Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
AlterNet [1] / By Frank Joyce [2]
Why the Viet Nam Anti-War Movement's Work Is Not Yet Done
May 10, 2013
Most US citizens these days don’t consider Viet Nam at all. Of those who do, many believe that all is well. And in some ways it is. Viet Nam has normal diplomatic relations with the US, belongs to the World Trade Organization, accepts investment by US based multi-national corporations and is allied with US foreign policy on some geopolitical issues including concerns over China’s intentions regarding “disputed” territory in the South China Sea.
On the right and the left, some believe war related issues don’t matter much because Viet Nam has gone off the “capitalist cliff” or isn’t conforming sufficiently to some other Western template. (The New York Times recently featured a front-page story along these lines.)
I disagree. I think Viet Nam war issues are still very much with us. And if the Obama administration has its way, for all the wrong reasons, they are going to be with us for a long time to come.
Because I have an eye out for these things, I notice news coverage that touches on the Viet Nam war. For example, earlier this year, Jimmy Lee Dykes, made news because he killed a school bus driver, then kidnapped a five-year old boy on the bus and held him hostage in his survivalist bunker. He was identified as ”a decorated Viet Nam war veteran.”
It is not unusual to see Viet Nam vets associated with these kinds of stories. Even more common are stories about vets of any and all wars struggling with issues of unemployment, homelessness and difficulties with navigating the Veterans Administration bureaucracy.
Last month there were numerous stories about a Viet Nam war anniversary. Which one? Forty years ago, on March 29, 1973 the last US troops left Viet Nam. Many US media outlets featured interviews with some of those veterans.
Missing from the news coverage of the 40th anniversary of the troop return was the basis for them leaving Viet Nam in the first place. The date certain for their homecoming was set by the Paris Peace Accords which were officially signed on January 27, 1973.
There was not one single story in the US media about that 40th anniversary.
In Viet Nam however, honoring the Paris Peace Accords was a big deal. I know because I was one of several anti-war activists from around the world invited to participate in events commemorating the agreement.
An official ceremony in Hanoi was carried live on national TV and the occasion was marked in numerous other ways throughout the country. All acknowledged the contribution made by U.S. civilians and soldiers who resisted the war. Anti-war activists at the event were given VIP treatment.
Vietnamese leaders want young people to understand the war and its place in Viet Nam’s past, present and future. They are well aware that 80 percent of the population was born after the war ended.
Many young Americans were also born since the Viet Nam war ended. A significant number are the children of parents who supported the anti-war movement. Others have parents who fought in Viet Nam, Cambodia or Laos.
Barack Obama and the rest of the “establishment” want to sanitize what the US military was ordered to do in Southeast Asia and obliterate the role of the anti-war movement in bringing the whole ugly mess to an end.
Why they do so might seem obvious. Predator drones as a symbol of “automated warfare” notwithstanding, the US war machine still needs plenty of humans. In addition to the wars already underway, many others are on the drawing board. Anything that might somehow make military service less attractive is best washed away. That certainly includes the truth about Viet Nam.
Beyond that, every Presidential administration needs to win popular support for permanent war as essential to preserving the “American way of life.” You have to be pretty old to have lived during a time when the US was not making war on one or more countries.
Since 1941, but for a few short breaks, the United States has been making war one place or another: Korea, Viet Nam, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Grenada, Kuwait, Iraq, Bosnia, Irag again, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Africa and Iran. That doesn’t even include the current phase of the war against Cuba that started in 1959 and continues to this day.
Whether Democrats or Republicans were in “power” has made no difference whatsoever. It is a bipartisan condition. US war has become so much a part of daily reality that we hardly notice. Most Americans think it completely normal and why not? That is exactly what it has become.
Obfuscating new “normal” is partly the job of the media. It’s no surprise therefore that coverage of the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq did not set it in the context of our continuous military interventions in other nations over the last 75 years.
Virtually all media stories treated the Iraq war as a self-contained event. The reality that the machinery of perpetual war is now utterly and completely integral to our economy, politics and culture was thereby concealed.
If we are to disrupt the cycle of endless war however, it is vital that we look at the forest and the trees of our present global death machine. A good place to start goes back to when the now mature forest was first planted.
Slavery.
The truth is that the United States is exceptional—although not in the “we are the chosen people of God who can do no wrong” way that many prefer to believe.
Never before in human history did a spanking new nation birth its economy and its government on a foundation of capitalist slavery. That is truly unique. The consequences of that “birth defect” are very much with us today. One of them is that we are loathe to recognize how much the consequences are with us today.
The fact of slavery required a moral justification for slavery. You can see several such rationalizations offered in the movie Django Unchained. And they are still going on. At the Conservative Political Action Convention (CPAC) in March young activists proclaimed that slave owners had been doing their slaves a favor all along.
When slavery ended, it was replaced by the Jim Crow segregation that had long been in place in the North. That then required the moral defense of the Jim Crow system. Today, because of institutionalized racism African Americans are still dramatically worse off than whites. This also requires a complex system of blaming-the- victim mental gymnastics.
Historian Edward Braithwaite has called this “social processing”. Centuries of rationalizing slavery (and genocide) form patterns and paths that are part of the cultural DNA of our citizenry. Avoidance, denial, and hypocrisy are essential ingredients.
What has evolved is a template for how to do it. One consistent theme is that our intentions are always noble and mighty. “Their” motives are always crass and evil. Oh and we always fight “clean.” They always fight dirty.
So it is that our leaders not only have yet to acknowledge our decades long 20th century brutality in Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos. Rather, the powers that be are actively working to perpetuate exactly the opposite story.
President Obama is leading the way. Last year on May 28 in a speech aimed at Viet Nam war veterans he said, “You were often blamed for a war you didn’t start, when you should have been commended for serving your country with valor. You were sometimes blamed for misdeeds of a few, when the honorable service of the many should have been praised. You came home and sometimes were denigrated, when you should have been celebrated.”
The president called the treatment of returning Viet Nam veterans a national shame and a disgrace that should never have happened and accused the Vietnamese of brutality. He also issued a proclamation calling for “a 13-year program to honor and give thanks to a generation of proud Americans who saw our country through one of the most challenging missions we have ever faced.”
Really? Is Obama unaware or deliberately ignoring the devastating atrocities against the Vietnamese population ordered by those at the highest levels of the Pentagon and the CIA? Like every American, he would benefit greatly from reading the true history of the war in the recently published book by Nick Turse, Kill Anything that Moves.
Of course, the Vietnamese know all too well the ugly reality the book reveals, including the loss of 3 million civilians deliberately killed by the US. The Vietnamese population also still suffers continuing birth defects from the millions of tons of Agent Orange dumped throughout the country as well as death and injury from unexploded US ordnance. Among our most touching experiences in Viet Nam were visits to schools attended by children born with disabilities from Agent Orange or disabled by encounters with unexploded ordnance. Laos and Cambodia face the same problems.
Tragically for us and the world, too many Americans have just asmsanitized a view of the atrocities committed against Asians in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia as they do of the brutalities of slavery or the modern day prison industrial complex.
As with his Nobel Peace Prize winning colleague Henry Kissinger, Barack Obama is committed to keeping it that way. He is counting on the mainstream media for help. He does not expect them to report on either the brutality and torture we inflicted as a matter of national policy or the contribution made by those who opposed the war to bringing it to an end.
Given these lies and distortions it becomes almost inevitable that we make the same mistakes again and again in trying to force other nations to bend to our will and “way of life.” One bad war begets the next.
What makes it all the worse is that we fail to connect the viciousness we visit on other countries with the brutality that defines our own culture. Does anyone seriously think we can control gun violence at home when we commit massive violence every day in countries all over the world? Or that “PTSD” homicides, suicides and domestic violence are not “blowback” from foreign aggression?
Should we be surprised that we elevate a distorted view of the second amendment, which was used for purposes of slave control, among other things, to a preeminent position in the U.S. constitution? Or that we are routinely urged to live in a constant state of fear despite having the most massive “defense” spending in the history of the world, police with military grade firepower and the largest number of “criminals” locked up of any nation on the planet?
There is, fortunately, another side to this story. The history and traditions of our nation also include an abolitionist movement. Whites died in the struggle to end Jim Crow segregation in the South. A broad cross section of the population vigorously opposed the U.S. wars against Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia. Some died in that struggle as well. And the anti-war movement did make a difference in bringing the war to an end more quickly than would otherwise have been the case.
These struggles are anything but finished. Regarding Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia in particular, Obama and Hagel have made clear they intend that their version of history will prevail. We will pay a heavy price if they succeed. So apparently we will have to have this argument all over again.
Fortunately, we have powerful resources on our side now just as we did during the fight against the war. Embers of War by Fredrik Logevall just won the Pulitzer Prize for History. His book details US efforts to prevent independence for the Vietnam as early as 1919. Fred Branfman recently wrote an excellent piece here on AlterNet setting the record straight on the many war crimes instigated and advanced by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Viet Nam Laos and Cambodia.
The voices of ordinary citizens are eloquent and essential too. David Ledesma recently put it beautifully in a letter to the editor of the Mercury News in San Jose, California:
My brother's name, Joseph Ledesma, is on the Sons of San José Memorial Wall. My family and I would like the public to know that Joey was not a hero for dying in Vietnam. He was a victim of that war, as was our family.
He IS a hero for the son he was to my parents, the big brother he was to his siblings, and the dedicated and loyal friend he was to many. He was the leader of our neighborhood and lettered in three sports at Buchser High School in Santa Clara. He didn't die because he fought defending our freedom. He died because he was lied to. Our family was lied to. All of America was lied to about the pretext to go to a full-scale war in Vietnam. Decades later, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara admitted that the Gulf of Tonkin incident (the pretext) was fabricated. Our family is grateful that the anti- war movement helped to put pressure on Washington and reveal the truth about the senseless killing that was tearing our families and country apart.
Then as now, the peacemakers are the true heroes. The sooner we more widely understand what was done in Viet Nam in our name, the sooner we will make real headway at dealing with injustice and violence here at home and stop waging immoral and stupid wars abroad.
Source URL: http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/why-viet-nam-anti-war-movements-work-not-yet-done
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org
[2] http://www.alternet.org/authors/frank-joyce
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
After Two Months, 'Moral Monday' Protests Swell to Largest Yet
Published on Portside (http://portside.org)
After Two Months, 'Moral Monday' Protests Swell to Largest Yet
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/06/25-1
Jon Queally, staff writer
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Common Dreams
Thousands of people rally outside the North Carolina State Legislative Building on Halifax Mall Monday, June 24, 2013, prior to an act of civil disobedience opposing the Republican legislature's agenda. About 120 activists were arrested by General Assembly and Raleigh police. About 600 have been arrested over the course of 8 "Moral Monday" demonstrations. The popular movement in North Carolina led by the state's NAACP chapter and marked each week with civil disobedience actions known as 'Moral Monday' protests swelled to their largest number yesterday, with organizers saying that as many as five thousand people marched outside the North Carolina State Legislative Building in Raleigh. Later, nearly 120 were arrested after refusing orders to disperse by police.
The latest arrests bring the total number to over 600 in the eight weeks since the protest movement began and occurred as those arrested in the first wave of protests faced trial at a nearby county courthouse.A woman is arrested outside the House and Senate chambers during "Moral Monday" protests at the General Assembly in Raleigh, N.C., Monday, June 24, 2013. Protesters are angry over the rightward direction of the state on economic, social, education and voting policy. They focused much of their demonstration on looming unemployment benefits cuts that will end extended benefits for about 70,000 people at the end of June.
As the local Charlotte Observer describes, the latest 'Moral Monday' protest took "labor issues, women’s rights and economic justice as their themes for the week" and "demonstrators hoped to halt what many described as 'arrogant' and 'vindictive' policies that favored the very wealthy and caused great harm to the state’s poorest and weakest."
The protest came just one week before a painful cut to the state's unemployment benefit system kicks in, which will cut jobless aid to recipients by a third in some cases.
“Seven days from now, that’s when the pain starts,” said the NAACP's Rev. William Barber, who has emerged as the movement's spiritual voice and organizing leader.
Several media outlets also featured local resident Lee Creighton, who spoke powerfully at Monday's rally.
“The unemployed people are not deadbeats,” Creighton said with a cracked voice as he referred to those in the state who will be so negatively impacted by the upcoming cuts. “We’re not losing our jobs because we don’t want to work. …If this is such a vacation, why is it that I cry to sleep every night.”
“We’re not losing our jobs because we don’t want to work. …If this is such a vacation, why is it that I cry to sleep every night.” -Lee Creighton, unemployed NC resident
As the protest movement grows in the state, Barber has seen his national profile rise and many on the left are looking to see if this brand of state-level organizing and activism can show the way to a new era of progressive vitality. Even as the basic tactics of the 'Moral Monday' movement is rooted in history, a profile of the movement's leader in the Washington Post this week explores the force leading the charge against the regressive rightwing leadership in North Carolina:
With Barber steering the opposition to cuts in unemployment benefits, health care funding, voting rights and environment regulations, the movement has taken on the feel of a church revival. Each demonstration begins with a call to join hands and pray. Barber’s speech is inflected with biblical references to Pharaoh, Goliath, good and evil. Then there are the folksy civil rights refrains: “Woke up this morning with my mind set on justice,” and “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around.”
[...]
To outsiders, North Carolina is often indistinguishable from a host of Southern states with equally conservative social and fiscal agendas. But in fact, it has long been a moderate state in which Democrats controlled the governor’s office for 20 years, and until last year, controlled at least one body of the legislature since the 1800s.
No one knows this better than Barber, an avid student of the state’s history. Barber talks incessantly of his vision for “fusion politics” modeled after a period in the late 19th century when the state’s Populist and Republican parties, blacks and whites, joined forces to govern the state.
He points out he’s not wedded to the Democratic Party but rather to coalitions that are willing to fight for just causes.
“Narrow-minded, isolated agendas aren’t going to hold themselves up as meaningful in the changing demographics of our country,” he said. “A regressive agenda doesn’t fit.”
Earlier arrestees face trial
As thousands marched on the Assembly, seventeen of those arrested at the earlier demonstrations faced trial at the Wake County District Court nearby.
As the Raleigh News & Observer reports:
Irving Joyner, the N.C. Central University law professor representing the protesters, said he entered not guilty pleas on behalf of the 17 arrested on April 29. He also asked that their cases be dismissed, challenging the arrests as unconstitutional.
“The North Carolina Constitution says that every citizen has the right to go to the General Assembly and address their legislators and to issue any complaints that they have about the work that they’re doing,” Joyner told District Court Judge Dan Nagle, who was presiding over the hearing. The protesters, Joyner added, “were protesting against actions that we deem to be improper, untimely, spiteful and mean-spirited toward the poor.”
Nagle scheduled the trials for late September.
_______________________________________
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
Source URL: http://portside.org/2013-06-25/after-two-months-moral-monday-protests-swell-largest-yet
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
After Two Months, 'Moral Monday' Protests Swell to Largest Yet
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/06/25-1
Jon Queally, staff writer
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Common Dreams
Thousands of people rally outside the North Carolina State Legislative Building on Halifax Mall Monday, June 24, 2013, prior to an act of civil disobedience opposing the Republican legislature's agenda. About 120 activists were arrested by General Assembly and Raleigh police. About 600 have been arrested over the course of 8 "Moral Monday" demonstrations. The popular movement in North Carolina led by the state's NAACP chapter and marked each week with civil disobedience actions known as 'Moral Monday' protests swelled to their largest number yesterday, with organizers saying that as many as five thousand people marched outside the North Carolina State Legislative Building in Raleigh. Later, nearly 120 were arrested after refusing orders to disperse by police.
The latest arrests bring the total number to over 600 in the eight weeks since the protest movement began and occurred as those arrested in the first wave of protests faced trial at a nearby county courthouse.A woman is arrested outside the House and Senate chambers during "Moral Monday" protests at the General Assembly in Raleigh, N.C., Monday, June 24, 2013. Protesters are angry over the rightward direction of the state on economic, social, education and voting policy. They focused much of their demonstration on looming unemployment benefits cuts that will end extended benefits for about 70,000 people at the end of June.
As the local Charlotte Observer describes, the latest 'Moral Monday' protest took "labor issues, women’s rights and economic justice as their themes for the week" and "demonstrators hoped to halt what many described as 'arrogant' and 'vindictive' policies that favored the very wealthy and caused great harm to the state’s poorest and weakest."
The protest came just one week before a painful cut to the state's unemployment benefit system kicks in, which will cut jobless aid to recipients by a third in some cases.
“Seven days from now, that’s when the pain starts,” said the NAACP's Rev. William Barber, who has emerged as the movement's spiritual voice and organizing leader.
Several media outlets also featured local resident Lee Creighton, who spoke powerfully at Monday's rally.
“The unemployed people are not deadbeats,” Creighton said with a cracked voice as he referred to those in the state who will be so negatively impacted by the upcoming cuts. “We’re not losing our jobs because we don’t want to work. …If this is such a vacation, why is it that I cry to sleep every night.”
“We’re not losing our jobs because we don’t want to work. …If this is such a vacation, why is it that I cry to sleep every night.” -Lee Creighton, unemployed NC resident
As the protest movement grows in the state, Barber has seen his national profile rise and many on the left are looking to see if this brand of state-level organizing and activism can show the way to a new era of progressive vitality. Even as the basic tactics of the 'Moral Monday' movement is rooted in history, a profile of the movement's leader in the Washington Post this week explores the force leading the charge against the regressive rightwing leadership in North Carolina:
With Barber steering the opposition to cuts in unemployment benefits, health care funding, voting rights and environment regulations, the movement has taken on the feel of a church revival. Each demonstration begins with a call to join hands and pray. Barber’s speech is inflected with biblical references to Pharaoh, Goliath, good and evil. Then there are the folksy civil rights refrains: “Woke up this morning with my mind set on justice,” and “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around.”
[...]
To outsiders, North Carolina is often indistinguishable from a host of Southern states with equally conservative social and fiscal agendas. But in fact, it has long been a moderate state in which Democrats controlled the governor’s office for 20 years, and until last year, controlled at least one body of the legislature since the 1800s.
No one knows this better than Barber, an avid student of the state’s history. Barber talks incessantly of his vision for “fusion politics” modeled after a period in the late 19th century when the state’s Populist and Republican parties, blacks and whites, joined forces to govern the state.
He points out he’s not wedded to the Democratic Party but rather to coalitions that are willing to fight for just causes.
“Narrow-minded, isolated agendas aren’t going to hold themselves up as meaningful in the changing demographics of our country,” he said. “A regressive agenda doesn’t fit.”
Earlier arrestees face trial
As thousands marched on the Assembly, seventeen of those arrested at the earlier demonstrations faced trial at the Wake County District Court nearby.
As the Raleigh News & Observer reports:
Irving Joyner, the N.C. Central University law professor representing the protesters, said he entered not guilty pleas on behalf of the 17 arrested on April 29. He also asked that their cases be dismissed, challenging the arrests as unconstitutional.
