Jared Iorio
“Dissent is the most American value.”
The candid words of Pierce College student Danielle Gresham, 19, rang through the shouting crowds at a Hollywood protest
marking the five-year anniversary of the Iraq War.
Gresham, pictured above center, has been an activist since she was 13, after discovering punk music and being influenced by its focus on citizen rights and freedom.
She is a member of the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), which hosts two major, nationwide antiwar
demonstrations a year.
“Band together, whatever you believe in,” said Gresham, who expressed her fury toward media agendas that tailor to the youth,
including Rupert Murdoch’s acquisition of MySpace. “Not everything’s OK. Your civil liberties are at stake.”
Gresham noted that the ANSWER Coalition’s student contingent is getting bigger, drawing membership from all types of
activists including “anarchists, socialists, communists, whatever.”
“Your tax dollars are going to support an imperialist and racist war that the U.N. didn’t even approve of,” she said, standing
behind an ANSWER Coalition table. Her best friend, 18, just returned from a tour in Iraq. She says he will be going back to Iraq soon, even though “he has shrapnel
inside him.” “Ask the soldiers,” Gresham encouraged.
“They’ll tell you that it’s not un-American to stand up for
what you believe in.”
Protest chants rang through the streets of Hollywood on March 15, as thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched to the CNN
building at Hollywood and Cahuenga, shouting, “Iraq for the Iraqis, troops out now!” and “Alto a la Guerra, stop the war!”
Marking the five-year anniversary of the Iraq War, the Los Angeles contingent of the ANSWER Coalition launched one of the hundreds of rallies taking place in the United States, claiming that more than 10,000 people and many other organizations supported the protest.
Participants wielding signs and banners calling for peace and impeachment gathered at Hollywood and Vine around 11 a.m., and
after speeches and music, the march kicked off around noon.
Though what started as chilly weather eventually became sporadic rain, protesters were undaunted, instead focusing on making
their message heard by the media: “CNN, can’t you see? Put the peace march on TV!”
Protesters also gathered March 19 in front of the U.S. Army Recruiting Office, forcing it to shut down early.
Many high school and college students participated in the protests.
Danielle Gresham, 19, a Pierce College student and ANSWER Coalition supporter, was glad to see youth participating.
“It’s good to finally see more people our age coming out and actually caring about issues,” she said, “rather than just sitting home, watching MTV and worrying about, ‘what am I going to wear?”’
Gil Riego, Jr. and Jesse Lomelli ()
