The Hummer Is Dead. And We Buried It

On the eve
of a gathering of over 25,000 social justice activists in Detroit called
the U.S. Social Forum, environmentalists and peacemakers led by the
group CODEPINK converged to bury the symbol of the American hubris: the
Hummer. One month after the last Hummer rolled off the production line,
the activists gave the hulk of steel a proper burial.

The resting
place chosen for the Hummer was the Heidelberg Project,
an artistic community in downtown Detroit where dolls and plastic toys
and shoes and shopping carts are transformed into street art. People
come from far and wide to view the wild and wacky creations by artist
Tyree Gupton. Heidelberg Street's message to Detroit and global visitors
is one of renewal and hope in a city devastated by hard times and
unemployment.
The activists used the Hummer's demise to mark the end of a
Rambo-like era, culture, lifestyle, and political philosophy. A
converted military tank first sold to civilians in 1992 thanks to the
promotion of action hero/Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hummers
represented an increasing militarization of our society and the
glorification of war. They were also an energy sinkhole that helped fuel
wars for oil and global warming. The Hummer's dreadful gas mileage of
8-10 miles per gallon was less than half the mileage of the Model T Ford
100 years ago! Hummers emitted over 3 times more carbon dioxide than
average cars and they give off more smog-producing pollutants and
dangerous particulates. But because they had been categorized as light
trucks, they were exempt from meeting emission or fuel-efficiency
standards.

While the
$50,000-$150,000 Hummer models were advertised as the coolest, fiercest
car on the road and a patriotic way to "support the troops", activists
tried to label the Hummer an unpatriotic car that fueled war and
warming. For years, CODEPINK women would do guerrilla theater at auto
shows, climbing atop the vehicles and draping them with messages such
as: "Real soldiers are dying in their Hummers so you can play soldier in
yours." They held anti-Hummer actions at auto dealers, surrounding the
monstrosities with bicycles and Priuses. They handed out traffic
violation tickets, signed by Mother Earth.

Campaigns like that of CODEPINK raised awareness and
shamed many a consumer from driving a Hummer. The Hummer also took a
blow when the resistance movements in Iraq started blowing up Humvees
with primitive IEDs. The burned shells on the side of the Baghdad roads
tarnished the image of the "invincible King of the Road".

But the
real blow came with the rise in oil prices. Sales plummeted when people
had to cough up over $100 to fill the gas tank. The generalized
economic crisis in the past two years put the nail in the coffin. And
with the news that the Hummer was officially off the assembly line,
CODEPINK made plans for the burial.

The H-3 Hummer that was
buried in Motor City was bought from a parts yard for $500. The spanking
new vehicle had been leased from a dealership but when the leasee
discovered he owed more money then he had, he had the bright idea of
torching the $100,000 tank and claiming it was an accident. The story
didn't go down well with the dealer or the police. The macho man is now
spending time in prison for arson and fraud, while the burned-out hulk
of the vehicle became the centerpiece of CODEPINK's art installation.

With

the help of a backhoe and a car carrier, the activists dug out the
final resting place and slowly lowered the shell into the ground. They
painted it bright pink with vines and flowers. John George, founder of Motor City Blight
Busters brought four brightly painted butterflies to add to the
emerging greenery. They filled the insides of the Hummer with dirt, and
then festooned it with live plants, a rainbow of flowers and a pear tree
bursting through the sunroof. The macho machine was suddenly
transformed into a giant flower pot.

Just ahead of the buried
Hummer, rising out from the ground, was a pink bicycle with an arrow
pointing "To the Future." And off to the side, a car hood became the
Hummer's memorial tombstone, lettered to read:

ODE TO THE
HUMMER
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
We bury a Hummer here to rust
And

from these ashes, we recreate
A world of peace, an end to hate.

At

the close of a long work day, the group held a solemn ceremony where
they individually pledged to do more to help heal our planet. Then they
sang, danced and rode bicycles on the Hummer's grave.

"I always
wanted to dance on the Hummer's grave," said CODEPINK activist Tighe
Barry, who directed the project and grew up in Detroit. As he bid the
Hummer a formal farewell dressed in a pink Marine uniform decorated with
peace symbols, he said, "For us, burying the Hummer is letting go of
the macho ways of driving and dominating our streets, our economy and
our foreign policy. It's time a new trend of green jobs and renewable
energy for all. We see the demise of the Hummer as a positive sign of
the clean, green, peaceful planet we're determined to build."

CODEPINK

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planet --share them with us here.