We had another incredible anti-war protest in Studio City on Friday January 31. For the last several weeks there has been a protest every Friday between 5 and 7 p.m. at the corners of Ventura and Laurel Canyon and our numbers seem to be growing. Both protests I’ve attended have each began with perhaps 50 participants and swell to about 100 as pedestrians and commuters alike join our ranks. Although a number of organizations are represented the major one is the protest’s initiators and planners Neighbors for Peace and Justice (Studio City) which is lead by the ever diligent and ever so positive twosome Steve and Jocelyne Fine.

But there are two conundrums. One is personal and the other is a matter of protest procedure. Although, so far, the police have been good at respecting our constitutional right to demonstrate we’re having a problem with merchants, apparently, complaining to the cops not about the protest itself but about the noise created by the enthusiastic honking the rally receives in support. This is frustrating because the rally and thus the honking only lasts about two hours and only once a week. In realty this is not an inconvenience to anyone (war will be the real inconvenience) but to accommodate the local profiteers Neighbors for Peace and Justice have stopped using the “honk for peace” signs and have insisted that other protestors present follow their lead. I believe our message of peace is more important than asking people to honk but we greatly appreciate the support and solidarity shown by the commuters who do honk and we get a lot of positive response. This response in turn fires and inspires the protesters. People are still going to honk whether we hold the signs asking them to do so or not. Is creating an environment where the protestors can’t be blamed for the honking a desired solution? Do the good people of Neighbors for Peace and Justice have the authority to dictate to others what signs can and cannot be held since they are the organizers of the event? Are there any suggestions on other ways to resolve these dilemmas?

On a personal note; I have been alternating between carrying protest signs and the American flag at the rallies. But the flag is causing me an ethical problem. I personally have little respect for the U. S. flag. The flag I have in my own poverty-infested one-room domicile is hung upside down. Of course I agree with the basic principles for which the flag supposedly stands; namely liberty and justice for all. But I don’t agree with how those principles are ignored by the American elite or are, at best, unfairly administered; how the realities of American life and the principles our country’s leaders claim to hold in such high regard are two very different things and are in fact diametrically opposed. (Case in point; poverty is oppression yet there are more impoverished Americans today than during the so-called “great” depression.) But in my opinion these rallies are not the place to wave an inverted flag. And further I believe it’s important to illustrate that peace, liberty and justice for all is actually MORE patriotic than war, liberty and justice for all. Am I being hypocritical when I wave the flag?

Thanks to all who have attended the protests and to those who have supported us by honking and by waving and by yelling and by giving the peace sign and by just flashing your smiles. COME JOIN US!

c. j. macq

equality IS freedom!