Twenty five years ago today The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament stepped across the fifteenth state border and walked into Washington, DC. We had done what “they” said couldn’t be done. An event originally budgeted for $20 million came in at under $1 million. A dream that fell apart in the Majove Desert became a grass-roots movement of 400 people who walked all the way from Los Angeles to Washington in nine months. On November 15, 1986, we had grown to 2,000 marchers and 15,000 supporters.
In Walking for Our Lives, my recently published chronicle of the March, I wrote:
We did it! We did it! We chanted and hugged each other. Some wept. Bea and I leaned together and I shouted, “You see, anything is possible! They said we couldn’t do it and we did it. One step at a time.”
AT&T had set up phone booths where marchers could call home for free. I found an empty one and happily dialed son Sam and Jane’s number. I knew she’d be home with their children, Derek and Caitlin. “We made it!” I hollered.
“I know!” Jane replied. “I can see you on TV. Yes, you! You are at a phone booth, and we are talking, and you are on TV right here in Santa Rosa, California! We are so proud of you, Donna!
I peered around and waved at the TV camera.”
Now, all these years later, I have written Walking for Our Lives and hope that it will inspire others to write their own stories and to get involved with doing something, anything, to improve our world. Something as simple as being pleasant to the check-out person at the market. Something as dedicated as Occupy. All in the name of peace, which starts in the heart. One person, joined with others, CAN make a difference. Did the Great Peace March change the world? YES! It changed, for starters, those of us who did it and that change rippled out like waves from a pebble in a pond.
Happy 25th Anniversary, Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament. Let’s keep going!
Wow! One step at a time, across a continent. Anything is possible, you said it, Donna. You’re an inspiration to all of us.
Patricia
I met one of my dearest friends in Monterey County, Jacquelyn Smith of Carmel, when I volunteered with the Monterey County Nuclear Weapons Freeze and she was volunteer coordinator. Jacquelyn participated in the Great Peace March too, as you know, and she told me about your book, Walking for Our Lives. I look forward to reading this history! Thank you for all your steps for peace.
Thank you, Mari…. I wonder if you have yet read Walking for Our Lives. So much has happened since this blog post; book signings, locally and as far away as Alamos, Sonora, Mexico. Currently my publisher and I are planning a book tour of the Northwest in May, and possibly in Winslow, Arizona, in September. Living with a book is FUN! Perhaps we can get together with Jackie one of these days. Peace and Plenty to You, Donna