“The North Carolina Constitution says that every citizen has the right to go to the General Assembly and address their legislators and to issue any complaints that they have about the work that they’re doing,” Joyner told District Court Judge Dan Nagle, who was presiding over the hearing. The protesters, Joyner added, “were protesting against actions that we deem to be improper, untimely, spiteful and mean-spirited toward the poor.”
Nagle scheduled the trials for late September.
_______________________________________
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
Source URL: http://portside.org/2013-06-25/after-two-months-moral-monday-protests-swell-largest-yet
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
Baltimore Activist Alert - June 26-29, 2013
52] Support Bradley Manning – June 26
53] Support Is Needed for a Living Wage – June 26
54] Support of Victims of Torture – June 26
55] Help Win D.C. Statehood – June 26 through July 7
56] Support Is Needed for a Living Wage – June 26
57] Book talk “We Created Chavez – June 26
58] "U.S.-Iran Cultural Engagement” – June 27
59] "Give Peace a Chance: Preventing Mass Violence” – June 27
60] I’ll Be There Awards – June 27
61] Raise Maryland Planning Meeting Help Win D.C. Statehood – June 27 through July 7
62] Dinner with PNHP President Dr. Andrew Coates – June 27
63] 35th Annual Great Labor Arts Exchange – June 28 - 30
64] PROTEST US KILLER DRONES – June 29
65] Max is seeking a place to live after June 30
66] Support the Transform Now Plowshares
67] Drones Quilt Project
68] Support Red Emma’s in its move
69] Sign up with Washington Peace Center
70] Join Fund Our Communities
71] Submit articles to Indypendent Reader
72] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records
73] Do you need any book shelves or file cabinets?
74] Join Global Zero campaign
75] War Is Not the Answer signs for sale
76] Fire & Faith
77] Join Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil
---
52] – Vigil at Bradley Manning Trial at Ft. Meade on Wed., June 26 from 7 to 8 AM Hwy. 175 (Annapolis Rd.) & Reece Rd. Bradley is on trial after exposing war crimes in the Middle East and other government misconduct around the world. The outcome of the trial, which began on June 3, will affect the future of American journalism and whistleblowing. The trial is expected to last until August. Attend one or more days- this will be a weekly event. Email emma@bradleymanning.org or for help with transportation call 202-704-3943.
53] – Support Is Needed for a Living Wage for D.C. Retail Workers is taking place on Wed., June 26 at 10 AM at Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Room 500. The D.C. Council will vote on the Large Retailer Accountability Act, which will require large, wealthy retailers to pay a living wage to their employees in D.C. Corporate and business interests have been at the council every day trying to get elected officials to go against the best interests of DC residents. This bill is specifically targeted at retailers that are large and wealthy enough to be able to afford to pay a higher wage, putting more money in the pockets of D.C. workers, boosting the economy by giving them more spending money, and allowing them to get off of public assistance. Email organizer@respectdc.org.
54] – The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is on Wed., June 26 from 11 AM to 2 PM at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Participate in a nonviolent direct action at The White House in support of the Victims of Torture. Get in touch with organizers at https://www.facebook.com/OccupyWDC. Stand in solidarity with the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Be part of a demonstration of 86 people dressed in orange jumpsuits wearing the names of the prisoners cleared for release. Sign up to participate in the rolling fast at www.closegitmo.net. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/374018799365796/.
The message "Close Guantanamo NOW" is more relevant than ever. It's not enough that 86 men are still being held in Guantanamo who have been cleared for release. Now on Day 135 of their hunger strike many of the men are being force fed. Using the only means of resistance they have, the hunger strike, the men are not being allowed even this! Join the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on Wed., June 26 from noon to 2 PM at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. There can be No More Excuses on Guantánamo. We will be judged by our actions, not our speeches. There will be orange jumpsuits for participants and signs bearing the names of each of the 86 men who have been cleared for release, but are still being held. Also there will be opportunities to participate in nonviolent resistance led by solidarity hunger strikers. Email witnesstorture@gmail.com if you are considering participating in nonviolent resistance. Meet at 9 AM on June 26 at St. Stephens, 1525 Newton St NW, WDC 20010 to make final plans.
55] – Help Win D.C. Statehood – Volunteer for the D.C. Statehood Survey Campaign on Wed., June 26 at 6 PM through Sun., July 7 at 6 PM on the National Mall (get in touch for exact location). Become a volunteer in the Statehood Survey Campaign being organized by the Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition, better known as “FREE DC.” You’ll ask visitors to DC about their views on Statehood and help dispel myths standing in the way of full citizenship for DC residents. To volunteer, contact Stand Up! at 202-232-2500 or StandUp_FreeDC@yahoo.com.
56] – Empower DC Empowerment Circle is happening on Wed., June 26 at 6:30 at Empower DC Office, 1419 V St. NW. Discuss and evaluate the 7 education bills Councilmember Catania has introduced to “reform” public education in the city. Come learn more about the bills, share your thoughts with others and put together a plan for the hearing date! Call 202-234-9119 xt. 104 or email Daniel@empowerdc.org.
57] – A book talk “We Created Chavez: A People's History of the Venezuelan Revolution” is on Wed., June 26 from 6:30 to 8 PM at Busboys and Poets, 14th and K Sts. NW. It provides a systematic, bottom-up approach to Venezuelan politics from 1958 to the present, offers a much-needed new perspective on Hugo Chavez's rise to power. The Institute for Policy Studies joins with Teaching for Change's Bookstore for a discussion and book signing with George Ciccariello-Maher. Visit http://www.ips-dc.org/events/author_event_we_created_chavez_a_peoples_history_of_the_venezuelan_revolution.
58] – On Thurs., June 27 from 9:30 to 11 AM, Ramin Asgard, former Foreign Service officer, Glenn Schweitzer, National Academy of Sciences, and Morad Ghorban, Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, will discuss "U.S.-Iran Cultural Engagement: A Cost Effective Boon to U.S. National Security" at the Atlantic Council, 1101 15th St. NW, 11th Floor, WDC. RSVP at southasia@acus.org.
59] – On Thurs., June 27 11:30 AM, former Sen. Richard Lugar (IN) and David Hamburg, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), take on "Give Peace a Chance: Preventing Mass Violence" at the AAAS, Second Floor Auditorium, 1200 New York Ave. NW, WDC 20005. RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Gh1EUmxxMajUQbSir_lWGei3SfMVFDgZPOPaG7_eIg4/viewform?pli=1.
60] – The 11th Annual DC Jobs with Justice I’ll Be There Awards will be happening on Thurs., June 27 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the AFL-CIO Samuel Gompers Room, 815 16th St. NW. This year the honorees will be Ann Hoffman, Rabbi Bob Saks, the DC Employment Justice Center, and the George Washington University Progressive Student Union. Contact DC JwJ executive director, Nikki Lewis, at 202-543-1541 or Nikki@dcjwj.org.
61] – There is a Raise Maryland Planning Meeting! with Jews United for Justice on Thurs., June 27 at 7 PM at the Takoma Park Library. JUFJ will be working to raise the state's minimum wage to $10.10. Attend the first campaign planning meeting to learn more about JUFJ's role in this campaign and how you can be a leader! Email katie@jufj.org. RSVP at http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5483/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=67231.
62] – You are invited to a dinner with PNHP President Dr. Andrew Coates, M.D., F.A.C.P., in support of Maryland's Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign. The dinner will be at the AIDA Bistro, 6741 Columbia Gateway Dr., Columbia, on Thurs., June 27, starting at 7 PM. The cost is $35 per person.
If you would like to attend the dinner, send notice to hchrmaryland@gmail.com. In a recent article, "Caregiving as Humankind's Shared Project," Dr. Coates, an Albany, N.Y.-based internist, writes, "Every effort to turn caregiving into a marketplace transaction does indeed demean us – not just we doctors and our patients, but all of us." Go to www.MDSinglePayer.org.
63] – The 35th Annual Great Labor Arts Exchange will occur on Fri., June 28 (all day) through Sun., June 30 (all day) at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum Heights, MD. Go to www.laborheritage.org or call 202-639-6204. The Exchange is a gathering of union and community activists, rank and filers, organizers, cultural workers, artists labor educators, and youth.
64] – CODEPINK will be joining the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance at the Central Intelligence Agency to seek a much hoped upon meeting with Director John Brennan regarding his and his federal agency's criminal involvement with the use of the killer drones upon Pakistani, Yemeni, and other nationals. Because of our responsibilities under international law and treaties now a part of our US law we will seek accountability for the war crimes committed by the US killer drone strikes.
On Sat., June 29 at 3 PM, PROTEST US KILLER DRONES at CIA Headquarters, 900 block of Dolley Madison Blvd., Langley, VA. As of January 2013, the United Nations has launched a special investigation into the US killer drone program. Leading the UN investigation is Ben Emmerson, the UN rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights. He said "The exponential rise in the use of drone technology in a variety of military and non-military contexts represents a real challenge to the framework of established international law." The US Military & Central Intelligence Agency drones have maimed & killed thousands in Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, & Pakistan without charge, trial or conviction of crime. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports on estimates up to 3461 people killed and 891 injured in Pakistan, in Yemen 1112 killed and 178 injured in these two countries alone by CIA drone strikes. US killer drone strikes are illegal, immoral, and must stop now! The vigil and letter delivery is organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance. Email Max at mobuszewski at verizon dot net.
65] – Max is seeking a place to live. Let him know of any possibilities. He can be reached at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.dot net.
66] – You can support the Transform Now Plowshares resisters by writing the judge and the prisoners. Greg Boertje-Obed, Michael Walli and Megan Rice are currently in the Irwin County Detention Facility in Ocilla, GA, awaiting their sentencing on September 23, 2013. The three were found guilty by a jury in Tennessee in May on two counts. Judge Amul Thapar revoked their pre-trial release saying they were technically guilty of a crime of violence and must be held.
Here are the addresses: Gregory Boertje-Obed 22090 Irwin County Detention Center 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774 ***Michael Walli 4444, Irwin County Detention Center, 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774. Megan Rice 22100, Irwin County Detention Center, 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774. You must make sure to include your entire return address on the outside of the envelope. No staples or paperclips can be included in your mail; no oversized envelopes. Magazines and books must be sent directly from the publisher or bookstore/Amazon. Photocopies of brief articles are likely to be permitted (based on our past experience). If you include inappropriate material or fail to comply with these rules, your mail will not get through—it will be returned to you.
The second thing you can do is send a letter to Judge Thapar. We have suggested guidelines for your letter, and we are asking people to send their letter to Bill Quigley, lawyer for Mike Walli (address below), so they can be collected and delivered to the judge. If you want to send a copy of your letter to us, that would be great—our address is also below. Invite Judge Thapar to think about sentencing in light of the fact that this was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience intended to awaken the conscience of the nation, and no evidence was presented that it was an act of terrorism meant to harm anyone. You could write that you share the court's concern that Congress would write a law that wouldn’t allow a judge to distinguish between peace activists and terrorists, and are disturbed that the government defines the crime they stand convicted of as a violent "crime of terrorism.” As testimony of the defendants showed during trial, they carried out their action in a spirit of nonviolence and hope. Without making it the focus of the letter, you could mention that the action was carried out with the clear understanding of the illegality and immorality of nuclear weapons, and intent to uphold higher laws. Encourage him to consider downward departures from the high guidelines for the charges, and to use his discretion at sentencing to bring more justice into the situation by recognizing that the defendants are NOT violent terrorists as the government has implied through its interpretation of the crime; and remind him of the intentions of the three nonviolent activists: to follow the words of the prophet Isaiah to beat swords into plowshares, and build a safer and more secure world for all. Our purpose with these letters is not to reargue the case, nor is it to condemn nuclear weapons production—the judge is not engaging those issues at this time. Our purpose is to address the legal system’s distortion of the nonviolent action of the TNP resisters and to provide support to the judge for a sentencing decision that takes into account the nature of their action and their nonviolent behavior throughout their action.
Letters should be sent to US District Judge Amul R Thapar, c/o Professor Bill Quigley, Loyola Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice, 7214 St. Charles Ave., Campus Box 902, New Orleans, LA 70118. If you care to send a copy to OREPA that would also be appreciated--orep@earthlink.net or OREPA, PO Box 5743, Oak Ridge, TN 37831.
67] – The launch of the website to support the U.S. version of the Drones Quilt Project was developed to memorialize the victims of U.S. combat drone strikes. Leah Bolger has about 185 names, and at present there are over 40 completed blocks. Soon the blocks will be sown together to create panels of quilt blocks. She will create educational information about killer drones to accompany the quilts as part of a traveling exhibit. To support the project visit www.dronesquiltproject.wordpress.com. The completed blocks are shown on the web site. The web site also contains information about creating a block, anti-drone resources and endorsing organizations. Follow the project on Twitter: @dronesproject.
68] – Red Emma's has closed the location at 800 St. Paul St., and is reopening in a much larger new space on North Avenue in the fall. The collective is seeking your help. It's time to reinvent the project started in 2004 to build a self-sustaining progressive space in Baltimore, committed to providing a daily reminder that another world was possible and that there were people working in the city to build it. Here's how you can help: donate money, provide skilled help, and share these needs. Email john@redemmas.org or go to http://indiegogo.com/redemmas2.
69] – The Washington Peace Center has a progressive calendar & activist alert! Consider signing up to receive its weekly email: info@washingtonpeacecenter.org.
70] – Fund Our Communities campaign is a grass roots movement to get support from local organizations and communities to work together with their local and state elected officials to pressure Congresspersons and senators to join with Congresspersons Barney Frank and Ron Paul, who have endorsed a 25% cut to the federal military budget. Bring home the savings to state and county governments to meet the local needs which are under tremendous budget pressures. Go to www.OurFunds.org.
71] – MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. Baltimore's Indypendent Reader is looking for individuals interested in creating media - written, photo, audio, or video - that relates to issues like...economic justice, race, prisons & policing, environment, gender & sexuality, war & peace and more! If you would like to create social justice media, then email indypendentreader@gmail.com. Visit http://www.indyreader.org.
72] – If you would like to get rid of books, videos, DVDs or records, contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.
73] – Can you use any book shelves? Can you use any file cabinets? Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.
74] – Join an extraordinary global campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons: http://www.globalzero.org/sign-declaration. A growing group of leaders around the world is calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and a majority of the global public agrees. This is an historic window of opportunity. With momentum already building in favor of Zero, a major show of support from people around the world could tip the balance. When it comes to nuclear weapons, one is one too many.
75] – WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER signs from Friends Committee on National Legislation are again for sale at $5. To purchase a sign, call Max at 410-366-1637.
76] – Go online for FIRE AND FAITH: The Catonsville Nine File. On May 17, 1968, nine people entered the Selective Service Offices in Catonsville, Maryland, and burned draft records in protest against the war in Vietnam. View http://www.prattlibrary.org/digital/.
77] – Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil takes place every day in Lafayette Park, 1601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 24 hours a day, since June 3, 1981. Go to http://prop1.org; call 202-682-4282.
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.
"One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better" - Daniel Berrigan
53] Support Is Needed for a Living Wage – June 26
54] Support of Victims of Torture – June 26
55] Help Win D.C. Statehood – June 26 through July 7
56] Support Is Needed for a Living Wage – June 26
57] Book talk “We Created Chavez – June 26
58] "U.S.-Iran Cultural Engagement” – June 27
59] "Give Peace a Chance: Preventing Mass Violence” – June 27
60] I’ll Be There Awards – June 27
61] Raise Maryland Planning Meeting Help Win D.C. Statehood – June 27 through July 7
62] Dinner with PNHP President Dr. Andrew Coates – June 27
63] 35th Annual Great Labor Arts Exchange – June 28 - 30
64] PROTEST US KILLER DRONES – June 29
65] Max is seeking a place to live after June 30
66] Support the Transform Now Plowshares
67] Drones Quilt Project
68] Support Red Emma’s in its move
69] Sign up with Washington Peace Center
70] Join Fund Our Communities
71] Submit articles to Indypendent Reader
72] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records
73] Do you need any book shelves or file cabinets?
74] Join Global Zero campaign
75] War Is Not the Answer signs for sale
76] Fire & Faith
77] Join Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil
---
52] – Vigil at Bradley Manning Trial at Ft. Meade on Wed., June 26 from 7 to 8 AM Hwy. 175 (Annapolis Rd.) & Reece Rd. Bradley is on trial after exposing war crimes in the Middle East and other government misconduct around the world. The outcome of the trial, which began on June 3, will affect the future of American journalism and whistleblowing. The trial is expected to last until August. Attend one or more days- this will be a weekly event. Email emma@bradleymanning.org or for help with transportation call 202-704-3943.
53] – Support Is Needed for a Living Wage for D.C. Retail Workers is taking place on Wed., June 26 at 10 AM at Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Room 500. The D.C. Council will vote on the Large Retailer Accountability Act, which will require large, wealthy retailers to pay a living wage to their employees in D.C. Corporate and business interests have been at the council every day trying to get elected officials to go against the best interests of DC residents. This bill is specifically targeted at retailers that are large and wealthy enough to be able to afford to pay a higher wage, putting more money in the pockets of D.C. workers, boosting the economy by giving them more spending money, and allowing them to get off of public assistance. Email organizer@respectdc.org.
54] – The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is on Wed., June 26 from 11 AM to 2 PM at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Participate in a nonviolent direct action at The White House in support of the Victims of Torture. Get in touch with organizers at https://www.facebook.com/OccupyWDC. Stand in solidarity with the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Be part of a demonstration of 86 people dressed in orange jumpsuits wearing the names of the prisoners cleared for release. Sign up to participate in the rolling fast at www.closegitmo.net. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/374018799365796/.
The message "Close Guantanamo NOW" is more relevant than ever. It's not enough that 86 men are still being held in Guantanamo who have been cleared for release. Now on Day 135 of their hunger strike many of the men are being force fed. Using the only means of resistance they have, the hunger strike, the men are not being allowed even this! Join the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on Wed., June 26 from noon to 2 PM at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. There can be No More Excuses on Guantánamo. We will be judged by our actions, not our speeches. There will be orange jumpsuits for participants and signs bearing the names of each of the 86 men who have been cleared for release, but are still being held. Also there will be opportunities to participate in nonviolent resistance led by solidarity hunger strikers. Email witnesstorture@gmail.com if you are considering participating in nonviolent resistance. Meet at 9 AM on June 26 at St. Stephens, 1525 Newton St NW, WDC 20010 to make final plans.
55] – Help Win D.C. Statehood – Volunteer for the D.C. Statehood Survey Campaign on Wed., June 26 at 6 PM through Sun., July 7 at 6 PM on the National Mall (get in touch for exact location). Become a volunteer in the Statehood Survey Campaign being organized by the Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition, better known as “FREE DC.” You’ll ask visitors to DC about their views on Statehood and help dispel myths standing in the way of full citizenship for DC residents. To volunteer, contact Stand Up! at 202-232-2500 or StandUp_FreeDC@yahoo.com.
56] – Empower DC Empowerment Circle is happening on Wed., June 26 at 6:30 at Empower DC Office, 1419 V St. NW. Discuss and evaluate the 7 education bills Councilmember Catania has introduced to “reform” public education in the city. Come learn more about the bills, share your thoughts with others and put together a plan for the hearing date! Call 202-234-9119 xt. 104 or email Daniel@empowerdc.org.
