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TechnoratiMoms Spend Their Weekend Protesting Iraq Occupation
SAN FRANCISCO - Antiwar activists from around the country will celebrate Mothers Day by converging on Washington, DC, where they will demand Congress end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Five days of activism, sponsored by the women-for-peace group CODEPINK and "peace mom" Cindy Sheehan's Gold Star Families for Peace, will culminate in what organizers call a "Mother of a March" on May 14.
"We want to get people out and get them active," said Tina Richards of Salem, Missouri. "We're getting in the way [and saying] no more business as usual until you pass legislation that brings our troops home and takes care of them when they get back."
Richards brings her own war story to the week of action. Her son Cloy is a Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq. The military lists him as 80-percent combat disabled.
"He's got knee injuries, arm injuries, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," Richards said. "He's also got another claim pending for a traumatic brain injury, which will put him at 100-percent disabled."
Richards said her son sustained most of his injuries after his first tour in Iraq, adding the family protested his second deployment but to no avail. After four years on active duty, Cloy Richards is now in the individual ready reserve and faces the possibility of a third deployment to Iraq.
Tina Richards said she can't believe the military would even consider that.
"It's something that affects us every single day," she said, "when he's 23 years old and he can't even climb the stairs. He has bad nightmares where he thinks he's back in Iraq. Last week, he punched out all his windows and cut major arteries. He had to go to the hospital because he almost bled to death."
Personal trauma has turned Richards into an activist. She traveled to Washington for large antiwar demonstrations in January and has rarely left since.
On April 16 she was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in connection with a boisterous demonstration inside the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill.
The Mothers Day protests also promise to feature civil disobedience. Richards told OneWorld the organizers have only applied for one permit for their five days of protest -- for the march on Congress May 14. A handful of House members are scheduled to speak.
According to the CODEPINK Web site, women and families are also expected to rally in over 50 U.S. cities this weekend to oppose the war in Iraq.
In addition to military mothers like Tina Richards and Cindy Sheehan, the Washington demonstrations will feature musician Willie Nelson's wife Annie, actor Ed Asner's wife Cindy, and actress and film director Kamala Lopez.
Richards said she draws inspiration partly from the actions of a few liberals in Congress, among them Representative John Lewis of Georgia.
Lewis, who was one of only a few Democrats to vote against Pelosi's $100 billion plan to continue funding the Iraq war with conditions, worked with civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In explaining his vote on the House floor, Lewis said of King: "If he could speak today, he would say this nation needs a revolution of values that exposes the truth that war does not work. If he could speak today, he would say that war is obsolete as a tool of our foreign policy."
"Tonight I must make it plain and clear that as a human being, as a citizen of the world, as a citizen of America, as a member of Congress, as an individual committed to a world at peace with itself, I will not and I cannot in good conscience vote for another dollar or another dime to support this war," Lewis said.
Lewis' words inspired Richards' civic activism.
"John Lewis told me that the only way they were able to win on civil rights issues was because they were in DC throwing sand into the gears of government," Richards said. "They just kept getting in the way and getting in the way until they finally got done what had to be done and so that's what we're doing."
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced it had alerted more than 35,000 Army soldiers that they could be sent to Iraq this fall.
Some 3,378 U.S. service members have been killed since the Bush administration launched the invasion of Iraq four years ago. Over 600,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the war in their country, according to the only scientifically rigorous study conducted to determine Iraqi casualties.
More than 100,000 U.S. service members are currently receiving disability payments from the Federal government.
Copyright © 2007 OneWorld.net.
13 Comments so far
Show AllDON'T ALLOW YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS/HUSBANDS AND WIVES TO GO TO IRAQ. WILL GEORGE W COME TO TAKE YOU AWAY? GENERAL BETRAYALS? Let's support the soldiers to stay home and get healed; not go back to Iraq and kill or be killed/maimed/crippled for life. Who is going to pay for the after-care?
PEACE,
st john
Go mothers go!
You're the greatest of all.
Your love is real.
More power to you all!
Mydaughter and many other Moms will be spending their Mothers Day with STOP THE WAR signs at an overpass here in Washington State and I am very proud of her and all the others who will be taking this stand. I am 84 yrs. old, a veteran of WW2, Korea, and Vietnam
and my sentiments are the same. Let's bring our troops home now.
George Bush has caused a disaster for this country. He, Cheney, Rumsfelt and the whole group should be put in jail.
Tina Richards story about her Marine son pretty well tell's the whole story about this Administration. They are not interested in people only bodies to fight their war. The men might as well be robots for all Bush's cares. All of his rhetoric about sustaining the troops and etc rings hallow. Bush doesn't even have enough respect for these men to make sure they are taken care of when they return scared for life! All he can think about is sending more able bodied men into the meatgrinder (Iraq) to cover his lies! I hope all you people out there who voted Bush back into office are happy with the end results! You knew just how bad he was this last election in 04, his track record spoke for itself, but you couldn't bring yourselves to vote for a Democrat! That in itself is the height of ignorance! Bush is the most immoral man on the planet! He cares about nothing but himself and his rich cronies! Sadly we are stuck with him for another two years! I often wonder if we will ever survive the man's arrogance and ignorance!
Once again, women are left holding the bag, for a bad discession made by males.
But where was all of the rally and protest before it became popular? I can recall some people stood up against the war in its infancy and were labeled traders, anti american and such.
