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97-671: The Great Peace March was conceived by Los Angeles businessman David Mixner , who formed People Reaching Out for Peace (PRO-Peace), a non-profit organization, to fund the trek. Mixner, an experienced political consultant, began planning for the event in 1984 after his work for the Gary Hart presidential campaign ended in failure, and announced his plans for the march at the Los Angeles Press Club in April 1985. PRO-Peace hoped to attract corporate sponsors to provide funding for

194-662: A potluck supper by local groups of Amish , who shared their desire for peace. The march route was planned to follow the Edison Bridge across Sandusky Bay in Ohio, but organizers were denied permission to cross the bridge days before their arrival due to the lack of shoulders along the span. Instead, marchers were ferried across the bay. Ohio governor Richard Celeste , senator Howard Metzenbaum , and congressman Louis Stokes met with marchers in Cleveland . Roughly half of

291-636: A March on Washington to protest the LGBT community's lack of equal rights. Cleve Jones , spurred by Mixner's call to march, led the organizational efforts for the National Equality March , scheduled for October 10–11, 2009. Mixner and Jones both would be featured speakers at a rally in front of the Capitol after the March. Over 200,000 people marched on Washington on October 11, 2009. Mixner

388-410: A campsite eight miles south of Barstow , planning to hold a peace rally at Barstow Community College the next morning and then proceed through the city and further into the desert. However, the college refused to host the rally without liability insurance, while cold and heavy rains incapacitated several marchers and made further progress impossible. With serious concerns about the safety of marchers in

485-428: A ceremonial mayor, Diane Clark. In many of the cities the march passed through, a "Keys-and-Trees" ceremony was held, in which the local mayor would award the marchers a key to the city , Clark would reciprocate by offering a key to Peace City, and a commemorative "peace tree" or "peace pole" would be planted. The peace tree ceremony was introduced to the march by activist Caroline Killeen, who had previously cycled across

582-545: A huge upturn in business for their fledgling political consulting firm, Mixner/Scott, and were asked by Bill Clinton, then running for governor of Arkansas, to host a reception for Clinton at their Los Angeles home. In late 1984, after years of devastation in his personal life resulting from the AIDS crisis , Mixner decided to focus his energy on combating nuclear proliferation , creating an organization named PRO Peace. Mixner envisioned finding five thousand Americans who would take

679-682: A local glass factory and later took a job as a bookkeeper for the local John Deere dealership. Mixner had two older siblings, Patsy Mixner Annison and Melvin Mixner. Mixner attended Daretown Elementary School, then Woodstown High School , where he got involved in the Civil Rights Movement , by participating in picketing and sending his own money to Martin Luther King Jr. In his memoir, Stranger Among Friends , Mixner explains that his parents were "livid" over his involvement in

776-566: A major city the marchers otherwise would not have visited, before returning to the originally planned route at Cisco, Utah . This detour also allowed marchers to make up for some of the time they had lost in Barstow. Approximately 50 participants broke off from the main group near Beaver on April 29 and began to march eastward, determined to cross the country on foot without the approval of the march organization or Utah state authorities. These marchers continued until they reached Cisco and completed

873-601: A march with CMS and was very publicly arrested outside the White House , for which he received a great deal of publicity because of his personal relationship with Clinton. Mixner and Clinton later healed the rift, but Clinton never again revisited the policy during his presidency. Despite his long history with Bill Clinton, Mixner would not support Hillary Clinton 's 2008 presidential campaign, initially endorsing John Edwards before throwing his support to Barack Obama . Mixner stated that his endorsement of Edwards marked

970-448: A meeting with former Governor and future President Ronald Reagan , whom they convinced to oppose the initiative publicly. As a result, and through the work of Mixner, Scott, legendary gay rights activist and San Francisco City Councilman Harvey Milk , and others, Proposition 6 was defeated by over a million votes, the first ballot initiative of its sort to be shot down. As a result of this huge success, Mixner and Scott experienced

1067-570: A nuclear weapon since 1998. Since 1986, the United States' nuclear stockpile has been reduced from 22,995 to 3,708, while total global stockpiles peaked in 1986 at 70,300 and have since been reduced to 13,890. The Great Peace March has been the subject of several books written by marchers and supporters (see the "Resources" section below), as well as a documentary film, Just One Step , directed by Cathy Zheutlin. David Mixner David Benjamin Mixner (August 16, 1946 – March 11, 2024)

