As I reflected on psalm 118 of Morning Prayer on Sunday, Nov. 21st, I was struck by coincidence of the image of "entering the gates" with the event thousands were preparing for on that very day, namely; the nonviolent protest at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, site of the SOA. This was the day set for the tenth anniversary of the massacre of the Jesuit priests, along with their housekeeper and her teen aged daughter.
By noon of that sunny morning approximately 12,000 gathered in orderly fashion in front of the large stone gates to protest the School of the Americas which had trained many military personnel responsible for countless violations of human rights in Latin America. Two of us FMMs were privileged to represent the Institute, Maryann Alukonis and Beatrice Costagliola.
One impressive aspect of the gathering was the great number of young people whose enthusiasm and commitment to the protest energized all of us. One of the main speakers, Pastor Lucius Walker Jr., made a special appeal to them, challenging them to change our present day political and economic policies which have so often favored the rich and powerful.
A ten year old girl, Bernadette O'Neill, who had participated in civil disobedience the year before, spoke to us on behalf of the children of the world and their yearning for peace. Bernadette explained the meaning of the symbolic peace cranes (birds fashioned from folded paper, origami style), that many wore. It seems that after the atomic bomb struck Nagasaki a 12 year old girl who contracted Leukemia started making peace cranes. According to a Japanese legend a person who folds a thousand peace cranes will obtain his or her wish. At first this youngster made them with the wish for her recovery, but as time went on she fashioned them with the desire for peace among all peoples. She died before she could finish them but her schoolmates took up her project to complete the thousand cranes. Here, in the U.S. many other children are making peace cranes today motivated by their desire for world peace.
As on the previous year the solemn "litany of the martyrs" was the most moving part of our vigil. While the names of those killed by the military and para-military were called out to the somber background of drums, we all responded "Presente!" and over four thousand persons of all ages raised the white crosses (or stars of David) as they slowly made their way past the gates onto the property of Fort Benning, thereby "crossing the line" and consequently committing an act of civil disobedience by their action.
Inside the gates a group carrying symbolic coffins made an even more dramatic protest as they were sprayed with red paint and lay down in front of the military police.
The large majority of protesters were bussed out of the grounds and let off at a park about a mile and one-half from the fort among them was Maryann who had crossed the line.
One could not help but notice that among the participants in the protest there was a large number of clergy and religious. It was amazing to witness older religious taking part in the event. One 85 year old sister, a Diamond jubilarian who walked with the assistance of a cane, was a real inspiration to us. When I commented on her wonderful sense of commitment, she responded, "One must do what one can while still able!"
