Published on Portside (https://portside.org)
Let It Shine: Stop U.S. Militarised Violence; Peace and Civil Disobedience
in Wisconsin
Kathy Kelly
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Znet
"This
little light of mine, I'm gonna' let it shine! Let it shine, let it shine, let
it shine."
Imagine
children lustily singing the above lines which eventually became a civil rights
anthem. Their innocence and happy resolve enlightens us. Yes! In the face of
wars, refugee crises, weapon proliferation and unaddressed climate change
impacts, let us echo the common sense of children. Let goodness shine. Or, as
our young friends in Afghanistan have put it, #Enough! They write the word, in
Dari, on the palms of their hands and show it to cameras, wanting to shout out
their desire to abolish all wars.
This past
summer, collaborating with Wisconsin activists [1], we
decided to feature this refrain on signs and announcements for a 90-mile walk
campaigning to end targeted drone assassinations abroad, and the similarly racist
impunity granted to an increasingly militarized police force when they kill
brown and black people within the U.S.
Walking
through small cities and towns in Wisconsin, participants distributed leaflets
and held teach-ins encouraging people to demand accountability from local
police, and an end to the "Shadow Drone" program operated by the U.S.
Air National Guard out of Wisconsin's own Volk Field. Our friend Maya Evans
traveled the furthest to join the walk: she coordinates Voices for Creative
Nonviolence in the UK. Alice Gerard, from Grand Isle, NY, is our most
consistent long-distance traveler, on her sixth antiwar walk with VCNV.
Photo credit: Maya Evans
Brian
Terrell noted what mothers speaking to Code Pink, as part of the Mothers
Against Police Brutality campaign, had also noted: that surprisingly many of
the officers charged with killing their children were veterans of the U.S. wars
in Afghanistan and Iraq. He recalled past national events, such as the NATO
summit in Chicago, in 2012, whose organizers tried to recruit temporary
security officers from amongst U.S. veterans. Former soldiers, already
traumatized by war, need support, healthcare and vocational training but
instead are offered temp jobs to aim weapons at other people in predictably
tense settings.
The walk
was instructive. Salek Khalid, a friend of Voices, shared "Creating a Hell
on Earth: U.S. Drone Strikes Abroad," his own in-depth presentation about
the development of drone warfare. Tyler Sheafer, joining us from the
Progressive Alliance near Independence, MO, stressed the independence of living
simply, off the grid and consuming crops grown only within a 150 mile radius of
one's home, while hosts in Mauston, WI welcomed Joe Kruse to talk about fracking
and our collective need to change patterns of energy consumption. The ability
to withhold our money and our labor is an important way to compel governments
to restrain their violent domestic and international power.
We weren't
alone. We walked in solidarity with villagers in Gangjeong, South Korea, who'd
welcomed many of us to join in their campaign to stop militarization of their
beautiful Jeju Island. Seeking inter-island solidarity and recognizing how
closely they share the plight of Afghans burdened by the U.S. "Asia
Pivot," our friends in Okinawa, Japan will host a walk from the north to
the south of the island, protesting construction of a new U.S. military base in
Henoko. Rather than provoke a new cold war, we want to shine light on our common
cares and concerns, finding security in extended hands of friendship.
On August
26th, some of the walkers will commit nonviolent civil resistance at Volk
Field, carrying the messages about drone warfare and racial profiling into
courts of law and public opinion.
Too often
we imagine that a life swaddled in everyday comforts and routines is the only
life possible, while half a world away, to provide those comforts to us,
helpless others are made to shiver with inescapable cold or fear. It's been
instructive on these walks to uncoddle ourselves a little, and see how our
light shines, unhidden, on the road through neighboring towns, singing words
we've heard from children learning to be as adult as they can be; attempting to
learn that same lesson. The lyric [2] goes
"I'm not going to make it shine: I'm just going to _let_ it
shine." We hope that by releasing the truth that's already in us we can
encourage others to live theirs, shining a more humane light on the violent
abuses, both at home and abroad, of dark systems that perpetuate violence. On
walks like this we've been fortunate to imagine a better life, sharing moments
of purpose and sanity with the many we've met along the road.
This
article first appeared on ZMag [5]
Thanks to
the author for sending her article to Portside.
Links:
[1] http://www.wnpj.org/
[2] http://www.negrospirituals.com/songs/this_little_light_of_mine.htm
[3] mailto:Kathy@vcnv.org
[4] http://www.vcnv.org/
[5] https://zcomm.org/zmag/
[2] http://www.negrospirituals.com/songs/this_little_light_of_mine.htm
[3] mailto:Kathy@vcnv.org
[4] http://www.vcnv.org/
[5] https://zcomm.org/zmag/
Wisconsin
Walk for Peace and Justice: Nine Arrested at Volk Field
Joy
First August 26, 2015
Voices
for Creative Nonviolence engaged with a number of Wisconsin peace groups to
organize an 8-day 90-mile walk across southwest Wisconsin from August
18-25. The purpose of the walk was to call attention and make connections
between the militarized police violence at home and the military using violence
abroad through drone warfare and by other means. In both cases the
victims are people of color, which forces us to reflect on the systemic racism
of our society.
