Thousands poured into Washington State’s Capitol in Olympia on President’s Day, Feb 20, 2012 to demand a fair budget. Hundreds marched, hundreds sat in on legislators’ offices, and many shouted about budget cuts and wages. But something unique briefly occurred: members of the Occupy movement from across the country as well as representatives from organizations such as WWFOR and Veterans for Peace sang and “died” in the Legislative Building rotunda.
Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation organized a “Die-In and Sing-In” in which people marched into the capitol rotunda, “died” to represent the “casualties of war on all fronts” – from those who are dying from lack of healthcare because of budget cuts to those who are dying abroad in Afghanistan. They then sang themselves back to “life” with a different take on the national anthem, “America, the Beautiful.” They sang “America, America, for true security, please fund our books and neighborhoods; don’t send bombs overseas!”
This action was a part of WWFOR’s Bring Our Billions Home (BOBH) campaign, which advocates cutting war spending so that Washington State can fund social services like education, veteran’s benefits, and healthcare. For more information about this action, the BOBH campaign, and WWFOR, visit www.wwfor.org.
For coverage of the sing-in, see the Huffington Post and the Seattle Times
