Eleven student activists from Penn for Peace made plans to attend an anti-war march in Center City more than a week ago.
What they didn't know when they planned the event, however, was that that their march for peace would coincide with America's first strike against Afghanistan.
"We all kind of knew it was coming," College freshman Martha Cooney said. "But it was still shocking and upsetting to hear. It just added to our feelings as we were marching and made us a stronger more cohesive group."
The march was organized by a loose coalition of concerned citizens who met through the Philadelphia Friends Center.
They walked nearly a mile from the Temple University campus to the Philadelphia Friends Center located across from City Hall. Philadelphia Police aided their efforts by blocking traffic and providing security for the marchers.
The crowd of over 100 people -- men, women and children of varied backgrounds -- began their march at Broad and Diamond streets at 1 p.m. Since so many of them had been outside for hours, an announcement that bombs had been dropped on Kabul coming over a loudspeaker was a shock for most of the members.
The news drew a hush from the crowd, who had only moments earlier been chanting peace slogans as they neared their destination. Though they had heard mixed rumors throughout the morning, a confirmation was difficult to face.
"It's not too late," one woman whispered in reaction to the news.
Others were angry, some were at a loss for words. Many found comfort by turning to one another in tears.
As the activists grappled with the news, Jeremy Matthew, professor of African-American Literature and Political Theory at Rutgers University, took the microphone to talk to the crowd about losing his father in the attack on the World Trade Center.
The group nodded in support of Matthew's words as he shared his grief and political views concerning further retaliation.
"The ruling class is pimping the death of my father to justify the slaughter they have planned," Matthew said of the Bush administration, visibly upset by his own words and the news that had recently been confirmed.
Though many in the crowd were from separate organizations from around the city, their goal was the same: to take a stand against violent U.S. retaliation.
"I came here to lend my voice to all the other voices calling for a peaceful approach to bringing the terrorists to justice," said Lynn Mather, a Center City resident who heard about the march from friends. "Most of all I came to learn. I feel like there is so much for us to learn about this situation and our country's involvement in it."
After the march, demonstrators held a teach-in at the Friends Center, bringing together experts and activists to discuss U.S. involvement in Afghanistan before the bombings, with several of those present saying that the United States -- not Afghanistan -- truly created the war abroad.
College junior Lincoln Ellis cited the teach-in, which followed the march, as an invaluable asset.
"When people are educated about this issue they aren't just blindly following the peace movement," Ellis said. "We want to be fully informed citizens and really be able to participate."
As they walked and while they gathered in front of the Friends Center, two giant puppets representing Afghan citizens towered over the group. Chris Etaon, an employee of Spiral Q Puppet Theatre where the puppets were created, walked for over an hour inside the huge structure bearing across its front, "our beliefs are not a cry for war."
"This is our way of getting the message across," Etaon said. "We haven't really done anything like this before, but I think it makes a real impact."
Prior to the march, Penn students gathered together to make signs and banners reading, "our grief is not a reason for war" and "war abroad breeds racism at home."
Cooney had attended a similar march in Washington, last week and found the real difference between the two was a sense of community present in the Philadelphia march.
"It really was a community thing," Cooney said. "There were families out there, parents with their kids and they all came together as this supportive Philadelphia community and that was incredible."
Last night, more concerned students gathered in Civic House to discuss future events promoting peace in reaction to the air strikes.
This coalition, not limited to members of Penn for Peace, has organized a vigil for today mourning the bombings. They have also planned a teach-in for next week.
