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First Central Baptist Church Hosts “Five Years Too Many” Rally

Posted by
April 7, 2008

Reverend Demetrius Carolina, pastor, First Central Baptist Church
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Early predictions of gloom and rain did not hold out and on Saturday, April 5th, Staten Islanders awoke to blue skies and sunshine for the first truly spring day of 2008. It was an auspicious sign for the Five Years Too Many rally at First Central Baptist Church in Stapleton organized by a new coalition of church members, peace activists, political clubs, community activists, veterans, and military families. The occasion for the rally was to give voice to the frustration and grief over five relentless years of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan that has cost the deaths of over 4,000 American soldiers, 30,000 American wounded, and, according to some studies, over one million Iraqi deaths. The casualty statistics are as relentless as the timeframe and are coupled with a cost of $500 billion borrowed from future American generations, a debt that is expected to reach over $3 trillion before the accounting is complete.

Debra Anderson (left) of Military Families Speak Out
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

The idea for the rally started back in February, when Peace Action of Staten Island put out a call to Staten Island groups to come together to discuss how the borough should respond to the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Representatives from eighteen different groups met to hear each other out and plan the best way to organize a meaningful and family-friendly event. The reach of the war has hit many Staten Islanders and the challenge was to provide an open space where all ages would feel welcome to come and share their views of how the war had affected them. The space chosen was the parking area of the First Central Baptist Church, which has one of the most active largely African American congregations on the Island. The rally ended up falling one day after a date fraught with significance for all lovers of peace and justice - the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)