A diverse group of concerned citizens gathered on Saturday in Shanklin 107 with the intention of building a cohesive anti-war movement with a unified message. In particular, energy was focused on organizing and publicizing the March 17 anti-war protest to be held at the Old State House in Hartford.
The meeting was arranged by Tim Brennan, a political activist and lawyer who will be running for West Hartford’s town council in November, as well as Professor of History Magda Teter, and Gary Collins, who ran for State Congress. Among those in attendance were representatives from the AFL-CIO, Iranians for Peace, the College Democrats, and the American Association of University Women.
The meeting, one of 20 that the group Connecticut Opposes the War (COW) was holding simultaneously across the state, centered largely around listening in to a conference call between Connecticut politicians such as Senator Chris Dodd and Representative Jon Larson, as well as the former Senate candidate Ned Lamont. Nagging technical difficulties marred the quality of the phone call, challenging listeners to follow the conversation. Nevertheless, the time-tested art of face-to-face verbal communication triumphed: representatives from organizations that are traditionally rivals—such as the College Democrats and the Green Party—found themselves eventually working together to gather as much support as possible for the protest on March 17.
During the discussion period of the meeting, which was covered by Fox 61 local news, people were generally calm, talking about organizational efforts and for the most part abstaining from discussing in-depth the war in Iraq itself. However, Vic Lancia, an Air Force veteran and Green Party member, did not keep silent about an issue that he felt affected him so personally.
“It’s just evil that they’re sending kids back with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome,” Lancia said. “I know Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. You can’t even take a piss. So they say to you, ‘Man up!’ But you know what? I’m sick and tired of people telling me what it is to be a male human being. It’s time the Democrats took their tutus off.”
Lancia was not the only one present who spoke passionately about the political issues of the day. Lyn Shaw, an administrative officer in the Admissions Department, is a veteran activist who was motivated to participate in a march across the nation.
“At the time of nuclear build-up I felt such great despair,” she said. “So I walked across the country—about 15 miles a day.”
Shaw said she learned about the march, which was inspired by Indian leader M. Gandhi’s salt protest march to the sea, at a similar type of political event.
“I heard about it at a meeting just like this,” she said.
After a period of initial discussion, COW meetings from all over the state tuned into the static-ridden phone conference between the politicians. For several minutes, Lamont’s voice flickered between barely audible and completely inaudible.
Lamont was finally contacted, but not much was said or heard over all the confusion. In Shanklin, people could not help but laugh. After about ten minutes, the conversation—which had been planned to last 25 minutes—was ended in an act of good sense and humor.
“I think this teleconference has been a roaring success,” Rep. Larson quipped. “At this point, I think we should let people talk in their own town conference meetings.”
In the ensuing discussion, one point that came up was the successful efforts on the part of Students for Ending the War in Iraq (SEWI) to pressure Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro to take real action against the war. While DeLauro had previously indicated opposition to the war, she had refused to support cutting funding for military operations in Iraq.
In response, SEWI had organized two demonstrations in front of the congresswoman’s office and managed to meet with her and express their demands. Since then, the group claims, the congresswoman has signed a resolution for a troop withdrawal within six months.
Bill Shortell, a local activist and prominent COW organizer, congratulated the group.
“Because of SEWI’s efforts, [DeLauro] has changed from being good to being a leader in trying to cut funds in Iraq,” he said.