On March 19 the fifth year of the illegal, immoral, disastrous war in Iraq will
begin. Activists across the country are mobilizing to mark the occasion with
demonstrations, vigils and direct actions from Friday March 16 through Tuesday March
20. Add your voice to the rising call for peace: to find an activity in your area
go to http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?sortby=&caltype=51
In many cities individuals and groups have already begun to act. Below are two
inspiring stories. The first, by Veterans for Peace Executive Director Michael
McPhearson, tells the story of his first arrest in a civil disobedience protest.
Following Michael's article is a press release from the reborn SDS (Students for a
Democratic Society) announcing the occupation of a Manhattan Recruiting Station by
New York City area SDS members.
And if you need materials presenting the case for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from
Iraq, check out the new flyer "Time To End the Occupation of Iraq" available from
War Times/Tiempo de Guerras. The flyer is downloadable in English and Spanish as a
.pdf file from http://www.war-times.org Or e-mail us at info@war-times.org and we
will mail you up to 25 copies free of charge.
Peace,
The War Times/Tiempo de Guerras All-Volunteer Staff
My Small Act of Civil Disobedience
Michael T. McPhearson
Yesterday, Feb 27th, I participated in my first open act of civil disobedience as
part of the Occupation Project. I along with St. Louis local chapter President Chuc
Smith, three other veterans; Jim Allen, Harry Wyman and VFP office manager Cherie
Eichholz and Military Families Speak Out Member D. Ridgley Brown visited
Representative Russ Carnahan's office to continue our conversation to persuade him
to vote down any bills that continue to provide funding for the war in Iraq.
Jim Allen and I decided to sit-in to protest Carnahan's refusal to pledge not to
continue funding for the war. As a result, Jim and I were arrested.
This was not the first time Rep. Carnahan a Democrat has been approached on this
subject. He has been visited several times by many members of his district and
others who want him to take a leadership role in Congress to de-fund the war. I have
been to his office more than once and on Friday February 23rd, I along with veterans
Woody Powell, Catie Shinn, Cherie, Chuc, and National Guard member and Appeal for
Redress signer Brian Hill with Iraq Veteran Cloy Richards sat down with Carnahan and
discussed de-funding. Carnahan's basic rap is that he is against the escalation and
believes the war must come to an end. He cannot promise to vote against a bill he
has not seen. He thinks that Jack Murtha's plan to restrict the ability of the
President to continue the war via oversight and placing high standards on troop
readiness before deployment is promising and he does not want to de-fund the troops.
We explained that de-funding the war is not de-funding the troops; legislative
restrictions on the President will not end the war. Giving money to the President
for the war will only prolong the war and Bush has told us over and over he does not
intend to end the war. The American people voted for new congressional leadership to
end the war and de-funding is the quickest route to make that happen. We also told
him that Democrats should put the President on the defensive by de-funding the war
and make him explain why he continues to wage war when Congress has demanded a
change of course based on the mandate from the American people. We emphasized that
everyday Congress spends looking for less direct ways to end the war on average
three US service members die and many Iraqi children, women and men.
Unfortunately, we reached little agreement beyond the obvious, the war must end. It
appears that most Democrats and Veterans For Peace are on a different time table.
Our entering Rep. Carnahan's office Tuesday is part of weeks of outreach and
meetings to change his mind. I decided that this time I was not leaving until I
received a satisfactory answer. Thus I was willing to risk arrest. There are many
who wonder why risk arrest. They ask, "Do you really think being arrested will make
a difference?" Well, my objective is not to be arrested. My objective is to persuade
my Representative's or Senators' to vote to de-fund the war. Yes I am willing to
risk arrest and I do not know if my refusal to leave and subsequent arrest will make
a difference. However I do know that inaction will change nothing. Up till now I
have done all I can do short of civil disobedience. I have marched. I have given out
materials and made countless talks and speeches. I have called and written congress.
There are other creative ideas I hope to develop and I will continue to do all of
the things I have done in the past. But yesterday was the time for me to put a
little more on the line. I am not rich, so I cannot get their attention with large
campaign contributions. I am not famous so I cannot awe them with my notoriety. So
all I can do is visit, dialogue and sit-in.
The journey to civil disobedience has been one of reflection and hesitation. Of
course I ask will it make a difference. One cannot be sure. But for me it has also
been a question of conditioning and survival. I did not come to this decision
easily. As a Black male in America who has been trained to be wary of the police it
has not been easy to decide to willingly put myself into their hands. I have spent
most of my forty-two years trying not to be arrested. I have plenty of examples of
police misconduct against Black men. In the late 90's the sodomy of Abner Louima and
the shooting death of Amadou Diallo in NYC heightened my fear of being pursued and
in the custody of police. In 1997 Abner Louima was arrested outside of a Brooklyn
nightclub for unclear reasons. He was beaten in the squad car in route to the
station, beaten in the station and eventually sodomized in the station restroom with
a plunger. Two years later in 1999, Amadou a Guinean emigrant walking home from a
meal, unarmed and innocent of any crime was gunned down by four police officers in a
barrage of shot at 41. He was struck 19 times. It was a case of mistaken identity.
