click here to watch video from lafayettecrosses.blogspot.com

The Lafayette Crosses Hillside Memorial to the US soldiers killed in Iraq manifests two phenomena within the anti-war movement. One is the prominence of aesthetic/spatial representations of the cost of the war such as the Lafayette memorial, Arlington West and the Quaker organized traveling memorial of empty boots. The other is activism in affluent suburbs.
Interestingly, these phenomena became more apparent when signs voicing their opposition to the memorial were put up across the street. The new signs protest how the memorial exposes children to death and in doing so exposes the struggle over space and values in suburbia.

This video attempts to expose how space and values are constructed together in suburban California. I hope it gives others in the anti-war movement a chance to reflect and learn.

About Lafayette Crosses:

In November of 2006 residents of Lafayette, CA and neighboring towns began to put up crosses above Deer Hill Rd acoss from the Lafayette commuter rail station and Highway 24. The crosses were meant to represent and memorialize the American soldiers who have died in the ongoing Iraqi war. A large sign above the crosses displays of the number war dead. By February 25th more than 2500 crosses have gone up on the hill.

You can find more videos and links about the Lafayette memorial at lafayettecrosses.blogspot.com