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1164-642: A one-night-only event to benefit the Point Foundation, featured Mixner revealing intensely personal details about the struggles he had faced, including the pain of losing 300 friends to AIDS in the 1980s. Due to the overwhelmingly positive reception the show received, Mixner was invited to revive the show for performances in Los Angeles and San Francisco in June 2015, with additional cities to follow. The stage production made its international debut at

1261-501: A protest at Rocky Flats Plant . Also while in Lawson, marchers joined hands with local residents for "Feet Across America", staged at the same time as the nationwide Hands Across America event, which did not pass through Colorado. Along the way into Denver, marchers met with Colorado lieutenant governor Nancy E. Dick and congresswoman Pat Schroeder , and stayed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with folk singer Pete Seeger , who performed for

1358-448: A rift between them. Mixner continued his activism throughout his life, focusing on issues like nuclear disarmament , AIDS awareness, and LGBT rights . He was honored for his activism and writing, including receiving an honorary doctorate from Washington College in 2015. Mixner was born on August 16, 1946, and grew up in the small town of Elmer, New Jersey . His father Ben worked on a corporate farm, and his mother Mary worked shifts at

1455-538: A script written by Mixner and Rich Burns about the true story of gay Dutch artist Willem Arondeus and the anti- Nazi uprising of artists he led in Amsterdam during World War II . Cumming has indicated he would star in the project, which is seeking a director. Mixner created three performance pieces that covered his life that have become known as the "Mixner Trilogy" in the Broadway Community. Among

1552-483: A speech by General William Westmoreland . Prompted by an article he read in The Arizona Republic about city garbage workers who were seeking the right to unionize, in the fall of 1966, Mixner organized the first of many protests he would organize over the next thirty years. Mixner rallied hundreds of workers, students, and professors and led a march on City Hall . Although the city successfully broke

1649-493: A strike against everything. Brown decided that the word "moratorium" would be less threatening than "strike" to middle-class Americans, and set to work, setting aside October 15, 1969 as the day of the moratorium. Brown soon enlisted the help of Mixner, David Hawk, another young activist, and Marge Sklencar, whom they knew from the McCarthy campaign. Bill Clinton , at the time a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University , visited

1746-429: A year out of their lives to walk across America to advocate for disarmament, holding rallies throughout the country. The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament , which Mixner would later call his "biggest political failure and [his] biggest regret" ultimately left Los Angeles on March 1, 1986, with only 1200 marchers. The marchers reached as far as Barstow, California before unpaid debts to employees forced

1843-650: Is a benefit for Dixon Place and the Ali Forney Center, an organization benefiting LGBT homeless youth . Mixner released a memoir of his time in Turkey Hollow, At Home with Myself: Stories from the Hills of Turkey Hollow , in September 2011. The memoir is published by Magnus Books. In February 2014, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Alan Cumming acquired the rights to Dunes of Overveen ,

1940-898: The Electric Boat nuclear submarine plant in Groton, Connecticut . The march also had similarities to several other cross-continental protests both before and after, although the Great Peace March was unusual in its scale and scope, with hundreds of participants at all points along the way. In particular, the Great Peace March was preceded by Walk of the People – A Pilgrimage for Life , which started in Southern California on March 1, 1984, reached Washington, D.C. in November of that year on its way to New York City, then

2037-529: The Independence Day holiday in the Omaha area working with local peace groups. They had intended to spend July 4 staying on the campus of Creighton Preparatory School , but the school revoked its permission after learning that some marchers were planning to engage in civil disobedience that included entering restricted areas of Offutt Air Force Base , as part of a protest planned by other groups that

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2134-660: The Nevada Test Site to join the ongoing protests against the Mighty Oak nuclear test, where dozens were arrested for trespassing alongside Daniel Ellsberg and members of Greenpeace . The remaining marchers ceremonially crossed the state border on April 8, although both the California and Nevada highway patrol agencies said their campsite for the past few days had been just within Nevada all along. On April 10,

2231-514: The Vietnam War on October 15 and November 15 of that year. Until the Women's March in 2017, it was the largest march in the history of the United States. In 1969, Mixner revealed the deep personal struggle of being a closeted gay man in that time and a blackmail attempt that threatened to out him. In addition, he tells stories about Richard Nixon , Henry Kissinger , John Dean and others in

2328-652: The 117 person delegation. The Georgia Democratic Party Forum, which sought to challenge Maddox's delegation, held its own convention in Macon , where Congressman John Conyers (D–MI) keynoted their convention before turning over the floor to Julian Bond , the first African-American elected to the Georgia legislature, who would later become Chairman of the NAACP . At the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Mixner