The plain clothes officers attempted to stop him because they thought he fit the
description of a since captured serial rapist. Another terrifying story took place
on November 26, 2006. The circumstances of the incident are still under
investigation; however it is clear that Sean Bell a young man leaving his bachelor
party at a nightclub in Jamaica Queens with two friends died in a firestorm of 50
shots from five undercover police. One of his friends was critically wounded. No gun
was founded on Sean or his friends. Sean was scheduled to marry later that day.
These three incidents are the extreme and thankfully rare, but real. The names of
these three men stay with me and remind me of dangers I face.
In the week before my participation to occupy Russ Carnahan's office I received the
January/February edition of The Crisis magazine, a bi-monthly periodical founded in
1910. It is the official publication of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, NAACP. An article entitled 'A New Day?' examines "whether gains
in Black political power will improve the lives of average African Americans."
Well that's me so I read the article. While there are promising facts in the article
describing unprecedented political gains and individual achievements there were
other items that gave me pause as to whether or not I should occupy my reps office.
Statistics show that Black men were the most incarcerated demographic group in the
country, with the highest incarceration rate in the world. According to a recent
Justice Department report, 12.6 percent of Black males in their 20s were behind
bars. Federal government statistic show that Blacks have an 18.6 percent chance of
going to jail at some point in their lives, while less than 4 percent of Whites will
spend time locked up."
I asked myself, do I really want to add to these sad numbers.
So what motivates me? Why have I decided to move forward with this tactic? I am
motivated by the death of tens of thousands perhaps hundreds of thousands of people
in this war. I am most motivated by the life of my only son who is a soldier in the
101st Airborne who has already participated in one tour in Iraq. I am motivated by
the death of his second child, my 7 month old grandson who died on January 3, 2007
of a genetic disease. I am motivated by the fact that when I ask Goddess why my
grandson died and when I peer through the pain of his death in search of reasons and
people to blame, I can only find the reality and cycle of life. People die from
disease. It is natural and for the most part not any one person is to blame. I could
look and perhaps find human created environmental factors. But if these factors do
exist they are many steps removed from causing death. Unlike the firing of a gun or
dropping of a bomb where one can easily observe cause and effect and can
witness who fired the gun or dropped the bomb. Having sat and cried with Iraqi and
American Gold Star fathers and mothers and feeling a glimpse of their pain, I
thought I had an idea of that pain. How foolish of me. I did not know the emptiness
one feels. Or I should say there is an empty space I feel that will never be filled
because Jeremiah my grandson who once lived there is gone for ever. Where I must
accept the reality of life, Gold Star Parents must face the reality of war, a human
activity caused by human actions. Where I can find no one to hold responsible for my
anger and pain, an Iraqi can hold my nation, my son and me responsible for their
pain. This is the sense of urgency I hope my small act of civil disobedience will
help convey to Representative Carnahan and Senator McCaskill.
Lastly I ask myself, if not now when? After nearly four years of protest, over 3,100
dead US service members, tens to hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis who are guilty
of nothing but living in Iraq, obvious lies by our leaders that took us to war,
possible war with Iran, an election for a change in direction, no change of
direction by our President and an indecisive Congress who needs to be pushed in the
right direction; when would be a better time to give civil disobedience a try? We
are at a critical moment. Congress will soon vote for a $90 billion appropriation
that could fund the war until the end of President Bush's term. After this vote,
Congress will have little power to end the war. We need to flood Congress with
letters, phone calls, e-mails and faxes demanding they end funding. We must show up
at their door in force. If enough of us sit-in they will end the war. If we don't
they won't. Maintaining a majority and a gaining the presidency is the priority of
the
Democrats. Ours is ending the war. You do not have to commit an act of civil
disobedience to participate in the Occupation Project. Stand on the corner while
others enter the office. Be present when occupiers are taken away or released from
custody. Every small act makes a difference. We need more acts to move them
forward.Add yours.
Thanks
Michael T. McPhearson
Veterans For Peace, Executive Director
--
SDS Occupies Recruiting Station in Manhattan
Contact:
Matt De Vlieger: 954.536.7461
Uruj Sheikh: 201.407.8670
At noon, Monday, March 12, 2007, nearly 100 students from area
universities marched to the armed forces recruiting station on 157
Chambers Street. Twenty-three members of Students for a Democratic
Society entered and occupied the recruiting station shutting down
recruitment activity for nearly two hours. Outside dozens more
protesters supported those being arrested with chants including,
"Troops out now," "No justice, no peace. U.S. out of the Middle East,"
and "Stop the war. Yes we can. SDS is back again." Member of Pace
University SDS, Uruj Sheikh said, "The fourth anniversary of the
occupation of Iraq is in one week. Billions of dollars are being
spent and hundreds of thousands have been murdered. Military
recruitment has been systematically deceptive and we as students, as
targets of recruitment, say something must be done to stop the war
aboard and at home." Protester Rakshan Kateeb, sophomore at Pace
University said, "The action was successful in that we are building up
to the big mobilizing actions at the end of this week and the
continued actions that will end this war." Visiting on Spring break
from the University in Central Florida, SDS member, Matt De Vlieger
said, "This demonstration was empowering and necessary. We need to
step up our resistance to the war against Iraq and U.S. imperialism.
As the war escalates, so does our resistance." Jessica Rapchik,
member from Antioch College SDS in Ohio said, "It was really
encouraging to be there locking arms with our brothers and sisters who
used civil disobedience for something they believe in." Jail
solidarity is being held across from New York State court on 100
Centre Street.
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