In late November 2009, and after months of networking, planning meetings, and dissemination, organizers in New York City were ready to receive the World March for a few days of activities. The testimonies we feature here were co-created by Caro from Memoscopio and six of the few dozen dedicated organizers of the World March in New York, who became involved through the New Humanist Movement and various peace, anti-war, and anti-nuclear organizations. This set captures three moments during the wake of the NYC events. Monica and Karina reflect about the World March during a sign-making session in Queens while Mark and Jeremiah share their testimonies during a rehearsal the day before the World March concert at the Riverside Church. Oralia and Hope, in turn, shared their testimonies during a walk around the city, the morning Oralia arrives as a marcher from Mexico City.
In their testimonies, this set of organizers describe the March as the expression of a life-long personal search for models of nonviolence and the choice to dedicate daily life and simple actions to this global cause. New York City organizers assess in their accounts their own understandings of non/violence. Speaking from a country at war and spiraling down into a recession, they are able to describe a growing sense of hope born from the accomplishment of embodying these new understandings. They descriptions of the March and nonviolence are dynamic, including: a source of change towards a nonviolent daily life (Hope); a push towards of nonviolent economic systems that consider the needs of all people (Jeremiah); an opportunity to engage in cultural production that fosters nonviolence (Mark); an invitation to support social change by overcoming inner violence (Mónica); and the role of simple people in the building of a movement (Orelia). For these marchers, the March and its promotion of nonviolence are present at various levels of experience, from the very personal to the macroeconomic.