High Five the World March for Peace as They Stroll Through Your Town

by Daniel J Gerstle · 2009-11-25 08:52:00 UTC
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Every once in a while some brilliant young student activists manage to motivate huge numbers of people to come out and send a message to authorities and fellow citizens about peace, etc. This time it's the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, which is crossing through the United States as you read. If you get a chance, go out and give them a high five, some gatorade, or better yet, ask them to join Change.org and sign up for some Causes.

Sure, often these crowds begin with lovely intentions then splinter into thirty-five different variations of "Make Love not Nuclear Waste" or "So and so is Hitler we're all going to die," thus losing their impact. Some splinter groups may, yes, scare the hell out of the very politicians and spectators who may have been the most important to win over. Sure, many of the people who join with good intentions are spending their time and money on a glorified roadtrip instead of humanitarian aid and direct policy advocacy.

But, hey, it's America, and these marches can be the seed for getting kids thinking about tough issues, even if their first petition is to have the elderly lady with the Hitlerbama pinata elected to the YouTube Hall of Fame. If nothing else, it's a crowd of goodwill moving slowly across the earth. So let's thank them for the awesome vibes. And see if they'll join us here.

[Photo: American Flag of Peace, JColman]

Daniel J Gerstle is a journalist, human rights researcher, and humanitarian aid consultant. He is Editor and Chief Correspondent for HELO: The Crisis Story Magazine.
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