Thoughts on Occupy: the method is the goal

A few thoughts about the Occupy Movement:

First, I am overjoyed that this movement has been overwhelmingly nonviolent in its methods and intent.  This in itself is huge.  Through many of the demonstrations already staged, the effectiveness of nonviolent strategies has been reinforced to participants and observers.  In cases where nonviolent discipline has held most strongly, as in the case of the UC Davis students, the movement has gained its greatest support. 

I am very impressed with the breadth of creativity in tactics and expression.  I love all the kinds of art forms that participants have been using.  I was an occupier on the first day and took part in a street theatre action, and it felt right to be using the creative arts right from the beginning.

The emphasis on democratic, truly grassroots process bodes well.  Always, the methods are embedded in the ends achieved.  It's wonderful to see groups of people sitting together, doing the hard, hard work of consensus building.  I have some experience with this from taking part in Quaker business meetings, and I appreciate both the rewards and the challenges of  the consensus process.

I am concerned that targeting the "1%" as culprits in our economic stuggles may lead to certain people being labeled enemies.  To me, the enemy is not certain people, but rather systemic problems in US society and culture. Militarism is a culprit, for example, but that doesn't mean soldiers are enemies.  In fact, like city police, military personnel are caught in the problems of the system in many ways, just as civilians are.  If we can focus on reducing the resources put into maintaining a huge military structure, then that is addressing the problem.  Focusing on the wealthy or the police doesn't get to the heart of the matter, even though the confrontations have been educational.

This is where I think the nonviolent methods used by occupiers have been teaching us well.  We can see so clearly that, as the UC Davis students said, words are greater than weapons.  We have the tools of nonviolence to protect ourselves and to make change. 

So, to me, this is where the Occupy movement may lead.  As Occupy and the hundreds of thousands of nonviolent demonstrators across the Middle East have been proving, people power really can trump military power.  Military might is an obstacle to democratic reform, not a champion of it.  If people all over the world decide it, we can divest from the weapons trade, a dead-end business.  We do not need huge military forces to "protect" us. We can draw them down and invest instead in businesses that create rather than destroy. I am convinced that our economy will prosper if we do that.


        

Peace through play

This weekend, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War organized and held their first independent convention since their founding in 2004, and they chose Austin as their host city. Lucky for us! Our CodePink group provided the childcare for the convention, and I enjoyed the opportunity to be part of the convention in this way.

I spent most of my time at the convention with the children. We did free play, with a sort of "Adventure Playground" approach, where the children had basic materials with which to build and create things of their choosing. The convention was held at Huston-Tillotson University, and we had a standard classroom as the childcare room -- bare linoleum floor covered with about 20 heavy student chair/desks. Provided with sheets, blankets, paper, yarn, tape, clothespins, markers, paper blocks, books and a few other basic materials, the kids made use of the desks to create an inviting "fort" area that expanded throughout the weekend and led to various other projects they dreamed up. As always, with some basic adult guidance and support, kids will weave a world of marvelous invention.

Perhaps this is the underlying philosophy that leads me to reject militarism, occupation and war. If people have their basic needs met -- adequate and healthy food, water, health care, creative outlets -- then, generally, they (we) will thrive. Most people know what is best for themselves and will grow in healthy ways if given half a chance. Human powers of creation and invention are great. Why channel any of our inventive resources into such hugely destructive things as predator drones, cluster bombs, landmines, IEDs, automatic rifles?

In addition to the time with the children, the weekend was filled, for me, with meaningful, if brief, encounters with several of the veterans and invited guests to the convention, all of whom seemed to reinforce this essential message. As longtime friend, nonviolent activist, author and teacher, Kathy Kelly, said during her panel presentation, "If you want to counter terror, build justice." Justice begins with the building blocks of simple, elemental conditions that children need to grow and prosper.

Photos: IVAW member, Joe Wheeler and his daughters, Lily and Ivy (with one of the paper outfits she designed)

From Hummer to handlebars

It's been good riding my bike longer distances this week. Longer daylight, longer miles and longer looks at the scenery. In this spirit, I like this piece by Medea Benjamin about the burial/transformation of the Hummer during the US Social Forum in Detroit.

