Other Walks

Jean, a neighbor of David and Casey Gluckman--my hosts in Port Townsend--came over yesterday evening with books and a video about the Great Peace March of 1986. She was a thru-walker in the nine-month trek from California to Washington D.C. Our discussion the night before had stimulated renewed interest and memories.

The Great Peace March began with a central organizing group, a large budget, and well over a thousand marchers. Overhead was extremely high, however, and logistics for taking care of that many marchers were a nightmare. The central organizing group went bust in less than three weeks, leaving the walkers stranded in the Mohave Desert. But the human spirit can be strong, and much to the surprise of the media and others, most of the walkers reorganized and persevered; they ultimately completed the walk with much fanfare in Washington. The video was well done and inspirational, and afterwards, Jean exclaimed, "It's time to do another walk!"

In that vein, in San Francisco I had learned of another cross country walk being planned. Native American activist Dennis Banks is spearheading the coast to coast trek to begin next spring on the 30-year anniversary of the Native Americans' "Longest Walk." This one will be called the Longest Walk II. The main message of the walk: all life is sacred. To learn more, log onto http://www.longestwalk.org/.