Thursday, November 27, 2008

Giving Thanks to The Peacemakers



Every Thursday at noon, except Federal holidays such as Thanksgiving...



...a group of anywhere from a dozen to a hundred people meet at the corner of Larkin and Golden Gate...



...to hold a peace vigil in front of the brutalist architecture of the United States Federal Building.



The group was started by Markley Morris (above) on the week after we started bombing Afghanistan in October of 2001.



Unfortunately, we're still bombing random strangers in Afghanistan seven years later along with new forays into bordering Pakistan...



...so the relevance of the vigil remains sadly undiminished.



Though most of them seemed quite happy about the Obama election and the end of the Bush/Cheney regime, they also weren't particularly hopeful that the implacable war machine could be stopped anytime soon.



So thank you, peaceniks, for your time, energy and witness to the fact that there is another possible way of living in this world.

4 comments:

Markley Morris said...

Thank you, Mike, for these wonderful photos and for your on-going participation in the vigil.

Here are the names of the pictured invigilators:

Anne Whybrow and Larry Small.
Visitors from the Community of St. Francisco (CSF)
Michele Gloor and Ibuki Lee
me
Janet Weil and Phyllis Malandra
William Watts and Sister Maggie, CSF
Bill Tilden and Stephen Matchett
Lucille Dean and Glenn Gable

Civic Center said...

Dear Markley: Thanks for the monikers.

momo said...

Dear Markley and Mike,
I am with you in spirit from Minnesota. I'll be coming back home to SF over the holidays, but another federal holiday falls on that Thursday, so I will not be able to join you in person. But Mike's posts and your presence inspire me to join with friends here.

whabbear said...

Is Bill Tilden's nickname "Big"??