The Hummer Is Dead. And We Buried It

by Medea Benjamin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ODE TO THE HUMMER
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
We bury a Hummer here to rust
And from these ashes, we recreate
A world of peace, an end to hate.

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

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


Medea Benjamin is cofounder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK: Women for Peace

Austin Pride

Some of us CP-ers went out to the Pride Parade in Austin last night. We stood at Congress and 3rd St. and it was great to see all the people there, both in the parade and along the route. The Public Library entry was especially cool. Lots of positive response to our signs, too, from paraders, including everyone from the police chief to the roller derby girls.

photos above by John Pesina, posted at Austin 360

Photojournalist, Alan Pogue, joins Austin Arts Hall of Fame

It's great to see local photojournalist extraordinaire, Alan Pogue, honored with one of this year's four Austin Arts Hall of Fame awards. Here is the column about Alan written by Michael Barnes from today's story in the Austin American-Statesman:

Austinites think of Alan Pogue as someone who records reality. Yet he also transforms that visual record into art. And, in an unfaltering way, into social justice.

Working in black and white, Pogue is best known for covering social and political movements, culture and conflict, around the world: migrant workers, prison conditions and victims of violence in Texas, Cuba, Pakistan, Haiti and Iraq, among other places.

The Corpus Christi native and Vietnam War veteran was the main photographer for the Rag newspaper from 1969 to 1977. His images appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Texas Monthly and Kyodo News Japan. He has served as staff photographer for the Texas Observer for 38 years.

He has won several international awards and worked with groups such as Veterans for Peace, Global Peace Campaign and Voices in the Wilderness.

Pogue captured the essence of such Texas personalities as John Henry Faulk, Sissy Farenthold, Barbara Jordan, Molly Ivins, Ann Richards and Jim Hightower.

"The art of photography is part intellectual and part instinctual," Pogue says. "I select what I choose to photograph for its social significance, but in the act of photographing, intellectual considerations subside, my sense of hearing is muted and I move in an emotional/visual environment, not thinking in words."

— Michael Barnes


Austin Critics' Table Awards

When: 7 p.m. Monday, June 7

Where: Cap City Comedy Club, 8120 Research Blvd.

Cost: Free

photo of Alan, c. 1967, when he was a medic in Vietnam
photo from his site

Earth call

I like this photo, taken by Jay Janner of the Austin American-Statesman at today's rally for immigrant rights at the TX capitol.

It was good to be there. The Aztec dancers blowing the conch horns made me think about our oceans and the enormous variety of life they contain. My Dutch ancestors were fisherpersons on the North Sea. They came to the US as immigrants and became farmers.

The sea, the land and we immigrants on the planet are interdependent. No Arizona law can deny that, and the Gulf oil catastrophe only confirms it.

Exposing the Naked Truth about Drill, Baby, Drill

Congratulations to the CodePinkers who followed Diane Wilson's lead in organizing the "Exposing the Naked Truth About Drill, Baby, Drill" demonstration in front of BP headquarters in downtown Houston today. Several CodePink Austin and Dallas activists joined the protest.

Check out this interview with Diane on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show.

The Houston Chronicle also has a good story and video here.

Diane, as a fourth-generation shrimper, knows her beloved Gulf Coast better than most, and she has engaged in numerous acts of civil disobedience in defense of the ecosystem there. As Medea Benjamin says, this horrendous spill may be the planet's last straw. We humans must, in every way we can, support alternatives to an oil-based energy system.


All photos posted above are from the CodePink flickr page, except for the top photo (of our own Heidi Turpin and her remarkable fish costume), taken by AP photographer, Pat Sullivan, as posted on the site of today's Houston Chronicle.

