I was crestfallen when I read that Cindy Sheehan gave up the fight. It didn't feel like there would be any opportunity for her to heal. It felt like she had experienced yet another death and was going home to mourn.
So much of what keeps most of us from fighting, let alone speaking and acting, is economics. I don't mean that people are too tired from working to do anything, though some people are. The classes live on different planes in this country. My at-risk students listen to Rap music and work jobs that barely pay the rent. To adapt to this life, they have shut out a great deal which does not have to do with pleasure. My college friends and I listen to left-wing radio, don't go out much and feel increasingly silenced. Three of my friends are teachers and they have found, like me, that having taught for many years does not give you any more voice in education. The more we work, the more we work, the less power we have.
It's a flaw of mine to want power, to feel that if I stand in the doorway of corruption, people won't just walk around me.
No matter how powerless I feel, listening to you, Randi, Sam and a few others, keeps me from just throwing in the towel. So your work keeps some of us alive.
But if there is one thing I wish we all could do, is plan, strategic, economic protests. If the left wing (the true left, that is) could start buying property, stocks in major companies and have financial leverage, we would strengthen our voices. Maybe that's a stock answer. I remember when ACT-UP starting getting the scientists on their side because both wanted more funding for AIDS research. Who are the interested parties in the peace movement? We know who stands to make money from war. Is there anyone who stands to make money from peace?
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