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I took Café’s cover image
during the Eyes Wide Open (EWO) exhibit at the
Peace Museum, located in the Field House at Chicago’s
Garfield Park. EWO features 1,000 pairs of combat boots, symbolizing
the number of fallen soldiers in the war in Iraq at the time
the exhibit was in Chicago. Within this exhibit is another
significant image: a small collection of street shoes, a
token representation of the Iraqi civilians, many of them
innocent children, who have died as a result of this
conflict. This exhibit is traveling the nation through
January 2005.
 The cover image focuses on a
pair of children's shoes that are within this exhibit. To
me, this image represented the silent victims — not only
children in Iraq, but from around the world who have lost a
parent to the war. When I first saw the collection of boots
and shoes arranged around an ornate, circular stairwell at
the Peace Museum, I felt like I was attending an art
exhibit. However, the tone of my experience changed
dramatically when I watched the wife of a fallen soldier,
tears falling down her cheeks, place a flower in the boot
that belonged to her husband. She was holding their infant
son, the child her husband would never see. It was this
moment that I felt less like I was at a museum and more as
if I was witnessing an intimate moment of farewell at a
funeral.
 In
the photo at right, a volunteer is placing an American flag
and a flower in every combat boot. Each boot bears the name
of a soldier, his or her troop information, and home city
and state. This exhibit was one way in which the discussion
of peace has become more real to me. During the construction
of this issue of Café, we held our own paths to peace close
to our hearts. We hope this issue helps further your peace
journey.
The other photos in this
issue of Café, with the exception of the one of
Malalai Joya, were taken by Don J. Rutledge and were used
with his permission.
Elizabeth McBride,
Café designer
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