Black Voices for Peace Weekly Protest

On an early June afternoon full of drear and drizzle, about 20 people still paced the corner of Penn and Highland Avenues holding up signs: "Honk the Horn - Bring the Troops Home Now" and  "Blacks United Against the War."  The anti-war activists were
supporting the agenda of Black Voices for Peace, a national organization that urges people to vote and protest against the policies of the Bush administration.

The Pittsburgh chapter of the group will continue to hold weekly protests at the intersection of Highland and Penn Avenues from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday
until the war in Iraq ends.

"I've been an anti-war activist since the Vietnam War; however, this is the most obscene of the United States' shows of aggression abroad," spokesperson Gail Austin said. Austin took a break to explain more about what her organization opposes. "We (the United States) are acting as the sole superpower and are thinking we can do whatever we want to do.  The money we're spending could be used for better things here. Black Voices for Peace is trying to bring together the black community and wants them to show opposition to these policies publicly."

The organization highlights several problems about the United States’ occupation of Iraq. The BVP fact sheet notes that while no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, at the same time, the U.S. fails to mention that Israel has undisclosed numbers and types of WMDs. Also, since 1991, the U.S.-led blockade of aid to Iraq and the current occupation there have caused one million Iraqis to die. And the Bush administration, unchallenged by the mainstream media, has neglected to report the countless deaths of Iraqis.

Black Voices for Peace states even more reasons for African Americans in particular to protest the war. For instance, when the war began in 2003, only 19 percent of African Americans supported the war. A disproportionate number of African Americans are serving in Iraq due to the fact that African Americans make up 22 percent of the military and 30 percent of Army enlistees.  African Americans are only 12 percent of the entire United States population. Additionally, African Americans usually go into the service because of poor education, limited job opportunities and lack of money for college.  Meanwhile, the Bush administration has consistently opposed affirmative action programs.

Carl Redwood, a program director for the Kingsley Community Center, was one of the demonstrators who was willing to directly state why he joined Black Voices for Peace.

"I support Black Voices for Peace," Redwood said, "because I was opposed to the war from the beginning. The money being spent could be better used to fix some of the massive problems we have here at home, problems with public schools, lack of jobs, homelessness and so on."

Some of the people protesting were not members of Black Voices for Peace but wanted to demonstrate their feelings about the war too. Local members of the Black Radical Congress as well as the Thomas Merton Center and Veterans for Peace were
present.

Veterans for Peace spokesperson Marty O’Malley noted "Our government chose to invade Iraq and none of the reasons suggested for being there have panned out."

O'Malley served in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1966 as a member of the U.S. Navy at the port city of Denang.  Prior to his one year of volunteering at the Merton Center, O'Malley spontaneously joined in the same Washington, D.C. demonstration that John Kerry waged in 1971.

"Back then as I am doing now, I was convinced that it was the best thing to do," O'Malley said.

Gen Davidson, another protester, carried the sign, "Got Fear? Get Hope.  Dump Bush."

"On Saturdays I stand at the corner of Forbes and Braddock from noon to one," she said.  "I decided to come over here to help this group out too."

Black Voices for Peace vigil on the corner of Penn and
Highland in East Liberty. (Photo by Marie Skoczylas)