Camp Casey Peace Awards on 6th Street
    By makingpeace
    Austin American-Statesman Blogs

    Saturday 07 April 2007

    The First Annual Camp Casey Peace Awards were presented amid laughter, tears and standing ovations from an overflow crowd at the Spill Bar on 6th Street on Thursday, April 5. One day following the third anniversary of the date her son, Casey, was killed in Iraq, Cindy Sheehan expressed her enduring sorrow and her enduring gratitude to those who came to her side in the first hours of her stand at the check point of the Bush Ranch in Crawford, Texas in August, 2005 when she posed the still unanswered question, "For what Noble Cause?" When more than 13,000 supporters from around the country traveled to Crawford over the course of that month to join Cindy, the Camp Casey movement was born.

    Cindy Sheehan hopes to establish a peace institute on the site of the current Camp Casey near downtown Crawford. The Peace Awards were a way to further the project and celebrate the people who supported the original Camp Casey that grew from a small encampment in a bar ditch. "I just thought we should get together when we're not sweaty," said Cindy.

    The awards ceremony opened with a stirring set by Austin musician, Carolyn Wonderland, whose soulful rendition of, "What Happened to Peace on Earth?" brought a hug from the song's author in the front row. "Other than the fact that I love a revolution ... I'm happy to be a part of this one," said Willie Nelson, as he and his wife, Annie graciously accepted the first Peace Award. Cindy expressed warm appreciation for the Nelsons' friendship and support, which has included the donation of a bio-diesel generator for Camp Casey.

    A Peace Award was presented to Jodie Evans, co-founder of the international phenomenon, CodePink, Women for Peace, whose immediate help with Camp Casey, especially with media support, played a crucial role in its success. Medea Benjamin, Evans' intrepid CodePink co-founder, also was present, mingling with the room full of activists and reminding the crowd that dancing is an important part of peacemaking.

    Austin's own Jim Hightower introduced another movement legend, US Army Colonel and former State Department official, Ann Wright, who accepted an award on behalf of Veterans for Peace, whose August, '05 annual convention in Dallas provided the springboard for Cindy's impromptu visit to Crawford. Ann's extraordinary diplomacy, humor and quiet organizational skills as unofficial camp director contributed greatly to Camp Casey's flexibility as it absorbed a daily influx of visitors.

    Kay Lucas, director of the Crawford Peace House, accepted an award along with board member, Hadi Jawad in honor of the "Little House That Could." The Crawford Peace House, which will celebrate its 4th anniversary this Easter Sunday, immediately welcomed Cindy and the Veterans for Peace convoy that arrived on August 6, 2005 and found ways to accommodate the "wondrous, month-long marathon" that Camp Casey became. The scrappy Crawford monthly publication, The Lone Star Iconoclast, which increased its reporting to daily online accounts and weekly print issues during that historic August, includes a Crawford Peace House retrospective by Kay Lucas in its current edition (www.lonestariconoclast.com).

    The youngest Peace Award recipient was Alabama high school student, Ava Lowery, whose widely-read website, http://www.peacetakescourage.com/ has drawn praise and insults that prove the point of the site's bold creator. In Austin with her mother to accept the award that included a $2,000 scholarship, Ava explained that Cindy had become her idol after she followed the Camp Casey story on the news. "I was inspired to become as crazy as her," Ava said. Cindy embraced her young prot g and replied, "You're my idol, thank you."

    The award presentations were interspersed with music by Houston-based singer-songwriter, Hank Woji and Maryland-based duo, Emma's Revolution, who had the crowd on their feet. Jesse Dyen from Oakland, California closed out the evening with a piece he wrote that became the unofficial theme song of Camp Casey. Cindy said that Jesse's late-night ballads at Camp Casey helped ease her mind when she was so stressed she couldn't sleep. With lyrics directed to a vacationing President nearby who refused to answer Cindy's simple question, Jesse sang, "... This ain't make-believe, beware the web you weave ... send us back our sons and our daughters."