A dedicated, grassroots group of nearly 30 volunteers came together on Valentine’s Day to conduct an experiment in nonviolence at the U.S. Senate. We gathered 100 pairs of children’s shoes—one pair for each U.S. Senator—to represent the children who are suffering and dying in Iraq. Then we brought shoes and a letter to each Senate office. There we issued a call to conscience, asking them to consider what the war and occupation are doing to these children, and to do what they can to end the warfare and bring the troops home. The group was sponsored by Arlingtonians for Peace, Northern Virginians for Peace, Codepink, and the D.C. Antiwar Network, and included a number of Friends from Bethesda FM, FMW, and Langley Hill FM.

The day began with a training session. The Friends Committee on National Legislation was kind enough to let us use their conference room for this training, and FCNL staffer Mary Trotochoud spoke at the end of the training about her time in Baghdad and her impressions of the children there. She also described a wonderful shoe project she and her husband Rick had done with the kids. Several volunteers used this story in their approach to the Senators

No appointments had been set up in advance with the individual Senate staffs—we were overwhelmed by the kind of logistics this would require, and also felt that our action was different—a calling to account of every Senator on one day. Several volunteers felt some frustration over this approach, especially as the Senate offices were fully prepared to turn them away. Virginia Harris (FMW) writes: “Walter and I visited seven Senate offices. Neither of us sensed much interest, just an attitude of “Oh, another constituent with a cause to push. Sigh.”

Others expressed cautious optimism that those staffers they did engage were able to hear our message. Najla Drooby (LHFM) writes: “It was like talking to teenagers, they look like they are not listening but they actually are hearing you.”

Several volunteers felt they were able to make an emotional connection with various staff members. For example, Katrina Mason (BFM) reports: “The legislative director at Senator Akaka’s office took a look at the two pairs of shoes I had set on my briefcase, sort of sucked in a breath and said, ‘They look like they’re about a (size) 4.’ She explained that she has a 19-month old daughter, and she kept looking at the shoes while [Susan Lepper, FMW] made the points about what’s happening to Iraqi children.”

We’d warned volunteers that they were likely to get any number of defensive statements from the staffers, who would be eager to justify their Senator’s actions. And, indeed, they did. Here’s the experience of Laura Nell Obaugh (FMW): “We spoke with an aide who had served in Iraq in the Air Force. He initially recounted what ‘we’ have done for the people of Iraq. I requested permission to ask a candid question: ‘What have we done for the people of Iraq?’ He proceeded to speak of the horrors of Saddam Hussein’s regime. He said that nothing even close to these atrocities had happened in 200-300 years in this country, and I responded simply: ‘Not even the lynchings?’”

Najla Drooby had a similar discussion in Sen. John Warner’s office: “Warner’s L.A. told us he was sorry for the kids who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. I said we are at the wrong place at the wrong time and that Iraq is the children’s home after all. The aide blushed, but we saw him reading the letter as he walked back to his office.”

Several volunteers noticed that they seemed to be better treated by Republicans than Democrats (with outstanding exceptions in the offices of Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer—whose aide came out of a meeting to meet with us—and Ted Kennedy). Volunteer Barbara Nash, a Maryland resident who had campaigned for Paul Sarbanes, became irritated by this pattern. She and fellow volunteer Jessica Kaplan returned to Sarbanes’ office a second time, mentioned this pattern, and insisted that they be allowed to meet with a staffer. They got to see Sarbanes’ Chief of Staff.

Several volunteers reported how this project affected them personally. Marian Thompson (FMW) writes: “The project touched me more deeply than I had realized. Although we targeted the senators, perhaps the message was like Cheney’s buckshot–it reached everyone in the vicinity.”

Bill Young, who wrote up the Q&A matter and pro-vided massive support for this project, wrote: “For everyone who was touched by the event, it helped to change the focus of the discussion from geopolitical abstractions about democracy and insurgency to the suffering of real people.”

Submitted by Debby Churchman, FMW