Marching for Peace in Washington

Jan. 20, 2003

Type: discussion

Marching for Peace in Washington
by Liza Featherstone

The Alaskans for Peace didn't mind the weather; not only are they used to
bitter cold, but one of them was wearing a polar bear costume. Don Muller,
and his friend "Brian the Polar Bear" had traveled from Sitka, Alaska to
join a mass protest on Washington, DC's National Mall on Saturday, to honor
Martin Luther King and protest the Bush Administration's rush to war.
Despite the freezing temperatures (which hovered in the mid-20s throughout
the day), the energetic protest drew over 200,000 people, by far the largest
US demonstration organized by the post-September 11 antiwar movement.
(Organizers placed the number at half a million, while the DC police
estimated 100,000.) The event was called by International ANSWER (Act Now to
Stop War and End Racism), a national coalition, and turnout was orchestrated
by countless grassroots organizations and individuals.

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i 030203&sthatherstone