Peace Panel Project / 2014 Northwest Tour 2/3/14 – 2/9/14
Six days, Seven Peace groups, eleven relatives, and five
nationally recognized people.
After two weeks of off and on planning, I had reached my
limit trying to figure out how to get the most out of a drive to Tacoma; six days, seven
peace groups, eleven relatives. I packed
as many easels (5) and 2’ x 4’ Peace Panels (15) as I could fit in my biodiesel
Jetta and at six am Monday I was off to the Ashland Peace House, (APH).
The APH is a nice office and library space in the local
South Mountain Friends Meeting House, near Southern Oregon University. There I had the pleasure of meeting with Herb
and Estelle of APH and Allen Hallmark of Medford Citizens for Peace and
Justice. I was able to do a little
presentation and discussion with the mini Peace Panels; got some good feed
back, learned about their Hiroshima/Nagasaki Vigil and discussed future
collaboration for an exhibit in Ashland
in August.
Met cousin.
Pulled into Portland a little
low on fuel, so I filled up with B99 biodiesel for $3.99 per gallon, (cheaper
than in Chico)
at Star Oil Company. According to their
info, “Using
Biodiesel…decreases carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 80%.
Then I met with Mireaya Medina of American Friends Service
Committee of Portland. Mireaya and I had
a great discussion of counter recruitment and other projects her group is
working on. She shared some brochures
and the “Life After High School” workbook and the “Before You Enlist” DVD that
I had not seen and would be useful for our counter recruitment efforts. I had hoped to meet with folks at the Portland
Peace & Justice Works but that didn’t work out.
Met more cousins.
Thursday, 7 pm I was at the meeting of Tacoma Veterans for
Peace, (VFP), United for Peace in Pierce County, and People for Peace, Justice
and Healing, at the First United Methodist Church. I got to present a mini Peace Panel Project
version of my proposal for the large exhibit at the VFP Conference that
Saturday. It was well received and I was
encouraged to meet them at the Church at 7:30 am that Saturday to start the set
up.
Met more cousins.
Saturday 7:30 am I was parking at the Church just feet from
the VFP Conference room. VFPs Hollis and
Steve helped me set up. The 5 easels and
15 Panels fit the space perfectly, to lots of gratitude from many of the 45
participants. I was missing my table
cloth and lettered table cover; even so, book sales were the best yet. I almost felt sorry for my neighbors I was
sharing the table with,
Ground
Zero Center
for Nonviolent Action, a really great group, whose sales were not quite as
brisk. Check out their web site
www.gzcenter.org Also see the great Palestinian/Israel billboard
the Spokane VFP did up North at
I participated in the Counter Recruitment workshop presented
by Mike Dedrick. It was very
encouraging. One of the participants was
an ex army recruiter! Hopefully, I can
get the DVD. Their presentation included
ideas like attending School Administrator’s Conferences and the school science
fair, where military may have a presence. He handed out a thick pocket folder, with some
good brochures, a “Test Your Military IQ” test and lots more good info.
Also the Militarism and Money Workshop by Robert Poteat was a
great study in the relationship between national debt and war. Very interesting.
The Palestine /Israel workshop was fascinating with a
presentation from Mike Hastie, a photojournalist, poet, graphic designer, VFP,
and veteran of Vietnam. He had some remarkable photos and
graphics. He talked about how after
visiting the West Bank for a number of weeks
the experience of Palestinians began to sink in. “It was beyond words, it became emotional, it
was in the tissues… under your skin.”
Words were inadequate, emotions were required. It reminded him of what he experienced in Vietnam. The next presenter was Craig Corrie. He began his talk and it occurred to me this
was the father of Rachel Corrie. I was
honored and calmed. The Rachel Corrie
story is perhaps the most moving story I have learned of in my activist
career. So I am listening to Craig
Corrie and the next thing you know I realize I’m sitting next to Cindy Corrie! Rachel’s Mom.
Craig said what we are doing to the Palestinians now, is what we did to
the American Indians before the Civil War, slow genocide. After the presentation, I got to talk to the
Corries; mentioned our BDS work and the Rachel Corrie Peace Panel. Hope to get a DVD of that workshop.
Got to meet decorated Army veteran Zahid Chaudhry, who
despite honorable military service and being married to a US citizen is fighting
deportation. see
Got to meet the national President of Veterans for Peace Patrick
McCann who,
when in the military, refused his orders to go to Vietnam. What a man.
He now teaches high school in Maryland.
See
their web site : www. veteransforpeace.org A great organization.
I
met VFP Michael Jacobson who is a graphic designer who does a traveling exhibit
“War is a Racket”. He was wearing a
t-shirt with an Eisenhower quote on the back, “I hate
war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its
brutality, its stupidity.” Neat shirt.
Met
with Matt Patera of, our host, the 1st United Methodist
Church. He was so impressed with the Peace Panel
Project, he arraigned to borrow 18 of the mini Panels for a Church exhibit
later in the month.
Five pm rolled around and I packed up and headed to
the next event. “Does Privacy
Matter?” Surveillance, Secrecy and the
National Security Agency”, with Thomas Drake, former senior executive of the
NSA turned whistleblower and Jesselyn Radack former ethics advisor to the US
Justice Department. Where we were
reminded, in the words of Benjamin Franklin, “They who would give liberty, to
purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither.” Be sure to see the movie, War On
Whistleblowers, on U Tube. Can democracy
coexist with massive NSA surveillance?
You decide. We were encouraged
to call our Congressmen to support the USA FREEDOM Act. The ACLU strongly supports the USA FREEDOM
Act.
After their presentation I got to meet Thomas
and Jesselyn. I called Tom a hero.