2425-415: The California ballot by Orange County State Senator John Briggs that would make it illegal for gays and lesbians to be schoolteachers. Similar initiatives had recently passed throughout the country when Mixner turned his focus to fighting Proposition 6, creating the "NO on 6" organization to fight it; through the process, he would publicly come out of the closet . Mixner and his lover Peter Scott secured

2522-605: The Civil Rights Movement, claiming his activism embarrassed them. When Mixner told them he wanted to go south during the summer of 1963 after following the events in Birmingham, Alabama , his parents forbade him. In the fall of 1964, Mixner enrolled at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona , where he soon became involved in civil rights and anti-war activism, including helping to organize protests against

2619-819: The Elfo Puccini Theatre Archived April 17, 2016, at the Wayback Machine in Milan on April 18, 2016. Mixner's original play 1969 was staged at the Florence Gould Hall Theater in New York City on March 6, 2017. Mixner takes theatre-goers back to the year 1969 where, along with Sam Brown , David Hawk, and Marge Sklencar, he created the Vietnam Moratorium , which involved protests against

2716-900: The Ipswich BMX Club, which still provides coaching and races on a regular basis. In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982. Since January 1993, BMX has been integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale . In 2003, the International Olympic Committee made BMX a medal Olympic sport for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing , China , and Māris Štrombergs (male, for Latvia ) and Anne-Caroline Chausson (female, for France ) became

2813-699: The Mississippi Peace Cruise. The march crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois on August 1. A group of marchers were arrested that morning after attempting to enter the Rock Island Arsenal , and were immediately released. Marchers commemorated the 41st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 by freezing in place in Dixon, Illinois , the hometown of then-president Ronald Reagan . A similar observance

2910-575: The Mojave Desert and PRO-Peace almost $ 500,000 in debt, the march remained stalled outside of Barstow for several days. As supplies ran low, several hundred people left the march. On March 14, Mixner announced to the remaining marchers that PRO-Peace would fold due to its growing debt. The next day, marchers established a new non-profit organization, The Great Peace March for Nuclear Disarmament Inc., which took control of as much of PRO-Peace's facilities and equipment as possible, while other equipment

3007-696: The Moratorium is featured in the documentary, The Movement and the "Madman," which debuted on the PBS series American Experience in 2023. In 1976, Mixner began the process of coming out of the closet, and soon thereafter was a founding member of the Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles (MECLA), the nation's first gay and lesbian Political Action Committee . At the time, very few candidates were willing to accept donations from openly gay individuals or gay-affiliated organizations. At

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3104-579: The National Executive Committee of the Clinton for President campaign, the first openly-gay person to become a public face of a presidential campaign. After Clinton was elected, Mixner helped with the transition team, though he publicly declared that he would not seek an appointment with the new administration. Although he spoke at an event at the inaugural ball, introduced by his old friend Ted Kennedy, Mixner soon thrust himself in

3201-822: The Senate & human rights activist Boris Dittrich . Mixner died from long COVID at his home in Manhattan , on March 11, 2024, at the age of 77. His funeral was held on March 25, 2024, at the St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Manhattan. On May 16, 2015, Washington College awarded Mixner an honorary doctorate for his "lifetime in the forefront of American politics and international human rights , championing LGBT equality, wildlife conservation and progressive political causes." Dr. Mixner also delivered

3298-427: The arid West. The march crossed the 100th meridian , often considered the dividing line between west and east, on June 19. That same day, actress Betty Thomas joined the march. The main body of the march reached Lincoln, Nebraska on June 29, two days earlier than the original schedule had projected. Having caught back up with their planned itinerary, the marchers were able to honor their previous commitment to spend

3395-447: The article on the place in question, except where no such article exists, when they are clicked on or moused over. Writer Connie Fledderjohann, who had participated in the march, retraced its route and interviewed supporters and local residents throughout 1987 to assess the impact it had on the communities through which it passed. Fledderjohann concluded that many people who witnessed the march had been influenced by what they saw, and that

3492-651: The capital on November 15, in Lafayette Square across from the White House (although President Reagan was at Camp David at the time) and finishing at the Lincoln Memorial . They were lauded by some prominent politicians, including Senator Tom Harkin , Representative Ed Markey , and Washington mayor Marion Barry . Harkin offered the marchers a letter of congratulations signed by 13 other senators, including Ted Kennedy and future presidential candidate John Kerry . Equipment and leftover supplies from

