Walk for a New Spring 2004

When we walk, it is said that each step is a prayer, a prayer for our own awakening and change, a prayer for government officials’ awakening and change.

Walk for a New Spring will walk between 15 and 20 miles each day, connecting with dozens of communities in four weeks. The walk will culminate on March 19, which is the day before the first day of Spring. March 20, 2004 is also a global day of action to end the US war on and occupation of Iraq. We encourage all community members to participate in a local or regional public action.

“Weapons that can destroy everything have already been made. That is why we must seek a power that surpasses violence. This is what humanity is searching for. The power which wins over violence, which nullifies it is called nonviolence. When non-violence prevails we have peace… We must seek this power in the U.S. … It does not involve politically taking power or manipulating the economy, but transforming the minds of the people…U.S. policies will be converted should her people become more spiritual and stand up and search for peace…. It all goes back to the spiritual principals of not taking another life and not stealing. Today, instead of murder we call it ‘armaments’ and instead of theft we call it ‘trade’. Cunning reasons are given to openly exploit and plan to kill people. (But) it is the workings of the human heart and mind that are not visible that can correct such misguided actions of the nation-state and the modern world.”

- Most Venerable Nichidatsu Fujii,
Founder, Preceptor, Nipponzan Myohoji

For the third year...

...we walk from mid-winter into Spring. As the earth brings its renewal to the surface, let us walk, pray, share together- to bring forth renewal and vision to build a genuinely nonviolent future. What can we do to take up Martin Luther King’s call for a revolution in this country from a “thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society”?

We warmly welcome your participation for a mile, a day, or more. We also humbly ask your help in organizing a community welcome and hospitality. There is much around which to share our thoughts, including: withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq; eliminating plans for a Bio-Terror laboratory in Boston; transforming the economy of Massachusetts which is evermore entrenched in nuclear weapons and military contracts with the Pentagon; humanizing the thinking underlying the prison system; ending global warming; ending the systematic violence of poverty…

This year we will carry with us information about the inspiring international movement linked with Hiroshima and Nagasaki- Mayors for Peace. This group is dedicated to mayors and municipal leaders collaborating around the globe to act on behalf of their citizens to eliminate nuclear weapons and create a world without war. We appeal to everyone to ask their Mayors or local leaders to join with the current 554 cities in 107 countries in the most urgent and uplifting effort.

Updated and more detailed scheduling information about the walk, including information about where we'll be staying, is available at Traprock Peace Center walk update.

February 26:   Pittsfield - Lenox - Lee
February 27:   Lee - Beckett // West Cummington - Cummington
February 28:   // Huntington - Montgomery - Westfield
February 29:   Westfield - Southampton - Easthampton - Northampton
March 1:           Northampton - Williamsburg - Conway
March 2:           Conway - Greenfield - Montague - Leverett
March 3:           Peace Pagoda - Wendell - Orange - Athol
March 4:           Athol - Royalston // P.M. Rest Day Winchendon
March 5:           Winchendon - Baldwinville - Gardner / Westminster
March 6:           Gardner // Fitchburg - Lunenburg - Groton
March 7:           Groton - Westford - Chelmsford
March 8:           Chelmsford - Lowell - “Raytheon” - North Andover
March 9:           North Andover - Georgetown - Newburyport
March 10:         Newburyport - Newbury - Ipswich - Essex - Gloucester
March 11:         Rest Day. Moving to Falmouth in Cape Cod
March 12:         East Falmouth - (Mashpee) - Hyannis
March 13:         Hyannis - West Barnstable - Sandwich / Sagamore
March 14:         // Plymouth / Kingston - Duxbury - Marshfield - Scituate
March 15:         Scituate - Cohasset - Hingham - North Weymouth - Quincy
March 16:         Quincy - Dorchester - Roxbury - South End - Brookline - Newton
March 17:         Newton - Waltham - Lexington - Woburn - Wakefield - Lynn
March 18:         Lynn - Saugus - Melrose - Malden - Medford - Somerville - Cambridge
March 19:         Harvard Square - Cambridge City Hall - Copley Square - City Hall Plaza - Boston (see below for details)

//: transportation by vehicle

Walk Shedule for Friday, March 19

8:15 Assemble at Christ Church, 0 Garden St. (Harvard Sq. MBTA stop on red line)

8:30 Walk down Mass Ave

9:00 Cambridge City Hall, Mass Ave near Inman St (Central Square stop on red line) Then follow Mass Ave across the river to Boston; left @ Commonwealth Ave; right @ Dartmouth St.

10:00 Trinity Church, Copley Square, (Copley Sq stop on green line or Back Bay stop on Orange line. A Turnpike exit is near and public parking is available.)

10:30 Walk to Blackstone Park. (Dartmouth/Tremont/W.Brookline)

11:00 Interfaith Prayer Service, Blackstone Park (Washington St & W. Brookline St in So. End)
or St Stephens Church ( Shawmut and Pembroke across from Blackstone Park)

12:00 Walk toward Gov't Center Washington St./Winter St/Tremont St.

1:00 Interfaith meeting with elected officials, Boston City Hall Plaza (Government Ctr. stop on green line) Concluding with brief ceremony of closure and commitment by 1:30.

Bring flowers and join for all or part of the day. Please also bring your own snack and beverage for a long morning. Local info (617) 441-7756. Walk cellphone: (413) 695-2871.

We carry with us a vital appeal from Hiroshima’s Mayor Akiba to mobilize the U.S., together with the world’s communities for a nuclear-free future. We also have information about Mayors for Peace ( www.abolition2000.org/groups/mayors/ or www.citymayors.com/orgs/mayors4peace.html ). Consider asking your municipal community / Mayor to join this international, grassroots movement to eliminate nuclear weapons and all war.

We carry three videos if you wish to view one when the walk comes to your community: one on nuclear weapons with Dr. Helen Caldicott; one on U.S. deceit regarding rationales for the Iraq war; and one on global warming from the National Council of Churches.

We carry information about the proposed Bio- Terror Lab in Boston. Our route during the final four days of this Walk for a New Spring will cover a portion of the ten mile radius which would be in grave jeopardy if there was ever an accidental emission from the proposed lab.

We respectfully ask all interested people/communities if they would consider forming their own local “think tank” on how we can change our local economy/way of life from so much reliance on militarism/dangerous bio-technology/big corporate money to…(you fill in the blank!). If local groups form, they can help them be in touch with others from different parts of the commonwealth. We offer the following resources for your exploration and action:

United for Peace and Justice
A clearing house for national justice and peace action, has up to date information about March 20, a global call to end the Iraq war.
www.unitedforpeace.org

National Priorities Project
Find out what war with Iraq is costing your city or town.
www.nationalpriorities.org