extracted text

Peace&Freedom

MAGAZINE
DECEMBER

OF THE WOMEN'S

1997

INTERNATIONAL

LEAGUE

FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM

ISSN: 0015-9093

• VoL. 57 • No. 6

Features
InternationalYouthMovement
is Aliveand Well.................................
Page6

7

Editor:Tobi White
Layoutand Design:J.Harding
EditorialAssistance:Celia Daldy

GenerationX.......................................
Page8

PublicationsCommittee:Betty Burkes, Kay

BreakingDownBarriers.....................
Page10

Camp, Marilyn Clement, Louise Dunlap,
Jean Gore, Anne Ivey, Farzana Khattak, Lisa
Silverman, and TobiWhite

Learning,Growing
and Activism....................................
Page11
Biographies
.......................................
Page12
Media& Democracy........................
Page13
WorkingWomen,Working
Together...Page14
AsLandMinesGo,
So GoNuclearWeapons..................
Page16
LeadershipInstituteWILPF'sLovingTransformation......Page18

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF)has been working since 1915 to unite women worldwide
who oppose oppression and exploitation. WILPF stands for
equality of all people in a world free of racism, sexism and homophobia; the building of a constructlve peace through world disarmament; and the changing of government priorities to meet
human needs.
National Program: WILPF envisions a world free of violence,
poverty, pollution and domination - a genuine New World order
of peace and justice. WILPPs program stands firm for disarmament and against oppression. The 1997-2000 program cycle has
four key campaign areas: Disarmament; Ending U.S. Intervention;
Racial Justice; and Women's Rights/EndingViolence. Each campaign area focuses on local and national effectiveness in creating
lasting social change.
WILPFhas sections in 42 countries, coordinated by an internationaloffice in Geneva. U.S. WILPFcarries out its work through
grassroots organizing by WILPF branches, coordinated by a
national office In Philadelphia, PA. WILPFsupports the work of
the United Nations and has NGO (Non-Covernmental
Organization) status. We invite all people who support our goals
to join us.

Outreach/Leadership
........................
Page19
U.S.Sedlon WILPF:
1213 Race Street. Philadelphia, PA 19107;

BabyTeeth................................................
20

phone: (215) 563-7110; fax (215) 563-5527; e-mail:
wilpfnatMtigc.apc.org

Prellclent:
Betty Burkes

Officeof WarCrimes.................................
20
WomenChallenging
the
Politicsof Power.........'..............................
21
Howdid WILPFcometo explorethe issueof
drugpolicyreform....................................
22

&ealtiw Dlredar:MarilynClement
UN ltepraentadw: Paula Tasso

laneAddamsl'eaat Allodalioa (JAPA):777 United Nations
Plaza.New York. NY 10017; phone: (212) 682-8830. JAPAis
WILPPseducational fund.
Administrator: Eurydice Kelley

lnwmafionalWILPF:1 rue de Varembt 1211Geneva 20,
Switzerland; phone: 41-22-733-6175;fax: 41-22-740-1063.

Departments

President:Edith Ballantyne
Sec:relary-Cene

Barbara
Lochbihler

Reader'sForum ..:..............................
Page4
UNReport..........................................
Page5

Peace and Freedom magazine Is published 6 times a year by the
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF),
U.S. Section. Subscriptions: $15/yr.; free to WILPF members.
Submissions welcome, but queries suggested first.

ActionAlert.......................................
Page24
PeaceEducation..............................
Page26
WILPFAction....................................
Page27
Resources..........................................
PageJO
2 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

WILPF PAINTING THEFUTURE
.........................................
. .................... ...

T

he WILPF program for this triennium is unique
among organizations. What other group has
combined a major program on the roots of
racism, another on the economic and military implications of the war on drugs both here and in our sister countries in Latin America, an international challenge to everything nuclear, including the nuclearpacked Cassini space probe and beyond into the
frightening prospect of space-based war on the peoples of the earth, and the empowerment of women to
create our own federal budget designed to challenge
the greed and corruption that underlies them all?
To say that all these issues are connected and we
can not work ~n one of them without considering the
others is truth -a wilpfism- to coin a new word. Who
else, but WILPF, puts them together in concrete pro,

Marilyn Clement
U.S. Section Executive Director

I,

Tlie lVILPF restr·uct " ,
which, is called Chan i , .
Uuiltling · I ~
gram? The. ~ords "domination" and "greed" are almost
too weak and overused to describe what is happening
in this post cold war world. But, as we all know, we
live in a country determined to dominate the world,
dominate the r:aces, dominate wom~q and use us all
as pawns in conjunction with the corporate leaders
who believe they have the world on a string.
You could call it utopian to think that we can transcend the horrors I have just described, but WILPF
women are also a beloved community of people of all
ages, colors, and persuasions working together in
their communities on the most basic level. There is a
strength in the modeling of leadership, coalition-building and yes, sometimes conflict-transformation
that is
happening in WILPF. In a culture desperate for community, WILPF offers something unique, a place to
bond with other women in mutual support as we

Peace & Freedom

resist the domination and gefrXIthat Js parto( the
current definition of globalizadon.
We have lots of new members, probably 2500
before the end of this year. Hello to all of you who are
reading Peace and Freedom for the tll'Sttime. The
new infusjon of thousands of women of color, young
women, and activists from new perspectives ,!!lto
WILPFwill stretch our understandings, provide us
with broader vision, and sometimes challenge the way
we have always done things. The WILPF~turing
plan which is called Change Mavens: Building WILPF

for the 21st Century is incorporating leadership development into every part of our organization, andthis
will provide us with a means of renewing and broadening ourselves. We will also be able to developdeliberately-invigoratedleadership at every level, working
in more collegial and loving ways. Our new
Leadership/Outreach Coordinator, ChrisMorin, Js
offering to help coordinate leadership dewlo~~t
and outreach work to regions and branches as we
grow in strength and numbers. Felicity Hill, our young
sojourner, is carrying a message of renewal and love
to every region of the U.S. as she speaks on 65 campuses and visits with branches.
So, although it may not be apparent at first gluce,
this is a love letter to all of you. It is fill~ with love for
WILPFbecause of the wom~ who emJ;odyits extraordinary herstory and also becauseof
futurewe are
crafting, painting, organizing togeth... Heartsstarve as
us roses. ■
well as bodies. Give us bread, and '1r,e

"8

December 1997

3

'9Reader'S
---------~Dear WILPF Members,
We tell potential members and
renewing members that WILPF
serves as their collective voice,
speaking out for them on issues and
in places where they cannot themselves, We also seek to make our
voices more effective by speaking
together in chorus, creating a loud
and mov.ing rumble aimed to make
change. In addition to working on
our four program priority areas
(racial justice, women's rights, disarmament and ending U.S. intervention), WILPF also addresses many
other related issues of concern to
our members. The Program and
Action committee chairs and consultants help broaden the range of our
political response and enable WILPF
to stay,up-to-date and active in
areas beyond our chosen national
program priorities .
..Below is a list of WILPF Program
and Action Committees. These are
the committees to contact if you
have a question or a concern about
those areas. The door to the
WILPF issue committee representative "chat-room" is wide open.
Come on in!
The truth is that every issue is
potentially a WILPF issue., The
Program Staff (just two women!)
can't know everything about every
issue. We rely on the input of
members to inform our actions. If
you are well-informed about an
issue and can provide WILPF with
guidance through the waters of that
particular rapid, speak up! Call,
send a letter, fax or e-mail. We can
mobilize with your information in

4 December 1997

many ways; from the phone tree alert for THE most critical actions, a
branch mailing to ask branches to take on an issue, a letter to con°·
cerned parties from the national organization, and e-mail post to our
network, etc. You may be able to think of other ways WILPF can
respond to alerts. So let us know if something crucial is coming up to
which WfLPF should issue a response. Write the response and send it
to us, anci we'll put the sound of your WILPF sisters' voice behind the
call. Become a Program and Action Issue Representative!

WILPF Programand Issue Committees
• Aging

• Latin America

• Asia/Pacific

• Lesbian/Bi

• Civil Liberties

• Middle East

• Cuba Action

• Peace Education

• Death Pe~J~

• Religious Right

• Disarmament-

• Southern Africa

• Environment

• Trade Issues

• Former Yugoslavia

• Women's Budget

•·Labor

There ore also other non-issue committees and caucuses that you c~:mi<;>in!
• Peace and Freedom magazine Advisory Committee (editors, journoli*,
designers, & issue mavens welcome)

• Women of Color Caucus • Young Women's Caucus

Write the WILPF National Office at 1213 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA
191071 We. can put you in touch with the chairs of each committee. ■

Letters should be under 300 words.
Peace. and Freedom reserves the right
to choose and edh letters.

Peace & Freedom

Paula.H..Tasso,.United ,Nations. Representative

About the CassiniSpace Probe. ..
It is now a done deed. The Cassini with its 72 plus pounds
of plutonium is in outer space. The lift-off was apparently
problem-free, but now set your clocks for two years hence that is when the space probe returns to circle the earth in
order to build thrust for its sling-shot maneuver to Saturn.
The Cassini will orbit the earth at an altitude of 500 miles
and at a speed of 43,000 miles per hour - many times faster
than a speeding bullet. And in the two years in space the plutonium batteries will have experienced what? How much
heat? How much sub-zero cold? What other modifications
could have affected the missile and the batteries? No space
scientist really knows. Indeed, no one anywhere really knows.
We are not free of our fears regarding Cassini for years to
come, but the two-year mark is probably the next concern.
Alan Kohn, the retired emergency preparedness operations
officer at the Kennedy Space Center, says that all sides of the
Cassini issue are lost in fogs of scientific uncertainty. He said:
''Who is right? That's not the relevant question. The point is
that Cassini is part of a series. Eventually you're going to
have an accident. We are trying to stop ... the whole-doggoned plutonium idea. It's insane, criminally insane."
And looking at the outer space program in broader perspective, one can say that problems with the plutonium
shoot will only affect human health and the environment.
Although whatever could be ONLY about that!! But the
planned laser shoot of a satellite already in orbit in space is
a certain military move. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967
does say that space must not be militarized or nuclearized.
This is an issue we must keep before us. The NGO
Disarmament Committee is planning a program on these
prescribed uses, but that has limited exposure and is only
the very beginning of the beginning.

About Iraq...
It is difficult to write about ongoing news for a periodical,
so there will be no predictions of whether it is negotiation or
confrontation on which the United States goes forward with
Iraq. Thus far it negotiation looks like it might have a chance.
Now Saddam Hussein is nobody's Prince Charming. He is a
dictator, he is a liar to his own people, to the UN Special
Commission investigating weapons of mass destruction, to the
United States, to his allies. Saddam Hussein has been uncaring

Peace & Freedom

about both bloody civilian and military casualties, and he
probably has vats of botulin,· anthrax, and nerve gas cooking
all over Baghdad. However, and this is ery important, this is
the very same man who was behaving in the very same wax
and both the United States and Britain armed him and sup-,
ported him for almost ten years while he fought a terrible war
against Iran. Sometimes we reap the wind..
And why, this time around are so many of our allies·'reluC!
tant to join us in military action against Iraq? A number of
contradictory U.S. practices cause allies to wonder about our
high morale stance, insisting that Iraq must meet UN conditions, while we thumb our noses for years at our delinquency
in paying our share of monies for UN work. There might· be
concern about our unilateral sanctions on companies' dealing
with Cuba or Iran, or our· lack of interest in any sanctions on
. other nation-states (China, Israel). Or the U.S. agenda might
be considered not entirely benevolent.
It is known that both the Bush and Clinton administrations
would have vetoed the lifting of sanctions until Saddam
I Hussein is overthrown. This is something that is entirely '
beyond the parameters of the international community.
The Australian diplomat, Richard Butler is heaqing the .
negotiation attempts. He has considerable negotiating ability
and smarts, as he showed wheri·he was one of the important
policy makers that forced the C'PBT to the table and to its .'
acceptance. We give him our support and wish him much
good fortune.

I

About DisarmamentWeek at the UN ...
The NGO Committee on Disarmament, representing
WILPF and other organizations. who oppose the buildup of
both conventional and nuclear arms presented a four-day program at ·''"·-:,;
the United Nations.called "The Future of Disarmament." There were paricipants from many parts of the
worl<;ldiscussing subjects such as· human development ad
disarmament, banning anti-persemnel land mine., conven-,
tional weapons. There were two Nobel Laureates with us:
Jody Williams, 1997, Joseph Rotblat, 1995. Richard Butler
was awarded the Josephine Pomerance Award for, outstanding effort in disamament affairs: Both Mr. Butler and
Randall Forsberg of the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies discussed the evolving role of the UN and·
disarmament.

December 1997.

