Make Tea, Not War
lwkwafi | 16.02.2003 13:56
The story of an amazing march of between 750,000 and two million people. a study abroad students brief account of the unforgetable event
'Make Tea, Not War'
Going on four hours of sleep, enduring a coach ride of about 6 hours, and braving blistering winds through the streets of London was the least that one felt they could do in hopes of stopping a very likely war in Iraq.
With the knowledge of how important solidarity is, one was comforted in knowing that they were no alone as dozens of other coaches passed by them on the M1, and had clogged up traffic to the point where we disembarked over a mile from where we intended to start the march.
From right there, it was obvious the crowds would number well over the expected 500,000. Rally organizers put the number closer to two million, and police aimed slightly lower saying it was over 750,000.
There was not really a chance of feeling drowned out by the massive crowds. The diversity of the march gave one the feeling that no matter which direction you are coming from, you are not alone, even if you are American.
Eventually making to the starting point for people coming from the North, at Gower Street, the chants, whistles, drums all bang on as people fly their banners and signs high to the sky, as if attempting to show the helicopter above the street what they really feel.
Signs ranged from the free socialst workers party ones passed out to anyone who wanted one, to banners that probably havent been out of the closet for a good 10-20 years. Homemade peace signs, several 'Not in Our Name' signs, and a good percentage of 'Dont Attack Iraq' signs provided by the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), one of the main organizers of the demonstration, rounded out the most heavily circulated signs around the crowd.
'Make Tea, Not War' is a tribute to the British with a picture of Tony Blair holding an automatic rifle in his hands, with a tea cup for a helmet. This sort of display was doubled by seeing that Bush was not the only target of the attacks, so the Worldwide Warnings we recieve as study abroad students about anti-american sentiments fails to take shape to the entent where one fears for their safety.
Perhaps the most exciting part of marching was, during any random low point of cheering, roaring from either in front or behind you, a wave of cheers was taking shape and gaining speed and power. I could only visualize a football stadium full of cheering fans actually doing 'the wave' as everyone put their hands up and screamed when it was their time. the visual effect was only complete with an image of the wave of sound about to break just as it enters Hyde Park and errupting into pure decibel madness.
Due to the large numbers of people involved in the procession, starting from both Embankment and Gower Street, my group opted for a few shortcuts, so as not to miss the rally entirely. Without them, i would have been lost and left to enter Hyde Park just as the rally was ending.
We were lucky enough to get there in time for London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who said he was overly proud of his city at this point, and very dissapointed with both Tony Blair and George Bush. "This is all Britain standing together regardless of age, race or sex," he said during his brief speech.
He also brought up that in a poll of his city of London, there was a 75% majority that was against this impending war.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson from the US was next up to the podium. He got the crowd chanting to "give peace a chance, keep hope alive." Jackson also said, "If Mr Blair will hear his people he can alter the direction of the rush to war."
People began to march towards the gates after Jackson finished, but hurried back when British pop star Ms Dynamite took the stage to round out the event. Starting off her time with a damning political poem that she wrote that told Tony Blair that he was not God, and he should not go along with Bush as if they were.
But not to miss a chance, she ended with her hit song, saying that with peace maybe the youth of Iraq would have a chance to write such a happy song that means as much to them as this song does to her.
One of the last images presented on the large screen next to the stage was Actor Tim Robbins (who i sadly missed), Jackson and Ms. Dynamite waving their arms to the beat of the song, as the hundreds of thousands listening attentively or those rushing forward to not miss the rally entirely were all putting their arms up in a show of unity and joy to know that they had made their voices heard, and it was now on their respective governments to listen.
Going on four hours of sleep, enduring a coach ride of about 6 hours, and braving blistering winds through the streets of London was the least that one felt they could do in hopes of stopping a very likely war in Iraq.
With the knowledge of how important solidarity is, one was comforted in knowing that they were no alone as dozens of other coaches passed by them on the M1, and had clogged up traffic to the point where we disembarked over a mile from where we intended to start the march.
From right there, it was obvious the crowds would number well over the expected 500,000. Rally organizers put the number closer to two million, and police aimed slightly lower saying it was over 750,000.
There was not really a chance of feeling drowned out by the massive crowds. The diversity of the march gave one the feeling that no matter which direction you are coming from, you are not alone, even if you are American.
Eventually making to the starting point for people coming from the North, at Gower Street, the chants, whistles, drums all bang on as people fly their banners and signs high to the sky, as if attempting to show the helicopter above the street what they really feel.
Signs ranged from the free socialst workers party ones passed out to anyone who wanted one, to banners that probably havent been out of the closet for a good 10-20 years. Homemade peace signs, several 'Not in Our Name' signs, and a good percentage of 'Dont Attack Iraq' signs provided by the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), one of the main organizers of the demonstration, rounded out the most heavily circulated signs around the crowd.
'Make Tea, Not War' is a tribute to the British with a picture of Tony Blair holding an automatic rifle in his hands, with a tea cup for a helmet. This sort of display was doubled by seeing that Bush was not the only target of the attacks, so the Worldwide Warnings we recieve as study abroad students about anti-american sentiments fails to take shape to the entent where one fears for their safety.
Perhaps the most exciting part of marching was, during any random low point of cheering, roaring from either in front or behind you, a wave of cheers was taking shape and gaining speed and power. I could only visualize a football stadium full of cheering fans actually doing 'the wave' as everyone put their hands up and screamed when it was their time. the visual effect was only complete with an image of the wave of sound about to break just as it enters Hyde Park and errupting into pure decibel madness.
Due to the large numbers of people involved in the procession, starting from both Embankment and Gower Street, my group opted for a few shortcuts, so as not to miss the rally entirely. Without them, i would have been lost and left to enter Hyde Park just as the rally was ending.
We were lucky enough to get there in time for London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who said he was overly proud of his city at this point, and very dissapointed with both Tony Blair and George Bush. "This is all Britain standing together regardless of age, race or sex," he said during his brief speech.
He also brought up that in a poll of his city of London, there was a 75% majority that was against this impending war.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson from the US was next up to the podium. He got the crowd chanting to "give peace a chance, keep hope alive." Jackson also said, "If Mr Blair will hear his people he can alter the direction of the rush to war."
People began to march towards the gates after Jackson finished, but hurried back when British pop star Ms Dynamite took the stage to round out the event. Starting off her time with a damning political poem that she wrote that told Tony Blair that he was not God, and he should not go along with Bush as if they were.
But not to miss a chance, she ended with her hit song, saying that with peace maybe the youth of Iraq would have a chance to write such a happy song that means as much to them as this song does to her.
One of the last images presented on the large screen next to the stage was Actor Tim Robbins (who i sadly missed), Jackson and Ms. Dynamite waving their arms to the beat of the song, as the hundreds of thousands listening attentively or those rushing forward to not miss the rally entirely were all putting their arms up in a show of unity and joy to know that they had made their voices heard, and it was now on their respective governments to listen.
lwkwafi