3589-421: The city on March 28 to proceed through the desert toward Las Vegas. Along the way, they democratically elected a "city council" and a board of directors for the new organization. The march arrived at the Nevada state line near Primm on April 4, but marchers were forced to wait again while organizers searched for campsites in Nevada they could use. During this time, about 100 of the 320 participants were driven to

3686-675: The commencement address to the graduating class of 2015. In 2021, the Institute of Current World Affairs and trustee Fabrice Houdart set up the David Mixner LGBTQ+ Writing Fellowship for young writers to immerse themselves in a specific LGBTQ+ issue abroad. BMX BMX , an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross , is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes , either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX , or else in general street or off-road recreation. BMX began during

3783-481: The country planting trees as she went. A lantern containing a flame derived from the eternal flame at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was carried along the march by members of Asian and Pacific Americans for Nuclear Awareness. Like the original flame in Japan, it was to be extinguished only when all nuclear weapons on Earth were dismantled and the threat of nuclear war was gone. Among the amenities provided to marchers

3880-554: The cross-country link. Part of this group then became an "evaluation team" which lagged a few days behind the main march, surveying local residents to determine what effect the march had had on the community. A similar group covered the route through De Beque Canyon east of Grand Junction, Colorado , which the main group could not follow because of road construction on the narrow alignment of I-70 , as well as through Glenwood Canyon . The marchers celebrated Mother's Day by having those among them who were mothers and their children lead

3977-628: The desert. Most of those who were arrested at the Test Site were released from jail after six days and rejoined the march northeast of Las Vegas. Briefly crossing the Arizona Strip , a group of marchers traveled to Kingman and received a proclamation in their honor from Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt . With the help of a rabbi from Las Vegas, the marchers held a Passover seder in Hurricane, Utah . On April 24, two marchers who broke from

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4074-534: The director of DHS to implement the drug testing and sale authority that he had under existing law, for the purpose of approving the testing and sale either of an AIDS vaccine, or of new drugs that offer a reasonable possibility of treating people who have been infected with the AIDS virus." Four years after a fundraiser for the Dukakis campaign told Mixner that Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis would not accept

4171-554: The disease for four years; he died on May 13, 1989. While Scott fought the disease, Mixner formed an organization that spearheaded legislation that would create a California alternative to the FDA , enabling California to deal more aggressively with the AIDS epidemic than the federal government. Mixner's group enlisted the support of California Attorney General John Van de Kamp , then convinced California Governor George Deukmejian to sign AB 1952, which, as described by van de Kamp, "mandates

4268-527: The dominant bicycle for the younger rider, with older teenagers and even adults becoming known names through publications like BMX Bi-Weekly , featuring big names like Tim March and Andy Ruffell. The shift to freestyle from racing came in 1985 with popular styling moving from chrome frames and contrasting components in black blue or red being the norm, to brightly coloured bikes in one colour only, including their magnesium alloy wheels and even matching tyres. Because BMX exploded into Britain's streets so suddenly, it

4365-408: The duration of the march, some participants stayed elsewhere, often helping to make preparations for future stops or soliciting donations in nearby cities. Wherever the bulk of the marchers were unable to continue the journey on foot due to safety concerns, a smaller group of "Spirit Walkers" stayed behind to walk along an alternative route and complete the symbolic link, eventually catching back up with

4462-466: The early 1970s in the United States when children began racing their bicycles on dirt tracks in southern California , inspired by the motocross stars of the time. The size and availability of the Schwinn Sting-Ray and other wheelie bikes made them the natural bike of choice for these races, since they were easily customized for better handling and performance. BMX racing was a phenomenon by

4559-586: The first time he would oppose the Clintons in a political election. In October 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah Brown honored Mixner with a luncheon at 10 Downing Street . The luncheon in Mixner's honor represented the first time a British Prime Minister honored an LGBT activist in this manner. Mixner was featured in Ask Not, a 2008 documentary film about the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. In May 2009, Mixner used his blog to call for

4656-677: The first was a trek across Florida in December 1986 and January 1987, protesting the first launch tests of the Trident II nuclear missile at Cape Canaveral . During the summer of 1987, a group of 200 Soviets and 200 Americans, including some who had helped to organize the Great Peace March, took part in the American-Soviet Peace Walk from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg ) and Moscow in the Soviet Union. This walk

4753-404: The group of marchers remained stable at a population of roughly 975 or 980. Although it was impossible to exit San Bernardino to the north without using state roadways, the insurance problem was avoided by having buses transport the marchers much of the way to Hesperia . Six marchers were allowed to follow the entire route on foot to complete the symbolic link. On March 10, the marchers arrived at

