Veterans for Peace-Ernest Gruening Chapter: MSFO Petition Drive and Peace Rally, May 12

The Quest for Peace Continues

The 4/28 meeting of the Peace Coalition consisted of Peggy Cobey and I. Based on our last couple of meetings we have committed to an action in early May. In the early afternoon of Saturday, May 12^th, Military Families Speak Out (MFSO, http://www.mfso.org/) will be gathering signatures on a petition to bring the troops home. The busy intersection of N. Lights and Seward Hwy has been suggested but the MSFO folks have not picked a final location yet. Even though a busy traffic corner may not be the best place to gather signatures, several of us think it is the best place to maximize the publicity value of the hundreds of folks who will show up to support the MSFO families in their call for the return of the troops.

Having had a very successful event on March 17, we can make this event even better and more powerful. What made the event work was all of you pitching in to make it happen. We now need you again. The following are the areas where we need folks to take responsibility to make it happen:

Media—Ron McGee, Cheryl Hilmes, Peggy Cobey & Jon Lockert. We will be dividing up our media contacts and calling them on the phone twice in the week leading up to the event.

Informational Handout. This handout should have two parts, one explaining why we are there and one about what is next. Everyone agreed we need to have everyone leaving the next event with a handout that will give them all the contact information and suggestions on how they can get engaged in the peace movement. Paul Prebys?

Posters/Flyers. Our biggest obstacle is getting the word out about these events occurring. We need a committee to take the content agreed upon by the Media & Handout folks and distribute it around town. We also need everyone to commit to contacting everyone in their email contacts lists to let them know about this event. I know some of our friends are not ready to take these steps but we need to make sure that they know we are committed to pursuing peace.

Banners/Signs. We learned that many of the folks going by in cars may not take the opportunity to read hand held signs. This time we want to make some HUGE banners where messages like Bring the Troops Home, Now can’t be missed. We need a banner making party with lots of sheets or other material and lots of spray paint. We need someone to volunteer a time and place in the next 7 to 10 days so we can put out the announcement.

Refreshments. We need someone to head up the committee that will be responsible for keeping our large crowd happy with food and drink. There are companies who will donate coffee and possibly food. This would actually be a good engagement exercise to request donations for a Military Families event, just not the usual.

Street Theater. We need our more creative types to come up with some compelling visuals to draw attention to our demand to bring the troops home now. As an example, we could devote one of the four corners to some symbolism of the deaths that are occurring. We could have a bunch of folks don a black plastic bag (body bag) and arrange them for maximum visual effect. They could all be lined up side by side—mute testament to the young lives cut short.

BACKGROUND & PEP TALK

It is increasingly clear that Bush is not going to give up his war. He is going to try to stay the course for two more years so he can say he is not a quitter. What we can do is move Lisa Murkowski away from her guarded support of the war. The other thing we are doing is raising the consciousness of our fellow citizens about what it means to be an engaged participant in our society. There are forces at work that encourage us to be passive consumers of information but we must show people that it is the acting on information that is truly being alive.

The best thing we can do to oppose the Iraq war is to keep making opportunities for people to publicly state their opposition to the war. While letters to the editor and calls to our delegation are needed and can be done in private, it is also important to build public awareness and momentum around speaking out for peace.

As our frustration grows with the Bush administration, the call for impeachment grows louder. Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced HR 333 Articles of Impeachment (supporting documents are at

http://kucinich.house.gov/SpotlightIssues/documents.htm)

As always, I appreciate your comments and suggestions.

PS. For any of those of you who saw the PBS show on Bobby Kennedy, all I can think of is “The Times They Are A Changin’ NOT.” Does this not feel like ’67? I didn’t think I would have to wait until my 50’s to relive the part of the 60’s that as a high school student I didn’t fully grasp. I guess that is the lesson, if it is not fully grasped, it is déjà vu all over again.

Jon Lockert

Jon4Paz@AcsAlaska.net