No To Nuclear War With China And Russia Say Mainers

 

Westbrook, Maine March 18, 2023 Photo credit: Mary Beth Sullivan

Report back from yesterday's March 18 peace action in Westbrook, Maine:

We had 50 folks come from all over Maine today to our protest in conjunction with the national event at the White House in Washington.

We met at a very busy intersection in Westbrook (near Portland). It was attended by people from six political parties in the state. (Maine Green Independent Party, Communist Party of Maine, Libertarian Party, Portland Republican Party, People's Party of Maine, and Party for Socialism & Liberation of Maine.)

Cynthia Howard with the banner she created with the help of the Artists' Rapid Response Team (ARRT!) of the Maine Union of Visual Artists. Photo credit: Mark Roman

 

We had a steady and huge amount of honks, waves and peace signs from the cars passing by. Everyone was really pumped by the experience. We all agreed that the 'worm is turning' and that the public (all across the political landscape) is not happy about the Biden administration and Congress funneling $113 billion to the proxy war in Ukraine that is aimed at Russia (and soon China as well).

We had a good mix of all ages at the event - something that has been a long time coming in Maine as the peace movement here has been aging.

We had a final closing circle and invited people to share why they had come. It was very moving to hear those present applaud for the speakers from various political parties. I made sure to make the point that there are good people in all the parties and political organizations and we must resist the 'divide and conquer' efforts by the corporate oligarchs that run our country.

Today was a great example of what is indeed possible if we try with good faith and a cooperative spirit to work together. We can come together in solidarity. We don't have to agree with each other on every single issue. But today was a resounding call that we must oppose this suicidal US-NATO permanent war path.

More to come. Stay tuned.

Keep paddling.

Bruce Gagnon

PS Try as we might we did not get every single person into a photo. We are sorry for that.

 

As far as press coverage, I had an op-ed published in the Maine Beacon a day prior to the protest while Bruce gave an interview to a camera crew from a local news station on site in Westbrook. Sadly, it would appear that an editor at the station must have killed the story -- at least there's nothing on the WMTW website. We'll keep looking.

And we'll keep organizing. A protest on tax day, Saturday April 15 in Topsham at 1:30pm is in formation sponsored by the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space and the Maine Natural Guard. Co-sponsors are welcome! Email us or leave a comment.