Area anti-war protesters to travel to Washington rally

Local anti-war protesters say they'll make a 22-hour chartered bus ride from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., next weekend to push for peace as part of a demonstration expected to draw 100,000 marchers or more.

Robert Polack, an assistant professor of social work at Southeast Missouri State University, is one of about a dozen people in Southeast Missouri making plans to attend the demonstration at the nation's capitol as the Bush administration prepares for possible war with Iraq.

"I don't see it as a futile action," said Polack, who has been active in anti-war protests in the Cape Girardeau area since October. He said there is a growing peace movement nationwide.

The Southeast Missouri protesters will join more than 200 other anti-war protesters in the St. Louis area who will make the trip. The trip is organized by the Missouri Peace Coalition. Participants will pay $75 each to ride the buses.

Polack, who is 50, said the trip will be easier by bus than traveling in a cramped mini-van.

Still, it won't be a vacation, he said. The buses are scheduled to leave St. Louis at noon on Jan. 17 and arrive in Washington, D.C., around 10 a.m. on Jan. 18. The rally is scheduled to start about 11 a.m. At 7 p.m., the Missouri protesters will board the buses for the trip home.

"We will be exhausted when we come back on Sunday," Polack said.

Still, he said the trip is worth it. "I think it is just thrilling to be part of this grassroots democracy," said Polack, a member of the Southeast Missouri Coalition for Peace and Justice. The group of about 30 peace activists has been holding weekly candlelight vigils in Cape Girardeau across from the Federal Building.

The peace march in Washington will be held two days before the national holiday in celebration of the birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

"King was pro peace and for non-violent action," Polack said.

A vocal opponent of the Vietnam War, King's 1967 speech against the war would be just as valid today, said Polack who worries that a war with Iraq would spark more terrorism and further destabilize the Middle East.

Polack participated in an anti-war rally in Washington in April.

But Cape Girardeau resident Ellen Dillon will be participating in her first march in Washington.

"I don't know what the schedule is. I am just getting on the bus," said Dillon.

She said she wants to be a role model for her 10-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son. Dillon said she and her husband have always preached non-violence.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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