by Cliff Weathers
I want to thank everyone that attended the Health Care for All Rally in Memorial Park this afternoon and evening. It was a huge success and I apologize to all the Pete Seeger fans that had to leave and missed him as he arrived a bit late (but he did play for a while).
Pete put on quite a show. So did the Roues Brothers, Emory Joseph, Tom Chapin, Michael Mark, Patrick McGrath, and A&A (the two fantastic girls who started the show; I forgot their names but they were really something else).
There’s a lot of people and organizations that were congratulated and thanked during the show, so I won’t go through that roster again. However, I wanted to thank all the Nyack and Rockland County stores that put signs in their windows or sent out an email to their customers. I know it’s difficult to take a stand when you’re a business owner and have customers of all social and political persuasions, but it was the brave shop owners that made a big difference in our attendance. You weren’t thanked at the rally, so this was overdue.
Also, thank you our socialized public safety force, the Orangetown Police Dept., for doing a masterful job yesterday.
Everyone, please take the advice was given by many of our speakers and performers, and especially by Pete Seeger. Don’t stop at going to the ballot box, go out and do something that will make a real difference in our world. This rally was conceived a month ago by small group of people that had no experience in staging events. If we can do this, so can you.
If you have photos or video of the event, please share it with me so I can share them with others here on Nyack News and Views and other blogs. My email is cliffweathers@gmail.com.
Peace and love,
Cliff Weathers
See also: Journal News 10/5; Will You Miss Me WhenI’m Gone blog
Add’l photos at nyack.tumblr.com (from Francesco Fiondella)
Photo credit this page: Richard Kavesh
As I watched him carry his two bangs on his back, Pete Seeger, this 90 year old icon, trucked at a swift pace down to the park without assistance. Though the Universal Health Care Rally began at 4pm, the show lit up and took off when Pete Seeger arrived. The entertainment was fabulous, the huge crowds were peaceful, and the anti-reform protesters were few and gone when Pete took to the stage.
I stayed with my close friends, the Hudsons till the bitter end and even helped gather up the tables, chairs and clean up debris that was left littered throughout the park. We had photo opportunities with Pete and I confirmed that he actually heats his house with wood. He cuts his own wood for his home. I want to model my life around this amazing man who gave so much to this world. Thank you Pete Seeger.
A folk song is what’s wrong and how to fix it
or it could be who’s hungry and where their mouth is or
who’s out of work and where the job is or
who’s broke and where the money is or
who’s carrying a gun and where the peace is.
– Woody Guthrie-
I would add:
or who is sick and where the healthcare is.
Pete Seeger clearly embodies Woody’s legacy.
Woody Guthrie’s Guitar had a sign on it that read
“This machine Kills fascists”.
When Pete Seeger showed up last night, all the “Tea baggers” had already left.
Hatred and fear don’t have the stamina of one 90 year old man with a banjo.
He is truly a national treasure.
I was disappointed that News12 decided to portray the event as something it wasn’t. Last night, they showed a quick clip of Seeger and then the anti-reform protestors. They demonstrated very poor journalistic skills by misrepresenting what happened yesterday. A overwhelming majority of the participants were pro-health care reform and a majority of them supported Single Payer.
The Journal News did a much better job. See it at http://www.lohud.com/article/2009910050341
Thanks to you, Cliff, Connie, and all the others who worked so hard to make last night so memorable and successful.
Pete’s entrance was electrifying and his performance and very presence were moving and inspiring.
It’s communal and community events like this that make us villagers realize how fortunate we are to live here.
Maybe “healthcare for all” (Nyack 2009) doesn’t have the poetry or passion of “peace, love, and music” (Woodstock 1969, 40 years ago), but there was plenty of all three last night and the cause for which we rallied last night is literally a matter of life and death for many Americans.
So let’s seize the initiative, turn our words into action, and see this cause through to victory in Congress.
To quote an American who had to fight — and win — an even tougher and more critical battle: “As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew, and then we shall save our country.” — Abraham Lincoln, 1862
P.S. Lots of good pictures on my Facebook page.
Richard