It's difficult to tell given what seems to be a mainstream media brownout of the emerging US peace movement, but this past Saturday saw the largest day of antiwar protests in this country since the Vietnam War era.
Hundreds of thousands of people came out nationwide to register their voices against an invasion of Iraq. Approximately 100,000 people turned out in Washington, DC, according to the Washington Post, with organizers putting the estimate closer to 200,000.
The largest protest outside of DC was in San Francisco, where roughly 75,000 folks participated in a march and rally featuring US Rep Barbara Lee, actor Amy Brenneman and folksinger Utah Phillips. Elsewhere around the country, 12,000 marched in St. Paul, Minn., 5,000 in Seattle, WA, 4,000 in Denver, CO, 2,000 in Spokane, WA, 2,000 in Augusta, Maine, 1,500 in both Madison, WI, and Kingston, NY, and 1,000 in Montpelier, Vermont--a town of 8,000--while 2,500 people in Taos, NM joined a march that ended up at the doorsteps of Donald Rumsfeld's summer house. This is in addition to countless smaller events in cities, towns and villages across America.
Peter Rothberg
It’s difficult to tell given what seems to be a mainstream media brownout of the emerging US peace movement, but this past Saturday saw the largest day of antiwar protests in this country since the Vietnam War era.
Hundreds of thousands of people came out nationwide to register their voices against an invasion of Iraq. Approximately 100,000 people turned out in Washington, DC, according to the Washington Post, with organizers putting the estimate closer to 200,000.
The largest protest outside of DC was in San Francisco, where roughly 75,000 folks participated in a march and rally featuring US Rep Barbara Lee, actor Amy Brenneman and folksinger Utah Phillips. Elsewhere around the country, 12,000 marched in St. Paul, Minn., 5,000 in Seattle, WA, 4,000 in Denver, CO, 2,000 in Spokane, WA, 2,000 in Augusta, Maine, 1,500 in both Madison, WI, and Kingston, NY, and 1,000 in Montpelier, Vermont–a town of 8,000–while 2,500 people in Taos, NM joined a march that ended up at the doorsteps of Donald Rumsfeld’s summer house. This is in addition to countless smaller events in cities, towns and villages across America.
You can read reports on many of these events at the online progressive news service CommonDreams . And stay tuned for info on upcoming antiwar organizing .
Peter RothbergTwitterPeter Rothberg is the The Nation’s associate publisher.