4850-548: The group to hitchhike to Zion National Park were in a truck that rolled over, killing 24-year-old marcher Cynthia Carlson. The Utah Department of Transportation warned marchers against trying to cross the unpopulated San Rafael Desert on foot, due to the lack of facilities, the absence of shoulders along the road, and the potential risks of contracting hoof-and-mouth disease and giardia . March organizers agreed to be bused from Cove Fort to Salt Lake City , giving them an opportunity to stage public events and raise money in

4947-462: The group to a halt, leaving many in the group stranded. Two weeks later, 500 members of the group continued onwards and eventually reached Washington, D.C. Shortly after Mixner experienced professional success in 1985, helping defeat Proposition 64 , a ballot initiative proposed by Lyndon LaRouche that would require quarantining people with AIDS , Mixner learned that his long-time lover and business partner, Peter Scott, had AIDS. Scott would fight

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5044-559: The group. In Denver, two marchers who had fallen in love along the trek in California were married at a local church. A rally at the Colorado State Capitol was joined by thousands of local residents, with another performance by Holly Near, and mayor Federico Peña praised the undertaking. Having crossed through the Rocky Mountains, the flatter terrain of eastern Colorado and Nebraska allowed marchers to pick up

5141-667: The headquarters of the moratorium and suggested to Mixner that he organize a parallel protest at Oxford. This protest of about a thousand people gathered in front of the American embassy in London would later be a significant issue in Clinton's presidential campaign, with President George H. W. Bush telling Larry King on CNN in October 1992, "Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but to go to a foreign country and demonstrate against your own country when your sons and daughters are dying halfway around

5238-543: The journey. The march was supposed to begin with a star-studded benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on March 1, but this plan had to be scaled down after PRO-Peace struggled to convince major artists to appear for free. The Coliseum still served as the starting point of the march on that date, but the send-off ceremonies were moved a few miles down the road to City Hall , where Mayor Tom Bradley and numerous Hollywood actors wished

5335-434: The lack of BMX organizations in the East, which prompted Esser to start the NBL in Florida. By 1977, the American Bicycle Association (ABA) was organized as a national sanctioning body for the growing sport. Freestyle BMX is now one of the staple events at the annual Summer X Games Extreme Sports competition and the Etnies Backyard Jam, held primarily on the East and West coasts of the United States. The popularity of

5432-460: The larger march. The national map shows only major stops along the route where marchers camped for multiple nights, typically in or near large cities. The regional maps below highlight these same major stops with a larger marker and labeled with the place name, while all of the nightly stops are shown with the default marker and no label. Some locations are approximate, particularly those far from any named settlement. All markers also serve as links to

5529-425: The march for its entire duration, breaking from the group at times to drive back to Los Angeles and rejoining them later, he later described the march as a transformative experience that allowed him to escape a faltering career in Hollywood and to come to terms with the abuse he had received as a child actor. Below are listed the official rest stops taken by the main body of the Great Peace March each night. Throughout

5626-425: The march half the proceeds from her rendition of " Somewhere ", and Paul Newman , PRO-Peace had raised less than $ 4 million by the time the march began. It was estimated that the march's total expenses would be about $ 21 million, nearly half of which would be needed just to feed the marchers along the way. Caltrans required event organizers to purchase an insurance policy covering at least $ 5 million in damages before

5723-416: The march reached Sunset Park in Paradise , 19 days behind schedule. The arrival in Las Vegas Valley coincided with a $ 25,000 donation to the march from Paul Newman , a substantial boost for an organization that was spending $ 3,000 a day. Marchers walked down the Las Vegas Strip on April 12, then spent the night staying at people's homes on the northeast side of the city before resuming their journey across

5820-460: The march up to that point. Marchers met with Mitch Snyder and Philip Berrigan in Fort Loudon , and attended a Ralph Nader rally for Bob Edgar in Shippensburg . On October 23, marchers crossed the George Washington Bridge into New York City , completing the cross-country phase of their journey. Some participants appeared that morning on The Phil Donahue Show . A rally at the United Nations Building , coinciding with United Nations Day ,

5917-454: The march were sold off beginning on November 17, with proceeds going to fund future anti-war efforts. A final unofficial protest action was held that same day, with participants blocking doors to the James V. Forrestal Building , headquarters of the United States Department of Energy overseeing the nation's nuclear weapons program. The traveling encampment of marchers was referred to as "Peace City", which had an elected city council as well as

