In this issue:AFSC Honors War ResistersDavid Harris: A Stirring Call to ConscienceLeonard McNeil: Resisting 'Rich Man's Wars'Karen Meredith: A Mother's Plea for PeaceNot One More Death, Not One More DollarMassive Police Sweeps in Contra Costa CountyHousing First for Poor FamiliesLandlords Sue to End Just CauseStruggle to Save the Free BoxYEAH! Shelters Homeless YouthGentrification in BerkeleyNew Home for East Bay Law Center for PoorWal-Mart Pushes PhilanthrophySutter Health's War Against Health WorkersGrowing Gulf Between Rich and PoorInequality in AmericaPoor Leonard's Almanack: On ForgivenessARCHIVEOctober 2005September 2005August 2005July 2005June 2005May 2005April 2005March 2005February 2005
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AFSC Honors the Inspiring Legacy of War Resisters
During coast-to-coast candlelight vigils, the peace movement passes on the light of conscience from one generation of war resisters to the next.
by Terry Messman
"SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT." A candle's light shines at an AFSC peace vigil.On October 26, 2005, hundreds of peace vigils were held across the nation to honor those killed in the war in Iraq and protest the announcement of the 2000th U.S. military fatality. From coast to coast, peace activists and families of war victims held candlelight vigils to shine a light of hope in the darkness of war and death. In the radiant light of those candles, one could almost see the peace movement pass on the light of conscience and resistance from one generation of war resisters to the next.
On October 27, the evening after 2,000 war deaths were announced, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) held a gathering to honor the resisters of past wars and learn from the legacy of conscientious objection. On that evening, the past, present and future of antiwar resistance were all gathered together and commingled as war resisters from past generations passed their lessons on to resisters of the present.
David Harris: A Stirring Call to Conscience and Resistance
Vietnam War draft resister David Harris addresses the AFSC peace event, "Remember the Draft." Lydia Gans photo
"To be the person I wanted to be, I would not sit back and be the nameless assassin of thousands of people in Southeast Asia who had done nothing but live where they were born. I think all of us owe a debt to all of those people out there, not just those whose names we remember, who made the sacrifice to make our country something different than it was at the time." -- David Harris
Leonard McNeil: Resisting 'Rich Man's Wars, Poor Man's Fights'
Leonard McNeil (left) was a draft resister during the Vietnam War. He later counseled Tahan Jones (right) who resisted the first Gulf War as a conscientious objector. Lydia Gans photo
"As I mentioned, 1968 was a very watershed year for me. Because what it did for me was, once I made the political and moral stance to oppose the war, and oppose the government, it set me on a path of being in the movement for political and social change that I will never relinquish." -- Leonard McNeil
Karen Meredith: Impassioned Plea for Peace from a Gold Star Mother
Karen Meredith of Gold Star Mothers for Peace speaks at the AFSC event honoring antiwar resistance. Her son was killed in the Iraq War. Lydia Gans photo
"Lt. Ken Ballard was my only child. He was 26 years old when he was killed. The impact to me is that I don't get any grandchildren. I don't get to plan a wedding. And these "dog tags" that I wear, that my son wore, were given to me when they gave me his body. This is all I have left." -- Karen Meredith
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