In putting together this website, I knew I was running the risk of giving the narcissistic impression that "the war is all about me". It isn't, but I do think the war is all about us. I found that in these last two years I've amassed a LOT of material (letters, posters, videoclips) that I feel is still potent and worth the effort to get out to more people. And finally, when we are successful in booting this bastard back to Crawford, Texas, I do want it known to friends and family that I played an earnest part, albeit third spear carrier upstage left, in this effort.

I haven't always been an activist. I don't think it's the kind of thing a person aspires to be, but rather is something that a person finds themself compelled to do by intense circumstances. But I come by it honestly. My father was a civil rights activist in Los Angeles in the mid to late 60's, and fought turbulent battles against police corruption and racism in those days. I was only twelve in '68, but I remember jumping from one hippie-filled flatbed truck to another in the long San Francisco peace march to Candlestick Park, while a similar historic march made it's way across the Great Mall in Washington D.C. I was fortunate enough to have come of age just as the Vietnam war was ending. After that, and for many years to come, I was able to enjoy my life without a sense of dread for the future (Reagan and StarWars notwithstanding).

That changed two years ago, in September of 2002. No, I don't mean 2001. When we were savagely attacked on 9/11 by Saudi extremists who took refuge behind the Taliban government in Afghanistan, I grimly accepted our necessary military response to hunt down the enemy. I took comfort that the world stood behind us in our grief and our mission.

It was a dark and traumatic time, but the entire world reacted as though it had been attacked, and they all gave us support and intelligence... even muslim countries came to our aid.

But it was when the Bush administration took a wild dogleg turn toward Iraq and began the steady drumbeat of war that I felt the fissures from Hell begin to open. My own activism kicked in when George W. Bush delivered his speech to the U.N. in September 2002; when he decreed imperiously to the world that “you’re either with us or you're with the enemy”, and transformed our country into a rogue nation bent on pre-emptive war justified with fraudulent evidence.

Like so many in America and around the world, I was appalled and furious at what was about to be done in our name. I saw an illegal war unfolding on two fronts: one in Iraq, and one at home on our civil liberties.

Since then, I have made it a duty to stay informed and speak out in every way possible: by attending the marches in Washington D.C. and NYC, and by going up to Capitol Hill to speak to my representatives. I've gone to other cities and walked door-to-door to register voters. I've attended candlelight vigils and produced a poetry event in my community about the war. I've appeared on Public Access talkshows and presented DVD documentaries at local libraries explaining the manipulative run-up to the war and the assault on immigrants' and citizens' civil rights. I've written several dozen letters that have been printed in many local newspapers. I've created numerous graphic posters, and carried them in marches and stood on heavily-trafficked bridges with the posters held high.

I cite the above list not just to toot my own horn, but to remind people that you don't need special credentials to do these things, although many in power would have you think otherwise. No one told me what to do, or how to do it. I just learned it as I went along, paying close attention to events, and gaining a greater appreciation than I ever had before of what it means to be an engaged American citizen. I believe it gave me, and those who came in contact with my efforts, strength and hope.

--------- Sean Hannon

Also, please feel free to sign my guestbook. You can access that by clicking here.

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