Rolling Through Manhattan On A Mission For Peace

May 16, 2009

Like the old civil rights song goes, I woke up this morning with my mind set on, well, PEACE. And not just peace but biking for peace. The reason being: today was the third annual NYC-United For Peace and Justice Pedal For Peace bike ride. This was the third time I've ridden in this delightful, family-friendly fundraising bike ride. The ride has two goals: raise money for the important work that UFPJ organizes year round: the struggle to end the wars that are the legacy of the Bush administration and that are impediment to solving the dire problems confronting our country: a declining economy, increasing joblessness and loss of homes, lack of decent health care for millions of Americans ... and so on. The other reason: we just want to have some fun. And we did!

The day threatened to be a repeat of last year's ride which was a drencher. But though the clouds hung over us till the very end (when the sun suddenly appeared) the rain stayed away. That was not a bad thing - the somewhat cool day made biking a perspiration-free pleasure.

Here's my bike - bedecked for the Pedal For Peace bike ride.

The threat of rain, however, did frighten people - enough so that the ride this year was a bit smaller than usual. Never mind. It was small but still very spirited. We gathered at the north end of Central Park and prepared our bicycles with signs calling for peace and funding for our communities instead of warfare. People were in good spirits and itching to get on their bikes and pedal. Soon enough, Leslie Kielson , of NYC-UFPJ , gave us some last minute instructions. A marshal then gave us some tips to ensure a safe ride and off we went, out of the park and north through Harlem.

Coming or going, the message's the same: No more money for war!

This is really a lovely little ride as it take one through interesting parts of our city that you might not ever get to see: lovely streets in Harlem, then up into hilly Washington Heights where the old geology of our city is still very visible in the form of giant boulders of Manhattan schist looming on the side of steep streets. And then a stop for a snack, half way through the 15 miles, at historic High Bridge Park with fabulous views over the Harlem River far below us and out over the Bronx to the east. Historic because the High Bridge is the borough's oldest bridge connecting it to the mainland (yes, the Bronx is on the mainland!) It was not only a bridge but an incredible, early public works project of enormous magnitude as it is also an enormous aqueduct that brought fresh water from the pristine Catskill mountains to the faucets, sinks and tubs of the metropolis a hundred or so miles away.

Getting ready to leave the park and venture northward.

Out of Central Park and heading north through Harlem.

We reach our snack stop - historic High Bridge Park in Manhattan. High Bridge is visible way below on the right.

After some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and refreshing cold water, we got back on our steel steeds and headed back downtown. But the route now took us down the west side of Manhattan, along the Hudson on elegant Riverside Drive - beautiful! For a map of the route just CLICK HERE.

Cruising down Riverside Drive on our way back to the start point.

All along our ride, from beginning to end, we shouted out to passers-by the purpose of our ride. We were greeted with applause, shouts of approval and V-signs of peace. That was a particularly rewarding part of the ride, know that people who voted for Obama under the slogan "Yes we can!" were now saying to Congress and the President - "Yes we must!" Must end these wars that are robbing us of the ability to fix our economy and meet the urgent needs of our citizens.

I'm looking forward to next year's ride. I hope that you'll join us next time! It's fun and very worthwhile.

And here we all are - at High Bridge. A small group with a very large spirit! What a great sight!

To see all my photos just CLICK HERE.

A final comment: I'd like to share with you my feelings of deep gratitude. Therefore, this post is dedicated to all my friends and family who donated to my bike ride. I raised $1407.00 which goes to further the important work of NYC-United For Peace & Justice who are working so hard to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to bring our troops home - safe and alive, and to direct those funds to be used for rebuilding our country instead of for warfare and occupation. Thank you all so much!

And, by the way, if you haven't yet donated it's not too late! Just CLICK HERE to give right now. It's painless and easy and you'll be doing a good thing for our country and for our planet.

The End Of America Comes To Flatbush

Some 60 Brooklynites filed into the cavernous auditorium of P.S. 139 in Flatbush to see an important new film, The End Of America. The film paints a detailed and chilling picture of the Bush gang's assault on our constitutional rights and liberties.