57] – A book talk “We Created Chavez: A People's History of the Venezuelan Revolution” is on Wed., June 26 from 6:30 to 8 PM at Busboys and Poets, 14th and K Sts. NW. It provides a systematic, bottom-up approach to Venezuelan politics from 1958 to the present, offers a much-needed new perspective on Hugo Chavez's rise to power. The Institute for Policy Studies joins with Teaching for Change's Bookstore for a discussion and book signing with George Ciccariello-Maher. Visit http://www.ips-dc.org/events/author_event_we_created_chavez_a_peoples_history_of_the_venezuelan_revolution.
58] – On Thurs., June 27 from 9:30 to 11 AM, Ramin Asgard, former Foreign Service officer, Glenn Schweitzer, National Academy of Sciences, and Morad Ghorban, Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, will discuss "U.S.-Iran Cultural Engagement: A Cost Effective Boon to U.S. National Security" at the Atlantic Council, 1101 15th St. NW, 11th Floor, WDC. RSVP at southasia@acus.org.
59] – On Thurs., June 27 11:30 AM, former Sen. Richard Lugar (IN) and David Hamburg, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), take on "Give Peace a Chance: Preventing Mass Violence" at the AAAS, Second Floor Auditorium, 1200 New York Ave. NW, WDC 20005. RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Gh1EUmxxMajUQbSir_lWGei3SfMVFDgZPOPaG7_eIg4/viewform?pli=1.
60] – The 11th Annual DC Jobs with Justice I’ll Be There Awards will be happening on Thurs., June 27 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the AFL-CIO Samuel Gompers Room, 815 16th St. NW. This year the honorees will be Ann Hoffman, Rabbi Bob Saks, the DC Employment Justice Center, and the George Washington University Progressive Student Union. Contact DC JwJ executive director, Nikki Lewis, at 202-543-1541 or Nikki@dcjwj.org.
61] – There is a Raise Maryland Planning Meeting! with Jews United for Justice on Thurs., June 27 at 7 PM at the Takoma Park Library. JUFJ will be working to raise the state's minimum wage to $10.10. Attend the first campaign planning meeting to learn more about JUFJ's role in this campaign and how you can be a leader! Email katie@jufj.org. RSVP at http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5483/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=67231.
62] – You are invited to a dinner with PNHP President Dr. Andrew Coates, M.D., F.A.C.P., in support of Maryland's Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign. The dinner will be at the AIDA Bistro, 6741 Columbia Gateway Dr., Columbia, on Thurs., June 27, starting at 7 PM. The cost is $35 per person.
If you would like to attend the dinner, send notice to hchrmaryland@gmail.com. In a recent article, "Caregiving as Humankind's Shared Project," Dr. Coates, an Albany, N.Y.-based internist, writes, "Every effort to turn caregiving into a marketplace transaction does indeed demean us – not just we doctors and our patients, but all of us." Go to www.MDSinglePayer.org.
63] – The 35th Annual Great Labor Arts Exchange will occur on Fri., June 28 (all day) through Sun., June 30 (all day) at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum Heights, MD. Go to www.laborheritage.org or call 202-639-6204. The Exchange is a gathering of union and community activists, rank and filers, organizers, cultural workers, artists labor educators, and youth.
64] – CODEPINK will be joining the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance at the Central Intelligence Agency to seek a much hoped upon meeting with Director John Brennan regarding his and his federal agency's criminal involvement with the use of the killer drones upon Pakistani, Yemeni, and other nationals. Because of our responsibilities under international law and treaties now a part of our US law we will seek accountability for the war crimes committed by the US killer drone strikes.
On Sat., June 29 at 3 PM, PROTEST US KILLER DRONES at CIA Headquarters, 900 block of Dolley Madison Blvd., Langley, VA. As of January 2013, the United Nations has launched a special investigation into the US killer drone program. Leading the UN investigation is Ben Emmerson, the UN rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights. He said "The exponential rise in the use of drone technology in a variety of military and non-military contexts represents a real challenge to the framework of established international law." The US Military & Central Intelligence Agency drones have maimed & killed thousands in Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, & Pakistan without charge, trial or conviction of crime. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports on estimates up to 3461 people killed and 891 injured in Pakistan, in Yemen 1112 killed and 178 injured in these two countries alone by CIA drone strikes. US killer drone strikes are illegal, immoral, and must stop now! The vigil and letter delivery is organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance. Email Max at mobuszewski at verizon dot net.
65] – Max is seeking a place to live. Let him know of any possibilities. He can be reached at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.dot net.
66] – You can support the Transform Now Plowshares resisters by writing the judge and the prisoners. Greg Boertje-Obed, Michael Walli and Megan Rice are currently in the Irwin County Detention Facility in Ocilla, GA, awaiting their sentencing on September 23, 2013. The three were found guilty by a jury in Tennessee in May on two counts. Judge Amul Thapar revoked their pre-trial release saying they were technically guilty of a crime of violence and must be held.
Here are the addresses: Gregory Boertje-Obed 22090 Irwin County Detention Center 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774 ***Michael Walli 4444, Irwin County Detention Center, 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774. Megan Rice 22100, Irwin County Detention Center, 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774. You must make sure to include your entire return address on the outside of the envelope. No staples or paperclips can be included in your mail; no oversized envelopes. Magazines and books must be sent directly from the publisher or bookstore/Amazon. Photocopies of brief articles are likely to be permitted (based on our past experience). If you include inappropriate material or fail to comply with these rules, your mail will not get through—it will be returned to you.
The second thing you can do is send a letter to Judge Thapar. We have suggested guidelines for your letter, and we are asking people to send their letter to Bill Quigley, lawyer for Mike Walli (address below), so they can be collected and delivered to the judge. If you want to send a copy of your letter to us, that would be great—our address is also below. Invite Judge Thapar to think about sentencing in light of the fact that this was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience intended to awaken the conscience of the nation, and no evidence was presented that it was an act of terrorism meant to harm anyone. You could write that you share the court's concern that Congress would write a law that wouldn’t allow a judge to distinguish between peace activists and terrorists, and are disturbed that the government defines the crime they stand convicted of as a violent "crime of terrorism.” As testimony of the defendants showed during trial, they carried out their action in a spirit of nonviolence and hope. Without making it the focus of the letter, you could mention that the action was carried out with the clear understanding of the illegality and immorality of nuclear weapons, and intent to uphold higher laws. Encourage him to consider downward departures from the high guidelines for the charges, and to use his discretion at sentencing to bring more justice into the situation by recognizing that the defendants are NOT violent terrorists as the government has implied through its interpretation of the crime; and remind him of the intentions of the three nonviolent activists: to follow the words of the prophet Isaiah to beat swords into plowshares, and build a safer and more secure world for all. Our purpose with these letters is not to reargue the case, nor is it to condemn nuclear weapons production—the judge is not engaging those issues at this time. Our purpose is to address the legal system’s distortion of the nonviolent action of the TNP resisters and to provide support to the judge for a sentencing decision that takes into account the nature of their action and their nonviolent behavior throughout their action.
Letters should be sent to US District Judge Amul R Thapar, c/o Professor Bill Quigley, Loyola Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice, 7214 St. Charles Ave., Campus Box 902, New Orleans, LA 70118. If you care to send a copy to OREPA that would also be appreciated--orep@earthlink.net or OREPA, PO Box 5743, Oak Ridge, TN 37831.
67] – The launch of the website to support the U.S. version of the Drones Quilt Project was developed to memorialize the victims of U.S. combat drone strikes. Leah Bolger has about 185 names, and at present there are over 40 completed blocks. Soon the blocks will be sown together to create panels of quilt blocks. She will create educational information about killer drones to accompany the quilts as part of a traveling exhibit. To support the project visit www.dronesquiltproject.wordpress.com. The completed blocks are shown on the web site. The web site also contains information about creating a block, anti-drone resources and endorsing organizations. Follow the project on Twitter: @dronesproject.
68] – Red Emma's has closed the location at 800 St. Paul St., and is reopening in a much larger new space on North Avenue in the fall. The collective is seeking your help. It's time to reinvent the project started in 2004 to build a self-sustaining progressive space in Baltimore, committed to providing a daily reminder that another world was possible and that there were people working in the city to build it. Here's how you can help: donate money, provide skilled help, and share these needs. Email john@redemmas.org or go to http://indiegogo.com/redemmas2.
69] – The Washington Peace Center has a progressive calendar & activist alert! Consider signing up to receive its weekly email: info@washingtonpeacecenter.org.
70] – Fund Our Communities campaign is a grass roots movement to get support from local organizations and communities to work together with their local and state elected officials to pressure Congresspersons and senators to join with Congresspersons Barney Frank and Ron Paul, who have endorsed a 25% cut to the federal military budget. Bring home the savings to state and county governments to meet the local needs which are under tremendous budget pressures. Go to www.OurFunds.org.
71] – MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. Baltimore's Indypendent Reader is looking for individuals interested in creating media - written, photo, audio, or video - that relates to issues like...economic justice, race, prisons & policing, environment, gender & sexuality, war & peace and more! If you would like to create social justice media, then email indypendentreader@gmail.com. Visit http://www.indyreader.org.
72] – If you would like to get rid of books, videos, DVDs or records, contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.
73] – Can you use any book shelves? Can you use any file cabinets? Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.
74] – Join an extraordinary global campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons: http://www.globalzero.org/sign-declaration. A growing group of leaders around the world is calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and a majority of the global public agrees. This is an historic window of opportunity. With momentum already building in favor of Zero, a major show of support from people around the world could tip the balance. When it comes to nuclear weapons, one is one too many.
75] – WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER signs from Friends Committee on National Legislation are again for sale at $5. To purchase a sign, call Max at 410-366-1637.
76] – Go online for FIRE AND FAITH: The Catonsville Nine File. On May 17, 1968, nine people entered the Selective Service Offices in Catonsville, Maryland, and burned draft records in protest against the war in Vietnam. View http://www.prattlibrary.org/digital/.
77] – Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil takes place every day in Lafayette Park, 1601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 24 hours a day, since June 3, 1981. Go to http://prop1.org; call 202-682-4282.
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.
"One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better" - Daniel Berrigan
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Baltimore Activist Alert June 21 – June 23, 2013
Baltimore Activist Alert June 21 – June 27, 2013
"I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours.
The initiative to stop it must be ours." -Martin Luther King Jr.
Friends, this list and other email documents which I send out are done under the auspices of the Baltimore Nonviolence Center. Go to www.baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com. If you appreciate this information and would like to make a donation, send contributions to BNC, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. Max Obuszewski can be reached at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski [at] verizon.net.
Tune into the Maryland Progressive Blog at http://mdprogblog.org.
1] Books, buttons & stickers
2] Web site for info on federal legislation
3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists
4] Buy coffee through HoCoFoLa
5] Homage to Harriet – through June 23
6] Tour de Peace – through July 3
7] BUILD's 35 Years of Organizing -- through Aug. 31
8] Created Equal exhibit – through Aug. 31
9] Wildlife Rescue exhibit – through Sept. 2
10] D.C. Demonstration for the Gitmo Hunger Strikers – June 21
11] Justice for Palestine/Israel vigil – June 21
12] Silent peace vigil against torture – June 21
13] World Humanist Day – June 21
14] Screening of "5 Broken Cameras" – June 22
15] Ballroom dancing – June 21
16] 16th Annual Survivor Week Vigil – June 22
17] Breakfast with the Chimps – June 22
18] WALK FOR OUR GRANDCHILDREN– June 22
19] Olney Peace vigil – June 22
20] West Chester, PA demo – June 22
21] Silent vigil at Capitol – June 22
22] Juneteenth March and Rally – June 22
23] World Refugee Day – June 22
24] 2013 Meet Cindy Sheehan – June 22
25] Meet and Greet with Delegate Heather Mizeur – June 22
26] Pray for Peace – June 22
27] Video: “The 99 Percent” – June 23
28] Peace and Pancakes – June 23
1] – Buttons, bumperstickers and books are available. “God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions” stickers are in stock. Donate your books to Max. Call him at 410-366-1637.
2] – To obtain information how your federal legislators voted on particular bills, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/. Congressional toll-free numbers are 888-818-6641, 888-355-3588 or 800-426-8073. The White House Comment Email is accessible at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.
3] – THE ORGANIZING LIST will be the primary decision-making mechanism of the National Campaign of Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR]. It will be augmented by conference calls and possibly in-person meetings as needed. It will consist of 1 or 2 representatives from each local, regional, or national organization (not coalitions) that wishes to actively work to carry out the NCNR campaign of facilitating and organizing nonviolent resistance to the war in Iraq.
To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email address to donmuller@msn.com. Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.
THE NOTICES LIST will include only notices of NCNR actions and related information and is open to any interested person to subscribe. It will be moderated to maintain focus & will include periodic notices about getting involved in NCNR national organizing. To join the NOTICES List, send an email message to ncnrnotices-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. You will get a confirmation message once subscribed. If you have problems, please write to the list manager at ncnrnotices-admin@lists.riseup.net.
4] – You can help safeguard human rights and fragile ecosystems through your purchase of HOCOFOLA Café Quetzal. Bags of ground coffee or whole beans can be ordered by mailing in an order form. Also note organic cocoa and sugar are for sale. For more details and to download the order form, go to http://friendsoflatinamerica.typepad.com/hocofola/2010/02/hocofola-cafe-quetzal-order-form-2010.html. The coffee comes in one-pound bags.
Fill out the form and mail it with a check made out to HOCOFOLA on or before the second week of the month. Be sure you indicate ground or beans for each type of coffee ordered. Send it to Adela Hirsch, 5358 Eliots Oak Rd., Columbia, MD 21044. Be sure you indicate ground (G) or bean (B) for each type of coffee ordered. The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up. Contact Adela at 410-997-5662 or via e-mail at adela4peace@verizon.net.
5] – Homage to Harriet, works about and inspired by the life and legacy of Maryland-born abolitionist Harriet Tubman, continues through June 23 at Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, 830 E. Pratt St. Call 443-263-1800. Go to http://www.africanamericanculture.org/.
6] – From Thurs., Apr. 4 through Wed., July 3 follow the Tour de Peace across the country. Visit http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/p/tour-de-peace-road-less-taken.html.
7] – The Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Library, 400 Cathedral St., hosts an exhibit Learning, Listening, Leading: BUILD's 35 Years of Organizing in Baltimore City, which documents the achievements of BUILD, featuring the leaders who made these changes possible, through Sat., Aug. 31. Call 410-396-5430. Go to http://www.prattlibrary.org/locations/central.
8] – Created Equal, an exhibit celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and the second inauguration of President Barack Obama, is on display through Aug. 31 at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Library, 400 Cathedral St. Call 410- 396-5430 or go to http://www.prattlibrary.org/locations/central.
9] – Wildlife Rescue is a new Maryland Science Center's travelling exhibit. It allows for experiment and exploration of the science of how we can save Earth's ecosystems. Visitors to the exhibit will be introduced to the rescue efforts used by experts, have a chance to experiment with puppets and costumes, and learn survival. The exhibit at the Science Center, 601 Light St., will continue through September 2. Call 410-685-5225 or go to http://www.mdsci.org.
10] – A peace vigil takes place every Friday from noon to 1 PM at Lafayette Park facing the White House. Join the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and friends. However, on June 21, as the hunger strike continues into 135 days, the vigil will Support Guantanamo Hunger Strikers--Close Guantanamo & End Indefinite Detention. The men detained at the U.S. prison in Guantánamo are engaged in a large-scale hunger strike, which began in early February. The vast majority of the 166 prisoners have been held for more than 11 years without any charge or fair trial, with no end to their detention in sight. Demand that President Obama use his authority to close Guantánamo! See www.witnesstorture.org. Contact Art Laffin: artlaffin@hotmail.com.
11] – A vigil for Justice in Palestine/Israel takes place every Friday from noon to 1 PM at 19th & JFK Blvd., Philadelphia (across from Israeli Consulate. It is sponsored by Bubbies & Zaydes (Grandparents) for Peace in the Middle East. Email cswartz@pil.net. Go to http://phillyjewishpeace.org/.
12] – There is a silent peace vigil on Fri., June 21 from 5 to 6 PM outside the Cathedral of the Incarnation, University Parkway and St. Paul St. The vigil is sponsored by Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings, and was recently moved because of the construction on Charles St. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is promoting June as Torture Awareness Month. TORTURE IS A MORAL ISSUE. So the weekly vigil on June 21 and 28 will focus torture. Email campaign@nrcat.org or go to www.tortureisamoralissue.org.
13] – On Fri., June 21 at 6 PM, enjoy a Pizza Social for World Humanist Day and at 7 PM see a film "In God We Teach" with Matthew LaClair at the Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St., Baltimore 21201. Donations will be appreciated. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/113053528901427/.
In the documentary, filmmaker Vic Losick tells the story of Matthew LaClair, who rose to national prominence by challenging his history teacher who preached his religious views in class. Matthew will take questions and read from his forthcoming book "The Preachin' Mr. P: Condemned in a Kearny Classroom." The website for the film is http://ingodweteach.com/. Admission is free and open to the public. If you're coming for pizza, please email volcheck@acm.org.
Are teachers allowed to express their personal opinions in the classroom? Can competing theories be taught alongside evolution in a public classroom? These and other questions are the focus of the full-length documentary, "In God We Teach," which follows the “separation of church and state” controversy played out in a very public feud between a high school student and his history teacher in Kearny, NJ.
LaClair started out as a student activist from Kearny, N.J., challenging his U.S. History teacher for preaching his religious beliefs during class time and taking on an American Government textbook that contained inaccurate and biased information. For his efforts, he has appeared on and in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, and Brian Lehrer on NPR and has published an Op-Ed piece in a Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times. He has delivered dozens of addresses around the country and in London, and has received numerous awards from organizations including the ACLU, the American Humanist Association, and the American Ethical Union.
Since 2009, Matthew has hosted a talk show called "Equal Time for Freethought" on WBAI 99.5FM in NYC, interviewing authors, scientists and public figures including Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lawrence Krauss, Chris Mooney, and Ellery Schempp. He graduated from The New School in NYC with a B.A. in Culture and Media studies this past summer and will be attending Columbia Journalism School starting in late August to pursue an M.A. in Science Journalism. Matthew is the brother of BES member Kate LaClair. The Baltimore Coalition of Reason website is http://BaltimoreCoR.org .
14] – See a screening of "5 Broken Cameras" on Fri., June 21 from 6:30 to 8:15 PM at The Jerusalem Fund, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC 20037. Call 202.338.1958. A deeply personal, first hand documentary of nonviolent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by a Palestinian farmer, Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later given to Israeli co-director Guy Davidi to edit. Email info@thejerusalemfund.org.
15] – There is an opportunity to participate in ballroom dancing, usually every Friday of the month, in the JHU ROTC Bldg. at 8 PM. Turn south on San Martin Dr. from the intersection of Univ. Parkway and 39th St. Drive on campus by taking the third left turn. The next dance will be June 21. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725.
