Musicians For Peace Tell It Like It Was

Indie songsters Damon & Naomi have helped gather a loose coalition of musicians who favour peace over war, and who wish to publicly oppose America’s war on Afghanistan. Under the banner of Musicians For Peace, we don’t necessarily uphold a particular platform or even agree with each other as to what should be done in the wake of 9/11.

Keeping that in mind... Signum is pleased to present Damon & Naomi’s first-hand account of a peace protest in Washington DC, September 29, 2001. Though we do not normally publish material of a strictly political nature, this is an interesting piece in a very Signumial way, involving musicians and their culture. Enjoy. –the editrix

"It took us a few moments to realize that these police were there for us. Did they think our acoustic guitars and tambourines were actually weapons?" * * * * * Illustration from Ted Jalbert Illustration

Because the media reports of the peace protest held in Washington DC on Saturday have been so erratic, we wanted to share an account of what it was like from our vantage point.

Saturday morning, about an hour before the rally was to begin, we gathered several blocks away with other musicians and friends at the statue in a small park called Farragut Square (Farragut turns out to be the one who said, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"). A helicopter flew in a tight circle, very low overhead; armored cars and police cars with sirens on raced along the street at one edge of the park. A block further away, we could see a large group of black-clad anarchist demonstrators, running – we learned later that the anarchist contingent, without a permit of their own to march, had decided to stage a separate anti-capitalist demonstration before joining up with the larger peace rally.

15 minutes after we had started gathering by the statue, about a dozen motorcycle police in body armor drove onto the sidewalk and into the park. They stationed their bikes in a neat semicircle along the opposite side of the statue from where we were, and kept their backs to us. One of them dismounted, and casually walked through the middle of our group as though on his way somewhere. He then turned and walked back through the middle of our group. The others remained on their bikes, their backs turned.

It took us a few moments to realize that these police were there for us. Did they think our acoustic guitars and tambourines were actually weapons? (Maybe they are.)

We then received a cell phone call from a friend who had attended the anarchist demonstration – he was in a group of about 1,000 people, in another small square a few blocks away, surrounded by rings of riot police. The protestors were trying to get to the site of the larger peace rally, but were being prevented from leaving the square by the police. Could we get the word out to send help? He was worried there would be a confrontation if it went on much longer. (We learned later that the police held the group in that square for 90 minutes, until a legal team dispatched by the organizers of the peace protest were able to negotiate an end to the barricade.)

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