
"indefinitely" stop a major above ground explosion at the Department of
Energy's Nevada Test Site. This explosion, if it happens, would kick
up a cloud of radioactive dust (from decades of nuclear tests) that would have been dangerous to the people of the Great Basin. While we worry about nuclear proliferation and nuclear power in Iran, the nuclear power industry, led by war profiteers like Bechtel, has taken heart from the rise in oil prices and have cynically proposed hydrogen power as the green alternative of the future. What they don't tell you is that the only really effective way to produce hydrogen is as a byproduct of nuclear power. In Iraq, depleted uranium munitions, which are supposed to be "safe" because the uranium is not enriched, but which we know to have caused awful suffering, have been dumped in vast quantities causing irreparable harm to many Iraqi people.
The vigil has not stopped nuclear war; how could it? No small group of people can by themselves be expected to stop nuclear war. And, yet,
how much further back might we be without the constant reminder and
inspiration of Thomas and Connie and all from Proposition One who have
maintained the vigil, people like Ellen and Troy?
I became an activist because I was inspired by this vigil and have
heard countless others say the same.
Without this vigil, how easy it might be to keep the nuclear issue on an irrelevant back burner while other issues of the day take the stage. And, while one must admit that that inevitably happens vigil or no, any trip to Lafayette Park will always remind us that we have not done nearly enough to fight the actual and potential catastrophes that the nuclear age has brought us.
Twenty-five years is a call for celebration, but it is a reminder of
where we need to go. In the hands of people who think that nuclearization is merely a tool toward some other better end, those who have no say in the matter are always the losers, from the people, animals, and plants that are destroyed to the land that becomes a wasteland.
We need to do more.
Thomas and Connie have put themselves on the line for the greater
Activist community by protecting that space so that we all might use it to speak out against the policies of the US government. Holding that ground has not always been easy, and it will be far harder if the vigil ever packs up and goes away. The least we can do to support this vigil is to be out there on June 3 showing our support and by staying the night. Over time, we may be called to be there day after day keeping the vigil going.
For now, at the very least, let us honor them with our presence on this day.
Jim Macdonald,
DC Anti-War Network
About the vigil:
On June 3, 1981 a pilgrim named Thomas sat down on the White House sidewalk with a cardboard sign -"Wanted, Wisdom and Honesty"- to talk about truth, justice, freedom, peace, and the threat of nuclear war. Concepcion Picciotto also came to Lafayette Park and began working with Thomas in 1981. They are now world famous for their continuous presence, 24 hours a day, despite the whims of police and weather.
Regulation writers and hostile police tried to drive Thomas and
Concepcion away, and Thomas and several others were sent to prison for three months in 1988.
But perseverence, creativity, Thomas?s pro se lawsuits against police misconduct, and sympathetic friends have kept the vigilers north of the White House, touching the minds and hearts of many.
A few people have joined the vigilers over the years, for varying
lengths of time. (I'm one of them; I had my own signs for 18 years, and now provide logistical support). Some of the people and events stand out:
In the early 1980's, regulations were written to:
(1) move the vigilers from the White House sidewalk to Lafayette Park;
(2) define "camping" as "using the park for living accommodation
purposes, regardless of any activity in which you might otherwise be engaged," thus negating the First Amendment;
(3) reduce the number of signs that an individual might have to two and the size to 4' x 4' x 1/4", no higher than six feet off the ground; and
(4) reduce the amount of "property" a person might have other than the signs to 3 cubic feet, a real hardship in cold and wet weather.
These regulations allowed police to harass, intimidate, and arrest all demonstrators who came to Lafayette park, and have been used extensively to chase most people away.
In the mid-80's Dr. Charles Hyder, an overweight astro-geophysicist from New Mexico, fasted for global nuclear disarmament for months, during which time a petition "to the legislators of the U.S. and USSR" was circulated calling for a commitment to abolish all nuclear weapons and use the money instead for human needs.
In 1993, we brought the petition to the voters as "Proposition One", and won the election; it's been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives as "The Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act." See http://prop1.org/prop1/
Dr. Hyder gained a great deal of attention around the world. The local newspapers refused to report on him. To the best of my knowledge, he is the only protester to have been brought a sack full of mail from the White House; it had been sent by Japanese schoolchildren to "Dr. Hyder, c/o The White House." Dr. Hyder returned to New Mexico in early May, 1987, having lost from 300 to 130 pounds during his fast.
After Dr. Hyder left, a few young musicians (Sunrise, Mojo, and Song) arrived separately, stayed to build signs and feed people, and performed daily as the Ragtag Band. Early in 1987, police issued "camping" tickets right and left, and Sunrise, Mojo, Thomas, and I went to prison for months, charged with "camping." Concepcion and friends kept the vigil going while we were gone. Sunrise now lives in France, Mojo in Texas, and Song in the Philippines.
During the 1991 Gulf War dozens of us drummed outside the White House throughout its 40 days and 40 nights. After President George H.W. Bush (41) told a group of supporters, "those damned drums are keeping my awake all night," the police began enforcing an absurd "60 decibels" rule, snatching drums and arresting people, sometimes brutally. A video, "The Ground War At Home," played on public access television all over the country during the spring of 1991, showing police misconduct and utter disregard for the First Amendment.
One of the drummers, Diana Nomad, was arrested and convicted for
chanting "Na myo ho reng e kyo and tapping a prayer drum, but the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the case, ruling that drumming outside the White House is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment. Diana died a few years ago of brain cancer, which is a great loss. Also a loss is Dr. Hyder, who died in 2004.
We want to thank those who have shared these experiences and care as deeply about a world free of nuclear weapons and war as we do.
Please come speak your mind about what needs doing.
Ellen Thomas
Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil
Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil
Proposition One Committee
PO Box 27217, Washington, DC 20038
position One Committee
PO Box 27217, Washington, DC 20038
