GfP Newsletter - February 2007

Dear Members and Friends,

It seems like yesterday that I sent out the January newsletter. Thanks to everyone who sent in dues and contributions. GFP can't exist without your help .

We get so many appeals for funds. I'm sure you do too. I try to select the smaller but well-administered organizations. During the last quarter of 2006 donations were made to Compassion & Choices, National Glaucoma, Witness for Peace, Global Network, Food for the Poor, SOA Watch, the Carter Center, Nuke Watch, Cushway family (cancer), Jonas Rempert (a goat for a family in Africa) and others. Do you approve? Have you a favorite to suggest?

Grandparents for Peace, in addition to financial contributions, is very active networking with other groups. Our support for the l,000 Grannies at Ft. Benning, Georgia, in November, received lots of good publicity. In order to identify each other, we wore white kerchiefs. I had seen this in Buenos Aires. The core group of Grannies liked the idea and invited me to address the 22,000 attendees. I explained that the Argentine grandmothers used kerchiefs to remind them of their babies. Well, our babies wore diapers, too. But there is a difference.

The Argentine babies "disappeared". They were either stolen or killed or given to a military family, perhaps even to be trained at this infamous School of the Americas. But we in the USA know only too well where our babies went ... to Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq.

Three of the Grannies went through the l8 ft. fence, were arrested for trespassing and sentenced for from 3 to 6 months. Please remember them in your prayers and thank them for their courageous stand against the war, and against the infamous School.

A GFP member sent me the following quote from Walter Sisulu, a Black South African freedom activist, reflecting on his and Nelson Mandela's decision to NOT appeal the death penalty if it had been imposed on them. I think it fits such acts of civil disobedience.

"I was thinking how I must go to the gallows. And I thought I must go singing... for the youth that follow us, so they will know that we went without fear and that we had fulfilled our task in life. We must show that our death would not mark the end, but would be an inspiration to our people."

Other instances of networking:

Many you will go to Washington for the March on the Pentagon on March 17th. We will hold a demonstration on that day, in solidarity with Peace & Justice groups across the country.

We will co-sponsor a reading of Poems for Peace at the UU Fellowship on March 4th. This event is an initiative of Amnesty International and features the acclaimed poet, Sam Hammill.

We will continue to support PPJ (People for Peace & Justice) in their second Tuesday meetings and third Saturday end the war - bring the troops home rallies at the foot of the Bridge of Lions.

We write lots of letters -- sign lots of petitions. Attend city and county meetings about vendors and panhandlers - about the homeless - destruction of wetlands - overdevelopment.

It's a tough world, a very tough world, but GFP will never stop trying to make it better.

"Just when the caterpillar thought his world was over it became a butterfly." Unknown

Thanks again to all of you.

Live, work, enjoy!


I’m home again, recuperating rapidly.