There were twenty plus people milling around smartly, some of them local, some out of state. I could recognize a few members of OffBase, Norfolk Catholic Worker, the local Amnesty International and other groups, but a good number I had never seen before. One such, Angela Stevens, whom I learned is affiliated with the local Hope House, but not actually representing them this day, provided me with what I consider an iconic moment in photography, as she stood all alone facing incoming base traffic entering from a side road. The passersby, all military or civilian contractors, were not all exactly receptive to her sign's blunt message, "DISARM NOW" so she was getting a few unkind comments from them like "fu*king hippie", although she was getting some positive responses too.
By close to 9:00 am, the motley lines of peace activists gathered together across the street from the base for a vigil prayer circle to end the event. There were just shy of two dozen people, young and old alike, who now gathered together to annunciate a sense of collective spiritual purpose for the event. And when I say young, I mean really young:
The highlight of the vigil was when a red-headed Virginian gal named Patrice, who has a son in Iraq, read aloud Julia Ward Howe's famous 1870 Mother's Day Proclamation. Here is what she read:
Mother's Day Proclamation
by Julia Ward Howe Â? Boston, 1870
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