16] – On Sat., June 22 participate in TASSC’s 16th Annual Survivor Week Vigil from 7 AM to 7PM in Lafayette Park, in front of the White House. Join survivors from around the world. As a movement of torture survivors, TASSC issues a clear call to end torture, enforced disappearance, and impunity and to support all efforts to disclose the truth, bring justice to the families of victims, and to hold accountable governments responsible for torture. Go to www.tassc.org.
17] – Breakfast with the Chimps at the Chimp Forest on Sat., June 22 from 8:30 to 10 AM at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, 1876 Mansion House Drive. A same day entry to the park is included with the ticket price. Children under two are free, but they still require a ticket. Call 410-366-7102. Visit http://www.marylandzoo.org.
18] – The 2013 WALK FOR OUR GRANDCHILDREN. KEEP FOSSIL FUELS IN THE GROUND. CLIMATE ACTION NOW, led by elders and grandparents, started on Sat., June 15 near Camp David and will arrive at the White House on Sat., June 22. Contact Steve Norris at earthsun2@gmail.com.
The walk dramatizes the need to liberate our children and grandchildren from fossil fuels, beginning this summer with the rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Camp David is the point of origin, referencing President Eisenhower naming the retreat after his grandson David, and his work to liberate the world from the destructive effects of fascism, - just as we must now mobilize to confront climate change and liberate our children and grandchildren from fossil fuels.
19] – Friends House, 17715 Meeting House Rd., Sandy Spring, MD 20860, hosts a peace vigil every Saturday, 10:30 to 11:30 AM, on the corner of Rt. 108 and Georgia Ave. [Route 97] in Olney, MD. The next vigil is June 22. Call Chuck Harker at 301-570-7167.
20] – Each Saturday, 11 AM – 1 PM, Chester County Peace Movement holds a peace vigil in West Chester in front of the Chester County Courthouse, High & Market Sts. Go to www.ccpeace.org. Email ccpeacemovement@aol.com.
21] – There will be a peace vigil on the West Lawn of the Capitol at noon on Sat., June 22. Look for the blue banner with the message, "Seek Peace and Pursue It.--Psalms 34:14." The vigil lasts one hour and is silent except when one responds to the occasional questions. Go to http://www.quaker.org/langleyhill/seekpeace.htm or email seekpeacevigil@yahoo.com.
22] – There’s a Juneteenth March and Rally for Liberation on Sat., June 22 from noon at 4th and F Sts. NW. Demand affordable housing, jobs for all and quality schools, and rally in the spirit of Juneteenth- the day enslaved people in Galveston, TX got news that slavery was abolished. Email Jobsnotjails@gmail.com.
23] – On Sat. June 22 from 1 to 3 PM, participate in Baltimore's World Refugee Day at the Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21201. The international showcase celebrates Baltimore as the home to talented refugees and immigrants. Baltimore's favorite beat boxer, Shodekeh, headlines with all of the international acts. Students of BCCC's Refugee Youth Project open with multimedia performances. Eritrean husband & wife, Abebe Setarge & Eyersaliem Zemichael, sing to African beats. Sokoja Kondorka, musician from Darfur, sings in native masalit and fur languages while playing electric guitar.
Visit with organizations on the Sculpture Court throughout the day and hear indigenous Kurdish music by Ghazi Kurdistani, Ali Omar & Halgurd Omar from 1 to 1:30 PM. There is art exhibition by BCCC's Refugee Youth Project and Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition on the Level 2 Lobby. Visit www.thewalters.org. RSVP at baltimoreresettlement@gmail.com or call Holly of Baltimore Resettlement Center at 410-558-3167.
24] – On Sat., June 22 at 4 PM, Jean Athey is hosting a potluck for Cindy Sheehan. Invite your friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/312151428919127/?ref=22. RSVP at info@peaceactionmc.org with what you can bring to the potluck. Cindy is vegan. Greet Cindy Sheehan and support the Tour de Peace. The Tour de Peace is aimed at getting grass roots support for an end to U.S. Wars and U.S. immunity for war crimes, suppression of civil rights and the persecution of whistle blowers and the use of fossil fuels.
25] – There is a Meet and Greet with Delegate Heather Mizeur on Sat., June 23 from 6 to 7:30 PM at 221 Stony Run Lane Apt JG, Tuscany-Canterbury. The hosts are Lisa and Don Akchin. Hear from Heather about her vision for Maryland as she considers a run for Governor in 2014. RSVP at Jeremy@heathermizeur.com or 202-316-1202.
Twice named a Top 100 Woman and a Health Care Hero by the Daily Record, Del. Mizeur has worked to expand health coverage, create jobs, protect the environment, and invest in transportation. The Baltimore Sun called her “one of the leading environmental advocates in the General Assembly," and has featured her plans on how to rebuild Baltimore City schools, expand low-income family planning access, and reform the criminal justice system.
26] – Pray for Peace on Sat., June 22 at 7:30 PM at St. Ignatius Church on Calvert St. Contact Fr. Charles Cloughen, Jr. at [mailto:frcharles@verizon.net] or 410-321-0199.
27] – Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St., Suite 102, Baltimore 21201-4661, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion from 10:30 to noon. On Sun., June 23, see a video presentation – “The 99 Percent.” Look back on the Occupy Movement from an international perspective through a documentary offered by the Ironweed Film Club. The Occupy Movement has become the largest global social movement in recent history and shows no sign of slowing down. But do the protests really have the potential to alter the course of world politics? They call themselves the “99 percent” and whether in Frankfurt, Athens, or New York, the tactics and demands are the same everywhere. Using social media to coordinate efforts around the globe, the Occupy movement has sought to follow in the footsteps of the Arab Spring, replacing the Mubaraks and the Assads with the IMF and ECB. The 29 min. video is from ORF/Austrian Broadcasting. Go to http://bmorethical.org/ or Twitter: @bmorethical or Facebook: http://fb.com/bmorethical/or email ask@bmorethical.org.
28] – Join the Kadampa Meditation Center for Peace and Pancakes on Sundays at 10:30 AM at KMC Maryland, 2937 North Charles St. All are invited to participate in guided meditation and chant praying for world peace. There will be a talk based on Buddhist thought followed by brunch. Call 410- 243-3837. Brunch is $5.
To be continued.
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
"I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours.
The initiative to stop it must be ours." -Martin Luther King Jr.
Friends, this list and other email documents which I send out are done under the auspices of the Baltimore Nonviolence Center. Go to www.baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com. If you appreciate this information and would like to make a donation, send contributions to BNC, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. Max Obuszewski can be reached at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski [at] verizon.net.
Tune into the Maryland Progressive Blog at http://mdprogblog.org.
1] Books, buttons & stickers
2] Web site for info on federal legislation
3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists
4] Buy coffee through HoCoFoLa
5] Homage to Harriet – through June 23
6] Tour de Peace – through July 3
7] BUILD's 35 Years of Organizing -- through Aug. 31
8] Created Equal exhibit – through Aug. 31
9] Wildlife Rescue exhibit – through Sept. 2
10] D.C. Demonstration for the Gitmo Hunger Strikers – June 21
11] Justice for Palestine/Israel vigil – June 21
12] Silent peace vigil against torture – June 21
13] World Humanist Day – June 21
14] Screening of "5 Broken Cameras" – June 22
15] Ballroom dancing – June 21
16] 16th Annual Survivor Week Vigil – June 22
17] Breakfast with the Chimps – June 22
18] WALK FOR OUR GRANDCHILDREN– June 22
19] Olney Peace vigil – June 22
20] West Chester, PA demo – June 22
21] Silent vigil at Capitol – June 22
22] Juneteenth March and Rally – June 22
23] World Refugee Day – June 22
24] 2013 Meet Cindy Sheehan – June 22
25] Meet and Greet with Delegate Heather Mizeur – June 22
26] Pray for Peace – June 22
27] Video: “The 99 Percent” – June 23
28] Peace and Pancakes – June 23
1] – Buttons, bumperstickers and books are available. “God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions” stickers are in stock. Donate your books to Max. Call him at 410-366-1637.
2] – To obtain information how your federal legislators voted on particular bills, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/. Congressional toll-free numbers are 888-818-6641, 888-355-3588 or 800-426-8073. The White House Comment Email is accessible at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.
3] – THE ORGANIZING LIST will be the primary decision-making mechanism of the National Campaign of Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR]. It will be augmented by conference calls and possibly in-person meetings as needed. It will consist of 1 or 2 representatives from each local, regional, or national organization (not coalitions) that wishes to actively work to carry out the NCNR campaign of facilitating and organizing nonviolent resistance to the war in Iraq.
To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email address to donmuller@msn.com. Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.
THE NOTICES LIST will include only notices of NCNR actions and related information and is open to any interested person to subscribe. It will be moderated to maintain focus & will include periodic notices about getting involved in NCNR national organizing. To join the NOTICES List, send an email message to ncnrnotices-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. You will get a confirmation message once subscribed. If you have problems, please write to the list manager at ncnrnotices-admin@lists.riseup.net.
4] – You can help safeguard human rights and fragile ecosystems through your purchase of HOCOFOLA Café Quetzal. Bags of ground coffee or whole beans can be ordered by mailing in an order form. Also note organic cocoa and sugar are for sale. For more details and to download the order form, go to http://friendsoflatinamerica.typepad.com/hocofola/2010/02/hocofola-cafe-quetzal-order-form-2010.html. The coffee comes in one-pound bags.
Fill out the form and mail it with a check made out to HOCOFOLA on or before the second week of the month. Be sure you indicate ground or beans for each type of coffee ordered. Send it to Adela Hirsch, 5358 Eliots Oak Rd., Columbia, MD 21044. Be sure you indicate ground (G) or bean (B) for each type of coffee ordered. The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up. Contact Adela at 410-997-5662 or via e-mail at adela4peace@verizon.net.
5] – Homage to Harriet, works about and inspired by the life and legacy of Maryland-born abolitionist Harriet Tubman, continues through June 23 at Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, 830 E. Pratt St. Call 443-263-1800. Go to http://www.africanamericanculture.org/.
6] – From Thurs., Apr. 4 through Wed., July 3 follow the Tour de Peace across the country. Visit http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/p/tour-de-peace-road-less-taken.html.
7] – The Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Library, 400 Cathedral St., hosts an exhibit Learning, Listening, Leading: BUILD's 35 Years of Organizing in Baltimore City, which documents the achievements of BUILD, featuring the leaders who made these changes possible, through Sat., Aug. 31. Call 410-396-5430. Go to http://www.prattlibrary.org/locations/central.
8] – Created Equal, an exhibit celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and the second inauguration of President Barack Obama, is on display through Aug. 31 at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Library, 400 Cathedral St. Call 410- 396-5430 or go to http://www.prattlibrary.org/locations/central.
9] – Wildlife Rescue is a new Maryland Science Center's travelling exhibit. It allows for experiment and exploration of the science of how we can save Earth's ecosystems. Visitors to the exhibit will be introduced to the rescue efforts used by experts, have a chance to experiment with puppets and costumes, and learn survival. The exhibit at the Science Center, 601 Light St., will continue through September 2. Call 410-685-5225 or go to http://www.mdsci.org.
10] – A peace vigil takes place every Friday from noon to 1 PM at Lafayette Park facing the White House. Join the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and friends. However, on June 21, as the hunger strike continues into 135 days, the vigil will Support Guantanamo Hunger Strikers--Close Guantanamo & End Indefinite Detention. The men detained at the U.S. prison in Guantánamo are engaged in a large-scale hunger strike, which began in early February. The vast majority of the 166 prisoners have been held for more than 11 years without any charge or fair trial, with no end to their detention in sight. Demand that President Obama use his authority to close Guantánamo! See www.witnesstorture.org. Contact Art Laffin: artlaffin@hotmail.com.
11] – A vigil for Justice in Palestine/Israel takes place every Friday from noon to 1 PM at 19th & JFK Blvd., Philadelphia (across from Israeli Consulate. It is sponsored by Bubbies & Zaydes (Grandparents) for Peace in the Middle East. Email cswartz@pil.net. Go to http://phillyjewishpeace.org/.
12] – There is a silent peace vigil on Fri., June 21 from 5 to 6 PM outside the Cathedral of the Incarnation, University Parkway and St. Paul St. The vigil is sponsored by Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings, and was recently moved because of the construction on Charles St. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is promoting June as Torture Awareness Month. TORTURE IS A MORAL ISSUE. So the weekly vigil on June 21 and 28 will focus torture. Email campaign@nrcat.org or go to www.tortureisamoralissue.org.
13] – On Fri., June 21 at 6 PM, enjoy a Pizza Social for World Humanist Day and at 7 PM see a film "In God We Teach" with Matthew LaClair at the Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St., Baltimore 21201. Donations will be appreciated. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/113053528901427/.
In the documentary, filmmaker Vic Losick tells the story of Matthew LaClair, who rose to national prominence by challenging his history teacher who preached his religious views in class. Matthew will take questions and read from his forthcoming book "The Preachin' Mr. P: Condemned in a Kearny Classroom." The website for the film is http://ingodweteach.com/. Admission is free and open to the public. If you're coming for pizza, please email volcheck@acm.org.
Are teachers allowed to express their personal opinions in the classroom? Can competing theories be taught alongside evolution in a public classroom? These and other questions are the focus of the full-length documentary, "In God We Teach," which follows the “separation of church and state” controversy played out in a very public feud between a high school student and his history teacher in Kearny, NJ.
LaClair started out as a student activist from Kearny, N.J., challenging his U.S. History teacher for preaching his religious beliefs during class time and taking on an American Government textbook that contained inaccurate and biased information. For his efforts, he has appeared on and in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, and Brian Lehrer on NPR and has published an Op-Ed piece in a Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times. He has delivered dozens of addresses around the country and in London, and has received numerous awards from organizations including the ACLU, the American Humanist Association, and the American Ethical Union.
Since 2009, Matthew has hosted a talk show called "Equal Time for Freethought" on WBAI 99.5FM in NYC, interviewing authors, scientists and public figures including Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lawrence Krauss, Chris Mooney, and Ellery Schempp. He graduated from The New School in NYC with a B.A. in Culture and Media studies this past summer and will be attending Columbia Journalism School starting in late August to pursue an M.A. in Science Journalism. Matthew is the brother of BES member Kate LaClair. The Baltimore Coalition of Reason website is http://BaltimoreCoR.org .
14] – See a screening of "5 Broken Cameras" on Fri., June 21 from 6:30 to 8:15 PM at The Jerusalem Fund, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC 20037. Call 202.338.1958. A deeply personal, first hand documentary of nonviolent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by a Palestinian farmer, Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later given to Israeli co-director Guy Davidi to edit. Email info@thejerusalemfund.org.
15] – There is an opportunity to participate in ballroom dancing, usually every Friday of the month, in the JHU ROTC Bldg. at 8 PM. Turn south on San Martin Dr. from the intersection of Univ. Parkway and 39th St. Drive on campus by taking the third left turn. The next dance will be June 21. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725.
16] – On Sat., June 22 participate in TASSC’s 16th Annual Survivor Week Vigil from 7 AM to 7PM in Lafayette Park, in front of the White House. Join survivors from around the world. As a movement of torture survivors, TASSC issues a clear call to end torture, enforced disappearance, and impunity and to support all efforts to disclose the truth, bring justice to the families of victims, and to hold accountable governments responsible for torture. Go to www.tassc.org.
17] – Breakfast with the Chimps at the Chimp Forest on Sat., June 22 from 8:30 to 10 AM at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, 1876 Mansion House Drive. A same day entry to the park is included with the ticket price. Children under two are free, but they still require a ticket. Call 410-366-7102. Visit http://www.marylandzoo.org.
18] – The 2013 WALK FOR OUR GRANDCHILDREN. KEEP FOSSIL FUELS IN THE GROUND. CLIMATE ACTION NOW, led by elders and grandparents, started on Sat., June 15 near Camp David and will arrive at the White House on Sat., June 22. Contact Steve Norris at earthsun2@gmail.com.
The walk dramatizes the need to liberate our children and grandchildren from fossil fuels, beginning this summer with the rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Camp David is the point of origin, referencing President Eisenhower naming the retreat after his grandson David, and his work to liberate the world from the destructive effects of fascism, - just as we must now mobilize to confront climate change and liberate our children and grandchildren from fossil fuels.
19] – Friends House, 17715 Meeting House Rd., Sandy Spring, MD 20860, hosts a peace vigil every Saturday, 10:30 to 11:30 AM, on the corner of Rt. 108 and Georgia Ave. [Route 97] in Olney, MD. The next vigil is June 22. Call Chuck Harker at 301-570-7167.
20] – Each Saturday, 11 AM – 1 PM, Chester County Peace Movement holds a peace vigil in West Chester in front of the Chester County Courthouse, High & Market Sts. Go to www.ccpeace.org. Email ccpeacemovement@aol.com.
21] – There will be a peace vigil on the West Lawn of the Capitol at noon on Sat., June 22. Look for the blue banner with the message, "Seek Peace and Pursue It.--Psalms 34:14." The vigil lasts one hour and is silent except when one responds to the occasional questions. Go to http://www.quaker.org/langleyhill/seekpeace.htm or email seekpeacevigil@yahoo.com.
22] – There’s a Juneteenth March and Rally for Liberation on Sat., June 22 from noon at 4th and F Sts. NW. Demand affordable housing, jobs for all and quality schools, and rally in the spirit of Juneteenth- the day enslaved people in Galveston, TX got news that slavery was abolished. Email Jobsnotjails@gmail.com.
23] – On Sat. June 22 from 1 to 3 PM, participate in Baltimore's World Refugee Day at the Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21201. The international showcase celebrates Baltimore as the home to talented refugees and immigrants. Baltimore's favorite beat boxer, Shodekeh, headlines with all of the international acts. Students of BCCC's Refugee Youth Project open with multimedia performances. Eritrean husband & wife, Abebe Setarge & Eyersaliem Zemichael, sing to African beats. Sokoja Kondorka, musician from Darfur, sings in native masalit and fur languages while playing electric guitar.
Visit with organizations on the Sculpture Court throughout the day and hear indigenous Kurdish music by Ghazi Kurdistani, Ali Omar & Halgurd Omar from 1 to 1:30 PM. There is art exhibition by BCCC's Refugee Youth Project and Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition on the Level 2 Lobby. Visit www.thewalters.org. RSVP at baltimoreresettlement@gmail.com or call Holly of Baltimore Resettlement Center at 410-558-3167.
24] – On Sat., June 22 at 4 PM, Jean Athey is hosting a potluck for Cindy Sheehan. Invite your friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/312151428919127/?ref=22. RSVP at info@peaceactionmc.org with what you can bring to the potluck. Cindy is vegan. Greet Cindy Sheehan and support the Tour de Peace. The Tour de Peace is aimed at getting grass roots support for an end to U.S. Wars and U.S. immunity for war crimes, suppression of civil rights and the persecution of whistle blowers and the use of fossil fuels.
25] – There is a Meet and Greet with Delegate Heather Mizeur on Sat., June 23 from 6 to 7:30 PM at 221 Stony Run Lane Apt JG, Tuscany-Canterbury. The hosts are Lisa and Don Akchin. Hear from Heather about her vision for Maryland as she considers a run for Governor in 2014. RSVP at Jeremy@heathermizeur.com or 202-316-1202.
