Helena Peace Seekers
Action for peace, economic and social justice and environmental responsibility

CAKE & ROSES:
WITNESS THROUGH ART
May 1– May 29 •
15 W. Placer St, just off Last Chance Gulch (Click here for full schedule)

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Mission Statement

For thousands of years in our human history war has been a failed and ineffective method of resolving conflict.

The Helena Peace Seekers (HPS) began a weekly vigil four years ago, standing on the corner to demonstrate our beliefs and suggest that others consider carefully what and why they believe. Our commitment to peace continues, although we recently decided to suspend the weekly vigil and redirect our energy. We began our vigil 27 weeks before “Shock and Awe,” braving the elements and the scorn of some passers-by to say that an invasion of Iraq would be immoral and insane. We believe that war never solves conflict and can only increase humanity’s suffering and thus contribute to terrorism. We believe that our nation’s leaders were motivated by greed for oil profits and the desire for domination as they invented lies to justify the brutal invasion of Iraq.

Vigils on the corner were bitter sweet, and in mid-winter, bitter cold. As much as we would have preferred other activities at the end of the work week, we loved seeing each other, expressing ourselves together, and discussing the responses from our audience. Over four years, good connections were made on the corner, and we always welcomed whoever appeared, particularly the young people who inspired us to keep on. We occasionally shared the corner with counter-demonstrators and even an army recruiter who targeted the high school students as if he could not comprehend their anti-war signs.

Now the majority of American people have grown tired of the tremendous human costs of occupying Iraq and no longer desire to continue this disastrous course. We mourn the deaths of 3,055 US soldiers and the injury of 35,704. We grieve for the pain of soldiers whose post traumatic stress disorders will impact them for decades. We decry the genocide committed against the Iraqis, the 655,000 who died as a result of the invasion and occupation during the four years we kept our vigil. We witness the growing devastation of poverty at home as ongoing budget cuts gut our nation’s social services, health, and education programs, a result of shifting our tax payments into the bank accounts of the weapons dealers and military contractors. Friday afternoons on the corner, we heard the shift in public opinion expressed by the growing chorus of horns played in response to our HONK FOR PEACE signs. In November, our perceptions were confirmed as election results demonstrated what has been called a referendum against the war.

In our community and state, the HPS have focused on many projects that demand considerable time and energy, stretching the active members of our organization and requiring us to consider carefully what we take on. The decision to suspend our weekly vigil is motivated in part by a desire to focus on other forms of communication in response to changing political conditions. We have decided to concentrate on three significant projects in the coming year: We will seek medical tests for US soldiers injured through exposure to depleted uranium weapons and develop a public education campaign about the destruction caused by our current use of nuclear weapons; We will help send a political message from Helenans to support the troops and end the occupation of Iraq; We will work in partnership with AERO (the Alternative Energy Resource Organization) and others to strengthen conditions for peace through sustainable energy policy and community gardens.

We still believe that peaceful, nonviolent demonstrations can be an effective tool for social change. If you were one of the thousands who honked your horn when you saw us on the corner, please know that there will be invitations in the future to increase our numbers. In the meantime, we encourage you to join one of our working groups or just come to our potluck dinner gatherings or meetings. For more information, contact me or one of the members of our steering committee.

Katie Knight, Co-chair, Helena Peace Seekers