Last week marked the third birthday of the Iraq War. It didn’t go unnoticed. All over the country, folks came out in droves to mark the somber occasion—in fact, more than 600 peace actions were planned in all 50 states to call for an end to the Iraq occupation. In Albuquerque, the theme stuck—about 1,000 of us met outside the UNM Bookstore on Saturday, March 18, and made our way down Central, making pit stops in front of Congresswoman Heather Wilson’s and Sen. Pete Domenici’s offices, ultimately parking ourselves Downtown at Robinson Park.
It was a sight rarely witnessed in our city—a surge of people swept over the sidewalk and, with permission fromt APD, eventually the right-hand lane of Central, chanting and clapping and clamoring. There were people in masks, with drums, carrying cardboard coffins, propping up giant puppets, holding their kids on their shoulders, waving signs, wearing wigs, reciting poetry … and three young women with long hair singing “Give Peace a Chance.”
There were also people with cameras.
