By Gargoyle multimedia staff
Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007, The OG, multimedia & news

video courtesy Shara Esbenshade

THIS PAST SATURDAY'S “die-in,” a local protest organized by high school students protesting America's participation in the war in Iraq, was strengthened by the presence of about a dozen Uni students. Watch this video to see exactly what happened early Saturday afternoon at the intersection of Green and Wright streets on campus.

Junior Shara Esbenshade, a co-organizer of the protest, explained the purpose of the event in a letter she recently sent to The News-Gazette:

“Last Saturday, a group of concerned high school students took dramatic action to address American complacency and political inaction with regard to the war in Iraq. In a visual form of protest meant to bring home the reality of the death and destruction, 15 youth fell to the ground in unison at the intersection of Green Street and Wright Street in front of the Alma Mater. They repeated this ‘die-in' every time the cars stopped for the red light from noon to 1:30 p.m. Several passersby stopped and joined them. The frustration Americans are feeling nationally with the recent passage of the war-funding bill was apparent on Saturday both among the devoted student protesters and among those who cheered them on.

“With this protest the students demanded that our congressional Rep. Timothy Johnson and Sens. Barack Obama and Richard Durbin vote anti-war. Letters were sent to Johnson, Obama, and Durbin, and they were invited to attend. This war has killed too many, and it is past time our politicians do their part in ending it, not as “anti-war politicians,” not as Democrats, nor as Republicans, but as responsible citizens of this world who should, out of compassion for others, work for peace.

“This action was a powerful display of a fact that the mainstream media have been shamelessly overlooking: that the youth have not yet succumbed to apathy.”

RELATED

— Gargoyle coverage: “Die-in” to be held Saturday in protest of Iraq War

— Gargoyle coverage: Audio slideshow: Are protests effective?

— Gargoyle coverage: Fighting the good fight: For student activists, persistence is the name of the game