Victory Over Sin

Speaking of art cars with a message -- see this interview from yesterday's Victoria Advocate about art car artist, David Best's winning entry in this year's Houston show. Titled "Victory Over Sin," his car is a tribute to immigrants and a rejection of the racist legislation just passed in Arizona. "Victory Over Sin" won both the Best of Show and the Peoples' Choice awards in Saturday's parade. What an excellent art car and message.

photos:
(above) art car detail, photo by Ed Schipul, Orange Show

(below) from the Victoria Advocate by Bill Clough

Loving our Mother via the Houston Art Car Parade

There's a social mixer exercise where people in a group tell each other, in turn, something they think others are unlikely to know about them. For me, the idea is not just to learn more about each other, but to be reminded that we are all deeper and broader than we will ever know. One aspect of empathy is the happy surprise.

Sometimes, I do a version of this exercise in my head when I am with some people I know and others I don't -- thinking, that is, about the remarkable qualities and circumstances I know about folks, and wondering whether, if others knew those things, would it change the ways they think?

I was doing this last Saturday in Houston as I rode along with our CodePink Austin Peacemobile entry in the fabulous Houston Art Car Parade. Our theme was "Love Your Mother," -- since the parade is held the day before Mother's Day -- with "Mother" meaning our common planet as well as all moms everywhere. We also meant: peace is green, and war is not.

Four of our group rode in the Peacemobile, and six of us rode our bicycles alongside the car as part of our entry. This year, because we had held a fundraiser in Houston the night before for the GI Coffee House, Under The Hood, our group included the UTH director, her two daughters, and two young US Army veterans from Killeen.

The parade, the largest of its kind in the world, is lined with thousands of spectators. I thought about my friends in the Peacemobile. Would the crowd guess that in the passenger seat was a soldier who is going through the process of filing as a Conscientious Objector? Would they know that in the back seat was a woman who worked for years at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and also felt so strongly about the wrongness of US policies in Central America that she spent 6 months in prison for an act of civil disobedience on a US Army base? Would they guess that the child sitting next to her was the daughter of a Ft. Hood soldier who did three tours of duty in Iraq, even after a serious head injury during his second?

I think the people exchanging peace signs with us would have been surprised to learn that one of us on the bikes was just recently released from the military brig in Ft. Lewis, WA after serving a term for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan. They might have seen his t-shirt with peace sign and just assumed he was a "peace-nik" since day one. Would they guess that he hails from Kentucky, plays and sings 90's country, and is a devoted Christian?

As I thought about my companions, I was full of wonder. What were the chances that each of us would find our way to this moment, sharing this parade?

As we rode along, I also watched the crowd. Making eye contact with as many people as I could, I called out, "Happy Mother's Day!" Lots called out in response, "You, too!" or "Love Your Mother!" as they read the messages on the car and my bike. When I looked into their faces, I could catch only a glimpse of the mysteries they contained.

To me, that's the essence of why war must end. Every person is a universe of experience and potential. How could we destroy such a deep well, a vessel of possibility? How could we kill someone who we might find, one day, tooling along beside us in a parade?

When President Obama campaigned on the "Change" theme, I thought most about how individuals can change, rather than how things change. We evolve over the course of our lives. If lives are cut short, denying us the opportunity to change, then evolutionary progress on a larger scale suffers, too.

The Houston Art Car parade is all about creation and transformation. We're outlandish, unique and beautiful, rolling forward together. Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

photos:
from top, moi on my peace bike, from bubbaofthebubbles' flickr site (Bubba is my neighbor, Robert, he of yard art fame)
the Peacemobile, with globe engineer, Heidi
the Peacemobile on parade, from Boptimist's flickr site
my favorite other biker, from Barry D's flickr site

Gene Stoltzfus, man of Spring

I've been thinking so much this week about Gene Stoltzfus, remembering some of the things he said during his several visits to Austin in recent years. I've been re-reading his blog posts and the moving testimonials written about him since his sudden death on March 10. I remember liking very much the way Gene often used terms like "enliven" or "awaken" in his talks, referring to the positive growth that peacemaking can engender. He had a way of being able to talk about very difficult things with a gentle and discerning approach, so that one could listen, empathize, and then discover the energy to act.

