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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/12/28/EB30087.DTL ---------------------------------------------- Friday, December 28, 2001 (SF Chronicle) COMMUNITY/Lake Merritt peace protesters put their beliefs in motion/Regular vigils help tighten group Rona Marech, Chronicle Staff Writer Peaceniks, socialists, progressives, anti-imperialists, anti-racists and anti-Bushniks, war veterans and retirees, teachers and trainers, students and federal employees -- it's a motley collection that gathered at the eastern edge of Lake Merritt a couple of Sundays ago. They came in puffy jackets and in Birkenstock sandals with a range of issues and flyers: saving Social Security, promoting Palestinian rights and -- in the case of one earnest couple -- spreading the word that the human race was created by aliens. But this hard-to-define assembly is united by a common goal -- world peace. So, as they've done every Sunday since the end of September, they brought their candles, arm bands, pins and signs that read "Honor our dead with peace not bombs" or "No military tribunals!" or "No war, no racism." And a little after 3 p.m., under a menacing sky, the 35-strong group began its peace walk around the lake. "Being together and being different is really how peace is going to work," said Jane Esposito, whose pacifist dogs, Wrex and Chaos, brandished bandanna-signs declaring "Make love not war" and "No more war." "I just feel morally compelled to to do this. It's no more complicated than that," said Mark Boynton, 72, a self-described leftover from the Vietnam War and die-hard progressive. "You just do what you can. This is what I can do." Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace has had these weekly vigils on and off over the past decade, said organizing couple Beth and Steve Wagner. During the Gulf War, as many as 300 anti-war protesters came out weekly; a smaller group materialized during the Balkans War. The Wagners were intimidated to march in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, but a few weeks later, they announced that the Lake Merritt peace walks would resume. Eighty people came the first week, and 200 showed up when the bombing in Afghanistan began. Since then, the weekly turnout has leveled off at 35 or 40. "It just seems like a good way to have a place for people to go to meet like-minded thinkers, to register their dissatisfaction with what's going on and as an educational thing for people going by," Steve Wagner said. The Lake Merritt crew is part of a small society of locals who have decided that the gentle, reflective act of walking is an appropriate way to promote peace. A group, started by a Lake Merritt regular Don Najita, meets at 7:30 p. m. on Wednesdays at the North Berkeley BART station for a similarly spirited trek through town. Berkeley twins Angela and Lisa Porter are in the midst of organizing a cross-country peace walk. They plan to leave Berkeley with a group of six women on Jan. 21 and arrive in Washington, D.C., in December 2002. "If I say that peace is the answer, then I guess I have to be willing to live that," said Angela Porter, 37. "One of the things I can do is offer my walking as a prayer. . . . Maybe it will inspire someone." Pacifists around the country -- from Arizona to Tennessee -- have offered to host the walkers and plan events for them. "The news keeps telling me how people feel about what's going on," Porter said. "I don't think it's representing the views of people who live in the country." The Lake Merritt perambulators heartily agree: Peace activism is alive around the country and world, but people don't realize it because of skewed media coverage. "This is what you would call countermedia," Najita said. "We're reminding people that this point of view exists and is still thriving. . . . It seemed like the most public and significant way to say, 'This is what I stand for. What do you stand for?' " Apparently, many of those driving around Lake Merritt also stand for peace. Several marchers carried "Honk for peace" signs and indeed, the group was trailed by a steady stream of piercing honks and almost no detectable negative responses. Passers-by waved. They stuck up their thumbs. They shouted encouragement. A group on the Scottish Rite Temple steps cheered. "It's amazing how much support we have," said Ken Meyercord, 57, of Pleasant Hill. "If 10 percent were to get out of their cars and walk, we'd have quite a crowd." Of course, this is Oakland -- Barbara Lee land -- several said. Who knows what kind of reception they'd meet with in a different part of the Bay Area or nation. But still, it's uplifting, they said. "And even if it were true -- that we're isolated," Steve Wagner said, "we have a legitimate point of view, and we have the right to express it." Beth Wagner likes to point out that though the weather has been terribly wet, the walkers have been rained on only once. "I don't really believe in metaphysical stuff but. . ." As usual, on the recent walk, the sky remained gray and dour, but the weather held. Then about an hour later, once the orange lights around the lake had flickered on, and the sun was all but gone, the rain began. ___________________ On the beaten path: Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace meets 3 p.m. Sundays at the columns on the east end of Lake Merritt between Grand Avenue and Lakeshore avenues. Boulevard. For information, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] or call (510) 763-8712. __________________ E-mail Rona Marech at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ----------------------------------------------- Copyright 2001 SF Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