The
walk began at the City/County/Jail complex in Madison on August 18. Dane
County has one of the highest rates of racial disparity of any county in the
country on many issues, including when it comes to incarceration - hence
starting the walk at the jail. In fact, in order to make the prison
population match the general population in Dane County, we would need to
release 350 Black people. This is horrific, especially when we understand
that so many people of color are in jail for nonviolent crimes and crimes of
poverty that could better be solved by more positive interventions. It is
up to all of us to stand up with our brothers and sisters and proclaim that
“Black Lives Matter!”
There
were about 15-20 walkers each day as we went through the beautiful Wisconsin
countryside - Waunakee, Lodi, across the Merrimac ferry, camping at Devil’s
Lake State Park and Rocky Arbor, up through Mauston and New Lisbon, and ending
at Volk Field. It was eight nights of sleeping in the homes of
supporters, in tents, and in church basements.
The
walk participants kept going through inclement weather that is not typical for
Wisconsin in August. There was rain, heavy wind, and very cool
temperatures during the walk. The cooler temperatures were better than
walking in 90 degree weather, but it still made for a difficult walk.
However, they kept going 12-15 miles each day, persistent and determined.
What
kept us going like this for eight days? People choose to be involved with
the walk, knowing it would be difficult and push them to their limits, but also
knowing that the militarized violence, both abroad and at home, is causing
grave suffering to many innocent people and we must do something about
it. We must speak out, raise awareness, share our concerns, and most
importantly call for change. And that is what we did all along the route
as we built bonds of friendship and connection with each other, and provided
outreach and education along the way. We called for change in front of
the City/County/Jail complex in Madison at the beginning of the walk, and we
called for change at Volk Field at the end of the walk, as well as all along
the route.
The
walk came to an end at a beautiful rest area next to a noisy freeway near Volk
Field. Volk Field is a Wisconsin Air National Guard Base near the village
of Camp Douglas, WI. One of the jobs there is to train personnel to
operate Shadow drones. Though the Shadow drones do not carry weapons (at
least that is what we are told), they carry a camera that is used for
target acquisition, surveillance, and assessment, and they are part of the
bigger program of drone warfare in this country. The Wisconsin Coalition
to Ground the Drones and End the Wars has been vigiling at the gates of Volk
Field for 3 ½ years – with three actions of nonviolent civil resistance during
that time.
After
a picnic lunch we formed our final circle to discuss details for both the vigil
and risk arrest action, we read the nonviolence guidelines, and we shared a
poem. Then we were ready to process to the gates of Volk Field. We
walked slowly and solemnly to the gates with a drum beat and a lone voice
singing a mournful chant. We walked to the gates with heavy hearts,
remembering those who have died in drone strikes and as a result of police
violence. Some of the signs we carried were pictures of children who have
been killed by drones, stating, “U.S. Drone Warfare is Terrorism”.
The
Juneau County sheriff was at the gate with several of his deputies when we
arrived. There was also a police dog, which they have never used with us
in the past.
We
stood, as we always do, on the grass under a big beautiful tree. Buddy
and Xan began to sing the names of victims of militarized violence, going back
and forth between the name of a drone victim, and then the name of Black woman
who was killed by the police in this country. After each name the crowd
responded by singing, “We remember you” and a single drum beat.
After
listening to the names for a few minutes, those of us who were going to risk
arrest stepped off the curb and onto the road. We slowly walked towards
the gate feeling the pain of living under a government that could commit these
acts in our name. We took one step onto the base and were immediately
taken into custody, handcuffed, and put into a police car.
We
were handcuffed in front, given a bag of food once we got to the jail,
processed and released within about four hours. We were arrested for
disorderly conduct and also given a citation for trespassing. We have a
court date on September 30. The arrestees were Bonnie Block, Cassandra
Dixon, Joyce Ellwanger, Joy First, Jim Murphy, Phil Runkel, Mary Beth
Schlagheck, Tyler Shiffer, and Don Timmerman.
Even
though it was one of the easiest arrests I have been through, it nonetheless
felt like a powerful action. The whole eight days built up to this action
where we were able to really make the connection between militarized violence
at home and abroad. It is time for real action and real change in polices
regarding drone warfare and police violence. We cannot, we will not rest
until we have peace and justice. Let it shine! And let’s keep
working.
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