5

The International Youth Movement Is Alive and Well

'H

by Michelle Rief
...................................

ow often are we told by the popular press that
youth today are shiftless and indifferent to the
social and political issues so critical to their
future? The 14th World Festival of Youth and Students held last summer in Havana, Cuba - proved to the world
that the international youth movement is alive and active!
An astonishing 12,000 young people from over 130
nations gathered in Havana from July 28th to August 6th
to celebrate "anti-imperialist solidarity, peace and friendship." The World Youth Festival first took place in Prague,
Czechoslovakia in 1948 when young people from around
the globe gathered and vowed never again to allow the
horrors of fascism to terrorize the world. Like the first
Festival held in Prague, youth at this year's event came
together to confront the pressing issues of their time.
Each day delegates at the Festival had the option to
either tour sites of socioeconomic interest - such as factories, hospitals and schools, to visit one of the seven
regional clubhouses and meet with youth from various
continents of the world, or to attend one of the impressive international political discussions. Additionally, some
delegates were given the opportunity to spend a portion
of the week visiting one of Cuba's various provinces.
On the site tours, Cuban employees welcomed young

6 December 1997

visitors to their workplaces to share with them their trade
and to expose them to working conditions in Havana. For
example, delegates that visited ETECSA, Cuba's telephone
company, learned that pregnant women workers in Cuba.
are entitled to six months of paid maternity leave.
Delegates also discovered that in most companies women,
as well as young workers, are provided with a forum
through which they can discuss issues of particular relevance to them and voice their unique concerns to their
employers. Other festival delegates visited medical clinics
in Havana and became acquainted with Cuba's renowned
free system of health care.
In the regional clubhouses delegates took part in bilateral and trilateral discussions. For instance, young people
from the U.S. met with representatives of South Africa's
ANC Youth League to discuss the overwhelming role that
race continues to play in these two nations. Delegates
from the U.S. also met with youth from Canada and
Mexico to discuss such issues as immigration and NAFTA.
The thirteen topics for political discussion included:
democracy and participation, culture and social communi-

Parade of delegates at the 14th World Festival of Youth and
Students. Photo courtesy of Lyn-Li Pugh

Peace & Freedom

tional cooperation, employment,
, the environment and sustainood, human rights, young
racism, anti-imperialist solith, and finally, the student
ly 1,000 young people attended
ation and democracy, which lastinstantly translated into three
tions system as complex as
. Not only were young people
with other youth from around the
t.echnology they were exposed to

w e egate Jenni er Perna
their host family, Rayner and

~t:'esl!led

in the discussion on partic--

Cuba from 1959 to the present." Though this historic
event was virtually ignored by mainstream America,
young people from the U.S. courageously demonstrated
their solidarity with the Cuban people in their struggle
against the unjust economic blockade currently being
waged by the U.S. government.
The hospitality of the Cuban people throughout the
Festival was astonishing. Each delegate was hosted by his
or her very own Cuban family. Each day these families
provided breakfast and dinner for their guests and introduced them to everyday Cuban life. Some families took
their young visitor on a tour of the city, showed them
their place of employment or invited them to participate
in a traditional neighborhood clean up. Not only did these
adopted families share with Festival delegates their honest feelings about Cuban life, but they enabled the
youth of the world to establish bonds with the Cuban
people which stretch beyond national boundaries and
will never be broken.
The most touching moment of the Festival came during
the closing ceremony held in Havana's Pan-American
Stadium. Anyone who doubts the power of the international youth movement would have never been able to
walk away from this ceremony with such a pessimistic
view of the world's youth. Imagine 12,000 young people
from various countries in one small stadium ...waving their
nations' flags, displaying banners proclaiming their visions
and chanting words which speak of their struggles. It was
powerful. A momentum was born which continues to
increase as young people, back in their nations of origin,
are telling anyone and everyone that will listen about
their experience in Cuba last summer. Any delegate to
the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students would
agree with the following words which form the chorus of
the Festival's theme song written by Carlos Manuel
Garringa Martinez and Frank Fernandez:

was the violation of the democratth by the U.S. government.
the Festival by several
tatives - Ronald Dellums, Jesse
ns, Charles Rangel, Bobby Rush,
U.S. Treasury Department
to U.S. youth on the grounds
possibility of a maximum
eral prison, over 900 U.S. youth
the World Youth Festival.
press this was the "most reprefrom [the U.S.) that has visited

Peace & Freedom

"For a festival I have a thousand reasons
to show the world dreams and truth,
and proclaim love... "
Oh yes, the international youth movement is
alive ... alive and well! ■
Michelle Rief was a delegate to the 14th World Festival of
Youth and Students. She is a graduate student in the
department of African-American Studies at Temple
University. She currently works part-time in WILPF's
Resources dept.

December 1997

7

Generation X?
by _Felicity_Hill

M

arilyn Clement and I were conspiring about the
future of WILPF when the subject of outreach to
"youth" came up in the conversation.

"I don't think it's fair to say that young people are
apathetic and apolitical; this Generation X stuff is propaganda," I said. "I hear this from WILPF members far
too often. We can't expect young people to come to us
when they don't know we exist!"
Next thing I knew, I was on the road with
an itinerary featuring 65 colleges, high
schools and juvenile incarceration units
to test my little hypothesis. (Be careful
when you throw your opinion around
Marilyn, you might find yourself having
the adventure of a lifetime!) .
I'm from Australia, a place we_
activists call the 52nd state of the USA
due to the 26 U.S. bases on our soil.
From the outside, many of us see the U.S.
as a very, very ugly place. I knew that when I
came here I would find the best and worst - the best
in terms of movement people and the worst in terms of
many good people doing evil through their culpable,
inexcusable ignorance and collaboration with what can
only be described as a political and corporate cannibal.
I have been saddened at times, but mostly uplifted by
the hopeful signs I have seen on this tour, that an
inherent sanity and strong desire for change exists, even
in the most distracted and sedated population on earth.
Starting in South Carolina and ending in Seattle four
months later, the tour is taking me into the classrooms
and lives of the student youth of the USA. What I am
finding is large-scale ignorance brought about by the
media, but also an intense and sometimes urgent sense
of searching for the kind of political information I'm
providing. Remember, next year's first year students
were born in 1980 - imagine their political memories eeekkk! They need to feel sonie hope and to be provided with some images and ideas of resistance to white
supremacist, capitalist patriarchy. They know something
is wrong but they are either too pacified, too poor or

8 December 1997

too alone to do anything about it. Making it easier to
become active, providing a connection to the network
and promising them they don't have to wear tie-dye
have been important messages! I have been overwhelmed by the positive response in terms of questions
and discussion as well as the eagerness to become
members and to set up campus branches of WILPF.
The main focus of my talks has been violence, but
many classes have asked for a different focus on
racism, feminism, economics, Cassini and
how to be an activist. I am stretching
notions of violence to include violence
against the environment, economic
violence, racist violence, the epidemic of violence against women and the
violence of preparation for war and
war itself. I have been touched by
some of the stories I have heard
straight from the lives of young people
who don't want their lives to be tied to
materialism like their parents' lives were.
They realize the environment will not tolerate
much more abuse and they, like me, feel robbed of a
carefree youth. Trying to remain numb or facing the
future honestly are the choices they have to make and
some are going to choose the latter. Lets welcome them!

The military is in the colleges, WILPF
should be there too!
The response to the advertising about the tour has
been surprisingly large - more than one speaker could
possibly cover. Most women's studies and peace studies
courses would love to have a speaker from a WILPF perspective. It has been so easy to arouse interest about
WILPF by going to where young people are and talking
about our wonderful organization. I recommend every
WILPF branch make themselves a part of their local
college or high school institutions, even if it's just one
speech per year it will make a difference. ■

Peace & Freedom

The latest update on peace?
Women's role in conflict resolution ...
Nuclear and conventional disarmament...
Views on global economic structures ...
Discover these and many other various
issues being addressed and tackled by
the bi-monthly publication of WILPF,
the International Peace Update -a great way to stay in touch with
women working for peace.

The Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom
is the oldest international
women's peace organization

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e-mail: womensleague@gn.apc.org

Peace & Freedom

December 1997

9

Breaking Down Barriers

l

am a senior communications major at Liberty
University and the editorial intern here at the U.S.
section office at WILPF. As an intern in the Jane
Addams internship program I have had the opportunity to
learn a lot about important issues that affect the world
around me, while gaining a lot of experience that will benefit me in the working world. Interning at WILPF has
helped me to see the world in a different perspective, to
rethink my actions and my place in society.
Although all of the issues that are supported by WILPF
are of equal importance, one that has seemed to migrate
to the top of my personal list of priorities is that of discrimination and racism in America. Working at WILPF
has shown me that racism is not always as black and
white as it seems. I have seen that racism comes in all
different forms and fashions. From the exploitation of
sacred Native American customs and rituals to institutiortalized racism in the work place and schools. One of the
most prevalent forms of racism that I have encountered in
my personal experience is that of stereotyping. Being a
student at a predominantly white Southern Baptist university I have been forced to deal with more stereotyping in
my three years as a student there than I have in my whole
entire life. To my surprise I have experienced stereotyping
from both the white and the black end of the spectrum.
Because of the reactions I get about different aspects in
my life I find it really hard to disclose a lot of information

about myself that has shaped me into the person that I
have become today.
When I first decided to accept a scholarship to attend
Liberty University I was hesitant to tell a lot of people
because of the reactions that I was afraid of getting.
Liberty is in Lynchburg Virginia, it's founder and chancellor is Dr. Jerry Falwell (also founder of the Moral Majority
of the late 70's early 80's), Southern Baptists have been
rumored to be racist in the past and blacks represent only
about 15% of the population at Liberty. Unfortunately, I
received more negative feedback than I anticipated. Most
people figured because I chose to go to "Jerry Falwell's
School," I must be supportive of every decision that the
man has ever made in his entire life. They assumed
because I was a Christian attending a Christian school I
hated homosexuals and I could not possibly take on a
feminist point of view. When other people at Liberty,
both black and white found out that I was from the inner
city they expected me to have an attitude, have a whole
list of wild experiences to tell and to end up either transferring or dropping out after one semester. I experience
the same type of scrutiny when I tell people that I am an
intern at WILPF. As soon as people hear of women gathered together to support important causes like justice,
equality, and women's rights they automatically assume
that the women involved are gay, and if a straight woman
gets involved with such a group it will be only a matter of
time before she decides to become a homosexual and
hate men.
So many people are trained to draw conclusions about a
person once they get a few small pieces of information. But
if we continue to do this type of thing, how can we ever get

U.S. WILPF Interns (I-r)
Michelle Rohner,
Development Intern, Hilary
Leland, Administrative Intern,
Sylvia Glover, Publications
Intern and Rosie Zaklad,
Program Intern.

10 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

to know each other? If you decide to take only small bits of
information about me and place me into a stereotypical
group how can you ever really know who I really am?
Yes, I am a young black woman who has lived all of her
22 years an the urban area. But no, I don't have any children, I've never been on public assistance, and I don't
have an attitude. I am in my senior year at Liberty
University, I am not white, and no I don't think I am better than my black sisters (or white sisters) who have children and are on public assistance, I don't hate homosexuals and I am not going to make you become a Christian.
Yes, I am an intern at The Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom. No, I am not gay and I do not
hate men. I am Sylvia Glover, a 22 year-old black woman
from North Philadelphia I am a Christian who happens
to believe in equality and justice. But you already knew
that. ■

Sylwx T. GlO'Ver- U.S. WILPFPublications Intern

WILPF: learning,
Growing and
.. . .....Activism

Af

iend once told me I had a lot of anger in me.
e said I should become an activist so I could put
y anger to use. "I am an activist", I said. He
just laughed. Well, after spettding the summer at WILPF,
the concept of my being an activist is nothing to laugh at.

My sophomore year in college was a real turning point
for me. I was the kind of student who sat in the back of
class and never spoke out. Then I took this wonderful
class with only eight people in it, all were women, including the professor. Because of the small class size, we
were forced to voice our opinions. Once I got started
talking, I found it was not all that hard. The all-women
setting was a very safe space for me. That is why I was so
excited to work at WILPF. For me, in all situations, work
and school, women have always been the minority. But at
WILPF, I always felt as if my opinion was important. I
also knew I had a lot to learn about things going on in
the world and could benefit from what others had to say.
One of the best parts about my experience was the
lunchtime talks. Once or twice a week women would
speak to us about a subject that was special to them.
Some of the topics were repressive legislation, disarmament, and violence against women, racism and many others. After these talks, we could ask questions of the
experts, and usually a very interesting discussion would
follow. This was a great way to learn about important
issues from people who are experts in their field. Some
of these women had actually lived through events that I
have only read about in books.
Being the Program intern, I learned a lot about the
issues that WILPF focuses on and got some hands-on
experience too. One day I had so much fun handing out
Cassini leaflets to an Episcopalian Convention at the nearby Philadelphia Convention Center. This summer, I wanted to get experience and knowledge about an organization
committed to social justice and I did, but I also had a lot
of fun doing it. It was great to work on issues that mattered to me. The internship program included a potluck
at Marilyn Clement's house and a dinner with Felicity Hill.
Besides fun stuff, I also had a lot of responsibility. I got a
chance to work with Jane Midgley on the Women's
Budget Project and with Z, WILPF's Program Director on
The Truth and Reconciliation Symposium. I was also in
charge of all the e-mail that WILPF sent and received.
WILPF gave a lot of responsibilities to the interns, and
with great results. I think it is really important to have
people my age getting involved with WILPF. I would like
to see WILPF more active on college and high school
campuses and involved with the many issues that affect
young women of all backgrounds. This involvement
would give women my age the opportunity to become
active members, and to make a difference in their communities. ■

Rosie Zaklad - U.S. WILPF Program Intern

Peace & Freedom

December 1997

11

Bio
ElaineJones
- DataAssistant
AndreaSaenz- Women'sPeaceandJustice
Treaty,Coordinator.

Elainewas born and raisedin Philadelphia.After receivingher
AssociateDegreein early childhood educationfrom Temple
University,she becameLeadTeacherat Children'sVillage,a
position she held for sevenyears.Elaineis alsoan organizer in her own community,doing work for People
TakingAction, an organizationfounded to help beautify
and maintainsafetyin the neighborhoodsin her area.
Shehasknown about WILPFfor manyyearsand has
learnedof the work that WILPFersdo from her daughter PamelaJones-Burnley,
a long-timeWILPFstaff member who is currentlythe AdministrativeDirector.
Elainesays,"It is good experienceto learnfirst handabout
11 ■
the work at WILPF.

