Peace Activists Schedule Newman Park Rally

It will be interesting to see just who shows up when the Great American Peace March comes to Newman Park this Friday night from 7 to 8 p.m. Led by "Lady Liberty" alias "Mary Hath Spokane", the march purports to have quite a entourage of invited guests. When she visited Long Beach, there was no indication that anyone besides herself would speak.

Besides the lack of information about the march, there is also no information about "Mary" other than a video seen by less than 300 people.



Google "Lady Liberty" or "Mary Hath Spokane" or any of her other monikers and you get nothing of note. Especially there is a total lack of news stories.

So I don't know what to expect when this quixotic character comes to our neighborhood this Friday to gather signed United Nations Peace Pledge petitions which she authored.

The advanced notice of her appearance has been circulated online by the Unitarian Universalist Community of El Paso, a group of dedicated, good and honest people. Their word is good enough for me. Here is their emailed announcement:

"Lady Liberty , alias Mary Hath Spokane, a Peace Prophet, MAW (Mother Against War) and author of the 2002 United Nations Peace Pledge, will bring her Great American Peace March 40 Days/40 Cities to El Paso July 17th. She invites all El Paso citizens to bring their petitions to her at Newman Park (Alabama at Richmond) between 7pm-8pm evening of Friday July 17^th. Lady Liberty will lead a 45 min. Peace March Sing-along and discussion. She will present the petitions from the 40 Cities to the General Assembly of the United Nations on Aug. 14th. She is asking them to adopt the pledge and present it through the 202 member states to each citizen of our world to contemplate. Bring your petitions and your singing voice to this fun event."

I'm still curious though why "Mary" has received little press or media notice especially given the fact that her Great American Peace March has meant 40 cities in 40 days.

UUCEP is also promoting a more visible peace contingency: the Pastors for Peace. They will precede "Mary" by a day:

"On Thursday, July 16, UUCEP will be hosting the Pastors for Peace Caravan that will be taking medical, building and educational supplies to Cuban citizens. Bring your favorite dish to share during a potluck and presentation at 6 p.m. in the Sanctuary. A donation jar will be available and mojitos will be for sale during the meal. Ceiba will play during dinner! Donations are needed to help defray the cost for this band; please see Janet Kincaid. Childcare will also be available."

The Unitarian Universalist Community is asking for help to provide home hospitality for Thursday night to 26 members of the caravan. "If you can lend air mattresses, help with set-up, or help in any other way to make this a great event, please contact Janet Kincaid, 539-8851 as soon as possible."