Early Sunday morning we travel down to the gates of Fort Benning where 20,000 ‘extreme pacifists' have gathered in a bid to help create a world of extreme peace. A world where conflicts are resolved through dialogue, and not solved by the barrel of a gun.
A world where the teachings of the Prince of Peace are taken at face value, and not distorted into a complex web of carefully chosen biblical quotations and theological tomfoolery that conveniently ignore the true heart of Christs' words.
This action has been happening every year for almost 25 years, since the assasination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the El Salvadorean priest who made the grave mistake of standing up for the people.
Our first encounter is with a group called ‘One Thousand Grandmothers', who heed the call of a song by Holly Near:
Send in a thousand grandmothers
They will surely volunteer
With their ancient wisdom flowing
They will lend a loving ear
First they'll form a loving circle
Around the wounded wing
Then contain the brutal beasts of war
Sweet freedom songs they'll sing
A lullaby much stronger
Than bombs and threats to kill
A force unlike we've ever seen
Will break the murderer's will
To the prisons we'll invite them
The most violent men will weep
When 1000 women hold them strong
And pray their souls to keep
Let them rock the few who steal the most
And rule with youthful charms
So they'll see the damage that they do
And will fall into grandma's arms
2000 loving arms
If you think these women are too soft
To face the world at hand
Then you've never known the power of love
And you fail to understand
An old woman holds a powerful force
When she no longer needs to please
She can cut your shallow life to bits
And bring you to your knees
We'd best get down on our knees
And pray for a thousand grandmothers
Will you please come volunteer
No longer tucked deep out of sight
Will you bring your power here?
Will you bring your power here?
~ ~ ~
There they are, in full glory, their grey hair flowing proudly, peeking out of a thousand white bandannas. Extreme pacifists, to be sure. We interview a 96 year old gramma, who is resolute in her determination to stand for peace. She is here to stand in solidarity with all the dissappeared, all the tortured, all the victims of a dirty war, a clandestine war, throughout latin america, and to acknowledge the complicity of the U.S. in teaching tactics of terror.
The march begins, and the Grammas join the procession. One by one the names of the dead are read out:
"Juana Chavez!"
The crowd cries out: ‘Presente'.
"Unknown child, 2 years old."
"Presente"
"Carlos Flores."
"Presente"
Holding up 20,000 crosses as each name is intoned. The list is long, and continues for hours, as the solemn procession moves through and past the gates of Fort Benning. Some choose to cross the line, including three of the Grammas. They are arrested, peacefully complying. This is a symbolic action, a symbolic sacrifice, here in the belly of the beast. Over the years, protestors against the School of the Americas have spent a collective 80 years in prison for their conscience. There is no violence here - this is a resolutely non-violent movement. It is a ritual of rememberance, of mourning, and of standing up for the voiceless. My friend Brad Will is represented, with a giant puppet that bears his name, with banners and placards.
"Brad Will"
"Presente!"
As the last names are read out, late in the afternoon, the procession shifts, slowly into a celebration of life, a joyous celebration of singing and dancing and giant puppets - with the cry "Remember! Remember!" and "Rejoice in life!" It is the full spectrum, the cycle of mourning and celebration that keeps us whole, that gives us the depth of compassion and the wings of joy, to feed our souls as we struggle to create a just and caring world.
