First photo: members of Military Families Speak Out. Second photo: Making sandwiches to give away.


We got to Civic Center Park around 5:30 a.m. yesterday to begin our Troops Home Fast. Two dozen people signed up to fast anywhere from 8 to 36 hours. In addition, one person committed to fast for a week, and one person committed to fasting every Wednesday until the war ends.

Throughout the day, supporters came and went. We sat and talked, drummed a little, signed petitions, penned our concerns on a flag to give to Senator Salazar, and handed out food to the people in the park who needed it. We had a pretty steady stream of homeless people and people who just crave food and companionship stopping by. Early in the day, a man smelling of alcohol gave us some grief for our stance against the war. Michael engaged the man in conversation, and after a few minutes, the two men were good buddies laughing together. A couple of young men also stopped by and shared their worries about our country with Frank, a man the age of their fathers. But most people picked up food and didn't care about why we were there.

A "celebration" took place across the street at the capitol around noon. Military men and American flags were lined up there. Everything looked very red, white and blue, ceremonial, and "appropriate". A cannon had been brought for the occasion - a symbol of our country??? We were told they would fire the cannon 50 times - once for each state -but the shots rang 51 times. Guess they included our newest state of Iraq in their count. I noticed that pigeons don't like cannon fire. Neither do I.

We had brought the food that we would have eaten (plus a little more) to give to the people who live in the park. We gave away more than 100 sandwiches, a lot of fruit and canned food, dozens of baked goods (donated by Whole Foods!), three dozen granola bars, gallons of water, two dozen bottles of Gatorade, and much more, I'm sure. We had just arrived at 5:30 a.m., when two men walked up to us asking if we had food. And food was handed out all day long.

When we planned the event, I had wanted to donate our food to the people that I knew would be around us while we fasted. It seemed wrong that, on a day when most people are celebrating the greatness of our country, the least abundant of us would be forgotten. At our site, I witnessed all people, regardless of lifestyle, being treated with respect and generosity. It felt so different from what was going on at the capitol.

There were actually only four of us left after 7:30 p.m. We were going to stay until sunset. A downpour changed our plans at 8:00, though, and we madly took down the canopy and loaded our stuff to get out of there. The people who have no homes were left to find shelter wherever they could.

I felt all kinds of emotions when the rain poured down, and we scrambled to get into our cars so that we could go home to dry, comfy beds. I knew that we were leaving many people who couldn't do that. And this morning, I ate breakfast in my kitchen after 36 hours of fasting, but about 12% of Americans are going hungry.

After the fast, I still hold grief and anger and love and hope and despair and joy all inside me. I am extremely grateful for the people who were willing to work, fast, give, love and bear witness to the needless war and atrocities at the hands of our country.

P.S. Did you know that Cindy Sheehan is planning to fast until at least September 21st? And Diane Wilson is fasting indefinitely. Watching Diane speak about it on a video on Truthout.org, I felt that I am not doing enough. I am not putting my life on the line for the people who are suffering and dying. I have to ask myself how much I really want this war and the violence perpetrated by our country to end.