About 50 peace activists and poets showed up to watch 13 more shave their heads to show opposition for the U.S.-led war in Iraq and to honor of the victims of the conflict on Sunday.
"Peace Buzz," was designed as an avenue for local artists and activists in a profound personal statement of mourning for the victims of the war in Iraq to send a collective cry for peace, said Sue Chavez, a member of the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, co-sponsor of the event.
Each participant read a poem regarding their views on the war in Iraq before proceeding to shave their heads.
"Our government is spending precious energy taking innocent lives around the world," Chavez said of her reasons for opposing U.S.-led aggression around the world. "Shaving your head is a declaration against war. It is like wearing a permanent peace button."
Chavez, who works for the Albuquerque Public School system, said there are so many unmet national needs, yet the U.S. government is spending billions of dollars appeasing its own agenda.
"President Bush has renigged on many deals made by Clinton," Chavez said. "So much more could be achieved through diplomacy. War is never a solution, it is just a means of destruction."
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The event was taped for later broadcast on 160 radio stations throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa, as well as on Free Speech Radio News, which is aired on 50 stations in the United States. It will also be internationally broadcast via Internet and short wave radio on Radio Paz from Costa Rica.
A local businessman who asked to be called "Mr. Purple" in fear of reprisal for attending such an event, said "Peace Buzz" and similar events are ways of mobilizing to prevent future wars.
He said this is not a time for a business as usual attitude; it is a time to stand up and speak loudly against the atrocities being committed by our government against the people of the world.
In choosing to shave their heads and alter their appearance, he said, these brave patriots are saying that they are not willing to appear as if what the United States is doing is right.
Mary Alishee, the event's host, agreed, saying she was mortified by the U.S. military's "Shock and Awe" bombing campaign, but added that she has been moved by the number of people who took to the streets in the name of peace.
"The brave people are shaving their heads because there are no words that can explain our unspeakable grief for the innocent victims of the war in Iraq," Alishee said. "It is our way of honoring the spirits of those taken in the name of empire, greed and oil."
Alishee said that all the hair collected from the participants will be donated to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization providing hair prosthetics for children who have developed long-term medical hair loss.
Ruth Imber, a 68 year-old retired librarian, said she attended the event and shaved her head in the hope that the bond that is created through the sacrifice will aid local activists in their continued internal struggle against the actions of the U.S. government and renew their sense of hope for change.
"The sacrifice of my hair will see me through until the domination of might over right finally ends," Imber said. "We are representing all the voices too frightened to be here."
