Day 2 with "GRANNY PEACE BRIGADE" on July 3, 2006 for the Independence Day weekend at DuPont Circle in Washington DC.
I decided to make a "IMAGINE PEACE" banner on a big 6 feet length sheet of white fabric by myself, and give it to grannies.
When I arrived at DuPont Circle, the park was filled with enthusiastic peaceniks everywhere - What a hot day it is today. The party started with speeches by speakers who came from everywhere, to raise awareness about the terrible war situation and the Bush administration. Those people included Dick Gregory, a civil rights campaigner, Daniel Ellsburg who'd released the Pentagon Papers in '71, and Cyndi Sheehan, an anti-war protester who lost her son in the Iraq War.
We started our march at DuPont Circle and paraded several blocks west to Statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside the Indian Embassy, then walked south through the city, all the way to the White House, pushing wheelchairs, wielding canes, and bearing up in the high summer heat and humidity.
Many people were holding "IMAGINE PEACE" posters that were again given away by grannies to anyone who wanted it, not to mention parading the "IMAGINE PEACE" banner I made. It was quite a sight!!
(c) text and photographs: Mikihiko Hori