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6014-407: The march, akin to other major charity events of the mid-1980s like Live Aid , Farm Aid , and Hands Across America . However, the issue of nuclear disarmament proved to be too politically controversial for most of the companies PRO-Peace approached, and fundraising fell well below expectations. Beginning in early February, marchers gathered in a park in Reseda, California to await the beginning of

6111-436: The marchers again at nearby Lake Anita State Park , marking the march's 2,000th mile traveled from Los Angeles. A rally at the Iowa Statehouse in Des Moines was joined by gubernatorial candidate Lowell Junkins and secretary of state Mary Jane Odell . Approaching Davenport , marchers met with a group of Soviet and American citizens traveling down the Mississippi River on the historic Delta Queen steamboat as part of

6208-425: The marchers detoured from the official route in Aurora to visit Kent State University , site of the infamous 1970 fatal shootings of peace protesters. In Pittsburgh , marchers joined unemployed steelworkers for a rally outside U.S. Steel 's recently closed Homestead Steel Works . On October 4, two marchers were struck by a car while marching outside of Bedford, Pennsylvania , marking the first such accident of

6305-407: The marchers well and Melissa Manchester , Holly Near , and Mr. Mister performed on a temporary stage. The 1,200 marchers – about a quarter of the 5,000 that PRO-Peace had hoped to attract – then proceeded to their first overnight campsite on the California State University, Los Angeles campus. Despite large and well-publicized contributions from celebrities including Barbra Streisand , who gave

6402-416: The marchers would be allowed to travel along state highways, but PRO-Peace was unable to afford this much insurance coverage. With logistical problems cropping up and uncertainty as to whether they would even be allowed to cross the Cajon Pass out of San Bernardino , over 200 participants dropped out of the march in the first two days, before it had even left the Los Angeles suburbs. After March 3, however,

6499-447: The mid-1970s. Children were racing standard road bikes off-road around purpose-built tracks in California. The motorcycle racing documentary On Any Sunday (1971) is generally credited with inspiring the movement nationally in the United States; its opening scene shows kids riding their Sting-Rays off-road. By the middle of that decade, the sport achieved critical mass , and manufacturers began creating bicycles designed especially for

6596-537: The middle of the furor over the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy proposed by Clinton, which represented a total betrayal to Mixner and many in the gay community. However, he also had angered the White House for attacking Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sam Nunn , who in a speech Mixner referred to as an "old-fashioned bigot" for opposing Clinton's plan to lift the ban on gays in the military. When Mixner went on Nightline to complain about Clinton's rapid shift away from allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in

6693-460: The military, his calls to the White House stopped being returned and his consulting business began to decline, as he was no longer perceived as someone who had influence with the new administration. Shortly thereafter, Mixner participated in a march in Washington for the Campaign for Military Service, which advocated lifting the bans on gays in the military. When Clinton announced the " Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell " policy on July 19, 1993, Mixner organized

6790-532: The million dollars Mixner and his friends planned to raise for him, Mixner found hope in the candidacy of his old friend, Bill Clinton. He reportedly assisted Clinton in every election he took part in from 1974 up to the time leading to the White House . After Clinton promised Mixner that he would support both an end to the ban on gays in the military and increased funds to find a cure for AIDS, Mixner began raising money for Clinton enthusiastically. Mickey Kantor , Clinton's campaign chairman, soon asked Mixner to join

6887-401: The organization of the march had helped to inspire further protests against nuclear weapons. Contrary to expectations, marchers generally saw that their journey had a greater effect on people in small towns, where they were more conspicuous, compared to more populous cities where they were often ignored. The model of the Great Peace March was followed by organizers of other protest events. Among

6984-420: The pace, averaging more than 20 miles a day compared to the originally planned 15 miles per day, in the hopes of catching up with the original itinerary for the march. On June 6, marchers hiked more than 25 miles from Fort Morgan to Merino in a single day. In Nebraska, marchers were met with a severe heatwave, and some suffered sunburns and risked heat stroke, unused to the humid conditions after three months in

7081-589: The performers who have appeared in these shows are Tony nominees Bobby Steggert and Rory O'Malley , Emily Swallow ( The Mentalist ), Chris Bolan ( Mamma Mia! ), Ryan Silverman (Mamma Mia! and Sideshow), country and western Singer Chely Wright , jazz saxophone great Dave Koz , Will Reynolds (actor/writer), Broadway legend T. Oliver Reid, Megan Ostrahause ( Mary Poppins ), and others. On October 27, 2014, Mixner premiered Oh Hell No! at New World Stages at 340 West 50th Street in New York. The autobiographical show,

