A walk across Wisconsin for peace in Iraq

On Saturday, a group of walkers for peace will set out from Chicago on a seven-week walk ending at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Their mission:

To challenge and to nonviolently resist our country’€™s continuing war in and occupation of Iraq.

The walk, which will cross the entire state of Wisconsin, is organized by Voices for Creative Non-violence, a Chicago-based group with deep, long-standing roots in active nonviolent resistance to U.S. war-making. Begun in the summer of 2005, Voices draws upon the experiences of those who challenged the brutal economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and U.N. against the Iraqi people between 1990 and 2003.

Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota peace organizations are supporting the walk, playing host to the walkers and holding events along the route. People can participate by joining the walk for a day, a week, a month or the entire Witness Against War. Those who live along the route could consider making a food donation or organizing with others in your community to provide lunch or dinner to walkers.

This flyer shows the whole schedule at a glance.

The walkers would like to be able to spread the word of the walk a couple days or more in advance of arriving in a community, so volunteers to do advance leafleting would be helpful.

You can learn more about the schedule and sign up to walk or help on the website.

The walkers will be in Racine July 17-18 and in Milwaukee for an event on July 20. Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice has a complete listing of Wisconsin events on its calendar.

I’m thinking of walking the Milwaukee to Brookfield stretch, but must say that some of the mid-August dates along the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi, around Alma and Fountain City, are quite tempting, too.