Twice named a Top 100 Woman and a Health Care Hero by the Daily Record, Del. Mizeur has worked to expand health coverage, create jobs, protect the environment, and invest in transportation. The Baltimore Sun called her “one of the leading environmental advocates in the General Assembly," and has featured her plans on how to rebuild Baltimore City schools, expand low-income family planning access, and reform the criminal justice system.
26] – Pray for Peace on Sat., June 22 at 7:30 PM at St. Ignatius Church on Calvert St. Contact Fr. Charles Cloughen, Jr. at [mailto:frcharles@verizon.net] or 410-321-0199.
27] – Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St., Suite 102, Baltimore 21201-4661, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion from 10:30 to noon. On Sun., June 23, see a video presentation – “The 99 Percent.” Look back on the Occupy Movement from an international perspective through a documentary offered by the Ironweed Film Club. The Occupy Movement has become the largest global social movement in recent history and shows no sign of slowing down. But do the protests really have the potential to alter the course of world politics? They call themselves the “99 percent” and whether in Frankfurt, Athens, or New York, the tactics and demands are the same everywhere. Using social media to coordinate efforts around the globe, the Occupy movement has sought to follow in the footsteps of the Arab Spring, replacing the Mubaraks and the Assads with the IMF and ECB. The 29 min. video is from ORF/Austrian Broadcasting. Go to http://bmorethical.org/ or Twitter: @bmorethical or Facebook: http://fb.com/bmorethical/or email ask@bmorethical.org.
28] – Join the Kadampa Meditation Center for Peace and Pancakes on Sundays at 10:30 AM at KMC Maryland, 2937 North Charles St. All are invited to participate in guided meditation and chant praying for world peace. There will be a talk based on Buddhist thought followed by brunch. Call 410- 243-3837. Brunch is $5.
To be continued.
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
Baltimore Activist Alert - June 23-25, 2013
29] Buy Nicaragua – June 23
30] POOR PEOPLES CAMPAIGN MARCH REUNION & CELBRATION – June 23
31] Report about Bradley Manning’s court martial – June 23
32] The SOUL KITCHEN is open – June 23
33] “Love Free or Die” – June 23
34] Peace Delegation Returns from Yemen – June 23
35] Pentagon Vigil – June 24
36] Marc Steiner on WEAA – June 24 – June 28
37] Human Rights Advocacy Training – June 24
38] Talk with President and CEO of American Petroleum Institute – June 24
39] Support Lynn Stewart – June 24
40] Protest Turkish repression – June 24
41] Screening of "Taita Boves" – June 24
42] Celebrate TASSCs 16th Anniversary – June 24
43] "The United States of ALEC!" – June 24 & 27
44] Pledge of Resistance/Fund Our Communities meeting – June 24
45] Support Bradley Manning – June 25
46] Lobby to end U.S. torture – June 25
47] Say No to Dirty Extreme Energy – June 25
48] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – June 25
49] No drone research at JHU – June 25
50] Healing a Culture of Torture – June 25
51] Hear the Soldier's Heart Tour – June 25
----
29] – Friends of Nicaragua, on Sun. June 23, noon to 6 PM at Baltimore's 33rd annual LatinoFest in Patterson Park, Casa Baltimore/Limay and Nicaraguan Cultural Alliance are sharing space featuring beautiful oil paintings and pottery, carved soapstone (marmolina) from Baltimore's sister city San Juan de Limay and more! Proceeds will benefit development and aid projects in San Juan de Limay, as well as the promotion of Nicaraguan culture in the U.S. Vendor tables will be located somewhere near Linwood and Eastern Aves. Call Barbara at 443-676-1852 to find the table.
30] – The POOR PEOPLES CAMPAIGN MARCH REUNION & CELBRATION -- COOK OUT & KICK OFF – takes place on Sun., June 23 from 2 to 6 PM at Druid Hill Park, Baltimore 21217 – right off of Swann Dr. and Druid Hill Park Dr. Kick Off Freedom Summer for “We Deserve Better” Workers Assembly and National Peoples Power and Tribunal to Stop Police Killings and Mass Incarceration.
Hear about Bentonville/OUR Wal-Mart campaign and fight for voter’s rights – Selma, Alabama. Join us for a cookout, music, fun, food and all at the Chinese Pavilion – immediately on the left hand side as you turn on Swann Dr., close to the playground and within sight of the lake. If you have trouble, call 410-500-2168. Bring a dish to share or just come--rain or shine. The celebration is under a large pavilion if it rains.
31] – Report back about Bradley Manning’s Ongoing Court Martial at Busboys & Poets, 5th & K Sts. on Sun., June 23 from 5 to 6:30 PM. Court reporter Nathan Fuller and Campaign Organizer Emma Cape will give a half-hour presentation about the trial and its implications, followed by an audience-driven Q&A and discussion. RSVP https://www.facebook.com/events/624399514238782.
Both the defense attorney and the prosecution summarized their arguments in the first week of the trial. In week 2, the discussion focused on forensics experts. In week 3, Original Classification Authority witnesses discussed what released information was classified, why it was classified, and what damage could have been done at the time of release. After a short presentation from the Bradley Manning Support Network (BMSN) staff on the first three weeks of legal developments, questions will be accepted from the audience on the trial and BMSN's work more generally.
32] – The SOUL KITCHEN is open. Gimmie Shelter Productions in conjunction with the Govans Presbyterian Church, 5828 York Road, Baltimore, MD 21212 is hosting a meal for the needy and homeless on Sun., June 24. To help with the serving or cooking of the food, arrive at the church at 5 PM. If you are able to provide musical entertainment, call Alan Barysh at 443-239-5325. This happens on the 4th Sunday of the month. To arrange to make a tax-deductible or an in-kind donation, call Rev. Tom Harris, pastor, at 410-435-9188. Go to govanspres.org/govanspres/welcome.
33] – See the film “Love Free or Die” on Sun., June 23 from 5 to 7 PM at Busboys and Poets, 14th and K Sts. NW. Bishop Gene Robinson who’s featured in the film will be the special guest at the ITVS Community Cinema presentation of the film. Retired from the Diocese of New Hampshire in January 2013, Bishop Robinson is currently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Directed by Macky Alston, LOVE FREE OR DIE follows Gene Robinson, the first openly gay person to be elected bishop in the high church traditions of Christianity. His 2003 elevation, in the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire, ignited a worldwide firestorm in the Anglican Communion that has threatened schism. Even as he has pushed for greater inclusion within his own church, Bishop Robinson has become a standard bearer in the fight over the rights of LGBT people to receive full acceptance in church and state. Go to http://www.ips-dc.org/events/film_love_free_or_die.
34] – A Peace Delegation Returns from Yemen, Now Ground Zero for Guantanamo Bay Prisoners, and provides an update at Busboys & Poets, 5th & K Sts., on Sun., June 23 from 7 to 9 PM. Hear stories from Yemen with video footage from families of drone survivors and families with loved ones languishing in Guantanamo Prison. The speakers include Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans and Tighe Barry from Codepink, former U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright, independent journalist Pam Bailey, and Solidarity Hunger striker, Diane Wilson. RSVP https://www.facebook.com/events/453878458042140/.
35] – There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop. The next vigil is Mon., June 24, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker. Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649.
36] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Friday from 9 to 11 AM on WEAA 88.9 FM, The Voice of the Community, or online at www.weaa.org. The call-in number is 410-319-8888, and comments can also be sent by email to steinershow@gmail.com. All shows are also available as podcasts at www.steinershow.org.
37] –The 16th ANNUAL SURVIVOR WEEK ACTIVITIES continue through June 26. The events are in Commemoration of the United Nations Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
On Mon., June 24, there will be Human Rights Advocacy Training from 9 AM to noon. Call for Ending Mandatory Detention of Survivors and Asylum Seekers. According to the NY Times (4/1/13), "ICE's detention system - which handles 34,000 people a day and 400,000 a year - is not a model of humane incarceration.....many detainees are victims of political oppression or human trafficking...These are people America should be sheltering, not arbitrarily brutalizing." The training will focus on ending mandatory detention of torture survivors and asylum seekers. TASSC is currently working with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee on a project focusing on this goal along the border in Texas and Arizona.
From 1to 4 PM, the training will focus on Ending US Sponsored Torture at Home and Abroad, including on U.S. sponsored torture of post 9/11 detainees. Advocacy will focus on urging the Senate Intelligence Committee to release its report on CIA torture, closing Guantanamo, ending the use of prolonged solitary confinement in US prisons and urging President Obama to sign the Optional Protocol for the Convention on Torture. Email tasscinfo@gmail.com.
38] –Public Citizen Hosts Talk with President and CEO of American Petroleum Institute on Mon., June 24 from noon to 1 PM at 1600 20th St. NW. Jack Gerard represents the influential energy trade association with some 400 corporate members nationwide. The organization represents the economic interests of the oil and gas industry. Public Citizen and API are at odds on key issues, including positions on addressing climate chaos, the roles for conservation and energy efficiency measures in national energy policy and tax reform. Gerard's talk and the follow-up discussion will offer an opportunity to hear contrasting views. There is limited seating. RSVP at bholzer@citizen.org.
39] –TAKE ACTION FOR LYNNE STEWART on Mon., June 24 from noon to 1:30 PM, JOIN Dick Gregory, Ramsey Clark, Sara Flounders, Louis Wolf and other activists at a press conference and vigil at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 1st St. NW, WDC (corner 1st and Indiana) to demand Compassionate Release for Lynne Stewart.
MARCH afterwards to the White House with Lynne Stewart's husband Ralph Poynter to stand with him as he enters the second week of his vigil for the release of the imprisoned people's attorney. TELEPHONE the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons Charles E. Samuels, Jr. at 202.307.3250 on Monday. Ralph Poynter has called upon people to also call President Barack Obama at 202.456.1414 and Attorney General Eric Holder at 202.514.2001. Sign the PETITION at www.lynnestewart.org.
Eight weeks have elapsed since Warden Jody Upton of FMC Carswell recommended compassionate release for Lynne based upon medical findings of Stage 4 cancer in her scapula, lymph nodes and lungs. Filing the necessary motion for Compassionate Release with Judge John Koetl, the sentencing judge, awaits solely the ratifying signature of Bureau of Prisons Director Samuels, on whose desk Stewart’s application has languished for weeks. Every minute's delay compromises Lynne Stewart's life and her access to the loving care of her family and the comprehensive treatment plan prepared for her at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
40] –Amnesty International is holding a Vigil Outside the Turkish Embassy, 2525 Massachusetts Ave. NW, on Mon., June 24 from 5 to 6 PM. Participants will be holding signs to show their concern over the treatment of Turkey’s peaceful protesters. Since May 31, thousands of protesters in Istanbul and neighboring cities have been the victims of tear gas, water cannons and other forms of abuse by Turkish forces. Amnesty International is concerned about the crackdown of freedom of expression in Turkey. Email ssingh@aiusa.org, call 202-675-8579 and tweet @AIUSAmedia.
41] – See a screening of "Taita Boves" on Mon., June 24 at 5 PM at the embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 1099 30th St. NW, WDC. In commemoration of the Battle of Carabobo and Armed Forces Day in Venezuela, the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington invites the public to a screening of the film “Taita Boves” at its cultural space, the Bolivarian Hall, at 6:30 pm on Monday, June 24. The film, by director Luis Alberto Lamata, portrays Venezuela’s struggle for independence in the 1800s through the figure of José Tomás Boves and his army of escaped slaves that fought against Spanish rule. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/192920754200187/.
42] – On Mon., June 24, celebrate TASSCs 16th Anniversary from 6 to 10 PM at Busboys and Poets, 5331 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville. Join survivors and supporters of TASSC for an evening of solidarity in the Howard Zinn Room. Email tasscinfo@gmail.com.
43] – You're invited to two special screenings of "The United States of ALEC!" Join Common Cause Maryland and Progressive Maryland for the screenings of the Bill Moyers documentary, and get a detailed look at what ALEC is and does. The documentary will be shown on Mon. June 24 at 7 PM at the Howard County Library, 10375 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia, MD 21044, and Thurs., June 27 at 7 PM at the Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912. ALEC calls itself a "nonpartisan public-private partnership." It is actually an organization that writes and works behind the scenes through its legislator-members to pass "model legislation" on a variety of topics. ALEC’s bills, often tailored to advance the private interests of the corporations that bankroll it, touch on critical parts of American life: education, health care, the environment, voting rights, etc. Watch the documentary and join in a discussion of the impact ALEC's work in Maryland and across the nation. ALEC is working to give corporations a voice and a vote on legislation here in Maryland and across the state. Come and learn about their agenda and help us make sure that your voice is louder than theirs! RSVP at http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5206/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=384957.
44] – The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore usually meets on Mondays at 7:30 PM, and the meetings take place at Max’s residence. There will be a meeting on Mon., June 24. The proposed agenda will include the Tour de Peace, the anti-drone action at the CIA, the July 4 demo against NSA spying, Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, and Hiroshima-Nagasaki. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net for directions.
45] – Bradley Manning’s court martial continues on Tues., June 25. Vigil for Army whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning on Mondays during the court martial from 7 to 8 AM. On Tues., June 25 at 7 AM, join the vigil in front of the Fort Meade Main Gate, Reece Road and U.S. 175. Afterwards, consider going to the court martial (via the Visitor Control Center). Bradley is on trial after exposing war crimes in the Middle East and other government misconduct around the world. The outcome of the trial, which began on June 3, is expected in August.
To get inside the court martial, drive to the Fort Meade Visitor Control Center at the Fort Meade Main Gate (all the other gates are for military ID holders only), Reece Road and U.S. 175. The multiple layers of security take time to navigate, and procedures often change from day to day. Each person will need a valid state or federal photo ID such as a driver’s license, state photo ID card, or passport. Foreign passports are accepted. Anyone driving on to Fort Meade will be required to submit their driver’s license, vehicle registration, and printed (not digital) proof of insurance. Your vehicle will be subject to search, and you may be required to cover over political bumper stickers on your vehicle. Consider walking on base if there are any questions at all regarding your vehicle and paperwork.
The proceedings will be held at the Magistrate Court, 4432 Llewellyn Ave, Fort Meade, MD 20755 (this is one mile from the Visitor Center). Electronic devices, including cell phones, computers, cameras, are not allowed in the courtroom, and should be left in your vehicle. There are no pre-registration requirements for the public to attend the proceedings. However, those wishing to attend as credentialed media should contact the US Army Military District of Washington Public Affairs Office at 202-685-4645.
46] – On Tues., June 25, be part of Congressional Advocacy Day, join survivors and supporters from TASSC International, religious leaders from the National Religious Campaign against Torture (NRCAT), and student interns from The Washington Center in visiting Congressional representatives to advocate for an end to U.S.-sponsored torture at home and abroad, and an end to mandatory detention of survivors and asylum seekers in U.S.-immigration detention centers. From 8:30 to 9:30 AM, convene at the Methodist Building across from the Supreme Court. Afterwards until 3 PM, attend Congressional appointments.
47] – Say No to Dirty Extreme Energy on Tues., June 25 at noon at the Canadian Embassy, 501 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/263586880446837/#!/photo.php?fbid=135022893359306&set=oa.582870361744334&type=1&theater. Fearless Summer has called for a week of action against extreme energy. Join D.C. Rising Tide in turning up the heat on the corporations behind climate change. Meet at the Canadian Embassy to protest its role in trying to build the Keystone Pipeline. From there march to the location of a major greenhouse gas polluter.
48] – Each Tuesday from 4:30 - 5:30 PM, the Catholic Peace Fellowship-Philadelphia for peace in Afghanistan and Iraq gathers at the Suburban Station, 16th Street & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine. The next vigil is June 25. Call 215-426-0364.
49] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 34th & North Charles Sts. Join this ongoing vigil. The next vigil is June 26 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Call Max at 410-366-1637.
50] – On Tues., June 25 from 6:30 to 9 PM, get over to Healing a Culture of Torture with Juan Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture at the Church of the Reformation, 213 E Capitol St. NE, WDC 20003. Join torture survivors from TASSC, faith-based members of the National Religious Campaign against Torture and human rights supporters for an evening with UN Special Rapporteur, Juan Mendez. Email tasscinfo@gmail.com.
The event starts with a reception at 6:30 PM. A panel discussion will happen from 7 to 9 PM with Mendez, Aileen Bacalso, secretary general of the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances, and Zeke Johnson, director, Security & Human Rights Program, Amnesty International. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/152357474948068/.
51] – Hear the Soldier's Heart Tour on Tues., June 25 from 7 to 9 PM at The Lamont Street Collective, 1822 Lamont St., WDC. Jacob David George an Afghanistan veteran and member of IVAW will perform a two hour show of storytelling and song that explore his Soldier's Heart. His soulful bluegrass explores his "moral wounds" from war and his experience in trying to heal. He will perform songs from his new album mixed with stories from his journeys. The Soldier's Heart tour is a bicycle tour across the US raising awareness about moral wounds and raising money for reconciliation trips of Afghan veterans returning to work with Afghans. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/139599069571459/.
To be continued.
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
30] POOR PEOPLES CAMPAIGN MARCH REUNION & CELBRATION – June 23
31] Report about Bradley Manning’s court martial – June 23
32] The SOUL KITCHEN is open – June 23
33] “Love Free or Die” – June 23
34] Peace Delegation Returns from Yemen – June 23
35] Pentagon Vigil – June 24
36] Marc Steiner on WEAA – June 24 – June 28
37] Human Rights Advocacy Training – June 24
38] Talk with President and CEO of American Petroleum Institute – June 24
39] Support Lynn Stewart – June 24
40] Protest Turkish repression – June 24
41] Screening of "Taita Boves" – June 24
42] Celebrate TASSCs 16th Anniversary – June 24
43] "The United States of ALEC!" – June 24 & 27
44] Pledge of Resistance/Fund Our Communities meeting – June 24
45] Support Bradley Manning – June 25
46] Lobby to end U.S. torture – June 25
47] Say No to Dirty Extreme Energy – June 25
48] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – June 25
49] No drone research at JHU – June 25
50] Healing a Culture of Torture – June 25
51] Hear the Soldier's Heart Tour – June 25
----
29] – Friends of Nicaragua, on Sun. June 23, noon to 6 PM at Baltimore's 33rd annual LatinoFest in Patterson Park, Casa Baltimore/Limay and Nicaraguan Cultural Alliance are sharing space featuring beautiful oil paintings and pottery, carved soapstone (marmolina) from Baltimore's sister city San Juan de Limay and more! Proceeds will benefit development and aid projects in San Juan de Limay, as well as the promotion of Nicaraguan culture in the U.S. Vendor tables will be located somewhere near Linwood and Eastern Aves. Call Barbara at 443-676-1852 to find the table.
30] – The POOR PEOPLES CAMPAIGN MARCH REUNION & CELBRATION -- COOK OUT & KICK OFF – takes place on Sun., June 23 from 2 to 6 PM at Druid Hill Park, Baltimore 21217 – right off of Swann Dr. and Druid Hill Park Dr. Kick Off Freedom Summer for “We Deserve Better” Workers Assembly and National Peoples Power and Tribunal to Stop Police Killings and Mass Incarceration.
