Report on "No War! Teach-in" at UMKC, February 15:

On behalf of the KC chapter of U.S. Labor Against the War, and the other co-sponsoring groups, I'd like to extend our fullest appreciation to you for participating in yesterday's teach-in. Afternoon sessions were lively, and seats full, perhaps because the weather didn't get as bad as forecast.

This event was organized in only two weeks, wishing to have something to coincide on the exact date of worldwide demonstrations. It was built mostly by passing out flyers at the preceding Sunday's rally, and over the internet. Organizers were pleased with attendance on such short notice. It's an indication of what we can accomplish next time, given more ample time to line up speakers and promote to the public.

-- Bob Kutchko

Columbia, Mo.:

Nearly 700 Mid-Missourians Brave the Elements to Join in Local Component of History-Making Protests

            A driving rain, sleet and blustery winds did not dampen the spirits of a diverse group of nearly 700 peace advocates who gathered in Columbia this morning to participate in “Hearts and Minds United for Peace,” the local component of what now has turned out to be the single largest day of anti-war actions in human history.

            Organizers, who feared the predicted hazardous weather would lead to a much smaller turnout were elated. “This is tremendous,” said Peaceworks Director Mark Haim. “We knew that opposition was broad and growing, but we had no inkling that in weather like this so many would still turn out.”

            The Peace Coalition did a count of participants toward the beginning of the march route, and there were 586 at that point. Many more joined the group later or came directly to Courthouse Square for the rally, leading to a final estimate of close to 700 in attendance. This is approximately 200 more than came out for the January 18 “Solidarity March for Peace” the Coalition sponsored on a day with much more favorable weather, and is the largest political demonstration that Columbia, Missouri has seen in more than a decade.

            The crowd included a significant contingent of college students, many high school students, a goodly number of families with their youngsters in tow, many middle-aged folks and a number of retirees as well. Despite the gravity of the impending war of aggression on Iraq the mood of the crowd was upbeat, with many vigorous chants and much singing and drumming. There was even an intrepid contingent of cyclists who rode there bikes along the march route.

            Due to the weather, organizers moved the rally that followed the march from the Courthouse Square amphitheater to the County Commission Chambers in the Boone Government Center. All the chairs were cleared from the floor and several hundred participants crowded in to listen to the speakers.

            Local physician Elizabeth Allemann urged the crowd to take their peacemaking most seriously, including recognizing the need to love, not hate, those who are preparing to kill innocents, while working diligently to stop them. Her remarks resonated well with the theme of the day, “Hearts and Minds United for Peace.” While she and others spoke, a group from the local Buddhist Peace Fellowship conducted a mindful meditation for peace in an adjoining room.

            Veteran for Peace member and decorated Vietnam War veteran John Betz gave a powerful speech in which he urged the audience to consider carefully who in our society was being sent into battle. He pointed out that out of the 535 members of Congress there is only one who has a child enlisted in the military, and that of all those from Boone County who died in Vietnam, every one, to a man, was from a working class family.

            MU student and mother of a toddler, Elise Brion offered a critique of the Bush administration’s hypocrisy demanding the elimination of possible Iraqi caches of weapons of mass destruction while the U.S. holds the largest arsenal of such weapons in the world. She also offered an impassioned plea, as a mother, for recognizing that Iraqi children are just like our children, and to value all life.

            Commenting on the momentum the movement has generated, not just locally, but across the nation and around the world, organizer Mark Haim stated, “Today we have put the Bush administration and all our elected representatives on notice. The American people have not bought their rationale for war. There are more people protesting in America’s streets today than at the peak of the anti-Vietnam War protests. If Bush does not heed our concerns and look for a non-violent resolution, there is likely to be a political backlash of the kind that forced Lyndon Johnson to withdraw his re-election bid in 1968. We also call upon Congress to revisit the blank check to make war they issued Bush last October,” Haim said.

            Hearts and Minds United for Peace was sponsored by the Columbia Peace Coalition. Its members include: Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, Students for Progressive Action, Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, Interfaith Peace Alliance of Mid-Missouri, the Green Party of Central Missouri, Mid-Missouri Veterans for Peace, Mid-Missouri Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Columbia Friends Meeting, St. Francis Catholic Worker Community, Food Not Bombs, Newman Center Social Justice Commission, Unitarian Universalist Social Action Committee, Anti-Racist Action, Native American Support Group, Mizzou Greens, Hickman High School Peaceworks, and Rock Bridge Christian Church

-- Mark Haim