In true Humboldt County style, several hundred people (estimated 300-400) of all ages in Arcata, California joined the 15 February 2003 global protests to speak up for justice and peace, and against corporate wars.

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Brian Ohkubo Covert is an independent journalist based in Hyogo, Japan.

Humboldt County Board of Supervisors member John Woolley promises the crowd at the Arcata Plaza that he will soon present to the county board a resolution opposing war in Iraq. The city of Arcata itself is one of a growing number of U.S. cities that have already passed such a resolution.

California State Senator Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata) praises protesters gathered at the Plaza, and berates president George W. Bush for leading the nation into an unjustified war.

Senator Chesbro recalls his own days as a Vietnam War protester years ago, while county supervisor Woolley (left) listens on.

Vietnam veteran and local activist Brian Willson recalls the horror of seeing dead women and children as a soldier in 'Nam, and said nothing less than a complete social and spiritual transformation is necessary in the U.S. today.

One Arcata protester waves a flag that bears the logos of major U.S. corporations in place of the stars.

A bicyclist promotes an alternative way of fighting terrorism.

Local Green Party activist Martha Devine (aka "Granny Green Genes") reminds the Arcata crowd that the real fight begins at home by eating organic foods and leading healthy lives: "Grain-fed meat, requiring massive amounts of oil to produce, is contributing to America's war on Iraq. Meat = oil = war."