West Virginia Angel Activist

I'm only in West Virginia for a minute - AND it's getting dark.

I notice a car has pulled along side of me. The passenger is taking pictures with a cell phone. Then the driver & passenger start waving & smiling at me. They fall back, I assume to take more pictures, and then they head in front of me.

They slow down, put on their blinker and take the next exit. On instinct, I follow and pull into the nearest turn-off. A young, white women jumps out of the car after she has zoomed by me into a parking space, and runs to my truck.

Wow, Angel says over and over. I'm SOOOOOOO happy to see you, she exclaims. She tells me about how hard her and 5 of her friends have been working to try to organize to end the war, there in the little corner of West Virginia.

She tells me how they can't find a place to meet: there's not a church who will allow them to meet in their building; nor a library in the town or a coffee shop. None of the businesses will give them meeting space.

The most radical shop in town, a local tie-dye t-shirt business run by a hippie white woman with 5 children, refuses to print anti-war t-shirts for them - she is afraid it will cost her business.

I tell her about CodePINK and she wants to vigil right there, on the corner of the freeway off-ramp and the local business strip. But it is dark and freezing - and she has a two year old daughter sleeping in the back of her car.

I promise to put her on the CodePINK list, give her all the flyers I can find, and promise to come back through & help her organize CodePINK if I can. We hug each other and part, happy we took the time to talk. peace, sam