7178-592: The platform to raise the issue of the violence at the previous year's convention. Mixner served as an organizer of the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam . The idea was prompted by Jerome Grossman , a Massachusetts businessman active in the peace movement. Grossman proposed to Sam Brown, a close friend of Mixner, that they set aside a day in 1969 where "business as usual" would come to a halt, essentially engaging in

7275-548: The presidential campaign of Eugene McCarthy . One of Mixner's first assignments was organizing the Minnesota operation, helping McCarthy win the Minnesota caucus, defeating incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson . Later, Mixner and other members of McCarthy's campaign team went to Georgia to help select an alternative delegation to send to the national convention in Chicago, challenging Governor Lester Maddox 's hand-picked delegation, which included only seven African-Americans in

7372-412: The production. At the end, Sam Brown, and David Hawk joined Mixner on stage, the first time they appeared on a stage together in 47 years. On March 5, 2018, Mixner performed the last show of his trilogy again to sold-out audiences. This time Mixner took folks back to his childhood, telling stories of poverty, segregation, murder, and rising from the ashes. It was his most personal and vulnerable work of

7469-531: The show debuted to positive reviews. On 20 July 2023, Mixner was the keynote speaker of the first edition of the Pride Talk Amsterdam . An annual talk in the run up to Pride Amsterdam, organised by The New Church on Dam Square in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Mixner's speech, filled with emotion, humor, melancholy and hope, was immortalized in a manifesto . Mixner was introduced by the president of COC Netherlands , Astrid Oosenbrug , and member of

7566-508: The sport has increased due to its relative ease and availability of places to ride and do tricks. In the UK, BMX was a craze which took off in the early 1980s, specifically 1982 and 1983, when the BMX bike became the must-have bicycle for children and teenagers. The 1983 cult movie BMX Bandits helped establish the sport further worldwide. Previously a small niche area, BMX exploded at this time into

7663-616: The sport. In 1974, George E. Esser founded the National Bicycle League as a non-profit bicycle motocross sanctioning organization. Before they set up the NBL, Esser and his wife, Mary, sanctioned motorcycle races with the American Motocross Association (AMA). Their two sons, Greg and Brian, raced motorcycles, but also enjoyed riding and racing BMX with their friends. It was their sons' interest, and

7760-660: The strike, the workers eventually earned the right to unionize. Mixner found himself much more interested in activism, including LGBT rights, than in pursuing a college degree. While at the University of Maryland, Mixner was a grassroots organizer for the 1967 March on the Pentagon , which was later captured in Norman Mailer ’s Armies of the Night . Later that year, Mixner dropped out of college and began working for

7857-760: The three productions. The production raised $ 175,000 for homeless LGBTQ youth. In March 2015, Jacob’s Ladder , a play written by Mixner and Dennis Bailey, debuted at the Boyd Vance Theatre at the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center in Austin, Texas . The play, a historical drama set during World War II, concerns a Jewish White House aide's discovery of a secret proposal to bomb Hitler's Concentration Camps in Eastern Europe . Directed by Derek Kolluri,

7954-470: The time, Mixner was also serving as the campaign manager for Tom Bradley , the mayor of Los Angeles who was seeking reelection; so while he worked to raise funds for MECLA, his involvement was kept secret because of the potential for his sexuality to become an issue in Bradley's campaign. Soon after Bradley won reelection easily, Mixner turned his focus to fighting Proposition 6 , an initiative placed on

8051-479: The walk to Parachute, Colorado . On May 22, the march crossed the Continental Divide at Loveland Pass , thus climbing to the highest elevation of their cross-country route at 11,992 feet. May 22 had been planned as a rest day, but marchers crossed the divide a day early to avoid an incoming snowstorm. In Lawson, Colorado , marchers met with poet Allen Ginsberg , who joined some members of the group in

8148-551: The world, I am sorry but I think that is wrong." The Moratorium drew millions of people throughout the country, who gathered in public places and read the names of the soldiers killed in Vietnam aloud. The day was capped off by a march at the Washington Monument , where Coretta Scott King , the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke about her late husband's passion for ending the war. Mixner's commentary on

8245-502: Was a bookmobile which also served as a schoolhouse for the children that participated in the march, formally known as the Peace Academy Center for Education. The bookmobile received donations of books from libraries in the towns that the march passed through. One of the most notable marchers was actor Robert Blake , who vowed at the beginning of the march to walk all the way to Washington. While Blake did not remain with

