Syracuse
Peace Council
2013
East Genesee St., Syracuse, NY 13210
spc(a)peacecouncil.net, (315)
472-5478
Youth
Against War
A new youth group working in Central New York to End the War
Youth march in
protest
Group wants to show not all young people apathetic
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
By Maureen Nolan
Syracuse Post-Standard Staff writer
They called themselves Youth Against War. It was their first action, and Chris Boutilier, 18, wasn't sure how many people would show. He was thinking maybe a dozen.
The tally was somewhere around 60 people, mostly high school- or college-aged, but some old enough to have protested against the Vietnam War. They marched against war in Iraq in downtown Syracuse Monday.
Young people from around the area worked all summer to organize the event.
They found each other mostly through ties to the Syracuse Peace Council.
Boutilier and some of the others said they hoped to counter what they see as the apathy of their peers.
"I think all of us want to mobilize our generation around issues of social justice and anti-war," said Boutilier, who just graduated from Jamesville-DeWitt High School and is off to study history at the State University College at Geneseo.
"I really hope to make adults aware there are a lot of kids that know what's going on and want to change things," said Stacey Considine, 17, a senior at Jamesville-DeWitt.
They marched behind a big "youth against war" banner and carried signs: "Education Not Occupation," "No Blood for Oil" and "Everyone's Blood is Red." Two protesters wore orange jumpsuits and black hoods over their head, representing detainees at the former Abu Ghraib prison.
They started at Forman Park a little before noon and ended up in front of the Federal Building about 1 p.m., chanting and stopping for speeches along the way. They got some smiles, honks and waves of support. A middle-aged man driving up Harrison Street flashed a peace sign; a kid riding a bike the wrong way up South Salina Street raised a fist in salute.
Marchers also got scowls and stony-faced stares. When they stopped at Columbus Circle for a brief speech, which included the "F" word, construction workers on lunch break weren't smiling.
One said he was a combat veteran with no opinion about the protesters. But he couldn't stop shaking his head at them.
"Punks," he said as he watched.
Adrian VanDerstyne was in Clinton Square when the marchers arrived, and he stood awhile to watch. His feelings about the war in Iraq are nuanced but he was solidly behind the young marchers.
"You've got to listen to the youth," he said. "They come across pure-hearted."
Maureen Nolan can be reached at 470-2185 or mnolan@syracuse.com