Former Winchester Students to Hold Patriot Rally

Jack Cashion and Greg Johnston first met when they were five-years-old. They started together at the From there they moved onto and eventually graduated from in 2009.

While it was always a goal of theirs to attend Harvard, they never expected to attend the same university.

But two years into their college career, not only are they both studying at the Ivy League institution, but their college dorm rooms are right down the hall from each other.

“It’s a pretty weird coincidence,” Johnston said. “We never planned it, but by the time we graduate [Harvard] we would’ve been going to school together 17 of our 22 years alive.”

So it was no surprise that when Cashion was looking to organize a protest at school, Johnston was one of the first people he asked to help.

Back in January, Eric Cantor who is a Republican U.S. Representative from Virginia and also the House Majority Leader, stopped by to speak at Harvard. Cashion had decided to organize a protest of the event and Cantor’s proposed budget, which would cut funding for AmeriCorps, an organization that Cashion had been a part of.

“We wanted to have a rally for AmeriCorps,” Cashion said. “And it was pretty successful, considering we were only focusing on one issue.”

During the January protest, Cashion had noticed all the different organizations—from Planned Parenthood to the Global Health Fund—that showed up to join the protest.

Shortly after, Cashion, along with some of the other protesters, decided to organize another protest—a march.

And on Monday, April 18, on Patriots’ Day, Cashion, Johnston and about 50 other protesters will participate in the March for Common Sense.

“We feel like if we can work together we can change the discussion Congress is having regarding the budget,” Cashion said. “We want fair taxes, everyone to be taxed equally and not to have these social organizations, like AmeriCorps cut from the budget.”

The supporters will gather at the Battle Green on Monday at 10 a.m. From there, they will march 13 miles to Boston and arrive at the Paul Revere House for a rally.

Alan Khazei, founder of City Year and AmeriCorps, will be one of the speakers at the rally. Joining him will be Bob Massie, who, so far, is the only declared Democratic candidate for Scott Brown’s U.S. Senate seat.

“I’ve seen hundreds of thousands of Patriotic Americans have a huge impact by deciding to give their time to serve communities,” Khazei said. “I'm joining the ‘March for Common Sense’ because the budget cuts are an attack on Massachusetts communities and the patriots who serve them."

After the rally, the protesters will march from Revere’s home to Senator John Kerry’s office to urge the senator to fight against the proposed cuts.

“These budget cuts are an attack on my community,” said State Representative Jason Lewis (D-Winchester). “I support the ‘March for Common Sense’ because I believe the government should commit to communities, not tear them down.”

The march has also gained support from national organizations, as Stand for Children has offered its support of the march.

 “We’re incredibly grateful and happy for all the support we’ve received,” Johnston said. “It’s really easy to sit around and do nothing but talk about the problems. It’s different to actually do something about it.”

But Cashion is just hoping to get their message out there.

“We can’t afford to cut some of these social programs,” Cashion said. “And in organizing this we’ve found so many people that agree with us and that just want to be taxed fairly. Everyone needs to pay their fair share. We want Democrats, like Senator Kerry to become champions of this cause.”