COACHELLA VALLEY, CA—On January 21, 2013 the visions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, and Mahatma Gandhi were remembered and their words were spoken to a new audience and brought to life again. While their powerful words still hold the cause originally intended, they are more urgent and pertain to our local struggle more than ever.
The original purpose of our peace vigil was to act on our belief that gun violence must be halted, and that the way we can help to bring about a more peaceful community is to speak out and call attention to the tragedies which, while horrific in the sensational mass shootings like the Newtown disaster, occur with equally shocking frequency in our own community which is the Coachella Valley.
Lorraine Salas opened the program by introducing Occupy Coachella Valley’s (OCV) vision for peace and justice. She spoke of OCV’s actions to protect the environment against the corporations trying to make a profit by opening a new fossil fuel powered energy plant here. She spoke about our support of local people whose homes have been foreclosed upon, and about our ongoing struggle to be heard by our local politicians concerning degradation of the environment, materialism and militarism.
She spoke about a man who changed her life, a teacher, Michael Rosenfeld, who introduced her to the works of Gandhi, and so helped her find her voice. He helped her to see she could make change in the world by speaking out. With this vision, Lorraine could see the issue of gun violence not as a far off issue in another state, but a local issue in the Coachella Valley. She discovered that more than thirty local people in the area died by gunshots in the last year.
Rosie Terry felt the need for action against gun violence following the shootings of twenty seven children and adults in Connecticut. She was instrumental in coordinating resources, and bringing Richard Finn, a local musician and member of Veteran’s for Peace to play at the vigil. Her vision was to hear the words of the great leaders who should have been alive to guide us through these difficult times, if they hadn’t been shot first. She chose quotes from Dr. King and Robert Kennedy to illuminate and rekindle their ideals of peace, justice and equality.
The highlight of the vigil was when two students read the names of the victims of Newtown and the local people who were killed in gun violence. The students, a fourth grader and a seventh grader, volunteered to read the names and strike a bell to symbolize the remembrance of all victims of violence all over the world.
Finally, with candles aglow, all the people sang together. Led by local singer Teesta Chakraborty, everyone sang the anthem of hope, John Lennon’s “Imagine” and then “Last Night I had the Strangest Dream,” by Ed McCurdy.
Gabrielle Jackson spoke about the hope of everyone that this small gesture of community togetherness would not be forgotten or be fruitless in its desire for people to live together as a community of people with a common vision of peace.
To view a video of this vigil go to www.kmir6.com/news/toprotator/187838991.html
