We bring together several activists to speak about the new year in resistance. We’ll discuss the top issues of 2015 and what we can expect as the movement of movements for social, economic and environmental justice continues to grow. Joining us are Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence who has been focused on building peace and stopping US drone attacks and Evan Greer of Fight for the Future who has been focused on issues of Internet privacy and net neutrality. Bill Ragen of Rising Tide North America, a coalition of groups and people fighting for climate justice will also be a guest.
Listen here on Monday, January 5 at 11 am Eastern:
A Look Ahead to 2015: The Year We Build Power Together by Clearingthefog on Mixcloud
Relevant articles and websites:
Peace Activists Sentenced on Human Rights Day by Buddy Bell
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Guests:
Kathy Kelly, co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence, (www.vcnv.org) a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare.
During each of nine recent trips to Afghanistan, Kathy Kelly, as an invited guest of the Afghan Peace Volunteers, has lived alongside ordinary Afghan people in a working class neighborhood in Kabul. She and her companions in Voices for Creative Nonviolence believe that “where you stand determines what you see.”
They are resolved not to let war sever the bonds of friendship between them and Afghan people whom they’ve grown to know through successive delegations. Kelly and her companions insist that the U.S. is not waging a “humanitarian war” in Afghanistan.
Kelly has also joined with activists in various regions of the country to protest drone warfare by holding demonstrations outside of U.S. military bases in Nevada, upstate New York, and, most recently, at Whiteman Air Force base in Missouri.
During late June and early July of 2011, Kelly, was a passenger on the “Audacity to Hope” as part of the US Boat to Gaza project. She also attempted to reach Gaza by flying from Athens to Tel Aviv, as part of the Welcome to Palestine effort, but the Israeli government deported her back to Greece.
In 2009, she lived in Gaza during the final days of the Operation Cast Lead bombing; later that year, Voices formed another small delegation to visit Pakistan, aiming to learn more about the effects of U.S. drone warfare on the civilian population and to better understand consequences of U.S. foreign policy in Pakistan.
From 1996 – 2003, Voices activists formed 70 delegations that openly defied economic sanctions by bringing medicines to children and families in Iraq. Kathy and her companions lived in Baghdad throughout the 2003 “Shock and Awe” bombing.
She was sentenced to one year in federal prison for planting corn on nuclear missile silo sites (1988-89) and spent three months in prison, in 2004, for crossing the line at Fort Benning’s military training school. As a war tax refuser, she has refused payment of all forms of federal income tax since 1980.
She and her companions at the Voices home/office in Chicago believe that non-violence necessarily involves simplicity, service, sharing of resources and non-violent direct action in resistance to war and oppression.
Other Lands Have Dreams: from Baghdad to Pekin Prison (2005) by Kathy Kelly is available through Counterpunch (www.counterpunch.org) or Voices for Creative Nonviolence, 1249 West Argyle, Chicago, IL 60640 773-878-3815
“In a Time of Siege,” a Peace Productions DVD about Voices in the Wilderness, narrated by Studs Terkel, is available from the Voices for Creative Nonviolence office, 1249 West Argyle, Chicago, IL 60640 773-878-3815.
Evan Greer has been organizing hard-hitting campaigns for over a decade, online and in the streets. She’s currently the campaign manager at Fight for the Future, the viral digital rights organization that was one of the main forces behind the infamous SOPA blackout. Her day job is using the web to get millions to take action and dismantle the NSA’s blanket spying programs. Previously, Evan relentlessly toured the U.S. and Europe for years as a professional musician and workshop facilitator. She’s is now the parent of a 3 year old who has been to more than a dozen countries and countless activist events, protests, and punk shows. Renowned historian Howard Zinn called Greer “an eloquent and energetic writer,” and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello calls her “a heck of a guitarist.” She works to educate and inspire groups to use cutting edge technology, creative tactics, and radical ideas, to effectively agitate for lofty things like justice and liberation.
Bill Ragen “I’ve been a union organizer for 30 years, mostly with SEIU. When the KXL blockade was happening in TX two years ago, I thought it was time to get more involved in climate change organizing and got involved in Rising Tide. “