What Moves the Heart to Action???

Greetings fellow Peacemakers,

I woke up this morning with many things on my mind.  First and foremost was yesterday's execution of Troy Davis, another name in a litany of killings that has come to identify the U.S. retributive justice system.  We have personally seen the machinations of what passes for a justice system in the trials of Disarm Now Plowshares, Y-12 resisters, and many, many more. We have seen (and continue to witenss) the dirty underbelly of the U.S. industrial-prison complex. 

Of course there are tens of thousands, if not millions, of (mostly) nameless victims of our nation's retribution on a global scale as we continue to seek out those we call terrorists in every nook and cranny of the globe and hunt them down with our hunter-killer drones and wage senseless, endless wars that only serve to build up the very Military-Industrial Complex that is the only real benificiary of such madness. 

Dennis Duvall, one of the Y-12 July 2010 Resistance Action defendants, said something in his elocution before the judge this morning during his sentencing hearing that stuck with me in this respect (and beyond): “I’ve done a lot of thinking over the past four months,” Dennis began, after thanking his supporters, “and I conclude that we get what we deserve. Not the Y12 defendants, but humanity..."

Last night in his talk at the World Peace Day event in Bellevue, Washington, Paul Chapell of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation referred to the less than one percent of the population that has always been engaged in movements that have brought about change - abolition of slavery, civil rights movement, etc. - and in reality it is probably far less than one percent.  I don't know the exact numbers of people engaged in peacemaking locally, nationally or globally, and on a certain level I don't even care.  I am grateful for each and every one person who is moved beyond words to action.  We are the ones who will not sit back and wait for "what we deserve" because our hearts move us beyond apathy, beyond propaganda, beyond the the crushing weight of the other 99 percent. 

David Perasso and Gunnel Clark put together a beautiful video about Joe Colgan's continuing Tuesday vigils in front of Seattle's Federal Building.  Joe is another of those individuals whose heart moved (and continues to move) him to action.  This is (for me) a video worth sharing; it is about action, compassion and communication - all keys to change. 



In gratitude for each of (YOU) my fellow peacemakers,

Leonard

Nearing our goal to send Ashley Joppa-Hagemann to MIC at 50

Friends,

I've already received many email pledges to help send Ashley Joppa-Hagemann to the MIC at 50 conference (see previous post for details).  Thank you all!!!  Thank you one and all.  I've already gone ahead and purchased Ashley's tickets and the conference organizers have added her to the list of speakers, which includes Ret. Col. Ann Wright, Ray McGovern and Bruce Gagnon.

I'll update the thermometers below as we receive both pledges and as the money rolls in.  Things are heating up.  Thanks!!!

Peace,

Leonard

P.S. - The second half of Amy Goodman's 9/30 interview with Ashley on Democracy Now is now posted at the Democracy Now Blog.  Watch  Army Widow Calls for Recognition of Husband’s Service After He Commits Suicide Ahead of Redeployment.  The interview includes Jorge Gonzalez, Executive Director of Coffee Strong, a veteran owned and operated coffeehouse across from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Note: Both thermometers updated 9/3 at 12:30 pm)
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