Today Camp Hope celebrated the life and work of Martin Luther King with a rally at the Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago. In town for a month are men and women studying to be members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams. To remind you, since the first of the year, Israel has been bombing the Gaza strip with great loss of life. Israel stopped fighting today, the day before Obama is to be inaugurated President. CPT members have been in Gaza and the West Bank since their founding. (www.cpt.org/)
As part of their training the CPT members created three caskets draped with the Palestinian flag labeled: a mother killed in Gaza, a father killed in Gaza, and child sized casket titled: a child killed in Gaza. After the MLK memorial began it was announced that the CPTers would march to the headquarters of Boeing presenting a letter to the corporation to transform from making weapons to building for a sustainable economy.
We listened to speakers and sang songs of resistance to war and dedication to peace. I decided to join the march the 7 blocks through Chicago to the world headquarters of Boeing. Boeing makes the Apache helicopters used by Israel to war on Gaza with deadly force. The three caskets led the silent memorial march while one drum sounded a mournful beat. The caskets were carried by white-faced men and women draped in black. I carried my MLK quote "War is not the answer." I wept at the loss of life through war and the unimaginable injuries. Chicago police escorted us on the street side, keeping us on the sidewalk, probably one every 20 feet dressed in what looked like bike police uniforms with bright yellow jackets but heavy for winter.
Once at Boeing, only one person was permitted into the lobby to deliver a letter (a departure from earlier demonstrations I was told) Outside the building doors we gathered to recite a litany of sorrow for the violence against civilians in Gaza. Then we knelt on the ground to pray for those who have died and for peace. The police ordered us back to the sidewalk or we would be arrested. Two of the CPTers fell to the ground and were arrested, the rest of us returned to the sidewalk 10 feet away. Sr. Mary Kay and I headed for the L and a return home to dinner.
I am so honored to have attended Camp Hope and its memorial and action to remember MLK. Witnessing the non-violent civil resistance I felt MLK was with us and smiled on how we honored him today.
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