On Dec. 2nd 2009 Caro from Memoscopio joined the bus ride from NYC to Washington D.C. The group of 30 marchers walked with banner and flags from the bus station to the Lincoln Memorial, where they were met by students, activists, and community and political leaders who have learned about the March through their families, teachers, and political networks. Under the cold rain three dozen people held a rally in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, which, in 1963 held the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The speakers included local politicians and professors, members of the World March Base Team, and US-based antiwar activists such as Iraq veteran Josh Stieber.
German's account, who talked about his experiences as a Colombian during the bus ride, resonates with the view of many marchers: People who have experienced direct and structural violence have a key role to play as peacebuilder because their experience give greater legitimacy to the visions of nonviolence that the March awakens and deepens. This topic is also central to the reflections shared by the other eight marchers featured in this section of the exhibit. Some of them focus on how are people in their communities are yearning for the alternatives promoted by the March. Others highlight the need for action like the March to help people realize how pervasive violence is. In this way, they identify two ways in which the March helps release imagination and nurture peacebuilding: Providing alternatives to those who are actively seeking them, on the one hand, and catalyzing a critical view of the current culture of violence on the other.