Apr 18, 2008

Grandmothers hungry for peace

Hello All,
Here is what happening in Chico, CA.
Peg

April 17, 2008

1000 Grandmothers are getting rockers greased, and stomachs prepared for the Close the SOA Fast which will occur on April 23-25 in the Downtown City Plaza. Fasters and supporters will be in the plaza during the hours of 10am – 3pm, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The grannies and others will be in their rocking chairs offering information about the former School of the Americas, collecting quilt squares, and urging citizens to call Congressional District 2 Representative Wally Herger urging him to vote for House Resolution 1707. The bill before the House budget session this summer will suspend the funding of the school until a full investigation into documented abuses is reported and acted upon.

A walk/caravan to Mr. Herger’s office at Philadelphia Square on Thursday at 11am will include the giant puppet grandmother and companions featured in the city plaza on March 15th. Trinity Methodist Church pastor David Moss will conduct a teach-in on fasting for social justice at the Congressman’s office. Rev. Moss fasted at Mr. Herger’s office for over two weeks last fall to call attention to the injustice of the Iraq War.

The Grandmothers organized in 2006 to join the annual protest and vigil at the gates of Ft. Benning, Georgia to demand the closure of a controversial school housed on the U.S. Army base. At that protest grandmother CathyWebster was arrested for trespassing and served two months in Sacramento County Jail. In a previous year, another Chico grandmother, Dorothy Parker, trespassed in protest at Ft. Benning and served two months in federal prison at Dublin, CA.

Cosmetic changes and slick public relations tactics have not addressed the fundamental issues in its deeply disturbing history, including its use of "torture training manuals" and the records of human rights abuses by many of its graduates. It remains a combat training school that provides dangerous skills to countries with serious on-going human rights problems despite attempts by the congressionally-mandated Board of Visitors to address some of the concerns that have been made over the years,” said Webster.

The School of the Americas, renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in 2001, is a US-taxpayer funded military training school for Latin American soldiers located in Georgia.

1000 Grandmothers is a national coalition of grandmothers and others taking direct action to close the School of the Americas/WHINSEC.

For more information on the SOA/WHINSEC, visit http://www.soaw.org/

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good morning Peg!

Hope you are well! Think of you often and remember fondly the day that Stetson and I came calling. Please know that you are in my heart and on my mind and I hope and pray you are feeling well and enjoying every minute of your very worthwhile life! Keep in touch!

Blessings,
Susan

Susan D. Brandenburg, Scribe
The Power of One
(904) 543-0730 or 962-5131(cell)

Email: susanscribe@comcast.net

Anonymous said...

Dear Peg:

Sorry we haven't been in touch since our visit. It was wonderful to visit with you, and to have Jo drop by. You are an icon for living long and well, Peg, and doing earth-changing things every day.

Geigers were fine. Bob was up and about when we got to the Farm, and we had a good visit with him and his daughter Kathy, who was there visiting with him. We learned from the Geiger visit that Bob hasn't received salary for a long time (a year or more, sounds like), but gets room and board. Unless he has savings I don't know he lives. He loyally refused to bad mouth anyone on the FCPJ board, but is clearly concerned that the Dialogues seem to lead nowhere even though each seems to be well attended, with good discussion. The whole thing is sad.

More later,
Love,
Pat