David McReynolds, longtime War Resister. (Photo: Thomas Good)

New York, NY – January 10, 2007. This is written early Wednesday morning, before I take Amtrak down to Washington DC to join Thursday’s protest on the International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo. Before going further, let me give the web site so that anyone wanting to join the general campaign can find ways to engage. Go to: www.witnesstorture.org. That site will not only give you information on how you can get involved, it will also provide updates on what happens Thursday, who has been arrested, when we will be released.

There is no doubt that torture has taken place at Guantanamo. The statements by Bush, Rumsfeld, and others that the US doesn’t use torture is, sadly, a lie. Sadly both because torture is, in itself, wrong, and because it is always painful when our own government lies to us. There is also no doubt – this has been documented by a range of sources, including the New York Times – that not only have those being held at Guantanamo not had charges brought, not been allowed a day in court, but in many cases were very young, in some cases very old, were picked up by accident in the chaos after the US invaded Afghanistan. Some have been released, but only after long periods of time in captivity.

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Elaine Brower protests on Staten Island (Photo: Thomas Good)

New York, NY – January 9, 2007. Staten Island peace groups and individual organizers have announced plans to join the nationwide protests called to mark the 5th anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo prison camp – a “house of horrors” according to Thomas Good of Movement for a Democratic Society (MDS). The protest will be occurring on Thursday, January 11, 2007 – from 6 to 8 pm – at Borough Hall, Staten Island. Borough Hall is directly opposite the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, on Richmond Terrace. The event is open to the public.

The protest is being organized as part of a network of nationwide solidarity actions – solidarity with both the “America Says No” campaign and the “Witness Against Torture” initiative. The event has also been endorsed by Peace Action Staten Island (PASI).

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Members of the We Will Not Be Silent campaign dropped banners in Congress. (Photo: Critical Voice)

Washington, DC – January 4, 2007. The We Will Not Be Silent campaign dropped 30-foot banners in the Hart Senate Office Building Atrium on Thursday, January 4, 2007.

Twelve activists interrupted the 110th Congress opening celebrations, successfully hanging monumental banners in the Senate Office Building. The banners read “WAR”, “TORTURE”, “LIES” and “WE WILL NOT BE SILENT”.

The protesters demanded that representatives put an immediate end to the illegal occupation of Iraq, and bring to justice those responsible.

“This is our first step to let the members of Congress know that we are watching, and will come back again and again, until the U.S. policy of war, torture and illegal detention comes to an end,” said Susan Kingsland, New York activist who took part in the action. There were no arrests.

Photo: Critical Voice

CIW Teach-In In New York City (Photo: Greg Pason)

December 29, 2006 – New York, NY. About thirty people from an alphabet soup of organizations came to hear Marc Rodrigues of the Student-Farmworkers Alliance discuss the current state of the Immokalee farmworkers coalition and their campaign against retail giant McDonalds. A long time organizer with the Left Turn magazine/network as well as campus-based, anti-war and global justice movements, Marc moved to Florida in 2005 to coordinate student support for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Marc discussed the history and tactics of the 2005 Taco Bell Boycott victory, the decade long popular struggle of the C.I.W., and what supporters here can do in the impending fight with McDonalds.

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Excerpt from a new comic history of SDS

Chigago, IL – Yesterday and Today. Jobs Or Income Now (JOIN) was an SDS Economic Research and Action Project (ERAP) initiative. One of the most successful of the ERAP endeavors, JOIN is a part of a forthcoming comic history of SDS, edited by Paul Buhle. In an NLN exclusive, we have three pages from the new tome – a brief history of JOIN, illustrated by Summer McClinton.

Writing about JOIN in a recent article, former member Michael James notes:

In the 1960s the conscience of America turned not only to the question of civil rights, but also to poverty in America. Michael Harrington’s The Other America exerted a strong influence, including on some in the U.S. government, which initiated programs like the War on Poverty, Vista, and the Peace Corps. The civil rights movement in the black community took a nationalist turn, and “Black Power” became a dominant slogan of the day.

For white students who had worked in or supported the southern civil rights movement, the time had come to figure out their role in the movement. Before the rapid expansion of the student and anti-war movements, student activists talked about organizing the poor in northern cities. In its early years, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) focused on civil rights and poverty, and set out to build an inter-racial movement of poor people.

SDS began moving small groups of former students into impoverished neighborhoods in northern cities. Chicago’s Uptown was one inner city neighborhood where radical students attempted to become “one with the people.” The hope was to build an organization of the poor fighting for change from the bottom up.

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Read the full article by Michael James…

Photo: from left to right: Central Florida MDS member Jay Jurie, UCF SDS member Mychel Estevez, Central Florida MDS member John Barry. (Photo: Cindy Jurie)

January 2, 2007 – Orlando, FL. Members of Central Florida MDS and UCF SDS were among the approximately 25 CodePink organizers, Quakers, and others who gathered at downtown Orlando’s Lake Eola Park for a candlelight vigil on Jan. 2nd memorializing the 3000 US soldiers killed in the war against Iraq. Names of the 126 soldiers from Florida who have died in the war were read by participants in the vigil. Following that, “Blowing in the Wind” was sung and played by a guitarist. Then part of a statement by Iraqi blogger “Riverbend,” aka “Baghdad Girl” was read, pointing out “3000 Americans dead over nearly four years? …That’s the number of dead Iraqis in less than a month.”

Ever searching for greater effectiveness and public engagement, participation in the vigil exemplified the manner in which MDS and SDS members engage in traditional and new forms of protest to oppose not only this war but to end the systemic sources of war altogether.

A member of SDS Staten Island stands vigil (Photo: Thomas Good)

January 1, 2007 – New York, NY. Protests on Staten Island continue. Organizers and activists from Peace Action Staten Island and SDS held a candlelight vigil at Congressman Vito Fossella’s office on New Year’s Day. Press coverage was very good for the second protest in as many days. Organizer Debbie Anderson of Military Families Speak Out and Elaine Brower of World Can’t Wait were both interviewed by News 4 (NBC) and the segment aired after coverage of the Granny Peace Brigade’s large rally in Times Square (also on New Year’s Day). Perhaps the tide is turning?
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Lauren Giaccone of Pace SDS is interviewed by NY1 (Photo: Thomas Good)

December 31, 2006 – New York, NY. Protesters from Peace Action Staten Island and SDS protested the 3000th US war death – and the 650,000 Iraqi deaths – today in Staten Island, New York. Protesters gathered at Congressman Vito Fossella’s office (4434 Amboy Road) at noon and held a militant protest until about 1:30 pm. Response was very good from drivers who slowed as the passed the protest, many “honking for peace” and flashing peace signs. Surprisingly, even a Police radio car and NY Fire Department truck honked in solidarity with the demonstrators. A number of mainstream press were on hand, including Mara Montalbano of NY 1 and Julie Walker of AP and overall press coverage was very good. Another protest is planned for New Years day at the same location – this time as a candlelight vigil. The vigil will run from 7 to 8 pm, rain or shine.  Numerous other protests are being held thoughout New York City.
View Photos From The Protest…