SOA and Georgia

Protests are interesting things. It's a culmination of all different kinds of people protesting the same thing. I went to the School of Americas protest in Georgia the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was an interesting experience. Loading up 12 people in a 15 passenger van with bread, peanut butter, and jelly. A huge bag of popcorn and puppy chow, driving for 20 hours. Trying to sleep in the van as it barreled down the freeway (that was for Gosia) she misses the barrel! Finally after barely sleeping in a awkward position and next to the heater where it was boiling, or away from the heater, where it was freezing, we got to Georgia. We then went to the hotel, crammed 11 people into a King size room, with barely any walking room, quickly changed, and then went to the gate of Fort Benning. Upon arrival of the gate there was, people with signs, a stage with people singing, and many tables selling shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers. I saw people lying in the street pretending to be dead to show the number of people that have died because of the violence. We then piled back into the van to go to the convention center for Mass. It was a great Mass. They had candles for all the Jesuit colleges and universities and I saw a friend that I have not seen in quite a while. The next morning, we went back to the gate for the funeral procession. We had made crosses with people's names on them that have died from the violence. We honored their lives and prayed for a closing to the school. It was a powerful experience to see all the people from all over the country wanting to see an end to this school.



There were people there who were protesting other things as well, which to each his/her own, but there was free vegan food, and people advocating for the ordination of women in the Catholic Church, and people protesting the war and Bush. I felt a sense of people who cared about the direction that their lives were going in. People who are not happy about something and decide to do something about it. I may not agree with what they are protesting, but I respect their protest, because there are things that I protest, and I want respect from people as well. I love that you can protest things that you are unhappy with in this country. Where would we be if people did not protest slavery, or women getting the right to vote, or the Civil Rights Movement? I'm glad I was able to experience SOA. Would I go back? Hopefully not because it needs to be shut down, but I would protest again. There are people from all over that have different ideas about the world supporting the common cause of shutting down the SOA.



For more info go to: SOA Watch

The book this time is:
The School of the Americas: Military Training and Political Violence in the Americas (Lesley Gill)