The first time I met Gene was in the Spring of 2005 when he drove through Texas on a Christian Peacemaker Teams speaking tour. While he was in Austin, he spoke to a peace studies class at the University of Texas, a meeting of Veterans for Peace, a group at the Mennonite Church, with an editor at the Austin American-Statesman and at a bakery with a writer friend, Greg Moses, and me for a story we co-wrote about Gene and CPT (published on Counterpunch).

I liked Gene right from the start. His demeanor made a person feel comfortable and welcome. It was partly the Santa Claus beard and figure, but it was more than that. You got the feeling that peacemaking was something he knew very, very well.

The final time I saw Gene was last October, when he was a guest speaker at the second annual Assembly to Honor Freedom of Conscience, organized chiefly by members of the Austin Mennonite Church. I took notes. Gene's first words to the assembly were, "Hello, everyone. Thank you for what you are doing!" That was very typical of Gene -- to thank others, even though he was the one to be appreciated for coming so far to be with us.
I also recall Gene talking on that occasion about something I hadn't heard him discuss before. He related his own experience with PTSD, finding much in common with GIs who also spoke at the assembly. Gene's PTSD had developed as a result of what he saw and experienced in Vietnam when he was doing alternative service as a conscientious objector in the 1960's. He said that when he returned to the US, he could sleep only about 20 minutes a night for about the first 6 months back. He had dreams about the dead he had seen in Vietnam. He also had a recurring dream about LBJ and Ho Chi Minh -- that he was trying to get them together, and just when he was about to succeed, they'd slip away. In another recurring dream, he was in a speeding car racing down a hill about to crash. Gene said he'd kept a dream diary for the past 40 years, which he credited as part of his healing.
Acting from conscience has risks. It also, as he said, opens new relationships and closes others. "Fundamental to every conscious decision is saying yes to some things and no to others." Often, the trajectory of our careers changes.
"Conscience gives our imagination a new lease on life," he said. "We think of creative ways to act. Conscience is not captured by the right, the left or the middle, or even by religious people. It's available to all of us."

I've been thinking especially about Gene today, as I've been home, listening to music wafting in all my open windows from SXSW venues in the neighborhood. In the front windows come strains from a stage set up about two blocks down. In the back porch windows come voices, guitar licks and drumbeats from a backyard set-up nearby. I can see people in chairs, listening carefully and applauding generously. I think Gene would like this, too. It's all about creation. Spring is emerging. As long as the earth and we earthlings spinning on it remember our purpose, our creative centers, our lives will be re-leased.

Thank you, Gene. Your courage, compassion, wisdom, creativity and vitality endure.

International Women's Day March in San Antonio!

I sure felt in good company today as 6 of our Austin CodePink group took part in San Antonio's 20th annual International Women's Day March. I was moved by the diversity of the crowd. The signs and banners were numerous and imaginative, containing messages that drew together all kinds of social justice issues: GLTB equality, labor rights (especially for hotel workers in the Hyatt, where the march began this year), environmental justice and safety, freedom from racism, greater funding for education and health care, and stopping the militarization of youth. Peace signs and messages were a unifying theme throughout.
Heidi made the bold banner we carried, WOMEN SAY NO TO WAR, and the pink fuzzy peace signs that always draw people. Plus, they make it easy to find each other in a crowd ...

Thank you to Sylvia Thompson for these awesome photos!

[See this good article about the march by Chris Kutalik, published in LaborNotes]

Make Out Not War!

Per the previous post, seven of us congregated on SoCo on the afternoon before Valentine's Day to distribute fliers and "Make Out Not War" stickers to folks on the sidewalks. The fliers contained the info below, stressing the ways that family relationships are hurt by war and military life, and asking people to phone their Congresspersons to weigh in on misplaced budget priorities.