Hear about Bentonville/OUR Wal-Mart campaign and fight for voter’s rights – Selma, Alabama. Join us for a cookout, music, fun, food and all at the Chinese Pavilion – immediately on the left hand side as you turn on Swann Dr., close to the playground and within sight of the lake. If you have trouble, call 410-500-2168. Bring a dish to share or just come--rain or shine. The celebration is under a large pavilion if it rains.
31] – Report back about Bradley Manning’s Ongoing Court Martial at Busboys & Poets, 5th & K Sts. on Sun., June 23 from 5 to 6:30 PM. Court reporter Nathan Fuller and Campaign Organizer Emma Cape will give a half-hour presentation about the trial and its implications, followed by an audience-driven Q&A and discussion. RSVP https://www.facebook.com/events/624399514238782.
Both the defense attorney and the prosecution summarized their arguments in the first week of the trial. In week 2, the discussion focused on forensics experts. In week 3, Original Classification Authority witnesses discussed what released information was classified, why it was classified, and what damage could have been done at the time of release. After a short presentation from the Bradley Manning Support Network (BMSN) staff on the first three weeks of legal developments, questions will be accepted from the audience on the trial and BMSN's work more generally.
32] – The SOUL KITCHEN is open. Gimmie Shelter Productions in conjunction with the Govans Presbyterian Church, 5828 York Road, Baltimore, MD 21212 is hosting a meal for the needy and homeless on Sun., June 24. To help with the serving or cooking of the food, arrive at the church at 5 PM. If you are able to provide musical entertainment, call Alan Barysh at 443-239-5325. This happens on the 4th Sunday of the month. To arrange to make a tax-deductible or an in-kind donation, call Rev. Tom Harris, pastor, at 410-435-9188. Go to govanspres.org/govanspres/welcome.
33] – See the film “Love Free or Die” on Sun., June 23 from 5 to 7 PM at Busboys and Poets, 14th and K Sts. NW. Bishop Gene Robinson who’s featured in the film will be the special guest at the ITVS Community Cinema presentation of the film. Retired from the Diocese of New Hampshire in January 2013, Bishop Robinson is currently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Directed by Macky Alston, LOVE FREE OR DIE follows Gene Robinson, the first openly gay person to be elected bishop in the high church traditions of Christianity. His 2003 elevation, in the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire, ignited a worldwide firestorm in the Anglican Communion that has threatened schism. Even as he has pushed for greater inclusion within his own church, Bishop Robinson has become a standard bearer in the fight over the rights of LGBT people to receive full acceptance in church and state. Go to http://www.ips-dc.org/events/film_love_free_or_die.
34] – A Peace Delegation Returns from Yemen, Now Ground Zero for Guantanamo Bay Prisoners, and provides an update at Busboys & Poets, 5th & K Sts., on Sun., June 23 from 7 to 9 PM. Hear stories from Yemen with video footage from families of drone survivors and families with loved ones languishing in Guantanamo Prison. The speakers include Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans and Tighe Barry from Codepink, former U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright, independent journalist Pam Bailey, and Solidarity Hunger striker, Diane Wilson. RSVP https://www.facebook.com/events/453878458042140/.
35] – There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop. The next vigil is Mon., June 24, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker. Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649.
36] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Friday from 9 to 11 AM on WEAA 88.9 FM, The Voice of the Community, or online at www.weaa.org. The call-in number is 410-319-8888, and comments can also be sent by email to steinershow@gmail.com. All shows are also available as podcasts at www.steinershow.org.
37] –The 16th ANNUAL SURVIVOR WEEK ACTIVITIES continue through June 26. The events are in Commemoration of the United Nations Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
On Mon., June 24, there will be Human Rights Advocacy Training from 9 AM to noon. Call for Ending Mandatory Detention of Survivors and Asylum Seekers. According to the NY Times (4/1/13), "ICE's detention system - which handles 34,000 people a day and 400,000 a year - is not a model of humane incarceration.....many detainees are victims of political oppression or human trafficking...These are people America should be sheltering, not arbitrarily brutalizing." The training will focus on ending mandatory detention of torture survivors and asylum seekers. TASSC is currently working with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee on a project focusing on this goal along the border in Texas and Arizona.
From 1to 4 PM, the training will focus on Ending US Sponsored Torture at Home and Abroad, including on U.S. sponsored torture of post 9/11 detainees. Advocacy will focus on urging the Senate Intelligence Committee to release its report on CIA torture, closing Guantanamo, ending the use of prolonged solitary confinement in US prisons and urging President Obama to sign the Optional Protocol for the Convention on Torture. Email tasscinfo@gmail.com.
38] –Public Citizen Hosts Talk with President and CEO of American Petroleum Institute on Mon., June 24 from noon to 1 PM at 1600 20th St. NW. Jack Gerard represents the influential energy trade association with some 400 corporate members nationwide. The organization represents the economic interests of the oil and gas industry. Public Citizen and API are at odds on key issues, including positions on addressing climate chaos, the roles for conservation and energy efficiency measures in national energy policy and tax reform. Gerard's talk and the follow-up discussion will offer an opportunity to hear contrasting views. There is limited seating. RSVP at bholzer@citizen.org.
39] –TAKE ACTION FOR LYNNE STEWART on Mon., June 24 from noon to 1:30 PM, JOIN Dick Gregory, Ramsey Clark, Sara Flounders, Louis Wolf and other activists at a press conference and vigil at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 1st St. NW, WDC (corner 1st and Indiana) to demand Compassionate Release for Lynne Stewart.
MARCH afterwards to the White House with Lynne Stewart's husband Ralph Poynter to stand with him as he enters the second week of his vigil for the release of the imprisoned people's attorney. TELEPHONE the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons Charles E. Samuels, Jr. at 202.307.3250 on Monday. Ralph Poynter has called upon people to also call President Barack Obama at 202.456.1414 and Attorney General Eric Holder at 202.514.2001. Sign the PETITION at www.lynnestewart.org.
Eight weeks have elapsed since Warden Jody Upton of FMC Carswell recommended compassionate release for Lynne based upon medical findings of Stage 4 cancer in her scapula, lymph nodes and lungs. Filing the necessary motion for Compassionate Release with Judge John Koetl, the sentencing judge, awaits solely the ratifying signature of Bureau of Prisons Director Samuels, on whose desk Stewart’s application has languished for weeks. Every minute's delay compromises Lynne Stewart's life and her access to the loving care of her family and the comprehensive treatment plan prepared for her at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
40] –Amnesty International is holding a Vigil Outside the Turkish Embassy, 2525 Massachusetts Ave. NW, on Mon., June 24 from 5 to 6 PM. Participants will be holding signs to show their concern over the treatment of Turkey’s peaceful protesters. Since May 31, thousands of protesters in Istanbul and neighboring cities have been the victims of tear gas, water cannons and other forms of abuse by Turkish forces. Amnesty International is concerned about the crackdown of freedom of expression in Turkey. Email ssingh@aiusa.org, call 202-675-8579 and tweet @AIUSAmedia.
41] – See a screening of "Taita Boves" on Mon., June 24 at 5 PM at the embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 1099 30th St. NW, WDC. In commemoration of the Battle of Carabobo and Armed Forces Day in Venezuela, the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington invites the public to a screening of the film “Taita Boves” at its cultural space, the Bolivarian Hall, at 6:30 pm on Monday, June 24. The film, by director Luis Alberto Lamata, portrays Venezuela’s struggle for independence in the 1800s through the figure of José Tomás Boves and his army of escaped slaves that fought against Spanish rule. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/192920754200187/.
42] – On Mon., June 24, celebrate TASSCs 16th Anniversary from 6 to 10 PM at Busboys and Poets, 5331 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville. Join survivors and supporters of TASSC for an evening of solidarity in the Howard Zinn Room. Email tasscinfo@gmail.com.
43] – You're invited to two special screenings of "The United States of ALEC!" Join Common Cause Maryland and Progressive Maryland for the screenings of the Bill Moyers documentary, and get a detailed look at what ALEC is and does. The documentary will be shown on Mon. June 24 at 7 PM at the Howard County Library, 10375 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia, MD 21044, and Thurs., June 27 at 7 PM at the Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912. ALEC calls itself a "nonpartisan public-private partnership." It is actually an organization that writes and works behind the scenes through its legislator-members to pass "model legislation" on a variety of topics. ALEC’s bills, often tailored to advance the private interests of the corporations that bankroll it, touch on critical parts of American life: education, health care, the environment, voting rights, etc. Watch the documentary and join in a discussion of the impact ALEC's work in Maryland and across the nation. ALEC is working to give corporations a voice and a vote on legislation here in Maryland and across the state. Come and learn about their agenda and help us make sure that your voice is louder than theirs! RSVP at http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5206/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=384957.
44] – The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore usually meets on Mondays at 7:30 PM, and the meetings take place at Max’s residence. There will be a meeting on Mon., June 24. The proposed agenda will include the Tour de Peace, the anti-drone action at the CIA, the July 4 demo against NSA spying, Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, and Hiroshima-Nagasaki. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net for directions.
45] – Bradley Manning’s court martial continues on Tues., June 25. Vigil for Army whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning on Mondays during the court martial from 7 to 8 AM. On Tues., June 25 at 7 AM, join the vigil in front of the Fort Meade Main Gate, Reece Road and U.S. 175. Afterwards, consider going to the court martial (via the Visitor Control Center). Bradley is on trial after exposing war crimes in the Middle East and other government misconduct around the world. The outcome of the trial, which began on June 3, is expected in August.
To get inside the court martial, drive to the Fort Meade Visitor Control Center at the Fort Meade Main Gate (all the other gates are for military ID holders only), Reece Road and U.S. 175. The multiple layers of security take time to navigate, and procedures often change from day to day. Each person will need a valid state or federal photo ID such as a driver’s license, state photo ID card, or passport. Foreign passports are accepted. Anyone driving on to Fort Meade will be required to submit their driver’s license, vehicle registration, and printed (not digital) proof of insurance. Your vehicle will be subject to search, and you may be required to cover over political bumper stickers on your vehicle. Consider walking on base if there are any questions at all regarding your vehicle and paperwork.
The proceedings will be held at the Magistrate Court, 4432 Llewellyn Ave, Fort Meade, MD 20755 (this is one mile from the Visitor Center). Electronic devices, including cell phones, computers, cameras, are not allowed in the courtroom, and should be left in your vehicle. There are no pre-registration requirements for the public to attend the proceedings. However, those wishing to attend as credentialed media should contact the US Army Military District of Washington Public Affairs Office at 202-685-4645.
46] – On Tues., June 25, be part of Congressional Advocacy Day, join survivors and supporters from TASSC International, religious leaders from the National Religious Campaign against Torture (NRCAT), and student interns from The Washington Center in visiting Congressional representatives to advocate for an end to U.S.-sponsored torture at home and abroad, and an end to mandatory detention of survivors and asylum seekers in U.S.-immigration detention centers. From 8:30 to 9:30 AM, convene at the Methodist Building across from the Supreme Court. Afterwards until 3 PM, attend Congressional appointments.
47] – Say No to Dirty Extreme Energy on Tues., June 25 at noon at the Canadian Embassy, 501 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/263586880446837/#!/photo.php?fbid=135022893359306&set=oa.582870361744334&type=1&theater. Fearless Summer has called for a week of action against extreme energy. Join D.C. Rising Tide in turning up the heat on the corporations behind climate change. Meet at the Canadian Embassy to protest its role in trying to build the Keystone Pipeline. From there march to the location of a major greenhouse gas polluter.
48] – Each Tuesday from 4:30 - 5:30 PM, the Catholic Peace Fellowship-Philadelphia for peace in Afghanistan and Iraq gathers at the Suburban Station, 16th Street & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine. The next vigil is June 25. Call 215-426-0364.
49] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 34th & North Charles Sts. Join this ongoing vigil. The next vigil is June 26 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Call Max at 410-366-1637.
50] – On Tues., June 25 from 6:30 to 9 PM, get over to Healing a Culture of Torture with Juan Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture at the Church of the Reformation, 213 E Capitol St. NE, WDC 20003. Join torture survivors from TASSC, faith-based members of the National Religious Campaign against Torture and human rights supporters for an evening with UN Special Rapporteur, Juan Mendez. Email tasscinfo@gmail.com.
The event starts with a reception at 6:30 PM. A panel discussion will happen from 7 to 9 PM with Mendez, Aileen Bacalso, secretary general of the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances, and Zeke Johnson, director, Security & Human Rights Program, Amnesty International. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/152357474948068/.
51] – Hear the Soldier's Heart Tour on Tues., June 25 from 7 to 9 PM at The Lamont Street Collective, 1822 Lamont St., WDC. Jacob David George an Afghanistan veteran and member of IVAW will perform a two hour show of storytelling and song that explore his Soldier's Heart. His soulful bluegrass explores his "moral wounds" from war and his experience in trying to heal. He will perform songs from his new album mixed with stories from his journeys. The Soldier's Heart tour is a bicycle tour across the US raising awareness about moral wounds and raising money for reconciliation trips of Afghan veterans returning to work with Afghans. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/139599069571459/.
To be continued.
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
Glenn Greenwald is "Aiding and Abetting" Democracy
Published on Monday, June 24, 2013 by The Nation
Glenn Greenwald is "Aiding and Abetting" Democracy
by John Nichols
Imagine if the Sunday morning talk shows had existed in 1776.
Surely, they would have welcomed the most widely-read and provocative journalist of that historic year.
Perhaps the hosts would have asked Tom Paine if he felt that, by penning articles calling out the hypocrisy of colonial officials – and incendiary pamphlets such as “Common Sense” – he was “aiding and abetting” the revolutionaries that King George III imagined to be “traitors.”
An intimidating question, to be sure.
Too intimidating, determined the founders of the American experiment.
After Paine’s compatriots prevailed in their revolutionary endeavor, they wrote into the Bill of Rights a protection of the ability of a free press to speak truth to power, to call out and challenge the machinations of those in government.
Unfortunately, this history is sometimes lost on contemporary Washington.
So it was that, when Glenn Greenwald appeared Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to discuss his reporting on leaks detailing National Security Agency programs that monitor phone calls and digital communications, he was asked whether he was the bad guy.
NBC's David Gregory initially asked Greenwald to discuss the whereabouts of Edward Snowden, a source of the leaks. Greenwald recounted the reported details of Snowden's transit from Hong Kong and spoke at length about his own reporting on the NSA and violations of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. He returned, repeatedly, to the fundamental issues that are at stake, arguing that Snowden "learned of wrongdoing and exposed it so we could have a democratic debate about the spying system, do we really want to put people like that in prison for life when all they’re doing is telling us as citizens what our political officials are doing in the dark."
Then Gregory asked: "To the extent that you have aided and abetted Snowden, even in his current movements, why shouldn't you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?"
Greenwald countered with a suggestion that Gregory had embraced a theory – advanced by the Department of Justice in its investigation of Fox correspondent James Rosen – that journalists who report on leaks might be considered co-conspirators with those who reveal classified information.
"I think it’s pretty extraordinary that anybody who would call themselves a journalist would publicly muse about whether or not other journalists should be charged with felonies. The assumption in your question, David, is completely without evidence, the idea that I’ve aided and abetted him in anyway," argued Greenwald, who worked as a constitutional lawyer before he began writing about threats to essential liberties. "The scandal that arose in Washington before our stories began was about the fact that the Obama administration is trying to criminalize investigative journalism by going through the-- the e-mails and phone records of AP reporters, accusing a Fox News journalist of the theory that you just embraced, being a co-conspirator with felony-- in felonies for working with sources. If you want to embrace that theory, it means that every investigative journalist in the United States who works with their sources, who receives classified information is a criminal, and it’s precisely those theories and precisely that climate that has become so menacing in the United States. That’s why The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer said investigative reporting has come to a standstill, her word, as a result of the theories that you just referenced"
Gregory backed off, saying: "That question has been raised by lawmakers as well. I'm not embracing anything, but, obviously, I take your point."
At the same time, however, Gregory suggested that "the question of who is a journalist may be up to a debate with regard to what you are doing."
By any reasonable measure, Greenwald is a journalist. While most of his work in the United States has been online, he is associated with Britain’s venerable Guardian newspaper. Yet, even if he had no such association, even if he was a freelance blogger who had not published widely-hailed books on civil liberties, Greenwald would qualify for the protections afforded by the First Amendment. He is, after all, an American writer following stories about what the U.S. government does in our name but without our informed consent. That’s a classic journalistic endeavor, as is protecting a source.
Gregory is also a journalist. He can and should ask probing questions. He should stir things up, even if that upsets or provokes guests -- including Greenwald. What was problematic was the approach, which seemed to go at the task backwards. Instead of providing context – by noting that lawmakers had been griping about Greenwald, or even by referencing the Department of Justice inquiry that targeted Rosen – Gregory simply popped the “aiding and abetting” question.
Only when Greenwald challenged him did the host respond with context.
That’s troubling because we are at a stage where contemporary and historical context are desperately needed. There is too little understanding today that the freedom of the press protection outlined in the First Amendment is not a privilege provided to reporters, it is a tool established by the founders so that citizens would have access to the information they need to be their own governors.
Criminalizing investigative reporting may undermine and intimidate journalism, but it is even more devastating to democracy. Thomas Jefferson got it right when explained to John Jay that: "Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it."
Jefferson’s friend and comrade, Tom Paine argued similarly that citizens must be informed in order to be free. “A nation under a well regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed,” he observed in The Rights of Man. “It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support.”
Jefferson, Paine and their contemporaries often griped about the newspapers of their day. But they recognized, correctly, that the chains of ignorance had to be broken. They supported a free and freewheeling press as an underpinning of democracy in their day. As we should in ours.
© 2013 The Nation
John Nichols is Washington correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. His most recent book is The “S” Word: A Short History of an American Tradition. A co-founder of the media reform organization Free Press, Nichols is co-author with Robert W. McChesney of The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again and Tragedy & Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy. Nichols' other books include: Dick: The Man Who is President and The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism.
Source URL: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/06/24-4
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
Glenn Greenwald is "Aiding and Abetting" Democracy
by John Nichols
Imagine if the Sunday morning talk shows had existed in 1776.
Surely, they would have welcomed the most widely-read and provocative journalist of that historic year.
Perhaps the hosts would have asked Tom Paine if he felt that, by penning articles calling out the hypocrisy of colonial officials – and incendiary pamphlets such as “Common Sense” – he was “aiding and abetting” the revolutionaries that King George III imagined to be “traitors.”
An intimidating question, to be sure.
Too intimidating, determined the founders of the American experiment.
After Paine’s compatriots prevailed in their revolutionary endeavor, they wrote into the Bill of Rights a protection of the ability of a free press to speak truth to power, to call out and challenge the machinations of those in government.
Unfortunately, this history is sometimes lost on contemporary Washington.
So it was that, when Glenn Greenwald appeared Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to discuss his reporting on leaks detailing National Security Agency programs that monitor phone calls and digital communications, he was asked whether he was the bad guy.