AndreaS-enzwas born in Quito, Ecuador
and g~ew1,1p
in.LosAngeles,C,aliforni;iwher~
her family'moved'l'Vhenshe wasfour years •
old. Shehasworked on i·ssues
of socialjustice for seVeralyears,enteringthe world of
activismwith an action at the NevadaTestSite
and involvementwith the anti-Persian
Gulf War
effort during.highschool.
After spend_jng
.twoyearsat ReedCollegein
Portland,Oregon, Andrea movedback to southern
Californiato study LatinAmericanhistoryand literatureat Scripps
College. There,she becameacquaintedwith the Cuba solidarity
movementthrough her involvementin a studentorganizingeffort
that resultedin her participationin the third Pastorsfor 'Peace•
FriendshipmentCaravanto Cuba.Andrea'spolittcal1'rivolvement
while in college centeredon immigrants'rights.Shespent a summer intemingwith a SanFranciscoorganizationworking te defeat
Proposition187 and completedh,erdegreewith a thesisbasedon
oral historiesof LatinAmericanimmigrants.
Sincegraduatingwith a degreein LatinAmericanStudiesin
1995,Andrea has lived in SanDiego,working with the Support
Committeefor MaquiladoraWorkers,the SanDiego Friendsof
Cubaand continuing to work with Pastorsfor Peaceto end the
blorkade of Cuba. Sh~recentlymovedto Philadelphiaand is
adjustingto the changein climateas well as c~n be expected,■

ChrisMorin- Leadership/Outreach
Coordinator
ChrisMorin hasbeen a memberof WILPFsince 1990when her
mother,ElizabethMorin, also a WILPFmember,gaveher a membershipfor her 40th birthday,a fact that she is proud about. Chris
hasbeen activewith her local branchin Hartford,CT and has
servedon the Region4 SteeringCommitteeand WILPF'sNational
Board.Shemissesworking with the Hartford WILPFers,but she
lovesher new job as Leadership/OutreachCoordinator,which
wasformerly the MembershipCoordinatorposition.Sheenvisions
tripling WILPF'smembershipby the year 2000, becauseshe has
sensedthe energyand enthusiasmof our membership.■

Editor's Note: All of these positions are new or have been
significantly chan!Jed, so please show your support to
these women. They are here to further WILPF's work
and message of peace and justice and will need you, our
membership, to help see this work through.

12 December 1997

J

Peace & Freedom

Media & Democracy
by Tobi_White

M

edia and Democracy. Do these two words go
together? No, not usually. Should they? Yes. Can
we really expect the corporate-run bullies of the
mainstream media to really provide socially responsible
reporting and analysis? Probably not, at least not without
a fight. Should they? Yes. Do we have alternative
sources of media? The answer is a resounding - Yes!
That is why activists and journalists (primarily from
alternative or independent media sources) came together for the Media & Democracy Congress II last
October in New York.
The Congress provided a forum for
activists and journalists to discuss how
we can best use the media not only to
inform and hold the media accountable, but also to motivate the public
into action against injustices. Now,
of course this is a grand statement
as compared to reality, but. it is a " •
great goal!
The Congress, co-sponsored by the •
Institute for Alternative Journalism and
many other supporters, consisted of workshops and panel discussions. The pre-Congress
agenda featured workshops. Ther~ was a media training
workshop designed to help sharpen the media relations
skills of people working for non-profit social change
groups. Other workshops included: Fundraising Training
for Media Mahers and Activists, Building Connections
Between Labor and Independent Media; Computer-assisted Reporting, Young Media Mahers Exchange, Media
Activism, and Investigative Reporting: Roundtable
Discussions.
The Congress kicked-off with a panel discussion,
Communicating Our Vision of Democracy in the
Information Age, led by Barbara Ehrenreich
(author/activist), Jeff Cohen (FAIR), Jim Hightower
(radio host), Herb Chao Gunther (Public Media Center),
Makani Themba (Praxis Project, Congress organizer),
Robert Bray (Strategic Progressive Information Network,
TAJ, and Congress organizer), and Anita Roddick (The
Body Shop, a Congress co-sponsor). They shared their
visions and strategies on effective media relations, followed by questions from the audience.

Peace& Freedom

The panel discussions, the following day, led by leading communicators of the alternative press and activists,
covered a broad spectrum of topics as it relates to responsible media functions. The panels included: discussions on
the roles and uses of videos and films, the use of the
Internet in reporting, media literacy, investigative reporting, and how to make news with social change. There
were discussion panels that focused on fundraising and
strengthening relationships between funders and media
activists; how print journalists can effectively pitch
stories; pinpointing effective tools in holding
the media system accountable to our communities; and other panels focusing on

youth scapegoating in the media, and
"Girl Power" in the media which highlighted how independent media can
reclaim girl power.
There was some heated discussions during the
panel: Beyond Us and Them: Sex, race and the narrow
mind of the media. This discussion focused on how many
issues, such as welfare, affirmative action, crime, and
immigration are treated in the mainstream media.
Panelists and listeners also challenged the concept that
alternative media effectively addresses race, sex, homophobia and class.
In side conversations and even on some of the panels,
there was a lot of complacency and self-gratuitous
acknowledgment of being 'progressive'. However, many of
us know well that much of the information disseminated
by the independent press can and has been the some of
the same rhetoric of the mainstream, but to a different
tune. However, some of it is honest and accurate and
worth fighting for. The Media & Democracy Congress
gives us hope that one day the media makers of the alternative/independent press and perhaps some mainstream
will serve our communities justice and continue to be an
avenue of creative expression. ■

December 1997

13

Working Wof!len
Working Together
by _Kathleen.Kelley

I

f you received the ASK A WORKING WOMAN SURVEY, filled it out and returned it to the AFL-CIO
Women's Department, you were one of 50,000 women
who did the same.
The results from the survey indicate that working
women want change! They want equal and fair pay! The
50,000 women answered questions on raising pay;
improving opportunities for advancement; defending economic security; extending health insurance, child care,
elder care, pensions and other benefits; and helping working women and men organize for a stronger voice and a
better deal.
The survey was the prelude to the AFL-CIO Working
Women's Department WORKING WOMEN WORKING
TOGETHER Conference held in September in
Washington, D.C. It was an explosion of 1700 delegates
from all parts of the U.S., dedicated working women of all
colors and ages, and from support organizations. While
"checking in" during workshops, I mentioned that I was
representing Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom, there was applause and recognition.
Karen Nussbaum, Director of AFL-CIO Working
Women's Department, and a large number of assistants,
had planned things well. There were five plenary sessions
with speakers and entertainers and time slots for three
kinds of workshops: 1) 21 Issue workshops; 2) 17
Organizing workshops; 3) 7 Political workshops.
Speakers were forceful in supporting union organizing
and dealt with the various issues women had selected as
most important on the surveys. Some of the speakers
were Linda Chavez-Thompson - Exec. VP AFL-CIO, Gloria
Johnson - VP of AFL-CIO and national President of
Coalition of Labor Union Women, Ann Richards - former
Gov. of Texas, Dorothy Height - National Council of Negro
Women, Maxine Waters - U.S. House of Reps., Eleanor
Holmes Norton - U.S. House of Reps., and more.
A few speakers emphasized the importance of working
internationally. Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor
Committee reminded us of the direct link between sweat-

14 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

'

shop abuses in, ~ther countries and the growth of sweatshops in the U.S., th~ result of which could be that race
to the bottom for· all of us, where we compete for the low:est wages and behefits and the most miserable working
conditions.
Ann Richards said, ~·"S~venty-six
percent of women
.....
wi,th school-age children are in the labor force. More than
60 million are working: We are almost half of the work
. force ... An~,you know we are not in it for our health. We
are not working as part of some search for self-fulfillment... or a little extra pin money for the luxuries. We are
supporting our families and ourselves. And most of us are
working like dogs."
·John Sweeney, President.of AFL-CIO, promised, "We
will step up our efforts to heip un-represented workers
find their voice and organize unions - and we will empha• size iridustries where women work, from information management to education, from communications to clothing
. and textiles, and from health care to hotels and restaurants.''.,
Linda Chavez-Thompson., Gloria Johnson, Karen
Nussbaum and others went on a 20-city tour, meeting
with working women from ~ construction site to a school
·'library. Gloria Johnson s.aid they "met with working
.women: single mothers who work the night shift at facto,, ries, hotel workers, flight attendants, health care
providers, clerical workers, union and non-union women
in every part of the country."
, "We will launch a grassroots campaign that makes
wome,n's wages that public issue it deserves to be. We are
going to fig~t for equal, fair, and just pay for women .
. •...And we will fight in the halls of congress for legislation
• . that gives working women, fair and equal pay."
,·

SomeHighlights
Five-hundred of, the Working Women Conference dele. gates rallied in support of the workers at ARK Restaurant
• located at the Union Station' •Which has no union contract
with the Hotel and Restaurant Ei:nployees Union Local 27.
In the midst of Vice President Al Gore's speech, a

Peace & Freedom

voice in the back of the auditorium called out "No Fast
Track." The chant was picked up gradually, and soon the
entire 1700 delegates were shouting "NO FAST TRACK,
NO FAST TRACK, NO FAST TRACK." Indicating the opposition of the working women to NAFTA, GATT-WTO,
APEC, and any other deals cooked up by the transnational corporations to rob working people around the world of
jobs and to take away any sovereignty we all may have.
Gore stopped talking and after listening briefly he began
again as the chant subsided and said, "I don't think it will
do any good, but I'll take it back," (to the President).
The oh sooo Politically Correct Players were oh sooo
good, as they preformed political and educational plays
that they had written. Rebel Voices sang their exquisite
vocal harmonies with inspiring social commentary. And
Elise Bryant who brilliantly sings labor words to Gospel
tunes, led us many times in labor union and workers'
songs, including ending the conference with Solidarity
Forever as we all held hands.

LET'SSUPPORTTHE
UNION CAMPAIGNTO ORGANIZE
WOMEN WORKERS!
If you want more information on the results of the survey or any other aspect of the conference please write
Kathleen Kelley c/ o the WILPF office in Philadelphia. ■
Kathleen Kelley is on the U.S. Section WILPFBoard and
is co-chair of WILPF's Labor Committee.

December 1997

15

As Land Mines Go,
So Go Nuclear Weapons
by Anabel __
Dwyer

.·
A

whopping 87 percent of Americans agree that we
need agreements to eliminate nuclear weapons,
imilar to those negotiated and signed to eliminate chemical and biological weapons. A broad majority,
74 percent, disagree with the fact that the U. S. government spends more o_nbuilding and maintaining its
nucleiir weapons than it spends providing head start programs,_ fighting illiteracy and providing college scholarships combined." ("Findings on Nuclear Weapons," April
1, 1997, Lake Sosin Snell & Associates.)
Such strong desires, which surprised even the pollsters,
may not indicate that most people stand ready to abandon violence altogether, but they certainly show we'd prefer to secure our future by means other than ecocide. As
pollster Celinda Lake said at a congressional briefing,
"The people are way ahead of Congress." How then do
we enact sensible and popular views as U. S. policy and
move beyond the nuclear age?
This country purports to operate according to the rule
of law, yet Congress and the Administration ignore our
present legal "obligation to pursue in good faith and bring
to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects" as affirmed unanimously by the
International Court of Justice.
Thus, while most people now understand that effective
law depends upon agreement, the Administration and
Congress cling to the view that the rule of law depends
upon force and refuse to abandon the annual $33 billion
expenditure for "the ultimate force," nuclear weapons.

It's up to us to transform a system in
which:
• 51 cents out of every discretionary federal tax dollar
goes to the military and only 7 cents to education
• Lockheed /Martin, McDonnell Douglas/Boeing and
BDM, all major military contractors, sit on an "independent" board to conduct the quadrennial defense
review (Nation 5/26/97)

16 December 1997

• The Lockheed Employees PAC was one of the top
contributors to federal candidates in 1995-96 (Post
5/14/97)
• All branches of the Pentagon have lobbying offices in
the Capitol
• Michigan alone has lost $10 billion annually in taxes
to the Pentagon since 1980 and is now plagued by 33
hazardous radioactive sites and 25 corporations
enmeshed in nuclear weapons production.

Ending Kick-Back Schemes for
Perpetuating Killing
Citizens need now to comprehend the workings of the
nuclear part of the military-industrial complex. Let's consolidate the information in a report on "U. S.
Corporations doing business in Nuclear Weapons and
Nuclear Waste: Who profits? Who suffers?" modeled
after the Human Rights Watch Arms Project report by
Andrew Goodpaster on "U. S. Corporations and
Antipersonnel Landmines."
As with landmines, the real costs of nuclear weapons
and nuclear power are not borne by those who make the
profits. Dangers :and specific horrors of radiation to people and our environment must be as graphically shown as
the terrible injuries caused by landmines. People can
then focus actions to end any participation in such
ruinou~ activity.
Based on extensive presentations, the International
Court of Justice conclu9ed that nuclear weapons are illegal because of the facts. "Nuclear weapons can not be
contained in either space or time. They have the_potential to destroy all civilization and the entire ecm;ystem·of
the planet. The radiation released by a nuclear explosion
would affect health, agriculture, natural resources and
demography over a very wide area. Further, the use of
nuclear weapons would be a serious danger to future generations."
It is in,ctimbent on_us all to face tµe real pain and suff\:)ring caused by the mining, production and testing of
uranium, ._aswell as the l,lSeof nuclear weapons.
Furtherriiore, we must hear the people of Hiro~hima and
:Nagasaki, the Marshall Islands, Chernobyl, indigenous
people from.many parts of the·wor~d, atomic veterans 1
victims of radiation experiments and down-winders. The

Pean~;& Freedom

realities can be presented in usable and accessible forms,
readily available to counter the continuing lies and to
insure that the horrors never happen again.
Unhooking ourselves from the nuclear debacle requires
identification and assessment of corporations that do business in hazardous nuclear weapons, waste and power. In
Michigan we are bringing together people from many
peace, justice and environmental organizations around the
Great Lakes Basin to link knowledge and presentations of
the hazards with actions for nuclear independence.
Nuclear-free zones and selective purchasing ordinances
and acts, stockholder initiatives and divestiture actions,
declarations of nuclear independence, invitations and
demands to corporations to cease production or deployment of nuclear weapons, demands for environmental
cleanup and safe waste disposal and an end to caps on
insurance liability for accidents, all will hasten serious

good faith negotiations for a treaty to eliminate all nuclear
weapons and achieve the demise of nuclear power.
It is our view that through concerted efforts rooted in
an informed and active grass-roots, we can make rapid
progress toward nuclear disarmament and as part of the
process stop other probes like Cassini, subcritical tests
and development and expansion of nuclear weapons and
of NATO. But we operate under no illusions. DOD and
DOE continue busily tying the failing nuclear power
industry into the disastrous nuclear weapons business
through tritium production, mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel and
plans to continue the nuclear wasting of the Western
Shoshone people and lands.
Weapons manufacturers and DOD have also devised
various ways of making information difficult to come by.
U.S. official reporting from the Procurement Data Center
only includes prime contracts over $25,000. Ask your
member of Congress for information on who has both
prime contracts and subcontracts for what military hardware in your state and at what cost. In addition, much of
the nuclear technology in dual-use involves nuclear waste
such as depleted uranium which the Pentagon hands out to
weapons contractors with no accounting as to amounts or
effects.
But the facts of health and environmental effects of
radiation speak most forcefully. When they are specifically collected, we can also connect contributions to candidates with corporations doing business in nuclear or dualuse weapons, delivery systems or nuclear waste and thereby unravel some of the illicit reasons why the nuclear age
as dangerous as it is has hung on as long as it has. This
will lead to findings of many below board activities including refurbishing F-lSs and F-16s to give away or sell with
subsidies so that F-22s are "needed" to "defend" against
"enemies" made by the military contractors themselves.
Milo Minderbinder would recognize such schemes.
Think of the wonderful lyrics for a battery of raging
grannies singing of compensation and cleanup from those
who profit from gross human and environmental harm.
Capitol Hill might never be the same as we increasingly
and more pointedly demand an end to the demented war
games which still command most of our public purse. ■

Anabel Dwyer, a Michigan attorney, is a member of
WILPF and the Board of the Lawyers' Committee on
Nuclear Policy.