People were fairly receptive to the fliers and stickers, and there were lots of smiles in response to our entourage. When we stood in one place and handed out the fliers, I noticed that people seemed more reluctant to take them than when we strolled along and passed them out as folks passed us. Some people were eager to see the info and wanted to have their photos taken with us (especially with Heidi in her Valentine costume!). A couple of my favorites were the child above and a man who asked us to put a sticker on the back of his wheelchair.

We distributed 400 fliers and about 500 of the stickers.

Special thanks to Hart with IVAW for joining us!

Here's the flier content:

• Military divorce rates are on the rise. The divorce rate in the armed forces edged up again in 2009 despite many programs to help struggling couples. (Source: http://www.wivb.com/dpp/military/Military-divorce-rate-edges-higher1259359250732)
• Military families and partners are at high risk for domestic violence. In one study, it was determined that the military rate of domestic violence was three times higher than civilian rates. (Source: http://www.civicresearchinstitute.com/dvr_military.pdf)
• Prolonged deployments are associated with increased rates of depression among U.S. Army spouses. Studies show that many soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer mental health problems. This new study shows that long and multiple deployments also take a toll on the families. (Source: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/362/2/101
• The rate of child maltreatment in families of enlisted soldiers increased by 42 percent when military spouses were off at war. The child maltreatment rate in military families doubled after October 2002, while civilian rates remained the same. (Source: http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/42/17/8.1.full)
The Obama administration plans to ask Congress for an additional $33 billion to fight unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, on top of a record request for $708 billion for the Defense Department for 2011. At a time of high unemployment, when 12% of Americans rely on food banks due to hunger, spending so much to fund war is tragic.
PLEASE call your congressperson to say: Freeze Pentagon spending and support real family values by funding job creation, health care and education.
Congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121

photos by makingpeace (the sign, "Peace &" read "JOY" on the other side)

Youth poets awe the room

Yesterday afternoon, I had the honor of hearing some fine youth slam poets speak their art and truth. Young men and women took their turns on stage at The Independent, their intelligent poetic explorations of life resonating deeply with me. Being unrelated to any of the poets, I was tapped to be a judge, which is always a challenge, because I want to give every poem a ten. Does judgehood make me listen in a different way? Maybe I'm even more aware of the rhyming, timing and metaphor -- all of which were brilliantly used throughout the slam. What can I say? These kids are using the power of their own voices, the power of their own pens, to connect, reflect and dissect this crazy world. They show what being human is all about.

The next Under-21 They Speak Youth Slam is scheduled for Feb. 27 at 4 pm at The Independent, on Brushy St. near 5th St., just east of I-35. The slam series is put on by the Texas Youth Word Collective. See their site for more info about this great program.

Sick of War

Yesterday, I participated in a "Sick of War" demonstration outside the East Gates of Ft. Hood in Killeen, Texas. The vigil, which was planned for morning and afternoon, rain or shine, by staff, supporters and soldiers at the Under The Hood coffee house, was joined by about 25 others throughout the day. The demonstration was called to emphasize the shortcomings of mental health care given to soldiers returning from deployments, and the tendency of military medical staff to prescribe pills rather than comprehensive treatment.

We carried on with the event despite rain and cool, windy conditions, and a number of journalists came by to document the proceedings. Here is a report published today in the Killeen Daily Herald.

With IVAW member from Austin, Bobby, leading us with his megaphone, we chanted: "Money for Haiti, Not for War!", "Money for families, Not for War!", "Money for soldiers, Not for War!," "Money for schools, Not for War!" ...

We stood on the lot of an abandoned gas station right at the corner of "Tank Destroyer Blvd." and the entrance to Ft. Hood. We could see directly across the fence the building where soldiers we know have been court-martialed for refusing orders to deploy to war. I witnessed the court-martial of GI resister, Mark Wilkerson, in that building in 2007. I felt sad having to be there still, in 2010, protesting the wars that continue.

As drivers passed by our corner, many looked on curiously. Some opened their windows to hear the chants. A few gave us the thumbs up. Some gave us the single finger. Bobby called out, "Thanks for half a peace sign!"

Above are some photos I took of folks who took part. People came to the event from as far away as Denton, San Marcos, Ft. Worth, San Antonio and Austin.