NBC's David Gregory initially asked Greenwald to discuss the whereabouts of Edward Snowden, a source of the leaks. Greenwald recounted the reported details of Snowden's transit from Hong Kong and spoke at length about his own reporting on the NSA and violations of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. He returned, repeatedly, to the fundamental issues that are at stake, arguing that Snowden "learned of wrongdoing and exposed it so we could have a democratic debate about the spying system, do we really want to put people like that in prison for life when all they’re doing is telling us as citizens what our political officials are doing in the dark."
Then Gregory asked: "To the extent that you have aided and abetted Snowden, even in his current movements, why shouldn't you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?"
Greenwald countered with a suggestion that Gregory had embraced a theory – advanced by the Department of Justice in its investigation of Fox correspondent James Rosen – that journalists who report on leaks might be considered co-conspirators with those who reveal classified information.
"I think it’s pretty extraordinary that anybody who would call themselves a journalist would publicly muse about whether or not other journalists should be charged with felonies. The assumption in your question, David, is completely without evidence, the idea that I’ve aided and abetted him in anyway," argued Greenwald, who worked as a constitutional lawyer before he began writing about threats to essential liberties. "The scandal that arose in Washington before our stories began was about the fact that the Obama administration is trying to criminalize investigative journalism by going through the-- the e-mails and phone records of AP reporters, accusing a Fox News journalist of the theory that you just embraced, being a co-conspirator with felony-- in felonies for working with sources. If you want to embrace that theory, it means that every investigative journalist in the United States who works with their sources, who receives classified information is a criminal, and it’s precisely those theories and precisely that climate that has become so menacing in the United States. That’s why The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer said investigative reporting has come to a standstill, her word, as a result of the theories that you just referenced"
Gregory backed off, saying: "That question has been raised by lawmakers as well. I'm not embracing anything, but, obviously, I take your point."
At the same time, however, Gregory suggested that "the question of who is a journalist may be up to a debate with regard to what you are doing."
By any reasonable measure, Greenwald is a journalist. While most of his work in the United States has been online, he is associated with Britain’s venerable Guardian newspaper. Yet, even if he had no such association, even if he was a freelance blogger who had not published widely-hailed books on civil liberties, Greenwald would qualify for the protections afforded by the First Amendment. He is, after all, an American writer following stories about what the U.S. government does in our name but without our informed consent. That’s a classic journalistic endeavor, as is protecting a source.
Gregory is also a journalist. He can and should ask probing questions. He should stir things up, even if that upsets or provokes guests -- including Greenwald. What was problematic was the approach, which seemed to go at the task backwards. Instead of providing context – by noting that lawmakers had been griping about Greenwald, or even by referencing the Department of Justice inquiry that targeted Rosen – Gregory simply popped the “aiding and abetting” question.
Only when Greenwald challenged him did the host respond with context.
That’s troubling because we are at a stage where contemporary and historical context are desperately needed. There is too little understanding today that the freedom of the press protection outlined in the First Amendment is not a privilege provided to reporters, it is a tool established by the founders so that citizens would have access to the information they need to be their own governors.
Criminalizing investigative reporting may undermine and intimidate journalism, but it is even more devastating to democracy. Thomas Jefferson got it right when explained to John Jay that: "Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it."
Jefferson’s friend and comrade, Tom Paine argued similarly that citizens must be informed in order to be free. “A nation under a well regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed,” he observed in The Rights of Man. “It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support.”
Jefferson, Paine and their contemporaries often griped about the newspapers of their day. But they recognized, correctly, that the chains of ignorance had to be broken. They supported a free and freewheeling press as an underpinning of democracy in their day. As we should in ours.
© 2013 The Nation
John Nichols is Washington correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. His most recent book is The “S” Word: A Short History of an American Tradition. A co-founder of the media reform organization Free Press, Nichols is co-author with Robert W. McChesney of The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again and Tragedy & Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy. Nichols' other books include: Dick: The Man Who is President and The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism.
Source URL: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/06/24-4
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
The Eternal Rebel: Ronnie Kasrils
The Eternal Rebel: Ronnie Kasrils
By Chris Hedges
What is it that makes a rebel? Why does one willingly step outside society to destroy a system of power, break the law and risk persecution and even death for an ideal? As the state calcifies into corporate totalitarianism, as prominent rebels such as Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden are defamed by a bankrupt media and political class and hunted down as criminals, as change through the established mechanisms of reform becomes impossible, as systems of power invert morality to silence and imprison the just, we are going to have to ask hard questions about what we are willing to endure to make a better world. For if we do not rebel, if we do not actively defy corporate power, we will steadily be herded like captive animals into pens where we will be watched, controlled, abused, exploited and finally cast aside when our bodies and our minds are deemed superfluous by the corporate state. It is not enough to interpret the world. We must change it.
Rebels at the inception of struggle are vilified. They are few in number. They are ostracized by the wider society. They are left to brood in shadows where the organs of state security track and hunt them like prey. These rebels of history must become our tutors. To discuss the nature of rebellion, I recently met with Ronnie Kasrils, who was a leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress when the group was fighting South Africa’s government and who from 2004 to 2008 was minister for intelligence services in the ANC government.
Kasrils, white, middle class and Jewish, turned his back on his race and his class to join the African National Congress as a 22-year-old in 1960. A year later he became a member of the South African Communist Party. He was a founding member, along with Nelson Mandela, of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), or Spear of the Nation, the armed wing of the ANC. He served as the commander of the Natal Regional Command and underwent military training in 1964 in Odessa, in the Soviet Union. As a leader in the MK, Kasrils carried out sabotage and bombings of state infrastructure and industrial sites. Although a 1983 MK guerrilla attack left 19 civilians dead and a 1986 raid killed three civilians and injured 73 others, Kasrils points out that overall only a small number of whites died in the struggle while tens of thousands of blacks were slaughtered by the apartheid state.
Kasrils, along with his late wife, Eleanor, lived the shadowy life of an armed revolutionary. In his long liberation campaign he encountered resistance figures ranging from Ernesto “Che” Guevara to Malcolm X. His autobiography, “Armed and Dangerous: My Undercover Struggle Against Apartheid,” is a meditation on the cost and demands of revolutionary discipleship.
Kasrils said the rebel and the revolutionary are driven by an instinctive compassion, concern for others and “standing up for the underdog.” These impulses are often present in children, he said, but they are muted or crushed by the institutions of social control including the family and school. Kasrils, although an atheist, sees the rebel in Jesus Christ, as well as in the thunderous denunciations of evil and oppression by the Hebrew prophets of the Bible. He said that those who endure oppression such as Mandela and rise up to resist are better described as revolutionaries. The rebel, he said, is one who often enjoys certain “liberties” but who is “prepared to give up his class or her class, or tribe.” Rebels turn their backs on their own.
Kasrils in his autobiography writes about a discussion on the nature of the rebel with Jack Simons, a retired university professor who was teaching ANC recruits in Angola and who had been a leader in the South African Communist Party before it was outlawed in 1950. The conversation, Kasrils said, “stunned me.” “Unconventional thought is a force for development,” Simons told Kasrils. “It is wrong to suppress it. The likes of you and I were thrown to the lions in Roman times and burnt at the stake in the Middle Ages as heretics.”
“The person who could [have escaped all that and had] a privileged or comfortable life—isn’t that the rebel, the John Browns?” Kasrils asked. “Why does John Brown raise the flag of rebellion? So, for a rebel, the officer in an army who certainly stands up and says this army is standing for the wrong thing, we want to stand for the freeing of the slaves, I find this the more fascinating area in terms of rebellion, not that I find it more satisfying or important than understanding why the worker stands up against the boss. I mean, that’s the motive force of revolutionary change, not the rebel’s role. Not my role. And I think this is what Jack Simons was saying to me. We would have been burnt at the stake. That’s the dissident factor. I find this on the question of having been Jewish-born but standing for Palestinian rights. There you need such courage to stand up against your tribe. In South Africa I see so many people now who were oppressed before, and now have a chance to advance in life and become ministers or government officials of various kinds and mayors or—through black empowerment—heads of companies, forgetting what their backgrounds were and feeling, ‘Well, now I can give my children a decent home and education, I’m not worried about those without.’ That’s not a rebel.”
It was in post-apartheid South Africa that Kasrils fully realized Simons’ wisdom. Kasril’s relentless quest for not just political but economic justice has turned him into a fierce critic of the two organizations to which he has dedicated himself for 50 years—the African National Congress and the Communist Party. The failure of these two organizations to ameliorate the suffering of the poor, the rampant corruption he says exists within the leadership of the ANC, and the Marikana Massacre last August in which 44 striking miners were gunned down by the South African Police Service—the most lethal assault on unarmed civilians since the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, the event that prompted Kasrils to join the ANC—have left him alienated, once again, from the centers of power.
“I have to speak up,” he said. “It’s deep within me.”
Kasrils said the ANC’s fatal mistake, which he concedes was partly his fault, was its decision in the transition to power in 1994 to mothball its socialist economic agenda, known as the Freedom Charter. The charter, which had wide popular appeal, demanded the end of the exploitation by the white oligarchic elite that treated black laborers as serfs on farms, in mines and on factory floors. It called for the right to work, freedom of expression, access to decent housing and land for all South Africans and a sharing of South African wealth, especially its mineral resources. Banks, industries and mines were to be nationalized. He and other leaders in the ANC believed they could deal with economic injustice later. They were fearful of defying Western imperialism and, as Kasrils put it, “neoliberal global economy market fundamentals.” But the ANC’s caving in to global pressure to adopt a free market economy has proved to be a disaster. South Africa continues to be one of the most unequal societies on the planet. Whites, although they are less than 10 percent of the nation’s population, earn 7.7 times more on average than their black counterparts. Only a few thousand of the country’s 41 million blacks earn more than $5,000 a year. It is apartheid by another name.
A “true rebel would not have accepted that,” Kasrils said, citing Che Guevara and Simons.
Kasrils became deputy minister of defense in the ANC government in 1994 when Mandela was elected president of South Africa.
“I felt, perhaps as a rebel, that this was something that I could focus on and make a big difference,” he said of his appointment. Kasrils wanted to reform “a white supremacist army into a military that would serve democracy” but in the process, he said, “I took my eye off the ball in terms of the economic factors.”
The forces of global corporate capitalism that have deformed South Africa are harder to define and fight than the palpable evil of white supremacy under apartheid, Kasrils said. The current battle requires “more courage and inner depth” because the enemy is faceless. Kasrils said, however, that we have reached a moment in history that is like 1848 or 1917 or some other seismic turning point. Marx, Engels and Lenin, he said, illuminated the maze the rebel faced in 19th century industrialized society; now, a new maze has to be deciphered.
“We need something of that nature now,” he said of the light provided by these thinkers. Answers “existed and then petrified.” The onslaught of globalization has “torn apart” the world and created conditions that Kasrils believes replicate those Engels correctly predicted would convulsed the early 20th century.
“It’s very similar,” Kasrils said. “The ruthless struggles for ascendancy, the rivalries, the aggressive wars. That huge confusion and tumult of capital, and now finance corporate capitalism.”
He views the rise of the revolutionary force in the Arab Spring, the recent Turkish street protests and the Occupy movement as signals of a new age.
“We see the anger, the rebellious spirit of people not wanting to live in the way we’re being forced to live at present,” he said. “But the question of how to come together, and the way ahead, and clarifying the enemy, is at present something we’re striving for. There are obviously groups of revolutionaries, rebels and anti-war groups around the world. But what’s lacking is the ability to define what it is that needs to be replaced. [We need] to define that for the vast multitudes, not just for those who are convening movements and protests.”
“Rebels are detonators in terms of getting other people to understand what we’re up against and how we should be organized,” he said. “That’s where the Communist International of Marx, and then later with the 1917 revolution, emerged as a major tool in opposition to imperialism and developed as an anti-imperialist movement.”
What we face through the rise of corporate capitalism is, in essence, the “re-colonization of Africa and the rest of the world,” Kasrils said.
Marx predicted that eventually unfettered, global capitalism would evolve into a revolutionary force, but it would also have within it the seeds of its own destruction. National boundaries helped check capitalist exploitation with government regulation, an adversarial press and labor organizing, but once corporations created global markets, once they could play one country off another, once workers around the globe were in effect disempowered, the barriers to unfettered capitalism were lifted. I asked Kasrils if we had now reached the last stage that Marx wrote about.
“I think it is that,” he said. “You know we call it today globalism and give it the name of the neoliberal agenda, but that’s exactly what Marx is talking about. Globalism isn’t something that’s just emerged. There’s been the force toward globalism on the basis of the replacement of feudalism into first industrial capital, which was the building up of separate empires. And obviously state powers, and empires, and interfinance capital, and the imperialism that we have today.
“The rise under capitalism of Western Europe is directly, as a result of the ability, time and place, to colonize what we call the developing world today: Africa, Asia, Latin America. It’s on that basis that the empires of Europe, and then of America—North America—grow.”
And as nations are re-colonized, the forms of control become more sophisticated.
“Every single dictatorship builds up the surveillance mechanisms and the control system of its society, of its people,” Kasrils said. “Right throughout history—from ancient times—it becomes absolutely necessary the moment the state based on classes emerges. So the slaves are kept under control. Fear is put into their hearts on a minute-to-minute basis. The sword, the ax, is always over your head, and that applies in modern times where it’s not just the club over your head but it’s also the other threats of losing job, losing profession, of being ruined or being thrown onto the streets.”
“People fear what they see emerging,” he said. “It has happened before under McCarthyism, communist witch hunting in Europe, Britain. So, to keep people in line, whether it’s schoolboys under disciple or sailors on the deck of a ship, or the unemployed, or the factory worker, there’s always been that element of fear to control, to reinforce the control through socialization, education and the hegemony of ruling-class thought, prayer, religion and so on. But in history, as Spartacus or any rebel movement shows, and as we’ve seen in the Arab Spring—Tunisia and Egypt are the particular models—the point comes when people lose fear. That emerged very starkly in the police state of [Hosni] Mubarak. Fear was everywhere. People didn’t dare to speak or to step out of line. The few rebels were always crushed on the torturer’s wheel, their tongues cut out, metaphorically, sometimes actually in reality. So the contradictions of the few ruling the many in terms of injustice brings to my mind the great lines of Shelley, the poet, at the time of the Peterloo Massacre, ‘Rise from your slumbers like lions, we are many they are few.’ [Paraphrase.] And, you know, when I read that I was amazed at the similarity in South Africa when in 1976 young people, 12-year-olds, teenagers in the schools, rose against the apartheid police state, with all of the fear factor, including that of the myth of white supremacy, and were prepared to take it on in the streets and were prepared to die, and those who weren’t shot down were prepared to look for the organizational form to fight back and instead of stones to seek guns and bullets. The ANC was the organization that they turned to because it had always been the rebel organization. It had never died, it was always there and always strove to resist. So, fear, as we’ve seen, can keep people in check for many, many years. Decades. And there comes a time when the system breaks, when the weakest link snaps, and people suddenly lose fear and find courage and stand up. And that’s what we’re seeing.”
“I recall in the long, dark years of our struggle against apartheid where we were being hammered, or imprisoned, or we were in exile, and we would always speculate what would start the fire again,” he said. “And it’s like what’s happened actually as we speak in the square in Istanbul. Quite a small, insignificant square, which was the only parkland with trees in a huge district. And young people and old people wanted to defend this park as one of their lungs. We’re reading about it as we speak and seeing it on our TV screens this very day. That’s a kind of poetic beauty about rebellion and revolution. It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It’s that dialectic—the drip of water that wears away a stone. What is it? This is where you use the term ‘mystery.’ It’s happening over many, many years. It’s wearing away a chain that’s imprisoning people. It’s melting somehow. It’s breaking the fetters. And that happens suddenly from a trigger like the demand, the protection of the park, and the Turkish despot, [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, saying, ‘No matter what you do or say, the development of the shopping area on your blessed park is going ahead.’ And that’s just one bridge too far.”
“You’ve got to be organized,” he said. “You’ve got to have a program of action. You’ve got to have a strategy about your tactics and who is the enemy, and what are you going to replace the system with.”
Although Kasrils embraced violence against the apartheid state he is very hesitant about employing violence against the corporate state. But he sees oppression, if finally left unchecked, as justifying the use of force by the rebel. He quoted John F. Kennedy’s dictum: “Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable.”
“When you get to a point where it’s impossible to make change in any other way, then violent means comes on the agenda, revolutionary struggles,” Kasrils said. “I wouldn’t speak for [the] American people. Certainly in a democracy where everybody has the right to vote at every level from national to local, isn’t it then a question of the extent to which you … use your space and the opportunities of organizing people against particular obstructions, against injustice of whatever form, and electing the people who can do the job?”
“The corporate [state], as you say, they are the unseen force, but behind what?” he asked. “It’s behind the media, so to propagandize, and subject us to their world through the visual and the printed forms, and the way we’re educated, through the running of governments and getting their hands on the Appalachian minerals, but isn’t there potential? Doesn’t the Occupy movement show that there is energy there that can be tapped, that can be mobilized? That’s the challenge. It’s very, very difficult. I know.”
“The fact that we have a bourgeois democracy with the right to vote means that there must be the space to organize,” he said. “So we’ve got a situation in South Africa where things, I believe, are going wrong, where our ruling party is serving corporate elements and is being bribed and corrupted. It’s not so easy to mobilize people who see their only hope with the ANC and will use their vote for that, but in fact aren’t getting proper service from the ANC. Until there’s a force on the scene in South Africa to do better, people won’t vote otherwise. ... I wouldn’t [want to] see a repeat of what the Weathermen did in the late ’60s with the Black Panthers. Look how isolated they were as a result. If you’re going to take up arms as we did, it’s on the basis that in the end you will win, that you will isolate your adversary, and that you will win to your side the vast multitudes of people, not be isolated as so many armed struggles become, not only in Germany with the Baader Meinhof group or the Red Brigades of Italy.”
“This wave of jihadism is absolutely reactionary. ... They see certain problems with their culture, with Western domination,” he said. “It goes [to] more than just the culture … it’s all about the domination of the wealth of those countries. They’re using the wrong means here and bringing such incalculable suffering on their people. And I’m not blaming them for drone war, etc., but you’ve got to take this into account. They’re going about it in the absolutely wrong way. So to consider the use of violence in terms of resistance, it’s, in a sense, the highest form of struggle to use weapons when you can’t use any other forms of change. But you have to be so scientific, so clear in your goals and in your strategy and tactics if you want to use this. Otherwise, you’ll be absolutely smashed, and you’ll bring untold harm and devastation onto the heads of people, and a price that you can never pay.”
Kasrils in his autobiography tells of an incident involving a South African death squad led by the notorious killer and former police colonel Eugene de Kock. De Kock was the commanding officer of C1, a counterinsurgency unit of the South African police that in the 1980s and 1990s kidnapped, tortured and murdered hundreds of anti-apartheid activists and ANC leaders. He and his hit squad had recently assassinated three of Kasril’s ANC comrades. Kasrils tracked de Kock, nicknamed “Prime Evil” and now serving a life sentence in South Africa, along with de Kock’s squad of killers, to a hotel. Kasrils organized a group of ANC insurgents to gun down the members of the hit squad there. De Kock and his men had left, however, before Kasrils and his party burst into the room where they had been. I asked Kasrils if he would, should the situation be repeated today, organize an armed group to kill de Kock and his hit men.
