Eyes Wide Open Reminder OCT 13

This is what I just sent out to the folks on the Alaska Peace Coalition list serv.

 

At our last VFP meeting, the idea of a forum on the war before the demonstrations being called for around the country on Oct. 27 was brought up. We will need lots of help to make this happen. Let me know your thoughts

 

TO THE LIST SERV --

 

Is anyone out there? Does history just keep repeating itself over and over? Will we never learn? Are we just too damn comfortable to speak up about things we have convinced ourselves we can’t do anything about?

 

I know it is depressing to see no end to this war. I keep trying to tell myself not to give up just because we don’t yet have a mass movement. To build a mass that Congress will pay attention to, we need YOU! Wars don’t end just because they don’t make sense, Wars don’t end just because lots and lots of innocent people suffer needlessly, Wars don’t end because people tell pollsters that they would like to see the troops come home, some day.

 

No, wars end when people act collectively to say NO! You can bet the war profiteers are acting collectively (and all too effectively) to keep us frightened and isolated. Our biggest power is coming together--RIGHT NOW!

 

Here is your chance to do SOMETHING--The Eyes Wide Open Exhibit will be mounted in Town Square in Anchorage Oct 13. I apologize for not explaining what the exhibit is about in my previous messages. Here it is:

 

The Eyes Wide Open exhibit, created by the American Friends Service Committee, is a living memorial to the military personnel and civilians killed in Iraq --and a stark reminder of the human cost of war.

The exhibit is designed to be reflective—no signs are allowed into the exhibit area. No matter what someone may think of the war, we want them to face the price we all pay for our violent approach to working out our differences.

 

WE NEED HELP IN GETTING THE WORD OUT

 

To see the publicity materials, go to http://ewoak.blogspot.com/

 

Or you can go directly to http://jon4paz.googlepages.com/EWOFlyer.pdf  for the Eyes Wide Open - Alaska poster (PDF file -- need Adobe Acrobat Reader)

 

http://jon4paz.googlepages.com/EWOFlyerTri.pdf  for 3-panel flyer.

 

http://jon4paz.googlepages.com/EWOFlyerQuad.pdf  for 4-panel flyer.

 

Here are a couple of easy ways for you to help with this exhibit:

 

   1) Print copies and post at work, school, church etc.

 

   2) Email the poster/flyer (either the links or the actual files) to EVERYBODY on your email list and ask them to do the same (this is called grass roots organizing and we need a lot more of it).

 

   3) Click on the PayPal link for donations. We are collecting money to place the poster in the newspapers or buy radio time (or both). Our goal is to raise $2,000 for publicity. As of 10/3 we are only half way to our goal. We have enough to pay for an ad in the Anchorage Press and three of there other free papers. WE DO NOT have enough funds to put an ad in the Anchorage Daily News. If you would like to see it in the AND, please consider a donation (a down payment toward stopping a war that has cost countless lives & about $500 billion so far).

 

The blog also charts the progress of bringing this exhibit to Alaska by your fellow concerned citizens in this time of seemingly unstoppable war. The blog also has links to the national EWO website.

 

Photos—please bring your camera on the 13^th and help us document this history making event. We will post your photos on the blog after the event. The organizers are planning to mount the exhibit again to keep reminding us that we are at war and our tax dollars what is keeping it all going.

 

Please tell us what you think of the proposed exhibit and how we are making it happen.

 

 

Jon Lockert

jon4paz@acsalaska.net

Breathe, smile & work for Peace