Peace& Freedom

December 1997

1-

Leadership Institute WILPF's Loving Transformation
..............................................................................

Report from a participant of the Leadership Institute of U.S. WILPF's National Congress in Greeley, CO in 1996. Ooer
one year later, she shares her thoughts on her life since LI.
by Beth Lerch
..............................

I

t has been a very hard year for me personally, professionally and organizationally - probably due, in part,
to a greater realization of my self that came from the
Leadership Institute. "Smooth transition" seems like an
oxymoron to me! However, a "loving transition" has
become a powerful force in my life.
Upon my initial return, I was able to take a hard look
at my fading relationship with my partner and realize that
he was not a man whose belief system I respected; therefore this was not the person with whom I wanted to build
a family. Knowing how much peace and justice issues
mean to my life made that decision so much easier, and
we separated in a very understanding and loving way.
So, regarding "Leadership," I can honestly say that having a concentrated time period to examine ideas about
peace and justice allowed me to form a life-mission for
myself. I wish that every one had such a privilege.
My second transition this year was a professional one.
At leadership, I had a vision regarding my work and
returned to Los Angeles holding that vision in my mind. I
had been freelance writing and working for a morally and
financially corrupt film producer. He ran out of money
completely, and my "temp" agency sent me to a wonderful, progressive company called Rhino Entertainment.
This company is everything I thought a company could
not be: community-oriented, multi-cultural, and socially
and environmentally conscious. Employees are encouraged to do lots of community service (My WILPF times
counts!) and are rewarded with time-off. And very importantly our products are great, which was a key part of the
vision: to produce media projects that promote peace
and/ or celebrate multi-culturalism. It has been a nice
merging of career and organizational work.

18 December 1997

Finally, my greatest challenge this year has been living
up to the responsibilities of being Co-Chair of the Los
Angeles WILPF branch. I'm happy to say that I have used
some of the tools' from the Leadership Institut~ to teach
the elder members a few tricks, but I am certain they've
taught me so much more!
We face issues such as motivation, membership participation, geographical difficulties, night driving, time constraints, and lack of technological understanding.
However, we are continuing to "book" and promote
monthly speakers that tie in with the national as well as
our local goals. We are also in a long-term process of
reaching out to our inactive members in an effort to find
ways to involve them to a greater degree. A personal challenge is time management of various obligations: building
a career, dedicating time to writing, and organizing. I
often have the feeling that no matter how much time I
devote to organizing, it is not enough because there is so
much to be done. Perhaps other young women who struggle with career and family obligations feel the same pressures. This concerns me. I wonder if that is one of the
reasons we have few young members. It is hard to consistently work at something and not feel a sense of progress
or success; it makes it hard to continue giving what little
free time you have to an unending job. I guess it comes
back to the need to create your own internal sense of
accomplishment and feeling content in knowing you are
doing what you can. This is what I struggle with now, in
an effort not to burn.out on organizing. If anyone has any
tips or words of wisdom, I would love to hear them! ■

Beth Lerch participated in WILPF's Leadership Institute
in 1996. She is on the Young Women's Caucus and is
Co-chair of the Los Angeles WILPF branch.

Peace & Freedom

Leadershi /Outreach

....................................................

I

'W:

an ~iring
experience,
it was to meet you. " - "It
was great to make the connections between war and domesticvi<>lenoe."- "I want to be a member!"- "Put
me on the mailing list." These are responses from students as Felioity Hilltours the
U.S. college campuses and high schools for

WILPF.
I feel nothing but excitement about
membership growing in leaps and bounds.
The excitement stems from doing somethingnew, something different, gettingnew
tnergy from new people. Felicity sends
,reports in about her tour, every two weeks. They are:mtcW
withher reactions, dialogues and general enthusiasm
llhouther interactions with primarilyooJ1egeage~
She has also spoken with some high school students and
hasfoundthat even at that ~ age, activists are thirsting for information and waysto be comtected to other
IMXlvists.
Felicity has been collecting namesof students
aadotlF
ers who want more information about WILPF,
want fo
become members, and want to start groups on~.
It bas become a tedious task to put those names
ona
mainlist, to respond to particuJar
t'e<)UUts,to follow-up
withnew group assistance. BUTIT IS A JOYFUL
TASK!!
It keeps the work of membership alive and growing. This
campus tour has planted seeds for WILPFand has opened
many doors. We realize that youngwomen on~
want to make the connections between academics:dlld
activism.We know now that we can contact C1Ui1ptJ$
WomenCenters, Women Studies programs and Peace
We can bring speakers to the campus
Studiesprograms.
andshare our visions and expertise with the next generation.

Peace& Freedom

Human Rights and Disarmament Interns from International
WILPF office.

We also realize that all young women are not on campuses. What other groups can we approach where young
women are also thirsting to tell their stories and looking
for a community to support them? (See "It Takes A
Village" )
And what would happen if we "came off the mountain"
and went to organizations of women of color, working
women, progressive women of faith, and lesbians? What
would happen if we sat at their tables and shared each
other's stories? Would we triple our membership by the
year 2000? Yes, we would. Do you hear a challenge coming on? Yes, you do. If everyone got two people to join
WILPF, we would triple our membership. Why is tripling
the membership important? Because in recruiting people
to join WILPF, we are, paraphrasing Betty Burkes U.S.
Section WILPF President, asking one more person to
work for peace.
As I talk with members around the country, both at
large and in branches, I hear how very proud we are of
the work we do for peace and justice. But are we proud
out loud? Let's be PROUD OUT LOUD!! ■

December 1997

19

BabyTeeth

I

t was about forty years ago, shortly after the first
nuclear bomb tests ushered in the nefarious Nuclear
Age, when St. Louis scientists discovered strontium 90
in baby teeth,' setting, off such pandemonium and demonstrations among women that Kennedy and Kruschev finally agreed to ban nuclear testing above ground. That
Partial Test Ban Treaty, signed in 1963, is still in existence .(the n~w Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty awaits ratification), although WILPF hopes ALL nuclear weapons
and tests will soon be :gone with the WIND (Women Insist
on Nuclear Disarmament) Campaign, and for agreement
among the nuclear powers by 2000 to draft a Nuclear
Weapons Convention.
Meanwhile, we still must deal with radioactive pollution
from nuclear reactors, which is undoubtedly a serious but
often neglected factor in the increasing rise in cancer and
other immune-deficiency diseases. Jay Gould, head of the
Radiation and Public Health Project, is once again collecting baby teeth. Gould, internationally known epidemiologist who has painstakingly analyzed data indicating that
living near nuclear reactors is dangerous, wants to prove
clinically what he has already shown statistically.
Therefore, Radiation and Public Health is analyzing baby
teeth from children born in recent years and WILPF can
help. F<;>r
instructions and a video that can be used to
sprea,d the word, the baby teeth hotline number is 1-800582-3716. ,
Spreading the word is not easy in these times. The
nuclear power and weapons industry is so powerfully
entrenched that when National WILPF held a press conference for Jay Gould, nobody came! We escorted him to
the White Dog Cafe, where he gave a fine talk, but there
was no media coverage. We arranged bookstore appearances, and a local branch held a public meeting which
was well attended, but hostile, whipped up by a former
power company's head of nuclear systems. A local symposium on Women's Health has no plans to discuss radiation
as a fact<?,rin the brea~t cancer epidemic! So once again,
it's µp to us.· ■
Kay Camp.
WILPF Disarmament Committee Chair

20 December 1997

Office of War ·Crimes
by Suzy T. Kane
..................................

W

ile it is admirable that Secretary of State
Madeleine K. Albright wants to give the issues
f war crimes, genocide and crimes against
humanity a high priority in U.S. foreign policy, she has as
her ultimate goal the creation of a permanent international criminal court. Why does she find it necessary to
bypass the already existing United Nations International
Court of Justice whose very purpose is to hold jurisdiction over international law? Think of the lives t)iat might
have been saved if in 1963 Iraq had been allowed to take
its border dispute with Kuwait before this already existing
world court. That is what Iraq wanted to do, we learn in
Phyllis Bennis' Calling the Shots. Instead, Iraq was held
off by the United Nations Security Council.
The truth about war crimes is universally nonpartisan, but Secretary Albrig}Jt seems to be declaring the
United States as the true north on the world's moral compass. The Secretary's newly appointed U.S. Ambassador at
Large for War Crimes David J. Scheffer can hope, as The
New York Times recently reported, to "establish at least 'a
record' if not a prosecution of war crimes that the United
States believes Iraq committed against the Kurds and the
Kuwaitis." But will Scheffer be free to turn as diligent an
eye on his own government?
A Commission of Inquiry spearheaded by former U.S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark, for instance, collected
evidence and testimony to substantiate a nineteen-point
indictment of the United States that it presented at public
hearings held in twenty-eight U.S. cities and in fifteen
countries around the world. On the one-year anniversary .
of the Persian Gulf War, an International War Crimes
Tribunal of twenty-one judges from seventeen countries
that Clark convened in New York found George Bush,
Danforth Quayle, James Baker, Richard Cheney, Colin
Powell, Norman Schwarzkopf and others guilty as charged
with war crimes against Iraq, crimes against peace and
crimes against humanity. Where was public discussion of
these charges? The truth knows no sovereign borders. ■
Ms. Kane, a WILPF member, is writing "The Hidden
History of the Persian Gulf War."
I

Peace & Freedom

Women Challengin
"Women's stake and responsibility in security are beyo
energy from the discussion

T

his statement about the relationship between power and
gender caught my attention last June while preparing to
participate in a symposium in South Korea. I was invited to represent WILPF at an international women's peace conference titled "The Women's Movement and Peace in the 21st
Century - Women Peace and Reconciliation," in Seoul.
The conference was organized by KWAU, (Korean Women's
Association United) and financially supported by the American
Friends Service Committee (AFSC). It brought together women
from Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Africa, East Germany, East
Timor and WILPF.Women from Vietnam and North Korea
were invited but unable to attend. The following are excerpts
from my talk - "A Process for Women Creating an
International Women's Peace Network"

e Politics of Power
, yet it is their gender that excludes their voice and

andthe. halls of power.

