ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

thanks for coming to the park today, Mike, and for getting this posted lickety-split! i'm still working on getting yesterday's and today's photos posted to the OPC's new flickr account.

the following are the remarks i made this morning before the ceremony - performed by local Boy Scouts, one of whom is my Marine brother - to raise and then lower the American flag to half-staff in mourning, on a rinky-dink flagpole that I MADE MYSELF:

Good morning, and welcome to the Ojai Peace Coalition’s “Not One More!” memorial and action in Libbey Park, Ojai. We open today forced to face a rather dark commentary on the state of our nation, and on the state of Peace. It seemed appropriate to me that we open this memorial by having some veterans raise our nation’s flag, but in the course of pursuing that plan, here’s what we discovered: half of our veterans like war so much that they won’t come near anything that seeks Peace, and the other half want Peace so badly that they struggle with being near a flag which has come to symbolize war. So we have none of the voices, minds, or hands that have experienced war first-hand here with us this morning for a flag ceremony. These few of us – with no taste of war, but with a burning desire for Peace – are left alone for now to the task of memorializing a relative few of the Iraq War dead; those who called themselves “Americans”. As of this morning there are 3,987 of those whose lives have been taken by this war. But as veterans themselves are often so quick to point out, they are more than just numbers. Not One More is about turning body counts into human beings; about laying their names at our feet and watching the ripples go out. It’s about contemplating our individual and collective roles in their deaths; about making the connection between ourselves and all of our brothers and sisters who suffer in this world.

There’s also a perfectly good flagpole behind us, and yet we're using this small home-made one. You may notice that there’s already a flag flying, and that it’s locked in place. My intention is not to call anyone out, and there are certainly individuals in local government who have been helpful and supportive of what we’re doing, but i think it is valuable to know that generally the City of Ojai - and the Public Works Department specifically - denied our request to use the flagpole to fly our nation’s colors at half-staff in mourning this weekend EVEN THOUGH the Governor’s office told me it is okay to do, and EVEN THOUGH the flag over our State Capitol Building is currently flying at half-staff specifically for those fallen soldiers who are from California. My experience in this matter has been one of a local government afraid to touch anything beyond our valley, and of a staff that serves the systems and protocols rather than the other way around. But where there is a will, there’s a way, and so we've got our own flagpole and will have a ceremony performed by local Boy Scouts. i thank them for their will and courage.

Our flag is considered a living symbol, and in patriotic passages spanning many decades it has been imbued with the noblest characteristics we have language for. Red for valor and hardiness, often poeticized as the blood with which we have paid for our freedoms; White for innocence and purity; Blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice. As we proceed this weekend, i will be wondering where the courage is in lying to start a war, how we claim purity while we practice torture, and what kind of justice entails the murder of over one million Iraqis.

i'll close with a poem by George Wallace, written in 2005, entitled "The Ones We Don't Forget":

this one would not paddle a boat
this one would not bait a hook
this one slept on the side of a mountain
this one swam in a minnesota lake
this one grew as tall as a cornfield
this one traveled to new orleans
this one had the arms of a blacksmith
this one’s hair was thick as smoke

these trainloads of young men
these trainloads of young women
these trainloads of young women
these trainloads of young men
this one sat on a porch for hours
this one ate like an alligator
this one cried over algebra
this one laughed in pouring rain
i cannot spell this out more clearly
i cannot be more precise than this
this one died for no reason
this one died for a friend
this one died in an alleyway
this one’s childhood had to end
these are the ones we don’t forget
these are the ones we will remember
we sing their names like trumpets
we sing their names like saints or nails
we sing their names like fountains
we sing their names like graves
in new york and texas and california
in mississippi and oregon and ames and maine
the ocean will support them on its watery shoulders
the sky will carry them on its windy hips
like the first woman to cross the face of this earth
as they cross over the line of battle
from your war to our peace

An hour ago I left my home and walked down to Libbey Park to check out this event. I had the idea I was just going to observe, but the day was so cool and lovely, and the walk gave time to reflect, and I resolved to write at least one name on the pavement.

