Summer of Love '07 ...by Cindy Sheehan

On a Journey for Humanity (cross-posted on michaelmoore.com)

The other day I came out of my short retirement due to yet another Bush flagrant abuse of power. We decided that we would walk from Atlanta to DC to gather a people’s movement for humanity. The longer BushCo are in office the less chance we have of recovering the heart and soul of our nation, saving our soldiers and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, and saving the planet from corporate and individual waste and pollution. Impeachment, removal from office, and in a perfect world: incarceration for the criminals against humanity, are urgent and necessary steps that need to be taken today.

Since the announcement of the Walk, circumstances have changed. Rev. Lennox Yearwood is not going to have his hearing for Conduct Unbecoming until the end of August, and we were going to begin our walk after his hearing on July 12th in Macon, GA. So consequently, we are going to begin our Journey on July 10th in Crawford, Texas.
Our Journey will take us through places such as Ft. Benning, GA, and New Orleans where Bush Crimes have had such a deeply detrimental affect on people. Torture and the continued criminal lack of help for the people of the Gulf States are two of BushCo’s more heinous crimes.

Our Journey will also take us to House Judiciary committee members’ offices where we will sit-in and demand that they institute Articles of Impeachment against Bush and Cheney immediately. On July 23rd, we will be in Congressman John Conyers’ office to encourage him to take the lead on impeachment. A sit-in in his office is possible and likely.

The US part of our Journey will end in New York City where on July 27th we will stage a demonstration in front of the UN to highlight the refugee crisis in the Middle East caused by the Bush High Crime Cabal. There are millions of people displaced by the atrocity in Iraq and, no matter what former US Ambassador and leading neo-con war criminal John Bolton says, the US does owe the people of Iraq more than we can ever repay. The very least we owe them, though, is a relatively safe country to live in and basic human rights like: homes, food, clean water and medical care.

Our route and flyer for the “Gather-in of Hearts” is posted at Camp Casey Peace Institute. Donations can also be made there. Visit our MySpace page and be our friend!

We also need volunteers in cities along the route to help coordinate rallies/actions and food/housing for walkers. To volunteer, e-mail Dede Miller at tiggerloli@aol.com or call: 562-912-5838 (we don’t take blocked calls.).

On July 29th, we will be re-creating the Summer of Love and hold a “Gather-in of Hearts” in Central Park with leading activists and musical entertainment. Proceeds will go to Iraqi Refugees and for medical supplies for Iraqi hospitals.

When we are finished in NYC, a few of us will be Journeying to Amman, Jordan to help refugees in Jordan and Syria. We will visit the camps to assess the depth of the humanitarian crisis that is causing so many children to unnecessarily and tragically suffer. We have so much in this country. How can we allow our brothers and sisters to go without basics? Who can sleep comfortably at night and enjoy three square meals a day when other people only have moldy bread to eat and are starving? Do you think of the people of Iraq and the refugees literally dying of thirst when you go to turn on your tap for plentiful, clean water? Our animals here in the US are treated better than many humans on our planet. As MLK, Jr. said in his speech at the Riverside Church on April 04, 1967: “My government is the biggest purveyor of violence.” Our government has killed enough people to populate many small states in the US and has forced millions more to flee their places of birth. Our governments will never change, but our hearts can and we can do much to alleviate suffering and change the world.

Since I announced the Journey for Humanity, I have received a lot of support and encouragement, and many “I’ll be with you in spirits.” We appreciate your moral support, but we need your bodies and your dollars if you can’t participate. Our world is in an environmental, political and humanitarian state of emergency at this point and participation in a People’s Movement for Change, Justice and Humanity is becoming mandatory by our membership in the Human Race.