verbena-19

How much of Earth's atmosphere must we contaminate? How much of our lands and waters must we pollute? How much of our resources must we plunder, deplete? How many species must we ravage, despoil, extinguish? How many people must we degrade, deprive, destroy with toxic wastes and wars, before we learn to respect one another, to live in harmony on this planet, our Home? "All living beings are brothers and sisters, nourished from the same source of life.." -- Thich Nhat Hanh

: Name: Annamarie; Location: Brampton, Ontario, Canada

I was born in Eastern Europe during the height of the Stalinist regime's reign of terror. Thus, I know what it is like to live under a repressive, dictatorial regime. The fear and terror -- as dissident friends and family members were tortured, imprisoned and some were executed -- is indelibly etched in my memory. That is the reason I have always been an ardent advocate of freedom, social justice, civil liberties, human rights and a voice of peace. The way I see it, war is morally wrong, regardless of who wages it, for whatever reason. No piece of land or commodity is worth the sacrifice of one human life. We are all members of the same race - the "human race" - and must learn to coexist peacefully. Our planet cannot sustain us much longer if we do not stop our wars, nukes, polluting, deforestation, and the wasteful, gluttonous consumption and depletion of our natural resources.

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Monday, October 31, 2005

[Sept.24 March in Washington DC]Photo Essay: History Repeating Itself

Photo Essay Today: Mon October, 31 2005

March in Washington, September 24, 2005. Photo by Elaine Briere. Click to view:
Gallery for 'History Repeating Itself'

At the march in Washington, I saw passion, determination and sanity.
By Elaine Briere
Published: October 27, 2005

TheTyee.ca

By 11:00am on September 24, people were pouring into downtown Washington D.C. from every direction, waving banners and holding signs. Over the loudspeaker we could hear the voices of the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Cindy Sheeham who were speaking at the rally on the Ellipse. The dense throngs of people made it impossible for us to make our way over there. The marchers were anxious to begin, but our departure was delayed again and again. On this weekend of all weekends, the City had chosen to repair Washington's metro lines, so the subway was only working at half capacity. Each train that came in was full to overflowing and still the people kept coming.

I'm a Canadian and must admit I often hold a negative view of Americans but this on this day I admired them tremendously. Here were hundreds of thousands of people who came from great distances, many at great expense, to take over their capital for three days and show to themselves and to the world that the Bush administration is acting against them and their values. The connections between war, poverty and ignorance were clearly expressed. Something like sanity prevailed in Washington that weekend and I was happy to be part of it.

Click here to read rest of the essay and view the poignant, stirring pictures in Elaine's photo gallery.

TheTyee.ca