Peacemaking highlights of the decade

Over the New Year holiday, writers have published lists of highlights -- in genres such as politics, movies, music, etc. -- from the past year and the last decade.

Here is my list of just some of the many positive movements and trends toward peacebuilding over the last ten years -- examples of bold, creative, nonviolent People Power standing up to political, military and corporate power.


1) the worldwide antiwar demonstrations in February 2003, the largest coordinated protests in human history, in opposition to the Bush Administration's planned invasion of Iraq

2) the "Saffron Revolution" in Burma in 2007 -- Buddhist monks and students leading the movement against the tyrranical military junta in Myanmar

3) the ongoing Truth and Reconciliation process in Rwanda, maintaining stability and preventing a resurgence of retaliatory killing after the genocide of 1994

4) the Iranian people's democratization campaign of last year, which continues in spite of the government crackdown against it

5) the largely nonviolent, grassroots resistance against the illegal coup this past summer and fall in Honduras -- despite serious poverty among the Honduran population, the lukewarm response of the US government and outright support of illegitimate coup "Golpistas" by some US Congresspersons

6) growth of resistance to the invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan among US military veterans, active duty personnel and military family members. Iraq Veterans Against the War was formed in 2004, Military Families Speak Out began in 2002 and Veterans for Peace will mark its 25th anniversary in 2010. These organizations have grown significantly since their beginnings and have organized numerous events around the country and abroad. Cindy Sheehan's "Camp Casey" in Crawford, TX in 2005 drew widespread support. IVAW's Winter Soldier hearings in 2008 have brought to light military realities in Iraq and Afghanistan that have been under-reported in the mainstream press. Veterans have organized Winter Soldier panels in a number of other cities since the initial hearings, including two in Austin last Spring. The GI coffee house in Killeen, Under The Hood, opened last year.

7) a resurgence of activism among young adults on issues of war and peace, the environment, education and immigrant rights, AND a resurgence of activism among us middle-aged women -- who defy ageism with our energy and life experience!

8) exponential growth of the alternative press and social networking. More news is more available to more people. Regular folks like me have been able to publish our writing online and organize quickly through the internet. The traditional media has incorporated more interactivity into their sites. Kudos to the AAS for their early embrace of this trend -- such as hosting reader blogs.

9) a resurgence of interest in creative arts and crafts -- making things ourselves or buying from local artists and craftspersons

10) growth in all things green -- green building, urban farming, native planting, bicycling, alternative energy production. Every step toward sustainability lessens the underlying motivation for war.

Clearly, our world faces dire threats -- most of them man-made. But, I find much inspiration for reversing destructive cycles through courageous, innovative ways such as these that so many people are working to preserve, understand and revere all life.

The Word Show

For anyone still out there checking this blog from time to time -- hello. I've been absent from the blogosphere for a while. Lots going on -- as with most folks these days. Family, work, home, art, study.

As mentioned in earlier blog posts, my partner's sister, Sharon Webster, is a poet and visual artist in Vermont who, this past month, curated an exhibition in Burlington called "The Word Show," an inventive collection of works that mix text and images. Included in the group of artists in the show are Iraq veterans, Drew Cameron and Jon Turner, who have been active with the "Combat Paper" project, creating art with paper made from the cloth of military uniforms. One of their pieces is shown above, an interactive display that invites viewers to put their own prayers into the boots strung on the wall.

Combat Paper artists were also in Texas last month to do a paper-making workshop in San Antonio and a writing workshop at the Under The Hood cafe in Killeen. I find the project a very meaningful form of creative resistance to war, as well as a vehicle for dealing with the effects of PTSD related to combat experience.

