Those who plan to march in the Florida March for Peace describe themselves as militant. Their Web site displays the silhouettes of soldiers, weapons cocked and helmets fastened.
But these soldiers don't wield guns - they brandish baguettes and carrots.
The groups from across the state participating in and endorsing the March 28 demonstration in Melbourne, Fla., adhere to Martin Luther King's belief in militant nonviolence, which means a demanding and persistent push to alleviate human need.
"Like King, we believe that taking on militarism is taking on poverty. It's taking on racism. It's taking on sexism," said Jeff Nall, Florida March for Peace Coordinator. "Essentially, we believe it's the key to a more peaceful world and a safer country."
The groups will begin at Front Street Park, where anti-war activists will speak, and then will continue to the Melbourne City Hall to hear additional speakers. The march will include members from 60 groups across the state, including Gainesville's chapter of Veterans for Peace.Nall, 29, said that he and the other members of the host organization, Humanists for Peace, want President Barack Obama to stop the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The march's purpose is twofold, Nall said.
"On the one hand, yeah. We want to influence politicians," he said. "But presidents have never been the engine behind social change. It has always been the grassroots - from the bottom up."
Nall said he hopes the march will incite a cultural shift away from militarism so that government money can be used for human need.
"It's an initiation into a different way of looking at the world," he said. "I think it's going to be huge."
According to Nall, the march is a bipartisan effort, including fiscal conservatives and liberals.
"What you find is simply a broad range of people who are appalled by the spending on militarism," he said.
Nall said that while some people think the anti-war movement fizzled after the '60s and '70s, it is very much alive. But the Florida March for Peace will be no flower-power fest, Nall said.
"The kind, gentle suggestions of 'give peace a chance' are done with," he said. "We are demanding that militarism be brought to a halt and human needs are put ahead of greed."