Where was the dismay when Bush was elected?
Where was and is common sense. People know when a wepuck is elected they will lose certain things that are dear.
Women you will be stuck being caregivers because the wepucks are cutting support programs, funding and such to make your lives easier.
How many of you voted for Bush and are now out there because it is the popular thing to do?
Get a clue.
Sunday May 13th Mother's Day
Stand in the Park For Peace
Douglas, Ga and all of SE GA
Park of your choice
1-3pm
Mothers will resurrect the love for own families and for all families. We will show that it is possible to live in peace, one gracious step at a time. We will remember all the mothers we have known and give the honor which they deserve for all the love they have given through the generations. We will work on forgiveness of ourselves and others. We will pray, meditate, speak, laugh, cry, and hug to bring peace into our lives and the lives of others. We will reach out to those in need of comfort, give to charity and feed the hingry. For that is what makes mothers so very special. We will lean on each other as we continue working toward a more peaceful world for future generations.
Please join by Standing in the Park for Peace..or a parking lot, your yard, your home..even a street corner or the side of a road..take a few moments on Mother's Day this year to summon all the mothers in your life..from the past to the present and feel the love.
* Special dedication to my Granny, Mary Carver Nipper(born 1901, died 1984) to honor her long life of love and peace. Her legacy lives on as a story of dedication to others. Her faith in her own beliefs and in the good of all continue to give many strength.
Peace,
Judy Dombrowski
Local Coordinator
CodePink4Peace
"Degrees of Separation, the Numbers Game, and How to Bring Peace to the World"
http://www.chycho.com/?q=degrees
"To bring peace to the world and save the lives of hundreds of millions of people it is required that a mere 18 million of us, representing 0.28% of the world's populace, to rise up and demand peace with one voice."
C'mon Linda, the problem in many articles is the lack of an in-depth background in ethics. We move forward, positive.
GO MOMS GO!!!
p.s. most soldiers joined the military cause they were lonely. Support the troops. Be there friends.
adamwestfakey@yahoo.ca
A simple google of the holiday would have educated this journalist....too lazy? The problem in MANY articles is a lack of an in-depth background in history.
###
A group of Ohio women have organized another Mother's Day event that was inspired, in part, by Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation. Their website, http://www.standingwomen.org has so far registered 2859 events in 72 nations for this coming Mother's Day. Check it out.
Common Dreams published an article about this on Monday, May 7th: Saving the World. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/07/1019/
Tears are streaming down my face as I write this.
I have always been commenting on commondream.org articles and in them I keep harping on the necessity for MEDIA REFORM.
Well here it is ladies and gentlemen. This is MEDIA REFORM.
Congratulations we made it!!
This article informs us about a positive, grassroots march for resolve on a global issue that affects very many.
Everybody has a mom, everywhere on the planet.
The subsequent comments are beautiful. We see historically that we have been here before. We hear the words of mothers past and present. We are connecting.
May Peace and Love fill your hearts, Paul...
balsam_hornby@yahoo.com
In Northern California?Join us in celebrating the original-
Womens Peace Day- Sunday, May 13th
Pleas for Peace in a Time of War !
An Invitation
Sunday, May 13th -- Mother's Day Events
First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco
1187 Franklin Street (corner Geary Blvd)
www.uusf.org *** 415-776-4580
The First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco extends a warm invitation to members, friends, and everyone in the wider San Francisco community to join us in a plea for peace in a time of war.
Press Conference - 9:30 am Worship for Peace Service – 11:00 am
On Mother's Day, May 13, our entire Church and Center will be wrapped in ribbon covered with hand-written declarations of peace by our members and friends. This public witness includes a press conference with featured speakers from Iraq Veterans Against the War and Gold Star Families Speak Out. This theme will be continued in the 11 am worship service. Conscientious objectors Camilo Mejia, Augustin Aguayo, Pablo Paredes and anti-war Gulf II veteran Sean O'Neill will be present. Karen Meredith will speak for Military Families Speak Out.
Why Mother's Day? Julia Ward Howe, a Unitarian, founded Mother's Peace Day (now Mother's Day) in 1870 as a plea for peace in her time of war that resonated with mothers and their sons all over America. We will rekindle the original spirit of the day by standing for peace before sitting in pews. Too many mothers and their families have experienced the loss and lies of the war in Iraq. We won't wait any longer.
Your presence is what is most important as we restore and renew the powerful message of Mother's Peace Day. We hope you'll join us.
Rev. Gregory Stewart, Senior Minister
and the Congregation of First Unitarian Universalist Society of SF
This is part of a tour of Conscientious Objectors Camilo Mejia and Augustin Aguayo. More information about the other events, taking place from May 9-19 can be found on www.couragetoresist.org. Messages can be left on (415) 255-7331 for Veterans for Peace-SF Bay. Events will take place in SF, Oakland, Berkeley, Eureka, Watsonville, Carmel and Palo Alto.
And if your house of worship isn't talking about this obscene war, ask the congregational minister why not!
Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have breasts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.
The original Mother's Day Proclamation was made in 1870. It was written by Julia Ward Howe. Julia Ward Howe is perhaps best known today for having written the words to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" in 1862 when she was an antislavery activist.
The original Proclamation was an impassioned call for peace and disarmament. In the years following the Civil War her political activism increased, as did her condemnation of war. Here are the words to: