Jackson Free Press

"We must find an alternative to war and bloodshed." Those words by the late, great Martin Luther King Jr. are helping drive thousands of America to organize against a preemptive war against Iraq. And after 30,000-plus protesters gathered in Washington and around the country two days before the holiday honoring Dr. King's birth, even the mainstream media are starting to pay attention. Here in Mississippi, The Clarion-Ledger ran two front-page articles, including one by James V. Walker, who accompanied 15 protesters from Jackson in two vans on their 2,000-mile round-trip journey to Washingon to protest the war.

The piece treated the handful of protesters respectfully, even touching on the idea that a lot of people in Mississippi may have progressive ideas, but be scared to speak up. "I think there's probably a lot of people out there like me. It can be kind of scary to say anything. More people might come forward if they knew they had support," one of the protesters, Pontotoc native Chris Nolen, told Walker.

Nationally, the protests passed through the news cycle with some decent coverage; yet most of it was tinted with a pro-war lens. The reports repeatedly pointed out that (a) some two-thirds of Americans polled say they support a war against Iraq and (b) that the people at the protests paled in comparison to the war's widespread support. What the reports failed to emphasize is that (a) the same polls show that only about a third of Americans support a unilateral war against Iraq without support of the world community, and that just ain't to be had, and (b) the majority of Americans supported the Vietnam War in its formative days as well. And we all know what happened to that pro-war vigor.

Just hours after the march on Washington, Central Mississippians for Peace—a new offshoot of the small, but damned-busy Green Party here—sent out a statement saying that they found new supporters when they marched during Saturday's Martin Luther King Jr. Parade in Jackson. "Many people along the parade route expressed their understanding of our sign that said, 'Of all the countries in the world, the U.S. possesses by far the most powerful weapons of mass destruction," said Jan Hillegas of Jackson.

Small groups of peace protesters also gathered at the Lee County Courthouse in Tupelo and the Oktibbeha County Courthouse in Starkville. National Public Radio rode the bus to Washington Friday with a group of protesters from Gulfport, broadcasting live, and sounded rather shocked that they could find a handful of Mississippians who don't support the war, or Bush, or the death penalty, or anything else not firmly defined by our conservative stereotype.

On a related activist note, a fledgling-but-determined group, Mississippians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, launched a David-vs.-Goliath campaign on Jan. 12 to end juvenile executions in the U.S. The announcement came within days of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's temporary reprieve to Ronald Chris Foster, who killed a shop owner during a robbery when he was 17. "No civilized society executes juvenile offenders," said Ken McGill, MADP executive director. "We do not let juveniles sign contracts, serve in the military, marry, purchase alcohol or cigarettes or even vote. Yet we somehow deem them eligible for the death penalty. The double standard is appalling."

These voices of protest in Mississippi may be weak, but they are indeed starting to find each other. Just hang on a bit longer, Mr. Nolen. A crowd is gathering.

— Donna Ladd