II

r[d~
Forwomen ine peed and desireto nurtureeachother is
r:"
ct~tiy¢
l:)ndwhere we discoverour power.
m_·t<'
Aspeac(:!activistsour taskis to challengethe politicsof power.
an Ashwaride~on5tratesthat women negotiatingfor peace
af<fltf~rentsensitivityto the processthat forgesa discourse
gguagethat is both daring and defiant.Thedefianceis
·on self respect,with the confidenceof our own valueas
beingswho cr~atelife, not gestroyit.,
mendefiningis.suesof peace keep peaceat the center of
'.ationswith the patriarchy.Strugglingcollectively,we cre(6rct! for changethaf can not be achievedindividually.
ing internationalfy.givesus the opportunity to take our
strugglesout of the dornain of nation statesinto the
international arena.
Internationalorganizingoffersdiversityand
dhn.J3nds
that we examine~nd confront our

In an interviewlastyear,Dr. HananAshwari,
a central spokespersonfor the Palestinian
peoplein the negotiationswith Israel and
the United States,revealed the rationale
and missionof an internationalWomen's
PeaceNetwork.
J
Shetalked about her "deep and abiding commitmentto a senseof justice that
is not abstract,but one that is translated
into realities, a sense of justice which
imbueslife with real meaningand makesit
own weaponsof violence,racism,sexism,
worthliving."
dassism,heterosexism,and ageism.Thesedistortions prevent us from being the peacethat
Certainlythat commitmentis basicto women
we want to create in the world. Theyinterfere with
networkingfor peacebecausewithout justice there
our vision. ,,
canbe no peace,without peacethere can be no freedom.
•
Audre Lotde reminds us that we can not dismantlethe masWe gatherto considerand inquire into the difficultiesand
er's housewith the inaster'stools. Differencesignitethe sparkof
opportunitiesfor building unity,direction,and designinto the
. geativity,the energythat fuels the replacementof the cultureof
frameworkof an InternationalWomen'sPeaceNetwork.A strong
war.
Thereare countlessassociationsin placearoundthe world but
forceunitingus is our survivalof the Patriarchyand the ingenious
ere is alwaysan externalforce interveningto keepus apart,
inventionsthat haveenabledus to resistthe war culture.
Stressing
the humanaspectof peaceand reallyfocusingon
i,ng~omeof us insiders,some'of.usoutsiders.We haveto
thatwhichis keyto the vision of an InternationalWomen'sPeace
Sl:;;tntly
interruptthat destructiveimpulseanddo the personal
rkon ourselvesthat makesworking collaborativelypossible.If
Network.Peaceis a riskyand dangerousundertakingin a culture
drivenby violenceand war and dedicatedto the propositionof
fariln this task, the patriarchywill go on shapingthe content of
dominationand control.The solidarityof women internationally
r li:V!:lSand the qualityof our relationshipsto eachother.
providesthe power to seeknew waysof being in the world and
Wemust,adopta languageof inclusionto makeus more intengenerates
the courageto act. In this context,peacebecomes
eliberate,resilientand intelligentaboutaccessing
and nurmorethanjust a political exercise.The humandimensionand geng~igegderagendafor peace,for truth, for reconciliation.
ma'lly,
I believethat women can and mustre-imaginethe
derawareness
that women weavetogethermakepeacea genuine
objective.
qnt to live in, celebratethe life we haveand be vigilant
J{..ofwhat is right,rememberingthatnetworkingfor
Womenassurvivorsknow the power of resistance.We havea
sourceof strength,a senseof valueand self definition inherited
■
eginsin our own backyards.
fromresisting,perseveringand surviving.We are healersand our
ttyJJurkes - U.S. ~ction President
powerfrom within hasalwaysservedas an agentof changein the

Betty Burkes
U.S. Section President

Peace& Freedom

December 1997

21

How did WILPF come ••
to explore the issueof drug policy_refqrm?
····················································································-························

the wonien proposed specifically that WJLPF's U.S. Section take up the que$tion of the so-called

"war on drugs" that is being waged. Of! .peasants~
.

•

• 4; .

·,

"unwanted people" and "sub'Versi'Ves" in Colombia under the pretext.of keeping the citizens of the United States clean and sober.

0

n the 1995 Peace Train to Beijing, a group of
Colombian women approached members of
WILPF's U.S.. delegation to the 4th World
Conference on Women and asked that they affirm their
commitment to working cooperatively toward justice
and peace in the Western Hemisphere. They were
referring to the Women's Peace and Justice Treaty of
the Americas signed in Bolivia in 1992; the women proposed specifically that WILPF's U.S. Section take up the
question of the so-called "war on drugs" that is being
waged on peasants, "unwanted people" and "subversives"
in Colombia under the pretext of keeping the citizens of
the United States clean and sober.
WILPF took on the task of educating our members
and staff on the issue of the U.S. "drug war" in the
Andes. We discovered many parallels between the
effects on the lives of women from the increased militarization in the Andes and in U.S. cities. Due to the
political hype that has surrounded "getting tough on
crime," the United States government has increased
funding for military aid to Colombia at an alarming rate
and increased its military presence in United States
civilian areas, especially the area that borders Mexico.
Families in both Colombia and the United States are
facing increased civil and human rights abuses due to
the heavy military presence in their communities.
The initial investigation on the "drug war" was carried out by researching material published by human
rights groups, interviewing organizations that provide

22 December 1997

services to communities affected by drugs, _and by
WILPF members traveling to Colombia to meet ·with
communities that have been under siege ]?y heavily
U.S.- supported military and paramilitary gr<;mpsfor
many years. With the information gathered over several
months, we decided t~at we would take on the responsibility of calling this war by its real name: the latest
excuse for a heightened United States military presence
in the Americas. A Drug Policy Committee was formed
within WILPF to discuss the ways in which WILPF's
commitment to U.S. non-intervention in Latin America
could be coupled with support for U.S. communities living in our "drug war zones," which include all U.S.
urban centers and, arguably, the entire country, since
we are all in some way affected by the short-comings of
our national drug policy.
We have begun to build relationships with women in
the United States that are working toward a more
humane drug policy, always informing them that they
are not alone in their struggle to change the oppressive
nature of the punitive "drug war." The recent. Drug
Policy Foundation Conference in New Orleans gave us
the opportunity to participate in a gathering of a
diverse group of drug policy reformers; our next step is
to connect these reformers with the Colombian women
with whom we've worked to form a stronger and more
complete global reform movement.
My experiences representing WILPF at the 11th
International Conference on Drug Policy Reform sponsored by the Drug Policy Foundation were overwhelm-

Peace & Freedom

YOUHAVE A FEMALE AeTION FIGURE
THAT SPEAKS OUT AGAINST
DISCR/MIIVAT/ON ANO WA,f l?
ingly positive. Apparently, there were a lot more
women at this year's Conference than at any previous
DPFevent. We had a women's luncheon on the second
day of the conference at which 45 women expressed a
need and desire to wage a drug policy reform campaign
with women at its center, making an impact on drug
policy by publicizing personal accounts of the "drug
war's"effects on women's lives. The women present at
the luncheon were very open and eager to make this an
international effort by forming alliances with women
from "supply countries"; they immediately understood
the impact that U.S. punitive drug policies are having
on communities throughout the Andean coca-growing
region. Many of these women had joined the reform
movement as mothers wanting to provide their children
with more responsible drug education than is currently
available through programs like DARE, others were former drug users concerned with providing effective services to those currently living with addiction, many had
lost family members to HIV ... the stories are all rich
and compelling; it's time that they be heard and inform
policy decisions.
There were people at the Conference doing work on

Peace& Freedom

medical marijuana, harm reduction through syringe
exchange programs, treatment alternatives to incarceration, methadone maintenance, HIV/ AIDS education and
prevention, legal advocacy and policy work on decriminalization and alternative models to U.S. punitive drug
policy; all shared a desire to see a just, healthy and
more even-handed policy. The main message was clear:
current policy represents a war on people, not on
drugs, and there are smarter ways to lessen the negative effects of drugs on a society without doing as much
harm as the "drug war"' has done.
Robin Lloyd gave a presentation at the plenary session on women that moved many to express joy and
excitement at having WILPF as an ally to their policy
reform movement. Many people approached me upon
finding out that WILPF was interested in working on
drug policy reform from an international human rights
perspective and offered information and support as we
work toward defining what a more just policy will mean
for us.
Robin and I were able to solidify plans to sponsor a
national tour featuring women from the U.S. and
Colombia speaking on the same platform on the effects
of the "drug war" within their communities, highlighting
harm reduction alternatives in the U.S. and alternatives
to military support for Colombia. We will be working
with an international group of women that will lead our
work in this area. The next step will be to plan, carry
out and publicize the national speaking tour for women.
The focus of WILPF's work for the next several
months will be to bring women's voices into the drug
policy debate, empowering women to participate in
important policy decisions and adding an important element to the struggle for reform in an area where it is
badly needed. ■
Please contact Andrea Saenz to become in'Dolved in
WILPF's work in the area of U.S. non-inter'Oention and
drug policy reform. 215-563-7110 or
wilpfnatl@igc.apc.org
Andrea Saenz
U.S. WILPF Peace and Justice Treaty Coordinator.

December 1997

23

Action·
School Of The Americas - A Notorious Chapter in the
History of the U.S.
by Ruth Hunter
.................................

II There

is no excuse for a federally-subsidized school for murderers. I can think of no earthly reason why our government should be
using taxpayers' money to support
killing and torture ... " - Rep. Sam
Farr (D-CA). This terse condemnation referred to the U.S. Army School
of the Americas (SOA) on the
grounds of Fort Benning, GA. The
school, originally established in 1946
in Panama, relocated in 1984, to
comply with the terms of the Panama
Canal Treaty of 1977, was ostensibly
begun as a training for Latin

American military. In reality, the
beginning of the cold war was a signal for strengthening the U.S. foreign
policy in the Western Hemisphere.
The mission of the school, as stat'ed in the army brochure, is to "provide doctrinal sound relevant military
education and training to the nations
of Latin America; promote democratic values and respect human rights."
Father Roy Bourgeois, founder of
SOA watch, has challenged the true
role of the school, evidenced by its
notorious alumni charged with flagrant abuse of human rights. Many

Women's
Conference
••1tCuba
, womenfrom all overthe world will
$ women'sissuesfrom a globalper-

teinthe latestfollow-up to the 4th
r.omen
in Beijing.TheConferenceis
Federationof CubanWomen,the
eQ.fora Lifewith Dignity,and the
mocraticFederation;
WILPFis one of
sponsors.We will be puhlicizingthis
nal Sectionsand U.S.Branchesand
astronginternationalWILPFpresd the word.
WorkingCommissions
to develop
e following:
SustainableDevelopment
articipation
ation, Culture and Social
e and Discrimination
l Jndependence,Sovereigntyand

24 December 1997

have been honored in the school's
Hall of Fame during the decades of
the 80's and 90's - decades that have
been drenched in the blood of civilian populations of both Central and
South America.
Rep. Martin Meehan echoed other
lawmakers when he said, "If SOA held
an alumni association meeting, it
would bring together some of the most
unsavory thugs in the hemisphere."
These include Gen. Manuel Noriega,
ex-dictator of Panama and prisoner of
U.S. on drug charges, Roberto
D'Aubuisson, late Salvadoran death
squad leader, Gen. Leopoldi Galtieri,
President of Argentina, accused of
"dirty War" when an estimated 30,000
disappeared, Gen. Hugo Banzer, dictator of Bolivia who developed the
Banzer Plan which became the blueprint for repression in Latin America,
and Gen. Hector Gramajo, Guatemala
Defense Minister, notorious for instigating the death of thousands of Mayans,
union leaders, human rights worker
and the religious.

Opportunitiesto shareexperiences,
strategies
anddevelop
modelsfor globalwomen'ssolidarityareall a part of the
ConferenceandU.S.Delegationprogram.
U.S.SectionWlLPfis buildinga U.S.Women'sDelegation
alongwith MA[)RE,GlobalExchange
and Hermanas.Travel
packageswill be madeavailablesoonandwill includea
week-longprogramin Havanawith an optionfor someextra
daysin Cuba(o visit one of the easternprovinces.Datesand
pricesarestill tentative,but it is not too earlyto savethe dates
betweenthe 11to the 21 of April, 1998,startsavingyour penniesand beginraisinga scholarship
fund for low-incomewomen
and students.
Theapproximatecostfor the trip from Nassauwill be between
$1,000and $J,100;thisjncludesConferenceregistration,airfare,
transportationto andfrom programevents,housing,breakfast
and dinnerdaily,experiencedtrip leaders,pre• delegationstudy
packets,informalvisitsand more.
If you areinterestedin receivingdetailedinformationon the
Delegationand/orjoiningWILPPs.
CubaActionCommittee,
pleasecontactAndreaS-enzat 215• 563• 7110and
wilpfnatl@igc.apc.org
or JanStroutat 609• 448• 3819•

Peace& Freedom

I

Since the early 90 's, the evidence for clos~n~

down the SOA has been mounting.

The trail leading to the expose of
the SOA begun in the late 1980's,
became the compelling mission of
father Roy. When four Maryknoll sisters were raped and murdered in El
Salvador, he began to search for their
executioners, an odyssey that led him
to the SOA. He is convinced that the
school is a breeding ground for assassins, a belief held by the Panamanian
newspaper, La Prensa, when they
dubbed it the "School of the
Assassins." Father Roy's assertion was
validated by the disclosure of the UN
Truth Commission's 1994 report of
human rights abuses in Latin
America. The report named many
SOA graduates who were responsible
for the 900 dead in Mozote, El
Salvador, the death of Archbishop
Oscar Romero and the executions of
the six Jesuit priests, housekeeper

GiveTheGiftOfWILPF!
Are you looking for the perfect winter holidaygift for your mother, daughter,partner,sister,or friend? Searching
for a way to opt out of the corporate
spendi'ngsplurgethat marksthe year's
end in our money-drivensociety?
CelebrateChanukah,Christmas,
Kwanza,or Solsticewith a gift to
WILPF.Honor your loved ones with a
gift membershipor a contribution "inhonor-of."If you would like to support
WILPFand have a personalizedgreeting card sent to the person you are
honoring,contact Beth Trigg at the
nationaloffice at (215) 563-7110.

