Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Last Day or the Walk

The Walk concluded last night with a Lantern Ceremony at the NIppozan Peace Pagoda in Milton Keynes. The Zen Buddhist community put on the most beautiful and heartfelt lantern ceremony I ever attended. This was entirely fitting to commemorate the victims of Hiroshima's Atom bombing and all victims of nuclear weaponry and radiation. Hundreds of people attended, many from Japan and other parts of the world. We walkers had opportunity to be presented. I was asked to bring my Gandhi presence in word and in deed.

The day began when we piled into the van with our luggage to drive across London to the Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park where we concluded on Saturday, when we had the most attended day of the walk to enter London. That beaautiful day concluded with a program and meal at Kingsley Hall. It is still a viable community center, which maintains the room where Gandhi stayed in 1932. (I hope to share more of significandce about this day.)

Back to yesterday, we walked from the Pagoda to Number 10 Downing street to deliver our Walk message to Prim Minister Gordon Brown. Work on the street and entrance resulted in our being in a cage to present our message by letter. The security people went through procedures before accepting it. The guards were armed, some with threatening weapons. After leaving Downing Street we walked to Tavistock Square for the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament annual Hiroshima Day event, number 40 at that location. Here again we were recognized and celebrated. CND and its members are dedicated and committed in the face of our Goliath opposition.

Two experiences highlighted the event for me: Len Aldis with the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society spoke of the continuing effects of Agent Orange on the the Vietnamese, showing that also nuclear radiation victimizes future generations. Since I went to prison in 1970 for a direct action with Dow Chemical Co in Washington DC for its production of Agent Orange and napalm, I felt closely connected to his words and deeds.

The second was regarding a documentary film crew from Iran. When they heard of our September 23rd action and my motivation about concern for Iran, they filmed me as Gandhi. They inquired about the US citizens and governments intentions about Iran. I am still most concerned that the US will bomb Iran with fearful consequences. Representatives of Campaign To Prevent War In Iran (I do not have the precise name handy) were also present at the event, passing out their analysis of the situation. Being out of the United States and observing reactions to US actions is a good experience. Wonder, confusion, anger, ignorance, fear, and other emotions are there. The intense interest in the filming of me as American conveyed the desire to find out more about the American people's knowledge. One question was, "Do the American people know that the US has undertaken 270 (?) plus military actions around the world since 1900?

There you have a brief summary of our last day. I will leave on Wednesday for a Gandhi School in Birmingham, England before returning to the US on the 13th of August. I will continue entering more about the Walk as I reflect and have opportunity. The reasons for the Walk are more precisely known now. I need to reflect on their implications. Thank you for staying with me.

1 comment:

Sharon said...

Thank you for all that you do!
Looking forward to more of your reflections.