Yesterday
22 people gathered in the western mountain college town of Farmington,
Maine to protest wars and colonial exploitation. The flavor of our
monthly standouts shifts depending on who shows up plus the mood of
leftists in the face of current events. What began as a response to the
U.S.-NATO effort to use Ukraine as a proxy to weaken Russia [ in February 2022] has morphed
over the years into an anti-colonial, anti-imperial coalition opposing
multiple U.S. wars around the planet.
Some
people came from pretty far away yesterday: Millinocket, Cumberland,
Biddeford, Brunswick. Several newer faces and some old friends as well.
(You meet the nicest people doing this work.)
Green
Party co-chair Kelly Merrill brought a soapbox and a bullhorn which
helped us be audible at a busy intersection where trucks roar loudly by,
some of them on purpose. Her theme was the extreme climate harm
caused by the Pentagon with its fuel guzzling war planes and nonstop
explosions. Pickup trucks revving their V8 engines to show their
displeasure just emphasized her point.
On
the whole we received more positive responses than negative, especially
from people on foot, and our one encounter with local police came when
an officer asked us to step back out of the street up onto the curb “for
your own safety.” I had expected him to object to how our closing
circle was filling up the sidewalk on one corner, but I guess that’s not
an issue for Farmington.
Veteran
Trish came from afar and delivered a barn burner of a speech about her
time in the previous Gulf wars, focusing on the lies and callous
disregard of her commanding officers. She brought a flag of Lebanon on
her signature fishing pole which I was glad to see because Beirut and
southern Lebanon are being pounded mercilessly right now by bombs from
the Zionists supposedly targeting Hezbollah by demolishing apartment
buildings full of children. When I left the Orange Cat Cafe where we
gathered to warm up after the stand out, she was being interviewed by an
activist from the American Communist Party (sorry I did not get his
name, could be Brian?).
Maybe
her testimony will turn up in one of the videos the ACP has been making
aimed at young people who might or might not enlist.
Black
Wolf of the Diaspora Pa’alante Collective spoke of how Puerto Rico has
been colonized by the U.S. for a very long time and, ever the organizer,
shared two handouts inviting us to join the DPC’s work. Black Wolf also reminded us of an event for Cuba they’re co-sponsoring that will be held in Bangor today.
Of
course Iran was on everyone’s mind as “negotiations” were over before
they started in Pakistan with the U.S. team making maximalist demands
like control of the Hormuz Strait which Iran de facto does and de jure
will control, likely in tandem with Oman. The U.S. presence in the
region is largely degraded and the destroyer they sent as a test case
yesterday was warned to back off (and did).
Stalwart
Cynthia with a cerebral sign aimed at liberals that she made quite
legible. She is a brilliant sign maker and I always look forward to
seeing what she comes up with! I usually see her outside the General
Dynamics bomb factory in Saco, and I’m a bit late in sharing this photo
from our last standout there on April 3.
There’s generally a crew there from 3:15-4:15pm on Fridays in case you want to join in.
Here
are Cynthia and Mark recently joining Yasmin’s daily vigil for Gaza in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Though you can’t see it here, the back of
Mark’s sign reads: Senator Collis votes $2 billion a week for war in Afghanistan. Those were the days. Current estimate for just the war on Iran is $2.1 billion for each day!
If
you’re “concerned” why not join us for the next statewide coalition
standout in Lewiston on Saturday, May 2 at 1:30pm on Main Street next to
Veterans Park? As Mark said yesterday in our closing circle, It feels good to stand with other people who care about what’s going on.
