More than 5,000 rally in Oakland streets

Radical Cheerleaders, an Uncle Sam on stilts, Kiss look-alikes, and a large mother earth were… Radical Cheerleaders, an Uncle Sam on stilts, Kiss look-alikes, and a large mother earth were among the 5,000 protesting in Oakland on Sunday.

The Regional Rally and March Against the War with Iraq took place all afternoon, starting on Bigelow Boulevard and ending up in front of the Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute.

In spite of a steady snowfall that became nearly blinding as the afternoon progressed with temperatures in the teens, protesters decked out with signs, musical instruments and colorful clothing listened to speeches and chants, and proceeded down Fifth Avenue.

The crowd consisted of a “broad spectrum” of protesters according to Tim Vining, the executive director of the Thomas Merton Center. The Thomas Merton Center, along with the Pittsburgh Organizing Group, organized Sunday’s march along with other events for the Pittsburgh Regional Convergence Against War.

Protesters under heavy layers of clothing filled about a third of Bigelow Boulevard and flowed onto the Cathedral of Learning and William Pitt Union lawns. Three mounted policemen blocked the street at one end while more city and Pitt police worked to control frustrated motorists and excited protesters at the corner of Bigelow Boulevard and Fifth Avenue.

A giant globe face with blinking eyes and swaying arms waved from the front of the rally beside a stage from which speakers addressed the crowd. Signs filled the crowd, ranging from the simple, like a peace sign accompanied by the slogan, “back by popular demand,” to the more clever, such as the makeshift sign that read, “Draft beer, not me.”

“It’s about a tyrant — a tyrant who can do no wrong in our eyes as long as we’re bombing Iraq,” a speaker from the Islamic Council of Pittsburgh said to the cheering crowd. “We are the majority and we are the people — you are either with us or against us.”

Some speakers emphasized the need for a peaceful resolution while others took advantage of the opportunity to point out additional flaws in American society. One speaker urged Americans to conserve fuel and speak out against police violence, citing the example of a 12-year-old boy who was shot by police in Uniontown, Pa., while running from them earlier this month.

A group of about 15 elderly women, calling themselves the Raging Grannies, set up on the stairs of the SEI before the protesters arrived for the rally. About eight police officers lined up on the stairs behind them as the Raging Grannies sang songs with anti-war lyrics. One Raging Granny member, Kathleen Gerace, wore a cardboard sign over her shoulders displaying the message: “It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.”

The Raging Grannies attracted passer-by Jim Cunningham, who is retired but still teaches at Pitt’s School of Social Work.

“I think we’ve got to be a lot more patient and a lot more humble,” he said, adding, “we rushing into [a war] way too fast.”

People in cars honked at the Raging Grannies, and a man on a bicycle carried a sign with two small American flags attached to it with the simple message of “No War” as he rode down Fifth Avenue yelling.

Police blocked different sections of the streets as the crowd progressed up Fifth, through Oakland.

“We need to be visible and this is our opportunity to do that,” Charles Sherrouse of Philadelphia said as he stood beside his sign of pins and buttons with slogans such as “There is a god and she’s listening.”

“It’s important for other students to see us out here,” Sherrouse said, adding that he was impressed and pleased by the number of people at the rally. “I think the opposition to the war, both from the public and from leaders abroad, puts Bush in a very difficult position if he wants to continue on a violent course.”

Not everyone was pleased by the number of students who attended the rally.

Mike King of Emlenton, Pa., said he felt the student apathy differentiated Sunday’s rally from the peace rallies of the ’60s and ’70s.

“I would have thought that the college students, having a more enlightened view, would have turned out in force. They seem more interested in jobs and money — they don’t seem to care enough to get involved,” King said. “I’m 55 years old and I’m a Vietnam veteran, and it’s a sad day that I have to be here. On my way down here I was bawling — it’s just a very sad time.”

“I’m not anti-war, I’m anti-this war,” King said, adding that he supported Vietnam at first but became disillusioned when he realized “we could not win and young men were dying while the government was plotting their exit strategy.”

Students were a minority in the crowd, which included people ranging from elderly couples to parents with small children. Many pet owners also brought their dogs — including one small hound bearing a sign that read, “Bomb Iraq and I’ll bomb the White House.”

Veterans in camouflage jackets offered a sharp contrast to the group of men and women wearing hot pink and black and representing Pink Bloc, a “queer radical group” that they said works with other minority groups on progressive movements.

“We’re here to show Pittsburgh that queers are against the war,” said Jeremiah Larsen, a member of Pink Bloc bedecked in a long, hot pink dress, a black jacket and a long string of pink roses.