The story of the film showing in Brooklyn is a tale in and of itself. In the planning for the event the NYC Department of Education (DOE) refused to issue a permit citing the "controversial" nature of the film. (One may well ask what is controversial about our Constitution and the protections it offers our citizens.) However, a request for help, made to the NYCLU's Legal Director, Arthur Eisenberg, resulted in a quick retreat by the DOE and the permit was issued.

The film showing was initiated by a new group that is establishing itself in the Flatbush neighborhoods surrounding Cortelyou Road and Coney Island Avenue: Flatbush For Peace. Co-sponsors included a representation of the diverse neighborhood: the Council Of People's Organizations (COPO), which serves the South Asian community and the Haitian Enlightenment Literacy Project (HELP) as well as Brooklyn's large and active peace organization, Brooklyn For Peace.

Sam Koprak, active in organizing Flatbush For Peace, introduced the film. The End Of America claims that under Bush our country was headed for dictatorship and draws strong parallels with Nazi Germany by documenting the ten steps that have been used by authoritarian regimes throughout history to erode and eventually destroy civil liberties.

In the film, Wolf examines each of these ten steps, One comes away with a realization that democracy and human rights are frail things indeed and when methodically abused can quickly disappear. This is particularly true when you have a citizenry that is purposely kept uninformed and uneducated (think Fox News, CNN, the networks, our schools, etc.) about the history, the significance and the life and death struggles that ensued to win independence from the British monarchy and that forged our constitution and its enshrining of human rights and liberties.

Sam Koprak, of the newly-formed Flatbush For Peace, convenes the meeting at PS 139.

The ten points, documented in the film, are --

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.
2. Create a prison system outside the rule of law.
3. Set up an internal surveillance system.
4. Develop a thug caste.
5. Harass citizens' groups.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release.
7. Target key individuals.
8. Control the press.
9. Equate dissent with treason.
10.Suspend the rule of law.

Within each of these points, Wolf discusses the similarities between events that transpired in Nazi Germany and elsewhere with what Bush and Cheney were conniving at here. Thus is her book and the film an urgent wake-up call to those who cherish and would maintain our hard-fought civil liberties.

Naomi Wolf - ten easy steps to fascism.

Naomi Wolf taking questions after the film showing.

After the film, the author was joined by Arthur Eisenberg, Legal Director of the NYCLU, (who, as I mentioned earlier was instrumental in persuading the DOE to issue its permit for use of the school), to field questions from the audience. Eisenberg gave an informative history of the use of repression in our country during the Civil War and Word War I and then discussed the case of Jose Padilla. Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was declared an enemy combatant by Bush who cited his powers as Commander In Chief. This was a drastic departure from an established American legal precedent called the Milligan decision which decreed civilian supremacy over military authority. By using the Commander In Chief title to justify his action stripping citizen Padilla of his constitutional rights, Eisenberg said, Bush was declaring that his military authority allowed him to be above the law, thus setting a very dangerous precedent.

Arthur Eisenberg, Legal Director of the NYCLU, gave a chilling description of the government's abuse of U.S. citizen, José Padilla.

The meeting ended after 9:00 pm and we came away with a new appreciation of the dangers that had been brought to our country by eight long years of Bush's contempt for democracy and the rule of law. There was, I thought, a new determination to ensure that these actions be rolled back and a further awareness that unless those responsible for the heinous crimes committed, such as torture, kidnapping and wiretapping, be brought to justice. How else would we be able to prevent them from being enacted all over again in the future? Some in the present administration have asked us "not to look backward but to concentrate on the future." To which we must answer that we cannot go forward in peace and freedom without learning from and dealing with the past. After the Nazi crimes of the 30's and 40's, U.S. policy and indeed, all of human kind, decreed that those responsible for crimes against humanity must be brought to justice and punished. Why have we abandoned that outlook now?

Naomi Wolf's book is available for purchase here.
Naomi Wolf's website can be visted here.
And the film on DVD can be purchased here.

Naomi Wolf's book - The End Of America.

To see a SLIDE SHOW of all my photos from last night's event click here.

Or for a PHOTO GALLERY instead, click here.