Despite dark clouds threatening rain over Boston Common, the park was overflowing with people this past Saturday. A crowd of activists was gathered in conjunction with 11 major cities and numerous other locations across the nation to raise their voices against the war in Iraq. Some held up poster boards with the word "Enough" printed in bold letters, while others just held up their hands in the form of peace signs.
Amongst the cheering faces, UNH students stood with a determination to share in the message of the rally. Many had traveled by train to represent the UNH division of The Peace and Justice League, while other politically active students carpooled together to be a part of the event.
Vanessa Bennett, a sophomore history major from Epping, had been anticipating the event since she first heard of it.
"I've been going to rallies since I was 15," Bennett said. "I had a few friends in high school with a car, and one day four of us hopped in the car and went to one. I got hooked on it."
Once they arrived at Boston Common, she and her friends wove their way through the crowd to stand as close to the stage as possible. They were surrounded by people of all ages, ranging from families holding hands to solemn Vietnam veterans.
This New England branch of the event was the culmination of months of planning and preparation put on by United for Justice with Peace, which is made up by a network of over 50 community groups devoted to promoting peace in the Massachusetts area.
United for Justice with Peace is affiliated with a grassroots organization with an almost identical sounding name, known as United for Peace and Justice. This group, holding the same vision of ending the war and promoting peace, is the national coalition responsible for setting up the entire 11-city event. United for Peace and Justice consists of over 1300 groups dedicated to putting on rallies like the one in Boston.
Susan Leese, a member of United for Justice with Peace, was thrilled with the amount of students who turned up as part of the event.
"At our second organizational meeting about half of the people were youth," Leese said. "We want to reach out to everybody."
From noon to 2 p.m., people gathered on Boston Common to listen to one another's thoughts on ending the war, while also listening to an eclectic bunch of speakers.
One such speaker, Dahlia Wasfi, an Iraqi-American M.D., spoke about the death toll in Iraq, referring to it as "genocide."
"How do we know the administration is lying to us?" Wasfi asked the crowd. "Their lips are moving."
Wasfi was just one of many speakers, including historians, war veterans and human rights specialists. Also present were a wide range of organizations with booths set up to promote their own reasons for opposing the war. These included Buddhists, Communists, and even a rather enthusiastic senior citizen singing group called the Raging Grannies.
Several of these groups set up visual displays to illustrate their thoughts on a war, including an eerie line of combat boots with name tags affixed to symbolize soldiers who had died in the war. Clustered around this display were members of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
One such veteran was Liam Madden, 23, of Vermont, a Marine communications and electronics specialist. Madden is the current president of Iraq Veterans Against the War and co-founded the Appeal for Redress --a petition signed by over 2,000 people to demand an end to the war.
Wearing an army jacket affixed with his organization's patch, Madden looked at the line of combat boots and said simply, "Its okay to resist the war. It's important for America to see that there are veterans coming home not happy."
After watching speakers and networking with other organizations, Madden and his fellow Iraq veterans joined up with the masses to take the rally to the street. A crowd of what police estimated to be over 2,000 people marched from Boston Common to Copley Square. Streets were shut down and cars were brought to a halt as the sound of stomping feet and music echoed throughout the city.
Onlookers cheered as voices in unison chanted, "This is what democracy looks like."
Activists held signs, wore mock-presidential costumes, and even teetered on stilts as they traveled down the streets crying out for peace. One group, holding a "Red Sox fans for impeachment" sign, earned a few extra cheers from local sports fans.
College students from the area joined to march with the Campus Anti-War Network out of Western Massachusetts and send a message of student unity for peace. The general attitude was not one of angry protesting but rather of celebration. UNH students added their voices to the crowd, as many sought to defy stereotypes about a generation, which is often labeled as unmotivated.
"I think UNH is very politically active," Bennett, a member of UNH College Democrat said. "We're a school that's very much about change and forward movement. The people I know aren't apathetic at all."
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