StockMarketBonanza
Rememberyou can give gifts of
appreciatedstock to WILPFor to our
educationalfund, the JaneAddams
PeaceAssociation(JAPA).Make taxdeductiblegifts of stock to JAPA,777
UN Plaza,New York, NY 10017.■

Peace& Freedom

and her daughter. Many of those
who were accused of torture, rape
and death were alumni of the SOA.
Another shocking story surfaced in
1996, when the U.S. Intelligence
Oversight Committee reported that
seven manuals, removed from the
SOA curriculum in 1991, taught procedures in torture, family intimidation, executions, false arrests, and
other methods to "stabilize" the population. The removal of these manuals
from the SOA curriculum was labeled
"damage control" by the Pentagon.
However, no one has been held
responsible for their circulation during the training, which included thousands of the 59,000 Latin American
military graduates.
Since the early 90's, the evidence
for closing down the SOA has been
mounting. Rep. Joseph Kennedy has
introduced legislation several times
demanding closure. Each time it has
been defeated; however, the pressure
is increasing. Father Roy, who had
been incarcerated for two years at
intermittent intervals for trespassing
on the grounds at Fort Benning, continues to initiate dramatic events to
draw attention to this notorious page
in the history of the U.S. army. On
November 16, 1996, 500 supporters
gathered outside the gates of the
school, each carrying a cross, commemorating the seventh anniversary
of the slaying of the Jesuit priests.
Sixty supporters were arrested when
they "crossed the line" in an attempt
to plant crosses bearing the names of
the victims of rape, torture and death
dealt by the graduates of the SOA.
In April of this year, another
guerilla theater act, dramatized at the

Pentagon, was led by a figure dressed
as Uncle Sam, dragging Latin
American poor, surrounded by mo· 1soldiers. The funeral procession th.
followed witnessed the re-enactment
of a death squad-style execution.
Seventeen members of the funeral
procession crossed the line to begin
digging a mass grave and were
promptly arrested. Father Roy
declared, "We brought the SOA trail
of suffering back to the place where
it begins - the Pentagon."
Once again, an action to close the
SOA is on the drawing board. Plans
included a protest by 1,000 supporters who converged at the main gate
of Fort Benning on November 13-16,
each bringing 1,000 signed signatures
demanding closure of the U.S. Army
"School of Assassins." The action, a
vigil and civil disobedience, commemorated the 8th year since the
massacre of the Jesuit priests.
1,000 TIMES 1,000 Campaign to
close the school has 100 co-sponsors
in Congress who have signed on to
Rep. Joseph Kennedy's bill, H.R. 611.
.A companion bill in the Senate, S980
introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin
has been co-sponsored by Senators
Paul Wellstone, Dianne Feinstein and
Robert Torricelli. For those who wish
to participate in the campaign, contact Father Roy Bourgeois, P.O. Box
3330, Columbus, GA 31903.
Father Roy's plea to close the
school echoes across the nation. "I
have no doubt that...the School of the
Americas which has caused so much
death· and misery to our sisters and
brothers abroad ...will close ...We will

.

SJ?eak from prison ...from our
cells ... the truth cannot be silenced,
the truth cannot be chained." ■
Ruth Hunter is a member of Santa

Cruz WILPF.

December 1997
I

2S

,-Peace
~d,
ft Takes
a Village

JaneAddams
BookAwards

,
A familystartsits weekendin DelawareCounty... daughter
arriveshomefrom schoolwheresheis a peermediatorin the district'snew conflictresolutionprogram...toddlersonis tiredafterplaygroupwherethe parentsencouragetheirchildrenin nonviolent,
nonsexist,
noo-TV-based
play...andthe parentspreparefood for a
communitypotluckandcooperativegameseveningtomorrow.
ln1thE!'mailarrivesa newsletterwith an articleabout the challengeof guidingchildrenthroughthe culturaldangersof adolescence,·~ well asannouncements
about communityeventsand an
updateabout the powerfulcampaignto end child labor in the
third·world.Here is a familythat feelssupportedin its effort to
raisechildrennonviolentlyand to participatein a broadermovementfor socialchange.
It Takesa Village,a parentingprojectof the Women's
Internationalleague for Peaceand Freedom,hasgeneralmeetingseverythree weeks.Thefirst portion of the meetingis devoted
to reflectionand sharingand in the secondpart we planactions
andeventsand makeorganizationaldecisions.Our second
Saturdayseriesbeganin Junewith an eventcalled"TheRoleof
Childrenand FamilyLifein SocialChangeWork."We beganby
wafuhingthe provocativefilm •A World Apart,•then brokeinto
smallgroupsto shareour own challengesabout integratingsocial
contems/activisrilwith raisingchildren.Theeveningwas
enhancedby further multi-generational
discussionovera potluck
dinner.July'ssecondSaturdayfound us at an eveningof cooperative gamesfor the whole family.In Septemberwe were proud to
present"AdolescentSelfand Society:EmpoweringGirls,
Transforming
Our Culture.•It wasa resoundingsuccess,drawing
about40 adultsand 20 children,mostof them new to our group.
An excerptfromthe film "StiUKillingUs Softly' enhancedour
smaffgroupdiscussionof our own experiencesand concerns
aboutgirls.We brainstormeda list of forcesthat disempowergirls
andforcesthat empowerthem:We werealsohappyto hearpresentationsfrom PhiladelphiaRrotGirls,a supportand action
groupfor young radicalfeminists;andfrom the Summer
CommunityLeamingProject,a successful
summerprogramfor the
of SwarthmoreColfegestaff.In October,we heldanother·
daughters
greatcooperativegamesdayandthe topicfor our Novemberevent
was'HohdaysWithout the Hype,•in whichwe exploredwaysto simp&fyandde-commercialize
familycelebrations.
It Takesa Villagehasbeena wonderfulgroupfor all of us and it
is growingall the time. We are both gratefulto and inspiredby the
Swarthmore-Delco
branchof WILPFfor creatinga parentsgroup
andcontinuingto supportus in so manyways.Anyonewith questionsor commentsis invitedto contactus throughSusanEberleat
(610)56&-5493or Robinlasersohnat (610)891-8968.■

by WendyUnderhill

~6 December 1997

After reviewingover 200 worksof juvenileliterature,WILPF's
nationwidecommitteeto selectthe JaneAddamsChildren'sBook
Awardsfor 1996hasmadeits final choices.
In the picturebook category,Wilma Unlimited:How Wilma
RudolphBecamethe FastestWomanin the World by Kathleen
Krull(HarcourtBrace;all ages)wasselected.Thisis a biographyof
an African-American
womanwho triumphedover childhoodpolio
- and povertyand racismin a smallTennessee
town-tobecome
the first Americanwomanto win threegold medalsin a single
Olympics.
.
Thewinner in the chapterbook categorywasGrowingUp in
·coal Countryby SusanCampbellBartoletti(HoughtonMifflin
Co.; grades4 and up).Thevoicesand picturesof the men,
women and childrenwho livedand workedin coal countrya century ago arecapturedin this non-fictionstoryof their exhausting
hoursof dangerousand often painfullabor.In spiteof exploitation, the warmthof familylife sustainedthem throughthe strikes
that finallywon betterworkingconditionsfor them.
Threehonor bookswere chosenaswell. Behindthe Bedroom
Wall by LauraE.Williams(MilkweedEditions;grades4-7)is a
page-turningnovelof a thirteen-year-old
girl who strugglesto
understandher loyaltyto a Naziyouth group duringWorld War II
when shediscoversthat her parentsare hidinga Jewishwoman
·andher child.
SecondDaughter:TheStoryof a SlaveGirl by Mildred Pitts
Walter(Scholastic;
grades6 and up) is basedon the true storyof
ElizabethFreeman,a slavein 18thcentury New England,who
took her caseto court in Massachusetts
andwon her freedom.
The lasthonor book,The Day GogoWent to Vote by Elinor
BatezatSisulu(LittleBrownand Co.;all ages)offersa child's-eyeview of a beloved100-year-old
great-grandmother's
first vote in
post-apartheid
SouthAfrica.Thebook capturesthe woman'spas·sionatedeterminationto participatein the democraticprocess.
TheJaneAddams'Children'sBookAwardshavebeengiven
annuallysince1953by WILPFand the JaneAddamsPeace
Associationto booksthat effectivelypromotepeace,socialjustice, world community,and the equalityof the sexesand all races.
JAPAhasa fund to enableWILPFbranchesto givecopiesof the
award-winningbooksto local libraries.A branchmayrequest
thesebooksfrom WILPF'sPhiladelphiaoffice for a nominalfee,
while supplieslast.Many brancheshold public eventsto call attention to the booksand WILPF.
A list of currentand pastwinnersand honor booksis available
by sendinga self-addressed
stampedenvelopeto the Jane
AddamsPeaceAssociation,777 UN Plaza,New York,NY 10017.
A supplementarylist of other 1996children'sbooksthat promote
■
peaceandjusticeis alsoavailablefor an additionalSASE.

Peace& Freedom

'

Boo~

BLOODRITES
- Originandt11I,....,
by Barbar~
Doesthe nameBarbaraEhrenreichring a
bell?Foryears,subscribersto The Nation,
Progressive,
Z magazine,Time and
Harper's
havereadand welcomedher
witty,irreverent,penetratingarticles.Her
books,too numerousto list, received
acclaim
from mainstreamcritics.
Herlatestbook, Blood Rites,represents
tenyearsof research,encompassingbiology,historyand culturalanthropology.I
worriedthat the materialwould be beyond
me,butwith her ever-presentdesireto
reacha broadaudience,Ehrenreichhas
crafteda book that is accessible,meaningful,provocativeand cautionary.Her originalinsightsand interpretationsgo a Ion~
wayin explainingwhy conflictsand wars
havebeenand continueto be the scourge
of humankind.
Goingbackover hundredsof thousands
ofyears,shedrawsa vivid picture of our
ancestors
asPREYof the mammothsand
carnivores
that roamedthe earth..These
awesome
predatorswere invulnerableto
sticksandstoneshurledfrom a distance.
Man'svulnerability,she believes,imprinted
adeep-rooted
terror of predationon the
human
psyche.Sheremindsus that this
fearis nurturedto this day by myths,folklore,oralhistories,fairy tales,and chi~
dren's
games.
A very limited reversalof roles
began
with collectiveresponsesto menacingbeastintruders,and with collective
stalking
of singleanimalsfor food. When
mandevelopedthe spear,about 25,000
years
ago,enablinghim to becomepredator,a senseof power and control deve~
oped.Thiscomparativelyrecentreversalof
roleshasnot,shecontends,alteredman's
innermost
fearof predation.
Tharcheological
record indicatesthat
vastclimaticchangesdecimatedwhole
species
of animals.Ehrenreich,however,
stresses
excessive
slaughterof game,by
manaspredator,asa strongfactor in

Peace
& Freedom

reducingareasuppliesof meat
believesa cavedra ngof 1.
(beforepresent)of
•
bow and arrow,repri ts
food. Throughoutth book
psychologicalimplic tionsof
flicts,surmisingthat cohesiveness,
altruism
and the need to expiatethe shedding
of
blood were by-products.
Ehrenreichutilizesthe historical
recordto
substantiatethat blood ritualsfunctioned
as religiousrites,and werethefirstform
of
organizedsociallyacceptable
violence.
~
Sheremindsus that the earlyHebrews,
foughtnot
Christians,Hindus,Aztecs,andMayans
butby inte
madeblood offeringsto appease
anangry, eth •
vengefulgod. As nation-states
developed,
religionsbecomeincreasingly
involved
Jna
nation'swars,"sacralizing"
warviaprayetS
and ritual blessings.Nationalism
is labeled
•
asour new religion,!tspervasive
impact
giving riseto unthinkingresponses
and
participation.With dangers
conjured
l!Pby
governmentand media,theatavistic
fear
of becomingprey is revivedandrevitalized. Ehrenreichcoinsanoriginal
phrase,
"the democratizationof glory,•
that,likea
virus,makesus mor susceptible
to calls
ofcommemfor war.Sheliststhe_panoply
orativeholidays,parades,
adorationof the
flag and medals(let me addgoldstat'$for
mothersto the list) t at ennobleswar.
f
would concludethat this"democratization
of glory" is designedto numboursense
of
grief and lossand to invokeanarliftcial
senseof patriotism.
The richnessof th authors
analysis
can
best be savoredand graspedby reading
her book. Ehrenreicn's
emphasis
on the
materialbasisof conflict putsto restearfier
instinct,• that
theoriesof an "innateaggressive
or "humannature•asthe primarycauseof
the
conflict and war. He stresson the primiwa,,wiU
tive fear of being prey,so easilystimulated
ANIN
by the variousmechanismsshedescribes, leaptl9ng
warrantscarefulconsideration.We are

.

-

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.,,.
w,,

con't

:.{ft~{

A Tribute To Yvonne Logan

Branch Action News

We join in celebrating the life of one who has served
on the board of the Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom and the Jane Addams Peace
Association for forty years at the local, regional, national
and international level. She has traveled on their behalf to
the USSR, Cuba, Czechoslovakia and Japan and to
Finland on the 1995 Peace Train.
She has served WILPF as St. Louis and National president and served on the JAPA board for many years and
on WILPF's International Executive Committee from
1992-1995.
Yvonne is presently director of the World Community
Center, the Missouri coordinator of the Great
Decisions Program of the Foreign Policy
Association and serves on the boards of St.
Louis Americans for Democratic Action,
the World Federalists and the United
Nations Associations.
During World war II Yvonne'swar time
job was in army intelligence at the
Pentagon. Since meeting Annalee Stewart,
WILPF'slongtime, dynamic legislativedirector, Yvonnehas advocated for disarmament to
the point of even going to jail.
She graduated from the University of Michigan, married Attorney Joseph P. Logan, raised four children and
engaged in many cultural activities such as acting, writing
peace skits and lyrics and serving on the board of the St.
Louis Repertory Theater.
From 1962-1967, Yvonne directed the Baby Tooth
Survey measuring the amount of Strontium 90 in baby
teeth all over the U.S. She also directed the Peace
Information Center from 1967-1975 during the Vietnam
War.
What we have reported above by no means covers all
the activities and all the capacities in which Yvonne has
served WILPF and JAPA. She has enriched the lives of all
who know her. Thank you, Yvonne, for everything!

LeslieReindl- BranchAction Editor

Reprintedfrom program of the St. Louis Ethical Society
honoringY~nne Logan and the Jane Addams Peace
Association.

