Sheri, Juan Carlos, and Lincoln, with a group of concerned citizens, took a bus to Washington DC to join the March opposing the escalation of troops in Iraq. Sheri wrote the following observations about this powerful event:

At a pre-march rally, soldiers, just home from Iraq, took the stage with families who have lost children in Iraq. They were extremely articulate about their need to call for the end of a war built on lies. Their pain of experiencing senseless loss and killing was palpable. The large rally platform could not hold all of the members from these two groups who wanted to speak, or just be seen with a picture of their child in uniform or in a flag adorned coffin.

Also, the picture of how little concerned our country is with returning vets was illustrated by various clergy people who visit the vets in hospitals. They spoke and gave a picture of how our government is just "using" our soldiers and only honoring them with lip service instead of services they need when they return home. One teenage boy's sign at the rally summed it up: "I am not a renewable resource."

The most passionate and lengthy chant from a crowd of 100,000 plus gathered on the Washington Mall was "Impeach Bush." It would not let up or disappear. Every other speaker, (from about 2.5 hours of a parade of speakers ) read a list of constitutional violations. The rally was just as much about reclaiming our constitution as it was about urging congress to stop funding for the escalation of troops in Iraq. A peace representative from England took the stage and begged our country to do what his country cannot: impeach. He said the majority of the population in England is with us, but only US citizens have the power to stop this world imperialism.

As we marched up to Delaware Avenue, in this 100,000 plus crowd (I overheard the police say 300,000) the crowd did meet with a pro-war group. I counted about 30 of them along the lines of the march. They were delegated to an area sectioned off by the police. Perhaps this is an accurate ratio of those for and against the escalation of troops in this country 30: 300,000! The papers interviewed this group, but did not mention that they were grossly outnumbered.

Juan Carlos, foreground, and Lincoln, behind him, at the Washington demonstration
against the escalation of the war

The speakers with the clearest voices, for my ears, were Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. John Conyers, and Rep. Lynn Woolsey. How uplifting to hear this voice from our congress. They were clear about their desire to stop funding, since Pres. Bush seems set on sending troops to Iraq (and then very shortly on to Iran as was mentioned).

The march was sponsored by United for Peace and Justice and their website has information to help stay on top of the "what can we do?" question.

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Photo by Mona Mark

The new Compact Disc was just released and is already selling like hot cakes! Go to TownHall Records  and snap it up before it goes out of style. Of course, that will never happen because the 200 years of American Song represented on this recording will remain timeless. The title of the album is "American Snapshots," the catalog number is THCD-70, and the artists are Sheri and Lincoln Mayorga.

For additional LINCOLN MAYORGA information, please visit www.lincolnmayorga.com.