8342-572: Was allegedly beaten by police during the protests held outside the convention center. After Vice President Hubert Humphrey claimed the nomination, Mixner began seeking out new outlets for his activism. He soon befriended Doris Kearns Goodwin , who introduced Mixner to Senator Ted Kennedy , who he claimed would become a lifelong friend. In early 1969, Mixner was invited to join the Delegate Selection Committee, where he served as his generation's voice, and he intended to use

8439-571: Was an American political activist and author. He was best known for his work in anti-war and gay rights advocacy. Mixner played a key role in defeating Proposition 6 in California , which sought to ban gays and lesbians from being schoolteachers. He also organized the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam in 1969, drawing millions of protesters nationwide. Mixner later became involved in Bill Clinton 's presidential campaigns but criticized Clinton's " Don't Ask, Don't Tell " policy, which led to

8536-630: Was flown across the Atlantic and crossed Western Europe before being denied entry to East Germany. Journalist Kevin James Shay , who later wrote about his experience in the Walk of the People, walked with the Great Peace March for its first week in California. More recently, Ed Fallon was inspired by his experience with the Great Peace March to organize the Great March for Climate Action , which

8633-465: Was followed shortly after by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War , removing the impetus for the nuclear arms race. The United States ultimately ended all of its nuclear weapons testing in 1992, as it entered into negotiations for the international Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty . While the treaty has not entered into force, no nation other than North Korea has tested

8730-520: Was held in 2014. While the march's central objective of total worldwide nuclear disarmament has not been achieved, some of its smaller protest targets have disappeared or have been significantly reduced in the decades since. The Rocky Flats Plant was shut down due to safety concerns in 1989 and formally decommissioned in 1992. President Reagan had rejected calls for a moratorium on nuclear testing since taking office in 1981, but his administration restarted negotiations to do so in 1987. The Great Peace March

8827-786: Was held three days later in Hinckley to mark the anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki . In Chicago, marchers met with mayor Harold Washington at the Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park , although they were not allowed to camp in Grant Park as they had originally hoped due to a city ordinance passed after the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests . A rally in Lincoln Park was joined by Betty Thomas and Studs Terkel . In northern Indiana, marchers were offered

8924-581: Was honored by the Point Foundation (LGBT) , an organization that provides college scholarships to LGBT students, with its Legend Award at the foundation's 2009 Honors Gala in New York City. The award was presented to Mixner by Victoria Reggie Kennedy , the widow of Ted Kennedy . In 2011, the Theater at Dixon Place announced a one-man show starring Mixner, From the Front Porch . The show

9021-648: Was joined by Yoko Ono and Rev. Jesse Jackson . The march visited Philadelphia on November 2 and 3, on the eve of the midterm elections , and were met by mayor Wilson Goode , Maggie Kuhn , and Graham Nash . Documents relating to the march were donated to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, after marchers stayed the night on their campus just outside Philadelphia. As originally planned, marchers arrived in Washington, D.C. on November 14. The march culminated with rallies in

9118-636: Was largely inspired by the Great Peace March, which had received substantial coverage in the Soviet press. Seeds of Peace , a group of organizers from the Great Peace March using equipment from the march, supported the Florida march and subsequently organized the New England Walk for Nuclear Disarmament in 1987, covering over 200 miles from Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire , to

9215-541: Was not sanctioned by the march organization. Having lost their Omaha campsite, the marchers crossed into Iowa two days early and spent the holiday at Lake Manawa State Park in Council Bluffs . About 100 of the 240 protesters arrested for trespassing at Offutt on July 6 were march participants; all were released shortly afterward. Baba Ram Dass spoke to the assembled marchers in Treynor, Iowa . Pete Seeger joined

9312-492: Was perhaps inevitable that it would implode with similar speed, when the children who rode the bikes left school and went to work. By 1986–1987, sales in the UK had dropped off dramatically, with the new all-terrain bike or mountain bike (another trend from mid-1970s California) taking off, soon to become the most popular adult bicycle. In 1980, the first BMX track in the UK was founded in Landseer Park , Ipswich , by

9409-462: Was seized and repossessed by creditors. The roughly 500 participants that remained then walked 10 miles to a BMX track on the north side of Barstow, which already had its own liability insurance, ensuring that the marchers would not have to pay that cost themselves. The group began raising funds to continue onward, and in the meantime offered acts of community service to the city of Barstow. The 300 marchers that remained after two weeks in Barstow left

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