This image is from Celebrate People’s History/Iraq Veterans Against the War: Ten Years of Fighting for Peace and Justice, a portfolio that celebrated IVAW’s first ten years and was produced by Justseeds, IVAW, Booklyn, Repetitive Press, and the Civilian Soldier Alliance.
(IVAW is now known as About Face: Veterans Against the War)
Celebrating the 2006 “Walkin’ to New Orleans” march organized by Veterans for Peace and IVAW, “Every bomb dropped on Iraq explodes along the gulf coast,” derived from a slogan used by the marchers (a coalition of over 300 veterans, military families and Hurricane Katrina survivors), recalls the later speeches of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tying U.S. militarism abroad to the violence of racism and economic injustice at home. The marchers broke down the barriers that too often separate those struggling against injustices of racism, capitalism, and militarism, even if only temporarily.
Ryan Griffis and Sarah Ross are artists, activists, and educators based in Chicago and Urbana, Illinois.
A silhouette of the map of Iraq in blue is featured under the words, “Every Bomb Dropped On Iraq.” A small bomb makes a dotted line through the map of Iraq and down to another map, a silhouette of the coast of Louisiana. The text, “Explodes Along the Gulf Coast,” in white against the blue coastal shape. Small text in the middle states, “This was the slogan adopted by a coalition of more than 300 U.S. veterans, military families, and Hurricane Katrina survivors as they marched from Mobile, Alabama, to New Orleans in March of 2006. Led by members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, marchers demanded the return of both U.S. troops and Katrina survivors to their homes, recalling the series of speeches by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. linking the U.S. war in Vietnam with the violence of racism and economic injustice at home. ‘The security we profess to seek in foreign adventures we will lose in our decaying cities. The bombs in Vietnam explode at home. They destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America.’ — Reverend Dr. martin Luther King, Jr., The Casualties of the War in Vietnam, February 25, 1967, The Nation Institute, Los Angeles.”
