The William Thomas Memorial Peace Vigil has lost its oldest volunteer: Concepcion Picciotto. Thomas’s dear dear friend from Spain worked for 33 years at THE stance for Peace, No Nukes and Human Rights. Concepcion sat in front of president after president at the north end of the White House, acting as the Statue of Liberty for Thomas’s dream of a better world. A world with wisdom, honesty, peace for all peoples, without the threat of nuclear radiation poisoning or human rights violations.
For decades William Thomas’s wife, Ellen, handled Prop1’s online presence while Concepcion manned the trenches winter, spring, summer and fall. She became famous for her stance all over the civilized world. She is an icon among the Spanish-speaking. Her passion for a better world for the children to come is paralleled by maybe none. She was our friend and compatriot. God forgive her lies and prejudices. No one is perfect. She paved the way for us smaller protester types.
I asked Concepcion on several occasions what she hoped for the future of Prop1 over the next 50 years, but never got an answer. I only know her commitment to the future of the children yet-to-be-born and the dream of a world without the need for her fight. May this country and this world wake up to your dreams before it is too late for us. Fukushima should have been our first clue. It was for Germany, but not all other countries in the United Nations.
God bless you and yours, Ms. Picciotto. May our peace vigil stand firm until it is no longer needed in this sick, sick world, to fight the good fight in your and William Thomas’s honor.