28 December 1997

Nuclear and Military Issues
In connectionwith Abolition 2000 and the WIND (WomenInsist
on NuclearDisarmament)programof WILPF,FelicityHill hasbeen
hostedthroughoutthe fall by manybranches,includingPortland,San
Jose,Boston,Fresno,Sacramento,
and Colorado.Hill is the 29-yearold whirlwindactivistnow coordinatingthe WIND program.Sheis
traversingthe U.S.thisfall to discusswith WILPFersand othersall
sortsof issuesthat makethe world unsafefor humansand other
creatures,suchas NATOexpansion,domesticand internationalviolence,racismand homophobia,the failed"Waron Drugs,"and the
globalizedeconomy.
Sacramentourgesaction on the U.S.Departmentof Energy's
plan to begin shippingspent nuclearfuel from research
reactorsin PacificRimcountriesto DOE weapons
production sitesat SavannahRiver,SC,and Idaho
Falls,ID. The wastewill be shippedby train within
the U.S.Shipmentis to begin within the first four
monthsof 1998.
DesMoines,Swarthmoreand Portlandparticipatedin "A DayWithout the Pentagon,"a campaignspearheaded
by the War Resister's
League
that happenedacrossthe country on October 24.
Other PoliticalIssues
Ongoingissuesincludeattemptsto closethe Schoolof the
Americas,on which almostall brancheshaveworkedand are still
working(therewasa gatheringin at Fort Benning,GA in November).
Portlandshowedthe new video, "Insidethe Schoolof Assassins."
Fresno,DesMoines,Boston,Detroit,MinnesotaMetro, continue
work on the landminesissue.(TheU.S.and Chinaare now the only
holdoutson signingthe Ottawatreaty).Detroit urgedpeopleto
bringa pottedyellowor white mum to JaneAddams'dayeventon
October 25 - "plantmumsnot mines"is the theme.Swarthmore
includedin its Septembernewslettera 1997Action Guide,giving
Guidelinesfor PoliticalAction,the namesand addresses
of all representativesand theirdistricts,and of both senators,the nameand
addressof the governor,statesenators,the local newspapers,
the
DelawareCountyCouncil,and the TV and Radiophonenumbers.
GreatIdea!!
SanJosetabledat the librarywith literature,petitions,and postcardson currenthot issues.Fresnois urgingmembersto work to
"Free[Leonard]Peltier,"now in prison21 yearsfor the murdersof
two FBIagents.The evidenceand trialwere flawed;a petitionfor
executiveclemencycurrentlysitson the deskof AttorneyGeneral
JanetReno'sassistant.
Fresnois alsopublicizingRep.JohnConyers,
Jr.(D-MI}bill, H.R.753,the IntelligenceBudgetAccountabilityAct,
that callsfor disclosingthe amountof moneyour government
spendson intelligencework.
Peace & Freedom

Fundraisers
and SpecialBranchPrograms
Detroit held a theatrepartyfundraiser,invitingmembersto play"In
the SweetByeand Bye."BothMontereyandVancouverheld play
readingsby differentauthorsabout the meetingof women at The
Haguefrom both sidesof World War I that led to the foundingof
WILPF.Portlandis sellinga book of essaysand photographs,Oregon

Movie Review
GI Jane
by FelicityHill
Thisfilm is worse thanyou evenimagine.
Likethe PromiseKeepers,it reinforcesand
amplifiesthe very problemsit supposedly
exposesas evil. Let me explain- the Promise
Keepersare speakingdirectlyto a crisisin
masculinitythat is very real- the rigid role
that patriarchyprovidesis actuallyvery fragile becauseit is impossibleto fill. Insteadof
questioningit, the PromiseKeepersare
sharpeningit to razorbladeedges,staginga
quantumleap backwardsusingthe truth as
a diving board.

In the sameway,GI Janeposes
questions
aboutwomen in the military
butleaves
the
structuresand practicesof militarytraining
andwarsintactand unquestioned,reinforcing the militaryasa timelessfundamental
truth that shouldbreakand rebuildthe
womenwho aretough enoughandimpor•
tantly,non-lesbian.
And surprise,surprise,
the majorenemyof the heroineis another
woman,the troublesomepoliticianwho
startedall the troublein the first placeby
muckingaroundwith feministideasin the
sacredhallsof Washington,D.C.
Thisstory confirmsthe distorted
ideathat
the anti-affirmative
actionfolkwould
have
us believe- that realequalitydoesnot
requireanythingother than equalaccess.
Demi Moore demandsto be treated
as

Bread& Roses- Women DefiningGlobalization
WILPF's International Congres§ of 1998
July 24th - July 31st
Baltimore, Maryland
"As we come marchingin the beauty of the day,
A million darkenedkitchens,a thousandmill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiancethat a suddensun discloses,
For the people hear us singing:'Bread& roses!Bread& roses!"'
"Heartsstarveaswell as bodies;give us bread,but give us roses!"
A picket sign at the great 1912strike of textile workers in Lawrence,
Massachusetts,inspiredthis famous labor song which in turn has
inspired the title and shapeof WILPF'sInternationalCongress.
The first to be held in the United Statesin almost20 years,this
congresswill heralda new way of looking at the reality of women
and work iri this current atmosphereof globalization.
It beginswith a weavingtogether of all participantsto create a
community of women representingmanyculturesand languages
exploring together the issuesof peaceand justice. Gita Sen,
Professorof Economics,Indian Instituteof Management,
Bangalore,India hasbeen invited to be a keynotespeaker.Sheis
the coordinator of DAWN (DevelopmentAlternativeswith Women
for a New Era.)
In conjunction with the congress,Goucher Collegewill co-sponsor a conferenceon "Buildinga Culture of Peace."Studentsattending the specialclasssessionsand the congresscan receivecredit
for the conferenceweek.
"Our livesshall not be sweatedfrom birth until life closes."The
first two daysof the congresswill usethe Augusto Boal Forum
Theatre,known world wide as a way to bring together a diverse
Peace & Freedom

Rivers.Fresnohasstartedwhat it is callingA Circleof WiseWomen,
to promotespiritualdevelopmentof women.Swarthmorewill continue its "4th SaturdayLunch"program,an informalget-togetheron
the fourth Saturdayof the month at a localrestaurant.Detroitand
Fresnoreportedon peacecamptraining.■

group of people to explore options for dealingwith oppression.
Fromthere we move into PanelI: CULTURALAND ECONOMIC
DIMENSIONSOF GLOBALIZATION:STATE
& CORPORATE
OPPRESSION,
an examinationof th.eoppressiveforcesthat stand
in the way of bringing about the outc~meswe would wish for people and the planet. PanelII: HUMAN RIGHTS:ARENAFOR
CLAIMING POWERAND BUILDINGSOLIDARITY,
will look at
solutionsrelatedto WILPF'swork. Workshopswill deepenthe
issuesraisedin the panelsin order to developthe programand
future policy of WILPF.
"Smallart and love and beautytheir drudgingspiritsknew,
Yes,it is breadwe fight for - but we fight for rosestoo."
Add a day demonstratingin Washington,D.C.,a night rallying
around the Cuban revolution,internationalupdates,restructuring
sessions,the Gertrude Baerseminar,a peacecamp,celebrations
largeand small,and a time to be with new and old friends.So dust
off your poems,paintingsand paeansto peace.Bringyour songs
of solidarityand strength.We want your instruments,your dances,
and your skits.Festoonthe hallsand placeswe'll meetwith your
sewings,weavings,ribbons,and roses.Committo bringinga young
woman, a woman of color, women who deepenour diversity.

TO REGISTER:
write MercediaGreen,WILPF,1213RaceStreet,
Philadelphia,PA19107.Foradditionalinformationaboutthe congress,
call the congresshotline,(508)349-3277.Bea peacepractitionerand
join us at the InternationalCongressthat you'llneverforget!
"No more the drudge and idler - ten that toil whereone reposes,
But a sharingof life'sglories:Breadand roses!Breadand roses!"
December 1997

29

Wrap the year up right- WILPF Resources they only work when you use theml
NEWCARD51
WILPF member Mary Trigg has.created 4 new cards for this holiday season! all are hand carved linoleum
prints with images and inspiring messages that are sure to warm the hearts of you and yours this
season and all year round ... 10 cards with cream-colored envelopes.$8.00 per pack. All cards are
printed on heavy card stock with black ink. Paper colors are as follows: Tree- dark gray card stock/ Fireorange card stock/ Geese- light gray card stock/ Dove-blue card stock.
Tree (TR100)
Fire (Fl100)
Geeee (GE100)
Dove(D0100)

I

-~

·,~

'

~

:i::;

=

•••

.1111'
.: :

1&"9
OLD FAVORITES-ALL CARDS ARE $6.00. AND COME WITH 10 CARDS AND ENVELOPES
Soletlae Greetlnge- (OM610)
The winter sun bursts forth in
pink, purple and gold ink on recycled paper.
"Solstice Greetings" message inside.
Joy to the World- (OM650)
Festive design in pink, red lavender and
purple ink on white paper.
"Joy to the world" message inside.
Evergreen-(OM655)
•.
Crowned by a golden star, an evergreen
stands out against the sky. Green, gold and
red ink on purple recycled paper.
"Happy Holidays" me,ssageinside.
Seaeon'e Greetlnge- (OM660)
Festive design of snowfiakes in red
and silver. ,;Happy Wirlt~r:'' message inside.
Plaaeeo Card- (l;>W600), .•
. This graceful design of a woman and a
dove was donated to the peace movement by Pablo Picasso.

..

~
L _ ______,
i

PicassoNotes(DW600)

30 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

Shalom #1 (OM645)
Bold lettering in purple and pink ink
on cream colored recycled paper.

NEWBOOKS!
Cuba and the United Statee- A Chronological Hletory
by WILPF member Jane Franklin. This book presents the Cuban revolution in its relations with the U.S.
Designed to be used in many ways, this book may be read in whole or in part- as narrative history, or
used as a reference guide to a wide range of topics. A chronological method has been established to
organize the maximum amount of information, and to convey the interconnectedness of major and minor
occurrences. 415 pages, soft covered, $21.95.
The Enemy Within: The High Coet of LivingNear Nuclear Reactom
by Jay M. Gould. If there is one book that might encourage a protest against nuclear pollution and
military industrial violence this is it! Filled with drama, controversy, statistics, and charts it is an
excellent resource to mobilize concerned citizens. Read it and organize in your own community! 346
pages, soft covered, some signed copies available. $14.95

NEWVIDEOTAPES!
"TheCoura0eou5Womenof Columl:7ia"
directed and produced by WILPF member Robin Lloyd. In 1996 a WILPF sponsored delegation travelled to
Columbia to take part in the International Day of Actions Against Violence Against Women.The
delegation wanted to investigate how women were responding to the impact of the "war on drugs" in
their communities, and to question America's hand in all of it. Running time: 22 minutes. $15.00
"Sister to Sister"
directed by WILPF member Victoria Maldonado, produced by WILPFand Global Exchange. This video
records t~e 1996-97 Sister to Sister delegation to Cuba. It is in Spanish and English. Runningtime 15
minutes. ~15.00 for participants on the Sister to Sister delegation, $20.00 for non-participants.

Send All Ordereto:
WILPF
1213RaceSt.
Philadelphia,Pa 19107
(215) 563-7110/ (215) 563-5527 fax
shippin0and handlin0rate5 are as follows:
$1.00-$25.00- add $4.00
$25.01-$50.00- add $6.00
$50.01-$75.00- add $7.50
$100 and up add $11.00
WILPFaccepts check5,VISA and MASTERCARD-THANK YOU!

Peace & Freedom

December 1997

31

Peacea,-1
lntPrnational
NACa

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ONLY WAY

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Freedom

PEACE AND FREEDOM

v.........-wThe only U.S. magazine devoted ..
.__
•=--=-ca:.-to the women's peace and justice
movement. Published bimonthly.
·==--·
Subscription included with member
ship. $15 a year for non-members.

·=·-..

·---

Yes!
r-----

...................
_
.. ______
----. ....--------

5'.:=-;..t~~:'::~==
INTERNATIONAL PEACE UPDATE

Bimonthly publication of WILPF
• • I news, UN

' I want to work for peace and freedom .
I would like to subscribe to __________
_
Enclosed is$ _____
_
D Send me more information about WILPF
Enclosed are my membership Dues of$ _______

_

(individual $35, household $40, supporting $50 or more)
□

renewal

D new member

______________

Zip ____

_

Women's International League for Pe'ke and Freedom
1213 Race Street * Philadelphia, PA 19107

Women's International League fro Peace & Freedom

1213 RaceStreet
Philadelphia,PA 19107-1691
·Ei!!i!-

1~

TIME VALUE -

DON NOT DELAY

Non-profit
Org.
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PAID
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PA



Peace&Freedom

MAGAZINE
DECEMBER

OF THE WOMEN'S

1997

INTERNATIONAL

LEAGUE

FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM

ISSN: 0015-9093

• VoL. 57 • No. 6

Features
InternationalYouthMovement
is Aliveand Well.................................
Page6

7

Editor:Tobi White
Layoutand Design:J.Harding
EditorialAssistance:Celia Daldy

GenerationX.......................................
Page8

PublicationsCommittee:Betty Burkes, Kay

BreakingDownBarriers.....................
Page10

Camp, Marilyn Clement, Louise Dunlap,
Jean Gore, Anne Ivey, Farzana Khattak, Lisa
Silverman, and TobiWhite

Learning,Growing
and Activism....................................
Page11
Biographies
.......................................
Page12
Media& Democracy........................
Page13
WorkingWomen,Working
Together...Page14
AsLandMinesGo,
So GoNuclearWeapons..................
Page16
LeadershipInstituteWILPF'sLovingTransformation......Page18

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF)has been working since 1915 to unite women worldwide
who oppose oppression and exploitation. WILPF stands for
equality of all people in a world free of racism, sexism and homophobia; the building of a constructlve peace through world disarmament; and the changing of government priorities to meet
human needs.
National Program: WILPF envisions a world free of violence,
poverty, pollution and domination - a genuine New World order
of peace and justice. WILPPs program stands firm for disarmament and against oppression. The 1997-2000 program cycle has
four key campaign areas: Disarmament; Ending U.S. Intervention;
Racial Justice; and Women's Rights/EndingViolence. Each campaign area focuses on local and national effectiveness in creating
lasting social change.
WILPFhas sections in 42 countries, coordinated by an internationaloffice in Geneva. U.S. WILPFcarries out its work through
grassroots organizing by WILPF branches, coordinated by a
national office In Philadelphia, PA. WILPFsupports the work of
the United Nations and has NGO (Non-Covernmental
Organization) status. We invite all people who support our goals
to join us.

