A new Web site created by Maine peace activists could help make the statewide movement more effective. On December 22, organizers Ron Greenberg and Tony Aman, both from the midcoast area, launched www.everyvillage-me.us. Thesleek user-friendly site includes a blog, downloadable posters and flyers, locally made “peace videos,” a map pinpointing upcoming peace actions, a call for local anti-war MP3s, and a step-by-step guide to organizing an anti-war group in your town. The site was created to promote the “Every Village” project, also the brainchild of Greenberg and Aman, which calls upon activists in towns and cities across Maine to protest in their downtowns on March 17, the fourth anniversary of President Bush’s announcement of his ultimatum that Saddam Hussein leave Iraq or face a US invasion. So far, 66 coordinators from as many municipalities around Maine have signed up to organize local March rallies.
“The whole point of this is to allow people access to this movement,” says Greenberg, 60, owner of Benbow’s Coffee in Bar Harbor. “The Web site is a means for people to understand what’s going on and get out there.”
Fourteen Maine peace groups sponsor the site and its eponymous March action, including Peace Action Maine and Maine Veterans for Peace. Donations from activists paid for the site’s early incidentals and Kelly Bellis of Ellsworth designed it for free. In March, Every Village intends to run an ad in two major Maine daily newspapers calling for an end to the war. They will soon start gathering the signatures that will make up that ad; anyone can add their name for $25. The extra revenue from the ad will help pay for the maintenance of the Web site.
Greenberg says he has heard from anti-war groups from as far away as Washington state who are interested in mimicking the March 17 Every Village action. As for the site, Bellis says about 900 people have visited since its December launch. Four videos have been posted so far, linked from YouTube.com.
“People feel really isolated in Maine,” Greenberg explains. “Half of the people that have called me said ‘I’m the only one in my town that believes in this’ and then once they get going and start getting their information out they realize that there are tons of people in their town that have the same feeling and have been afraid to come out.”