Some of the paper made with the uniforms becomes a medium for visual art, poetry and prose. Pieces have been published online and in both hand-made and traditionally printed books through the Warrior Writers project. See more about Warrior Writers here.

photos: (top two) Poetry book covers by Jon Michael Turner
(lower two) "Prayer Boots," an installation by Drew Cameron and Jon Michael Turner
from "The Word Show" at Flynndog Gallery, Burlington, VT
photos by Sharon Webster

Logic

Yesterday, an op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman from the LA Times, "Military must guard its ranks" warned about people in the military belonging to hate groups. The editorial stated, "A long-standing Defense Department directive decrees that 'military personnel must reject participation in organizations that espouse supremacist causes...advocate the use of force and violence, or otherwise engage in efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights.'"


Really? Soldiers can be kicked out of the military for participating in the military? Well, let's do it. Let's invite those young people back into the community doing what a community needs done. Growing food, building homes, fixing plumbing, teaching kids, making sick people better and making the sick planet better. That's what will make me feel more secure for sure. Afghanistan badly needs its young people to do the same there. Iraq desperately needs its people back from exile to rebuild homes and unbuild walls. Stop piling war on war. As President Obama said at Ft. Hood last week, killing people to show that killing people is wrong is and always has been twisted logic.

Hoodstock: 4 hours of peace & music on August 30th

A commenter to a post on my Austin American-Statesman reader blog said that we "Code Pink ladies need to do more to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Well, I wish we ladies could do that all by ourselves, but of course we need everyone to pitch in.

Here's one way you can help: Attend the upcoming Hoodstock benefit for the Under The Hood Cafe on Sunday, August 30th at Jovita's at 1617 South First St. Or, if you can't attend, you can donate right on the Under The Hood website.

Help keep the doors open to GIs needing a place to think, socialize, speak freely and access resources off-base near Ft. Hood.

Here are the particulars:

Benefit show for Under The Hood Cafe, a GI coffeehouse in Killeen, TX
Sunday, August 30th, 5 to 9 pm
Jovita's, 1617 South First St. in Austin
$10 suggested donation at the door
Featured bands:

Gary Graves
Will T. Massey
Castro's Beard
Shootin' Pains

Youth speak, organize

I recently returned from Chicago, where I attended the national counter-recruitment conference, "It's our world - change it!" organized by the National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth and hosted by the Chicago office of the American Friends Service Committee.
The conference was exceptional, partly because of the large contingent of youth participation and leadership in the workshops. I learned a lot. Here is an article about the conference posted by one of the leading scholars on the subject of youth and militarism, Jorge Mariscal, who was a conference panelist.

Another highlight was joining a group of youth and adult allies to hear the Brave New Voices youth slam finals that were coincidentally taking place in Chicago not far from our conference site. The team from Guam performed a poem about their homeland that had us on our feet. I can't find it on you-tube, but here is another poem from a Guam team member that riffs on the same themes of identity and colonialism.

Riding the Peace Bike

While listening to reports on climate change from the G-8 Summit in the midst of our own drought and heat wave, I'm drawn to my bicycle.

I was inspired by the art cars in the Houston Art Car Parade this May, and I decided that since I don't own a car, I could make my bike into an art bike. A peace bike. It would be the perfect opportunity to ride with a message: peace is green.

The 4th of July was a good target date for getting the bike spruced up, since our neighborhood planned a block-long parade with decorated bikes, dogs and kids. I was the oldest kid out there.

Later that evening, my partner and I rode our bicycles down to Auditorium Shores for the fireworks, and the next day, we rode downtown again to Mellow Johnny's for the Tour de France celebration where others came with decorated bikes, too. So far, the peace bike has had a warm reception.

Having an art bike makes it even more tempting to hop aboard the bike when I've got to go out. It's been fun loading it on the bus, too.

I feel as though I'm following in the wheels of my dad, who still, at age 81, rides his bicycle for as many errands as he can around the town where he lives in Wisconsin. Amazingly, he still rides the 3-speed Schwinn bike that he bought from a college student in about 1959 -- 50 years ago! He rode that bike almost every day to his office at the college where he taught for 30-some years, and used it to do errands then as he does now. He has never used a lock for his bike, and it's never disappeared from where he's parked it.

Roll on, Dad, and I'm going your way!

photo by Jeff Webster