Day 9: Fast and Vigil for Justice

compiled by Matt Daloisio

Hello Friends-

We began Day 9 before the sun came up, getting everyone together, into orange jumpsuits, and out the door of St. Stephen's by 6:20am. Off we went to the Pentagon, to participate in a weekly vigil that the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker has been holding consistently for over 25 years.

From 7am-8am, we stood almost 50 strong, as thousands of Pentagon employees filed into work. As the police set up an extra checkpoint near the entrance (to make sure none of us snuck in), they actually created more of an audience for our presence, and gave people coming to work ample time to take in all 40 feet of our "Close Guantanamo" banner. With black hoods slightly raised to our foreheads (it's illegal in Virginia to wear a mask), we even saw some folks give discreet "thumbs up" signs as they made their way into work.

As we stood silently, four from our group took turns, reading and singing the names of those detained at Guantanamo and Bagram, with the refrain, "we remember you."

Returning to St. Stephen's by 9am, we gathered for a short reflection before a long day filled with meeting and planning. Beth Brockman, joining us in DC from North Carolina, shared her thoughts: a see below for the audio recording.

I won't go into the details of all of the meetings held today, other than to say that we are a tired crowd gathered here...tired but excited to implement the final days we have spent many hours together planning in community. We look forward to reporting how things go. To quote Mike Benedetti from Worcester, MA: "Thursday could be better than Wednesday, but Wednesday is going to be better than anything I've ever seen."

Given our meeting schedule, not many had time to write out reflections, so we leave you with a few items that you may appreciate.

Read our statement about the January 21st action. We gather at the White House at 10:15 am.

See this article by Shayana Kadidal, a CCR attorney representing men in Guantanamo, on the misleading recidivism reports all over the media claiming 1 in 5 or 7 former detainees return to the battlefield.

Day 9: Fast and Vigil for Justice

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