Seeking 'another way,' Oak Parkers rally for peace
by Drew Carter
Reprinted courtesy of Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest
December 11, 2002
Braving frigid temperatures, about 150 people turned out at Scoville Park to support the Oak Park Coalition for Peace and Justice's peace rally Sunday afternoon.
The group gathered in the southwest corner in front of a small dais from which two speakers -- University of Illinois professor emeritus Bill Adelman and Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church Rev. Kathy Reeves -- delivered addresses, and from which peace songs were sung and a dramatic reading was performed.
According to Kevin McDermott, part of the organizing committee for the coalition, the group wanted to persuade the government that its current approach to Iraq isn't the best for the country.
"We want to tell them that there is another way," McDermott said. "We want them to look for peaceful resolutions to our conflicts."
He called military response "exactly counter-productive," and said a military response would only be all right if the U.S. were attacked first.
"This is crucial. We could be slipping into a big war," said protester William Becic, whose voice became drowned out by a rousing chorus of "Down By the Riverside," at which point one hats-and-scarves-bundled couple in the crowd began dancing.
The event Sunday was part of a Chicago-wide peace weekend, the idea for which came from the coalition, which approached the Chicagoans Against War in Iraq to help organize rallies metropolitan-wide. The grand finale will be a vigil and candle procession next Sunday, Dec. 15, which will feature Cardinal Francis George and other religious leaders from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu communities in Chicago.
"It's not just a fringe group of people" that feels this way, said Ann Kransdorf of the coalition, "there's a huge group of people."
Some of that group on Sunday included veteran and 30-year Oak Parker Scott Berman. "I'm shocked," he said, "that my nation would go to war in violation of its history of duty and tradition."
Some of the coalition's regular rallies include a group that meets every Thursday morning from 7:30 to 8:30 on the Austin overpass of the Eisenhower Expressway. Kransdorf said that group interacts with many passersby, including commuters getting on the Blue Line, and honking motorists on the Ike.
On Friday nights, a group has met in front of First United Church in Oak Park since early October 2001 to offer inspirational sayings in support of peace.
Most in attendance walked across the park from the corner of Lake Street and Oak Park Avenue, where coalition representatives were getting signatures for a petition that will be published as a paid advertisement in this newspaper. A signature fee of $5 was charged to pay for the ad.
John Bradley, a 13-year Oak Parker, said more people need to speak out for peace. "If more people speak out we can stop this war before it starts."