There was a slightly festive feeling to the plaza, in spite of the solemnity of the occasion. A few orange-robed musicians were playing their instruments and chanting; a lovely, lithe young woman was performing her hula-hoop magic on the grass; and twenty or thirty people were standing around in small groups, chatting.

But there on the pavement of the plaza were the names, in blue chalk on the light-beige brick. Scattered about were three or four people on their hands and knees, lists of names in their hands, still recording more. The whole plaza, nearly, was covered with names, and so registered in graphic, visual terms the magnitude of the number of fallen -- almost four thousand now.

I found a friend there on her hands and knees, chalk in her hand, and relieved her for a few minutes. I wrote four names -- one for each thousand of the dead. It was a searing experience -- I could easily have wept for each one. The first name I wrote is imprinted in my memory -- DAVID J. LANE. Who was this man? What family? What hopes and dreams? How killed? At what age?

It was good to get down on hands and knees for this purpose.... a humbling posture, most appropriate to the occasion.

I walked home chastened, and yet grateful for the opportunity to participate, in however peripheral a manner, in this moving and cautionary tribute.

I just got home from the park too. I want to express my gratitude to evan and the Ojai Peace Coalition for giving us this space to pause to remember those who died and contemplate the horror of this war.

I was surprised how moving it was to write the names of six of the men who died. You cannot help but wonder who they are and feel the sorrow and magnitude of their loss. To see all the names written on the pavement of the plaza... to see all the photographs of those who died gathered in one place... as families with young children and people in every stage of life walk about enjoying this beautiful day...

As I walked home I could feel the immense power of the wind blowing through the valley. The wind is so cleansing. I wish it could blow all the evil away...

In addition to evan, I want to thank the other event coordinator, Coleen Ashly. Just now I read the "Not One More" brochure that she put into my hand... I know how much volunteer work these things take... I am so impressed by your efforts!

david, it was a distinct honor to meet you today...thank you for sharing of yourself both at the park and here on the Post. your experience turned out to be quite common, and precisely reflects our goals for our participants. thank you for sharing so eloquently...i used your comments as the opening for the vigil portion at the end of the event, after which people went around and shared their own reflections. i am convinced that we did something powerful here.

i'd like to note that the single action mated to the memorial is a petition to the City of Ojai urging their adoption of a resolution to
• End the War
• Withdraw our troops, contractors, and bases
• Redirect war funds to domestic needs
• Rebuild Iraq through non-military aid
similar resolutions have recently been PASSED in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.

we gathered 189 signatures over the weekend, but if you missed it you can read the resolution and sign the petition HERE.

Congratulations Evan,

I'm glad it went well. A sobering spectacle.

Tyler, we need an open thread about now. Too much happening and I don't want to blur other threads.

done, Sean...

For what it's worth, what do you think of the idea of having an open thread all the time, at or near the top of the page or other visible location? As I recall, some "open threads" only have a few comments before they disappear off the visible page. How long they remain visible is a matter of chance...is there a way to change that?

Thanks to everyone for your comments about our Community Memorial. It certainly would not have been possible without the huge number of volunteers and the support of the amazing communities we live in, and...believe it or not, without the support of our media that sometimes seem to dissapoint peace efforts. Thank you Ventura County Star and Ojai Valley News!

Thank you Suza for your kind words. It was good to meet you "again" yesterday!

Thanks, too, to Tyler and the Ojai Post for not only being our Blue Ribbon Sponsor, but for continuing to provide a forum for our community to express our thoughts,our opinions, and our actions!

You're welcome and my pleasure.

Thank you for the memorial events of the weekend. I signed names and wept. I too was "glad" to be on my knees. It forced me to slow down, and think, and feel. May you be blessed many times over for your courage and agape love.

Your welcome Evan and thank you for raising consciousness. (-:-)