“I see this as similar to the French Resistance and the resistance in Europe against the Nazis,” he said. “So, you know there were the battles in the open, but most of the battles were by stealth. I don’t think there’s anything morally wrong in the battle of stealth against power when you are engaged in a war. They had killed, murdered in cold blood, three of our people in Swaziland. You’ve got to take harsh decisions at times, and this is in the context of an ongoing war there. … I put it within the context of a revolutionary war.” He said, nevertheless, that “when I look back and I meet some of these people who we fought before and I hear from them how they knew someone who died, I wish that that person didn’t have to die.”
“To go up in a war, a revolutionary war, to attack a barracks and blow it up with soldiers inside, you know they’re doing that to you—that’s warfare. Terrorism is the indiscriminate action against the civil population, unarmed people. And there were times there, probably 20, 30, 50, maybe, acts that took place in so many years where you could say that was an act of terror, where a bomb was put in a bar or a restaurant, but we stopped it as soon as that was taking place in the mid-’80s. Some of our elements, our units, did that in a very small-scale way. We came down upon it very quickly.”
“To have taken lives that way, I think, is coming down to the unspeakable level of your adversary, which you must not do,” he said. “And you lose the moral high ground in the process.”
He said that the ANC learned to differentiate between the apartheid regime and all other whites, even those whites who voted the apartheid leaders into power and backed their racist ideology.
“When people vote they often aren’t even really clear about why, and they do it out of fear,” he said. “So we were very careful in relation to that. But it was another thing if you were on the track of hit squads, of very vicious people who were taking our lives. You were actually saving lives if you could stop them.”
This article was published at NationofChange at: http://www.nationofchange.org/eternal-rebel-ronnie-kasrils-1372169544. All rights are reserved.
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
By Chris Hedges
What is it that makes a rebel? Why does one willingly step outside society to destroy a system of power, break the law and risk persecution and even death for an ideal? As the state calcifies into corporate totalitarianism, as prominent rebels such as Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden are defamed by a bankrupt media and political class and hunted down as criminals, as change through the established mechanisms of reform becomes impossible, as systems of power invert morality to silence and imprison the just, we are going to have to ask hard questions about what we are willing to endure to make a better world. For if we do not rebel, if we do not actively defy corporate power, we will steadily be herded like captive animals into pens where we will be watched, controlled, abused, exploited and finally cast aside when our bodies and our minds are deemed superfluous by the corporate state. It is not enough to interpret the world. We must change it.
Rebels at the inception of struggle are vilified. They are few in number. They are ostracized by the wider society. They are left to brood in shadows where the organs of state security track and hunt them like prey. These rebels of history must become our tutors. To discuss the nature of rebellion, I recently met with Ronnie Kasrils, who was a leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress when the group was fighting South Africa’s government and who from 2004 to 2008 was minister for intelligence services in the ANC government.
Kasrils, white, middle class and Jewish, turned his back on his race and his class to join the African National Congress as a 22-year-old in 1960. A year later he became a member of the South African Communist Party. He was a founding member, along with Nelson Mandela, of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), or Spear of the Nation, the armed wing of the ANC. He served as the commander of the Natal Regional Command and underwent military training in 1964 in Odessa, in the Soviet Union. As a leader in the MK, Kasrils carried out sabotage and bombings of state infrastructure and industrial sites. Although a 1983 MK guerrilla attack left 19 civilians dead and a 1986 raid killed three civilians and injured 73 others, Kasrils points out that overall only a small number of whites died in the struggle while tens of thousands of blacks were slaughtered by the apartheid state.
Kasrils, along with his late wife, Eleanor, lived the shadowy life of an armed revolutionary. In his long liberation campaign he encountered resistance figures ranging from Ernesto “Che” Guevara to Malcolm X. His autobiography, “Armed and Dangerous: My Undercover Struggle Against Apartheid,” is a meditation on the cost and demands of revolutionary discipleship.
Kasrils said the rebel and the revolutionary are driven by an instinctive compassion, concern for others and “standing up for the underdog.” These impulses are often present in children, he said, but they are muted or crushed by the institutions of social control including the family and school. Kasrils, although an atheist, sees the rebel in Jesus Christ, as well as in the thunderous denunciations of evil and oppression by the Hebrew prophets of the Bible. He said that those who endure oppression such as Mandela and rise up to resist are better described as revolutionaries. The rebel, he said, is one who often enjoys certain “liberties” but who is “prepared to give up his class or her class, or tribe.” Rebels turn their backs on their own.
Kasrils in his autobiography writes about a discussion on the nature of the rebel with Jack Simons, a retired university professor who was teaching ANC recruits in Angola and who had been a leader in the South African Communist Party before it was outlawed in 1950. The conversation, Kasrils said, “stunned me.” “Unconventional thought is a force for development,” Simons told Kasrils. “It is wrong to suppress it. The likes of you and I were thrown to the lions in Roman times and burnt at the stake in the Middle Ages as heretics.”
“The person who could [have escaped all that and had] a privileged or comfortable life—isn’t that the rebel, the John Browns?” Kasrils asked. “Why does John Brown raise the flag of rebellion? So, for a rebel, the officer in an army who certainly stands up and says this army is standing for the wrong thing, we want to stand for the freeing of the slaves, I find this the more fascinating area in terms of rebellion, not that I find it more satisfying or important than understanding why the worker stands up against the boss. I mean, that’s the motive force of revolutionary change, not the rebel’s role. Not my role. And I think this is what Jack Simons was saying to me. We would have been burnt at the stake. That’s the dissident factor. I find this on the question of having been Jewish-born but standing for Palestinian rights. There you need such courage to stand up against your tribe. In South Africa I see so many people now who were oppressed before, and now have a chance to advance in life and become ministers or government officials of various kinds and mayors or—through black empowerment—heads of companies, forgetting what their backgrounds were and feeling, ‘Well, now I can give my children a decent home and education, I’m not worried about those without.’ That’s not a rebel.”
It was in post-apartheid South Africa that Kasrils fully realized Simons’ wisdom. Kasril’s relentless quest for not just political but economic justice has turned him into a fierce critic of the two organizations to which he has dedicated himself for 50 years—the African National Congress and the Communist Party. The failure of these two organizations to ameliorate the suffering of the poor, the rampant corruption he says exists within the leadership of the ANC, and the Marikana Massacre last August in which 44 striking miners were gunned down by the South African Police Service—the most lethal assault on unarmed civilians since the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, the event that prompted Kasrils to join the ANC—have left him alienated, once again, from the centers of power.
“I have to speak up,” he said. “It’s deep within me.”
Kasrils said the ANC’s fatal mistake, which he concedes was partly his fault, was its decision in the transition to power in 1994 to mothball its socialist economic agenda, known as the Freedom Charter. The charter, which had wide popular appeal, demanded the end of the exploitation by the white oligarchic elite that treated black laborers as serfs on farms, in mines and on factory floors. It called for the right to work, freedom of expression, access to decent housing and land for all South Africans and a sharing of South African wealth, especially its mineral resources. Banks, industries and mines were to be nationalized. He and other leaders in the ANC believed they could deal with economic injustice later. They were fearful of defying Western imperialism and, as Kasrils put it, “neoliberal global economy market fundamentals.” But the ANC’s caving in to global pressure to adopt a free market economy has proved to be a disaster. South Africa continues to be one of the most unequal societies on the planet. Whites, although they are less than 10 percent of the nation’s population, earn 7.7 times more on average than their black counterparts. Only a few thousand of the country’s 41 million blacks earn more than $5,000 a year. It is apartheid by another name.
A “true rebel would not have accepted that,” Kasrils said, citing Che Guevara and Simons.
Kasrils became deputy minister of defense in the ANC government in 1994 when Mandela was elected president of South Africa.
“I felt, perhaps as a rebel, that this was something that I could focus on and make a big difference,” he said of his appointment. Kasrils wanted to reform “a white supremacist army into a military that would serve democracy” but in the process, he said, “I took my eye off the ball in terms of the economic factors.”
The forces of global corporate capitalism that have deformed South Africa are harder to define and fight than the palpable evil of white supremacy under apartheid, Kasrils said. The current battle requires “more courage and inner depth” because the enemy is faceless. Kasrils said, however, that we have reached a moment in history that is like 1848 or 1917 or some other seismic turning point. Marx, Engels and Lenin, he said, illuminated the maze the rebel faced in 19th century industrialized society; now, a new maze has to be deciphered.
“We need something of that nature now,” he said of the light provided by these thinkers. Answers “existed and then petrified.” The onslaught of globalization has “torn apart” the world and created conditions that Kasrils believes replicate those Engels correctly predicted would convulsed the early 20th century.
“It’s very similar,” Kasrils said. “The ruthless struggles for ascendancy, the rivalries, the aggressive wars. That huge confusion and tumult of capital, and now finance corporate capitalism.”
He views the rise of the revolutionary force in the Arab Spring, the recent Turkish street protests and the Occupy movement as signals of a new age.
“We see the anger, the rebellious spirit of people not wanting to live in the way we’re being forced to live at present,” he said. “But the question of how to come together, and the way ahead, and clarifying the enemy, is at present something we’re striving for. There are obviously groups of revolutionaries, rebels and anti-war groups around the world. But what’s lacking is the ability to define what it is that needs to be replaced. [We need] to define that for the vast multitudes, not just for those who are convening movements and protests.”
“Rebels are detonators in terms of getting other people to understand what we’re up against and how we should be organized,” he said. “That’s where the Communist International of Marx, and then later with the 1917 revolution, emerged as a major tool in opposition to imperialism and developed as an anti-imperialist movement.”
What we face through the rise of corporate capitalism is, in essence, the “re-colonization of Africa and the rest of the world,” Kasrils said.
Marx predicted that eventually unfettered, global capitalism would evolve into a revolutionary force, but it would also have within it the seeds of its own destruction. National boundaries helped check capitalist exploitation with government regulation, an adversarial press and labor organizing, but once corporations created global markets, once they could play one country off another, once workers around the globe were in effect disempowered, the barriers to unfettered capitalism were lifted. I asked Kasrils if we had now reached the last stage that Marx wrote about.
“I think it is that,” he said. “You know we call it today globalism and give it the name of the neoliberal agenda, but that’s exactly what Marx is talking about. Globalism isn’t something that’s just emerged. There’s been the force toward globalism on the basis of the replacement of feudalism into first industrial capital, which was the building up of separate empires. And obviously state powers, and empires, and interfinance capital, and the imperialism that we have today.
“The rise under capitalism of Western Europe is directly, as a result of the ability, time and place, to colonize what we call the developing world today: Africa, Asia, Latin America. It’s on that basis that the empires of Europe, and then of America—North America—grow.”
And as nations are re-colonized, the forms of control become more sophisticated.
“Every single dictatorship builds up the surveillance mechanisms and the control system of its society, of its people,” Kasrils said. “Right throughout history—from ancient times—it becomes absolutely necessary the moment the state based on classes emerges. So the slaves are kept under control. Fear is put into their hearts on a minute-to-minute basis. The sword, the ax, is always over your head, and that applies in modern times where it’s not just the club over your head but it’s also the other threats of losing job, losing profession, of being ruined or being thrown onto the streets.”
“People fear what they see emerging,” he said. “It has happened before under McCarthyism, communist witch hunting in Europe, Britain. So, to keep people in line, whether it’s schoolboys under disciple or sailors on the deck of a ship, or the unemployed, or the factory worker, there’s always been that element of fear to control, to reinforce the control through socialization, education and the hegemony of ruling-class thought, prayer, religion and so on. But in history, as Spartacus or any rebel movement shows, and as we’ve seen in the Arab Spring—Tunisia and Egypt are the particular models—the point comes when people lose fear. That emerged very starkly in the police state of [Hosni] Mubarak. Fear was everywhere. People didn’t dare to speak or to step out of line. The few rebels were always crushed on the torturer’s wheel, their tongues cut out, metaphorically, sometimes actually in reality. So the contradictions of the few ruling the many in terms of injustice brings to my mind the great lines of Shelley, the poet, at the time of the Peterloo Massacre, ‘Rise from your slumbers like lions, we are many they are few.’ [Paraphrase.] And, you know, when I read that I was amazed at the similarity in South Africa when in 1976 young people, 12-year-olds, teenagers in the schools, rose against the apartheid police state, with all of the fear factor, including that of the myth of white supremacy, and were prepared to take it on in the streets and were prepared to die, and those who weren’t shot down were prepared to look for the organizational form to fight back and instead of stones to seek guns and bullets. The ANC was the organization that they turned to because it had always been the rebel organization. It had never died, it was always there and always strove to resist. So, fear, as we’ve seen, can keep people in check for many, many years. Decades. And there comes a time when the system breaks, when the weakest link snaps, and people suddenly lose fear and find courage and stand up. And that’s what we’re seeing.”
“I recall in the long, dark years of our struggle against apartheid where we were being hammered, or imprisoned, or we were in exile, and we would always speculate what would start the fire again,” he said. “And it’s like what’s happened actually as we speak in the square in Istanbul. Quite a small, insignificant square, which was the only parkland with trees in a huge district. And young people and old people wanted to defend this park as one of their lungs. We’re reading about it as we speak and seeing it on our TV screens this very day. That’s a kind of poetic beauty about rebellion and revolution. It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It’s that dialectic—the drip of water that wears away a stone. What is it? This is where you use the term ‘mystery.’ It’s happening over many, many years. It’s wearing away a chain that’s imprisoning people. It’s melting somehow. It’s breaking the fetters. And that happens suddenly from a trigger like the demand, the protection of the park, and the Turkish despot, [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, saying, ‘No matter what you do or say, the development of the shopping area on your blessed park is going ahead.’ And that’s just one bridge too far.”
“You’ve got to be organized,” he said. “You’ve got to have a program of action. You’ve got to have a strategy about your tactics and who is the enemy, and what are you going to replace the system with.”
Although Kasrils embraced violence against the apartheid state he is very hesitant about employing violence against the corporate state. But he sees oppression, if finally left unchecked, as justifying the use of force by the rebel. He quoted John F. Kennedy’s dictum: “Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable.”
“When you get to a point where it’s impossible to make change in any other way, then violent means comes on the agenda, revolutionary struggles,” Kasrils said. “I wouldn’t speak for [the] American people. Certainly in a democracy where everybody has the right to vote at every level from national to local, isn’t it then a question of the extent to which you … use your space and the opportunities of organizing people against particular obstructions, against injustice of whatever form, and electing the people who can do the job?”
“The corporate [state], as you say, they are the unseen force, but behind what?” he asked. “It’s behind the media, so to propagandize, and subject us to their world through the visual and the printed forms, and the way we’re educated, through the running of governments and getting their hands on the Appalachian minerals, but isn’t there potential? Doesn’t the Occupy movement show that there is energy there that can be tapped, that can be mobilized? That’s the challenge. It’s very, very difficult. I know.”
“The fact that we have a bourgeois democracy with the right to vote means that there must be the space to organize,” he said. “So we’ve got a situation in South Africa where things, I believe, are going wrong, where our ruling party is serving corporate elements and is being bribed and corrupted. It’s not so easy to mobilize people who see their only hope with the ANC and will use their vote for that, but in fact aren’t getting proper service from the ANC. Until there’s a force on the scene in South Africa to do better, people won’t vote otherwise. ... I wouldn’t [want to] see a repeat of what the Weathermen did in the late ’60s with the Black Panthers. Look how isolated they were as a result. If you’re going to take up arms as we did, it’s on the basis that in the end you will win, that you will isolate your adversary, and that you will win to your side the vast multitudes of people, not be isolated as so many armed struggles become, not only in Germany with the Baader Meinhof group or the Red Brigades of Italy.”
“This wave of jihadism is absolutely reactionary. ... They see certain problems with their culture, with Western domination,” he said. “It goes [to] more than just the culture … it’s all about the domination of the wealth of those countries. They’re using the wrong means here and bringing such incalculable suffering on their people. And I’m not blaming them for drone war, etc., but you’ve got to take this into account. They’re going about it in the absolutely wrong way. So to consider the use of violence in terms of resistance, it’s, in a sense, the highest form of struggle to use weapons when you can’t use any other forms of change. But you have to be so scientific, so clear in your goals and in your strategy and tactics if you want to use this. Otherwise, you’ll be absolutely smashed, and you’ll bring untold harm and devastation onto the heads of people, and a price that you can never pay.”
Kasrils in his autobiography tells of an incident involving a South African death squad led by the notorious killer and former police colonel Eugene de Kock. De Kock was the commanding officer of C1, a counterinsurgency unit of the South African police that in the 1980s and 1990s kidnapped, tortured and murdered hundreds of anti-apartheid activists and ANC leaders. He and his hit squad had recently assassinated three of Kasril’s ANC comrades. Kasrils tracked de Kock, nicknamed “Prime Evil” and now serving a life sentence in South Africa, along with de Kock’s squad of killers, to a hotel. Kasrils organized a group of ANC insurgents to gun down the members of the hit squad there. De Kock and his men had left, however, before Kasrils and his party burst into the room where they had been. I asked Kasrils if he would, should the situation be repeated today, organize an armed group to kill de Kock and his hit men.
“I see this as similar to the French Resistance and the resistance in Europe against the Nazis,” he said. “So, you know there were the battles in the open, but most of the battles were by stealth. I don’t think there’s anything morally wrong in the battle of stealth against power when you are engaged in a war. They had killed, murdered in cold blood, three of our people in Swaziland. You’ve got to take harsh decisions at times, and this is in the context of an ongoing war there. … I put it within the context of a revolutionary war.” He said, nevertheless, that “when I look back and I meet some of these people who we fought before and I hear from them how they knew someone who died, I wish that that person didn’t have to die.”
“To go up in a war, a revolutionary war, to attack a barracks and blow it up with soldiers inside, you know they’re doing that to you—that’s warfare. Terrorism is the indiscriminate action against the civil population, unarmed people. And there were times there, probably 20, 30, 50, maybe, acts that took place in so many years where you could say that was an act of terror, where a bomb was put in a bar or a restaurant, but we stopped it as soon as that was taking place in the mid-’80s. Some of our elements, our units, did that in a very small-scale way. We came down upon it very quickly.”
“To have taken lives that way, I think, is coming down to the unspeakable level of your adversary, which you must not do,” he said. “And you lose the moral high ground in the process.”
He said that the ANC learned to differentiate between the apartheid regime and all other whites, even those whites who voted the apartheid leaders into power and backed their racist ideology.
“When people vote they often aren’t even really clear about why, and they do it out of fear,” he said. “So we were very careful in relation to that. But it was another thing if you were on the track of hit squads, of very vicious people who were taking our lives. You were actually saving lives if you could stop them.”
This article was published at NationofChange at: http://www.nationofchange.org/eternal-rebel-ronnie-kasrils-1372169544. All rights are reserved.
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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