A Hundred Points of Light: Grassroots Vigils for Peace and Justice

Massive demonstrations against war and occupation have been held and will continue to take place in high-profile cities like Washington DC, New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Large demonstrations have always been planned for strategic dates, such as the anniversary of the latest invasion of Iraq on March 19th (U.S. time, March 20th Iraqi time) or dates of globally-synchronized protest.

Yet behind the headlines, hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of small weekly or monthly neighborhood peace vigils have been taking place ever since the current Iraq war began in 2003. And with ever-growing public disenchantment with President George W. Bush's belligerence and Congress' inaction, new vigils are still being started. In the San Francisco Bay Area alone, there are scores of weekly and monthly peace vigils, each independently initiated by the grassroots efforts of ordinary citizens fed up with endless war, the mounting death toll, relentless violations of civil liberties, obsession for security and militarization of the border, continuing development of weapons of mass destruction, utter disregard for children's healthcare, the steady stream of government deceptions and lies, and wreckless waste of tax dollars.

These photographs illustrate just how widespread grassroots peace vigils have become in the South Bay -- San José and the surrounding communities that supply workers for Silicon Valley. Decades ago, San José sat passively in the political shadows of San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. No longer. Today the South Bay has become a beehive of activity in the struggles for immigrants' rights, for contract workers' rights, for single-payer healthcare, against wars of aggression, against torture, and against government violations of basic civil liberties.

Some groups, like South Bay Mobilization, the Friday Peace Vigil, and the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, have been organizing large and small demonstrations well before the current Iraq war began in 2003. Others, like Mountain View Voices for Peace, Sunnyvale Voices for Peace, Willow Glen Peace Action, the Friday Peace Vigil, and the Lytton Plaza 9-11 Vigil have been holding uninterrupted weekly or monthly actions during many of the long years of war. The longest-running recurring peace demonstration is the annual protest against nuclear weapons development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory by Tri-Valley CARES ever since 1983. The newest arrival is the Saratoga Peace vigil which started in September 2007. Weekly vigils for justice in Palestine are held in San José and Hayward. Other recurring actions include Silicon Valley Impeachment Coalition in Mountain View, the vigil against defense contractor Lockheed-Martin in Sunnyvale, the picket against Jeppesen Dataplan -- the primary air logistics contractor for the CIA's extraordinary rendition flights ("torture flights," as they have come to be known).

Constellation of Peace and Justice

The Iraq Moratorium Peace Caravan on October 19, 2007 was an effort to connect many of the independent antiwar vigils from San José to Burlingame, a span of nearly 40 miles. With one automobile caravan starting from Burlingame in the north and the other starting from the San José Peace Center in the south, the two proceeded towards the midpoint in Palo Alto along El Camino Real. Forty-three cars plus several bikers and walkers converged at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto for a unity gathering. Organizer Paul George pointed out, in response to criticism that the caravans were unnecessarily burning fuel and creating greenhouse gases, that the U.S. Department of Defense consumes approximately 2 per cent of all crude oil used in the U.S., and much more during wartime. So this type of protest seeks to end the unnecessary use of fossil fuels for waging war, in addition to bringing peace and saving lives. By connecting the various peace vigils, the Iraq Moratorium Peace Caravan sought to form a constellation of interconnected peace vigils.

Not since the Vietnam War have public protests in the streets been continuously sustained for nearly five years and counting. The multitude of grassroots vigils for peace and justice are a hundred of points of light in the popular sentiment to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop the threatened war on Iran, end U.S. support for the apartheid occupation of Palestine, and, instead, to meet neglected human needs at home and abroad.