“We’re here in Pittsburgh being loud and it’s good; we’re in their backyards and not on the news,” he said, adding that he had attended many rallies in Washington but felt more people would be reached by a rally closer to home.

“We’re used to seeing cops in full riot gear, and the cops here are really friendly,” Larsen said. “There are usually more cops than protesters but right now we outnumber the cops. It’s heartening.”

Pitt police Lieutenant Fran Walsh said the protesters maintained close contact with police in organizing the event to ensure a peaceful protest.

“They’re cooperating with what we’ve asked them to do and we’re doing our best to do what we said,” Walsh said as he waved traffic up Bigelow while the protesters filled Fifth Avenue.

Some people attending the Oakland rally also traveled to the South Side to march down Carson Street on Saturday. Dorothy Svitesic, 79, and her husband, a World War II veteran, did not join the crowd in the march today because they said they were worn out from marching the day before.

“It’s just depressing that we’re in another war going into another country,” Svitesic said, recalling recent U.S. bombings in Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. “We’re just going around the world killing people and destroying civilizations.”

“Just to see other people feeling the same way — it’s a wonderful thing,” Svitesic said. “It boggles my mind [that] people just don’t care. Evil exists only when so-called good people do nothing. What worth am I if I can’t stand up for what’s good?”

As the crowd continued its procession through Oakland up Forbes Avenue, Pitt students watched out their dormitory windows while protesters urged them to come and join the masses.

One student flashed an “I love Bush” sign out his residence hall window; the crowd simply replied, “You go fight.” The march continued along South Craig Street on its way to on Fifth Avenue between the SEI and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Not everyone entered the crowd by choice — Pitt student David Ravnikar said he had to get off his bus several blocks away from campus and walk through the crowd because traffic was blocked.

“They’re stupid, that’s what I think,” Ravnikar said about the people rallying. “You’re pissing a lot of people off, that’s what I think,” he told one protester.

“As far as awareness goes, everyone knows about [the war],” Ravnikar said, adding that while he did not support a war in Iraq, he felt the protesters aggravated and endangered people by blocking off a clear path to the UPMC hospital complex.

“It really got me mad when I saw people having to turn off of Fifth to get to the hospital,” he said.

Few anti-protesters voiced their opinions, however, and most of the people at the convergence showed support for the protesters. Some, such as Mark Collins, a Pitt professor in the environmental studies department, even brought their children.

“I wanted my daughters to come with me, but this morning they asked me if it was OK with President Bush if they did it,” Collins said while his daughters, Faith, 11; Hope, 10; and Grace, 6; watched the crowd gather in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral at the end of its march. “I said it’s even more reason to go because they said that.”

“I’d like to see some debate,” Collins said. “It has this inexorable quality — as if we’re not allowed to talk about it.”

“Daddy, I want to march,” Grace Collins said, interrupting her father while he held her in his arms.

Police officers then blocked Fifth Avenue at the Craig Street intersection as the protesters began to arrive. Police officers were also stationed next to the SEI.

“If the demonstration can disrupt anything, it’s effective … as long as nobody gets hurt,” Cunningham said.

When the protesters marched across Fifth Avenue to culminate in front of the SEI, they chanted, “What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!”

They carried signs with messages such as “Mamas, don’t let your cowboys become president” and “Pro-life Bush to bomb babies?” One sign, with Bush’s picture on it, said, “F— you possum face.”

Then they listened and cheered on the Raging Grannies who continued to sing, with some protesters joining in.

Marty O’Malley stepped up to a microphone that had been set up on the stairs of the SEI. He said he had joined the Navy 40 years ago to fight in the Vietnam War, thinking it was a just and moral war.

“My government lied to me and the nation about Vietnam,” he said, adding that the current impending war is no better and is a war for oil, which the crowd responded by shaking their signs, several of which that read, “No blood for oil.”

If the United States has negotiated with leaders of Egypt and other oppressive nations, “we can talk and negotiate with Iraq,” O’Malley said.

Another speaker, Mike Epitropoulos, also said the United States’ dilemma with Iraq is one over oil. He quoted Gandhi as saying, “There is enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed,” as the crowd yelled in response.

Speakers representing various organizations such as the Green Party, National Organization of Women and the Palestine Right to Return Coalition also addressed the crowd.

Molly Rush spoke last, inciting the crowd to chant, “No War!”

“We’ve been called simple-minded … but we know better,” she said.

Senior staff writer J. Elizabeth Strohm, staff writers Rochelle Hentges and Nikki Schwab, and news editor Greg Heller-LaBelle contributed to this report.