{"article":{"id":223986,"heading":"Peace Activists At the MLK Jr.  parade","author":"Cliff Olin","created":"2009-01-21 07:36:51","modified":"2009-02-16 06:51:59","last_modified":"Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:51:59","article":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>A  100-strong contingent of   peace activists marched in today's Dr.  Martin Luther King Jr.s  parade.    The peace marchers  had  groups from the Whittier and San Gabriel Valley Neighbors for Peace and Justice,  Veterans for Peace,  and a group  linking Dr. MLK Jr's quotes about justice with the  Palestinian's struggle.       <br><br> Orlando Terrazas from the Whittier Peace Vigil, had the microphone and  sounded like a fire and brimstone gospel  preacher as he  continually urged the hundred thousand people stretched out along the route to show the peace sign, or handed people the microphone to do a \"shout-out\"  for peace or for Obama.    The response  was uproarious, especially when  Mr. Terrazas  said  \"Obama's in the House\".   <br><br> A DJ had composed a  CD that mixed recordings of Dr. MLK Jr.'s speaking out against  the Vietnam war,  and his The Time Has Come\" mantra with a  contagious  dance beat that had parade viewers dancing along the 2.7 mile parade route.   He pushed a  flat cart with two large speakers powered by  a car battery  You could hear Marin Luther King's voice  blast  from the speakers as he intoned classic lines like:  \"Injustice anywhere is a  threat to justice everywhere\".     <br><br> The effect was magical:  MLK's voice filling the air  with moral greatness while a funky  beat  had people dancing and celebrating  as  Terrazas   strutted and danced  back and forth across the street to cajole people, including the LAPD, into showing the peace sign.  Yes, both the people and even some cops made the peace sign.     Terrazas also  improvised \"Goodby Bush\"  lyrics as he danced,  and  wailed bluesy,  down-home harmonica to the delight of the crowd.        <br><br> The parade was an endurance test for marchers whom broiled under the mid-day Los Angeles winter sun as they headed west on Martin Luther King Blvd.  from Western then turned  south on Crenshaw and walked to Leimert Park.   The biggest crowds were on Crenshaw, but  there were also many  thousands lined up along the 1.7 miles of  MLK Blvd.   <br><br> Before seeing and hearing the  peace contingent walk by with their banners and signs, and  Terraza preach the antiwar blues while  Dr. King's anti-war voice flew  out of the speakers,  the  predominately African American crowd had to sit through  lots of corporate and commercial parade entries, as well as groups of junior  navy sailors,  ROTC,  and  national guard soldiers wearing desert camouflage uniforms.     <br><br> The peace marchers had created a block long anti-war protest  within the  traditional marching bands,  drill teams and military  groups.            <br><br> The crowd screamed and yelled  for Obama and showed the peace sign to the marchers.  Antipathy for Bush was  as strong as love for Obama.   In response to Terraza's  urging,   many yelled \" By  by Bush.\"   \"Goodby  Bush.\"   <br><br> In the past there have not been many African Americans at  anti-war marches in L.A.,   but the  fervent response  today at the parade  shows that they are as pro-peace and    anti-Bush as anybody in L.A.   That  may bode well for future protests.  <br>  <br>    <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"collin@utla.net","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","summary":"Peace activists from around L.A.  marched in the  Martin Luther King Day parade.   Activists drew  big applause from the multitudes of spectators whom showed the peace sign and joined  in with chants of  &quot;Goodby Bush&quot;   and &quot;Obama's  in the house.   ","numcomment":2,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2009\/01\/hollingsworthjunio2008_078.jpg","filesize":"399.6 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2009\/01\/223986.php","image":{"original":"\/uploads\/2009\/01\/hollingsworthjunio2008_078.jpg","small":"\/uploads\/2009\/01\/hollingsworthjunio2008_078.jpgthumb.jpg","medium":"\/uploads\/2009\/01\/hollingsworthjunio2008_078.jpgmid.jpg"}},"attachments":[{"id":223987,"heading":"The Peace contingent ready to roll.","article":"This is the banner that lead the way for  the peace-vigil parade entry.  ","author":"Cliff Olin","parent_id":223986,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2009-01-21 07:36:51","modified":"2009-01-21 07:36:51","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2009\/01\/hollingsworthjunio2008_080.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2009\/01\/hollingsworthjunio2008_080.jpg"}},{"id":223988,"heading":"Veterans\\' for Peace coffins","article":"These coffins  gave parade viewers a sobering look at what war causes.  ","author":"Cliff Olin","parent_id":223986,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2009-01-21 07:36:51","modified":"2009-01-21 07:36:51","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2009\/01\/hollingsworthjunio2008_079.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2009\/01\/hollingsworthjunio2008_079.jpg"}}],"comments":[{"id":224003,"heading":"great photos!","article":"thanks for posting them","author":"m","parent_id":223986,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2009-01-22 09:03:15","modified":"2009-01-22 09:03:15","fileurl":""}]}