Dancing in the park

Is it just a coincidence that Earth Day shares the month of April with the anniversary of the nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl? Some kind of cruel joke? Or a cautionary tale?

In my fragile memory, Earth Day predates the disaster at Chernobyl (twenty years ago this spring) by at least a decade. I remember the big Easter Sunday “be-in” in Central Park in 1967 (or ’68) as the modern-day genesis of today’s celebration of earth in her natural state.

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Carrying the cross

By SKIP MENDLER

As it happened, business brought me to the suburbs of Philadelphia on Good Friday. I realized that if I arranged my schedule right I could get to the Lockheed Martin offices in King of Prussia in time for the 29th annual Good Friday protest by the Brandywine Peace Community.

The Brandywine Peace Community, based in Swarthmore, PA, is one of a number of religion-based groups that have been practicing nonviolent civil disobedience and direct action for years. You don’t hear much about them, and they don’t seek a lot of publicity—but they have borne a constant and unwavering witness against war and militarism.

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Why Emma Kay loves Earth Day

Twenty-four bulging bags of junk, a foam couch cushion, plastic garden urns and a toilet seat cover were extricated from a block-long patch of earth last weekend. The deed was done by a small group of folks ranging in age from three to nearly 60 years old.

Grimy going it was, as we lifted half-buried laundry detergent bottles, dug up aluminum cans and carefully gathered broken shards of glass. At the end, we were sweaty—and smiling.

We did it partly in celebration of Earth Day and to join the thousands of others concerned about human carelessness when it comes to littering the earth with whatever we no longer want. We did it also because we love Feenie, who lives there and looks at that landscape every day.

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