Outreach/Leadership
........................
Page19
U.S.Sedlon WILPF:
1213 Race Street. Philadelphia, PA 19107;

BabyTeeth................................................
20

phone: (215) 563-7110; fax (215) 563-5527; e-mail:
wilpfnatMtigc.apc.org

Prellclent:
Betty Burkes

Officeof WarCrimes.................................
20
WomenChallenging
the
Politicsof Power.........'..............................
21
Howdid WILPFcometo explorethe issueof
drugpolicyreform....................................
22

&ealtiw Dlredar:MarilynClement
UN ltepraentadw: Paula Tasso

laneAddamsl'eaat Allodalioa (JAPA):777 United Nations
Plaza.New York. NY 10017; phone: (212) 682-8830. JAPAis
WILPPseducational fund.
Administrator: Eurydice Kelley

lnwmafionalWILPF:1 rue de Varembt 1211Geneva 20,
Switzerland; phone: 41-22-733-6175;fax: 41-22-740-1063.

Departments

President:Edith Ballantyne
Sec:relary-Cene

Barbara
Lochbihler

Reader'sForum ..:..............................
Page4
UNReport..........................................
Page5

Peace and Freedom magazine Is published 6 times a year by the
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF),
U.S. Section. Subscriptions: $15/yr.; free to WILPF members.
Submissions welcome, but queries suggested first.

ActionAlert.......................................
Page24
PeaceEducation..............................
Page26
WILPFAction....................................
Page27
Resources..........................................
PageJO
2 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

WILPF PAINTING THEFUTURE
.........................................
. .................... ...

T

he WILPF program for this triennium is unique
among organizations. What other group has
combined a major program on the roots of
racism, another on the economic and military implications of the war on drugs both here and in our sister countries in Latin America, an international challenge to everything nuclear, including the nuclearpacked Cassini space probe and beyond into the
frightening prospect of space-based war on the peoples of the earth, and the empowerment of women to
create our own federal budget designed to challenge
the greed and corruption that underlies them all?
To say that all these issues are connected and we
can not work ~n one of them without considering the
others is truth -a wilpfism- to coin a new word. Who
else, but WILPF, puts them together in concrete pro,

Marilyn Clement
U.S. Section Executive Director

I,

Tlie lVILPF restr·uct " ,
which, is called Chan i , .
Uuiltling · I ~
gram? The. ~ords "domination" and "greed" are almost
too weak and overused to describe what is happening
in this post cold war world. But, as we all know, we
live in a country determined to dominate the world,
dominate the r:aces, dominate wom~q and use us all
as pawns in conjunction with the corporate leaders
who believe they have the world on a string.
You could call it utopian to think that we can transcend the horrors I have just described, but WILPF
women are also a beloved community of people of all
ages, colors, and persuasions working together in
their communities on the most basic level. There is a
strength in the modeling of leadership, coalition-building and yes, sometimes conflict-transformation
that is
happening in WILPF. In a culture desperate for community, WILPF offers something unique, a place to
bond with other women in mutual support as we

Peace & Freedom

resist the domination and gefrXIthat Js parto( the
current definition of globalizadon.
We have lots of new members, probably 2500
before the end of this year. Hello to all of you who are
reading Peace and Freedom for the tll'Sttime. The
new infusjon of thousands of women of color, young
women, and activists from new perspectives ,!!lto
WILPFwill stretch our understandings, provide us
with broader vision, and sometimes challenge the way
we have always done things. The WILPF~turing
plan which is called Change Mavens: Building WILPF

for the 21st Century is incorporating leadership development into every part of our organization, andthis
will provide us with a means of renewing and broadening ourselves. We will also be able to developdeliberately-invigoratedleadership at every level, working
in more collegial and loving ways. Our new
Leadership/Outreach Coordinator, ChrisMorin, Js
offering to help coordinate leadership dewlo~~t
and outreach work to regions and branches as we
grow in strength and numbers. Felicity Hill, our young
sojourner, is carrying a message of renewal and love
to every region of the U.S. as she speaks on 65 campuses and visits with branches.
So, although it may not be apparent at first gluce,
this is a love letter to all of you. It is fill~ with love for
WILPFbecause of the wom~ who emJ;odyits extraordinary herstory and also becauseof
futurewe are
crafting, painting, organizing togeth... Heartsstarve as
us roses. ■
well as bodies. Give us bread, and '1r,e

"8

December 1997

3

'9Reader'S
---------~Dear WILPF Members,
We tell potential members and
renewing members that WILPF
serves as their collective voice,
speaking out for them on issues and
in places where they cannot themselves, We also seek to make our
voices more effective by speaking
together in chorus, creating a loud
and mov.ing rumble aimed to make
change. In addition to working on
our four program priority areas
(racial justice, women's rights, disarmament and ending U.S. intervention), WILPF also addresses many
other related issues of concern to
our members. The Program and
Action committee chairs and consultants help broaden the range of our
political response and enable WILPF
to stay,up-to-date and active in
areas beyond our chosen national
program priorities .
..Below is a list of WILPF Program
and Action Committees. These are
the committees to contact if you
have a question or a concern about
those areas. The door to the
WILPF issue committee representative "chat-room" is wide open.
Come on in!
The truth is that every issue is
potentially a WILPF issue., The
Program Staff (just two women!)
can't know everything about every
issue. We rely on the input of
members to inform our actions. If
you are well-informed about an
issue and can provide WILPF with
guidance through the waters of that
particular rapid, speak up! Call,
send a letter, fax or e-mail. We can
mobilize with your information in

4 December 1997

many ways; from the phone tree alert for THE most critical actions, a
branch mailing to ask branches to take on an issue, a letter to con°·
cerned parties from the national organization, and e-mail post to our
network, etc. You may be able to think of other ways WILPF can
respond to alerts. So let us know if something crucial is coming up to
which WfLPF should issue a response. Write the response and send it
to us, anci we'll put the sound of your WILPF sisters' voice behind the
call. Become a Program and Action Issue Representative!

WILPF Programand Issue Committees
• Aging

• Latin America

• Asia/Pacific

• Lesbian/Bi

• Civil Liberties

• Middle East

• Cuba Action

• Peace Education

• Death Pe~J~

• Religious Right

• Disarmament-

• Southern Africa

• Environment

• Trade Issues

• Former Yugoslavia

• Women's Budget

•·Labor

There ore also other non-issue committees and caucuses that you c~:mi<;>in!
• Peace and Freedom magazine Advisory Committee (editors, journoli*,
designers, & issue mavens welcome)

• Women of Color Caucus • Young Women's Caucus

Write the WILPF National Office at 1213 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA
191071 We. can put you in touch with the chairs of each committee. ■

Letters should be under 300 words.
Peace. and Freedom reserves the right
to choose and edh letters.

Peace & Freedom

Paula.H..Tasso,.United ,Nations. Representative

About the CassiniSpace Probe. ..
It is now a done deed. The Cassini with its 72 plus pounds
of plutonium is in outer space. The lift-off was apparently
problem-free, but now set your clocks for two years hence that is when the space probe returns to circle the earth in
order to build thrust for its sling-shot maneuver to Saturn.
The Cassini will orbit the earth at an altitude of 500 miles
and at a speed of 43,000 miles per hour - many times faster
than a speeding bullet. And in the two years in space the plutonium batteries will have experienced what? How much
heat? How much sub-zero cold? What other modifications
could have affected the missile and the batteries? No space
scientist really knows. Indeed, no one anywhere really knows.
We are not free of our fears regarding Cassini for years to
come, but the two-year mark is probably the next concern.
Alan Kohn, the retired emergency preparedness operations
officer at the Kennedy Space Center, says that all sides of the
Cassini issue are lost in fogs of scientific uncertainty. He said:
''Who is right? That's not the relevant question. The point is
that Cassini is part of a series. Eventually you're going to
have an accident. We are trying to stop ... the whole-doggoned plutonium idea. It's insane, criminally insane."
And looking at the outer space program in broader perspective, one can say that problems with the plutonium
shoot will only affect human health and the environment.
Although whatever could be ONLY about that!! But the
planned laser shoot of a satellite already in orbit in space is
a certain military move. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967
does say that space must not be militarized or nuclearized.
This is an issue we must keep before us. The NGO
Disarmament Committee is planning a program on these
prescribed uses, but that has limited exposure and is only
the very beginning of the beginning.

About Iraq...
It is difficult to write about ongoing news for a periodical,
so there will be no predictions of whether it is negotiation or
confrontation on which the United States goes forward with
Iraq. Thus far it negotiation looks like it might have a chance.
Now Saddam Hussein is nobody's Prince Charming. He is a
dictator, he is a liar to his own people, to the UN Special
Commission investigating weapons of mass destruction, to the
United States, to his allies. Saddam Hussein has been uncaring

Peace & Freedom

about both bloody civilian and military casualties, and he
probably has vats of botulin,· anthrax, and nerve gas cooking
all over Baghdad. However, and this is ery important, this is
the very same man who was behaving in the very same wax
and both the United States and Britain armed him and sup-,
ported him for almost ten years while he fought a terrible war
against Iran. Sometimes we reap the wind..
And why, this time around are so many of our allies·'reluC!
tant to join us in military action against Iraq? A number of
contradictory U.S. practices cause allies to wonder about our
high morale stance, insisting that Iraq must meet UN conditions, while we thumb our noses for years at our delinquency
in paying our share of monies for UN work. There might· be
concern about our unilateral sanctions on companies' dealing
with Cuba or Iran, or our· lack of interest in any sanctions on
. other nation-states (China, Israel). Or the U.S. agenda might
be considered not entirely benevolent.
It is known that both the Bush and Clinton administrations
would have vetoed the lifting of sanctions until Saddam
I Hussein is overthrown. This is something that is entirely '
beyond the parameters of the international community.
The Australian diplomat, Richard Butler is heaqing the .
negotiation attempts. He has considerable negotiating ability
and smarts, as he showed wheri·he was one of the important
policy makers that forced the C'PBT to the table and to its .'
acceptance. We give him our support and wish him much
good fortune.

I

About DisarmamentWeek at the UN ...
The NGO Committee on Disarmament, representing
WILPF and other organizations. who oppose the buildup of
both conventional and nuclear arms presented a four-day program at ·''"·-:,;
the United Nations.called "The Future of Disarmament." There were paricipants from many parts of the
worl<;ldiscussing subjects such as· human development ad
disarmament, banning anti-persemnel land mine., conven-,
tional weapons. There were two Nobel Laureates with us:
Jody Williams, 1997, Joseph Rotblat, 1995. Richard Butler
was awarded the Josephine Pomerance Award for, outstanding effort in disamament affairs: Both Mr. Butler and
Randall Forsberg of the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies discussed the evolving role of the UN and·
disarmament.

December 1997.

5

The International Youth Movement Is Alive and Well

'H

by Michelle Rief
...................................

ow often are we told by the popular press that
youth today are shiftless and indifferent to the
social and political issues so critical to their
future? The 14th World Festival of Youth and Students held last summer in Havana, Cuba - proved to the world
that the international youth movement is alive and active!
An astonishing 12,000 young people from over 130
nations gathered in Havana from July 28th to August 6th
to celebrate "anti-imperialist solidarity, peace and friendship." The World Youth Festival first took place in Prague,
Czechoslovakia in 1948 when young people from around
the globe gathered and vowed never again to allow the
horrors of fascism to terrorize the world. Like the first
Festival held in Prague, youth at this year's event came
together to confront the pressing issues of their time.
Each day delegates at the Festival had the option to
either tour sites of socioeconomic interest - such as factories, hospitals and schools, to visit one of the seven
regional clubhouses and meet with youth from various
continents of the world, or to attend one of the impressive international political discussions. Additionally, some
delegates were given the opportunity to spend a portion
of the week visiting one of Cuba's various provinces.
On the site tours, Cuban employees welcomed young

6 December 1997

visitors to their workplaces to share with them their trade
and to expose them to working conditions in Havana. For
example, delegates that visited ETECSA, Cuba's telephone
company, learned that pregnant women workers in Cuba.
are entitled to six months of paid maternity leave.
Delegates also discovered that in most companies women,
as well as young workers, are provided with a forum
through which they can discuss issues of particular relevance to them and voice their unique concerns to their
employers. Other festival delegates visited medical clinics
in Havana and became acquainted with Cuba's renowned
free system of health care.
In the regional clubhouses delegates took part in bilateral and trilateral discussions. For instance, young people
from the U.S. met with representatives of South Africa's
ANC Youth League to discuss the overwhelming role that
race continues to play in these two nations. Delegates
from the U.S. also met with youth from Canada and
Mexico to discuss such issues as immigration and NAFTA.
The thirteen topics for political discussion included:
democracy and participation, culture and social communi-

Parade of delegates at the 14th World Festival of Youth and
Students. Photo courtesy of Lyn-Li Pugh

Peace & Freedom

tional cooperation, employment,
, the environment and sustainood, human rights, young
racism, anti-imperialist solith, and finally, the student
ly 1,000 young people attended
ation and democracy, which lastinstantly translated into three
tions system as complex as
. Not only were young people
with other youth from around the
t.echnology they were exposed to

w e egate Jenni er Perna
their host family, Rayner and

~t:'esl!led

in the discussion on partic--

Cuba from 1959 to the present." Though this historic
event was virtually ignored by mainstream America,
young people from the U.S. courageously demonstrated
their solidarity with the Cuban people in their struggle
against the unjust economic blockade currently being
waged by the U.S. government.
The hospitality of the Cuban people throughout the
Festival was astonishing. Each delegate was hosted by his
or her very own Cuban family. Each day these families
provided breakfast and dinner for their guests and introduced them to everyday Cuban life. Some families took
their young visitor on a tour of the city, showed them
their place of employment or invited them to participate
in a traditional neighborhood clean up. Not only did these
adopted families share with Festival delegates their honest feelings about Cuban life, but they enabled the
youth of the world to establish bonds with the Cuban
people which stretch beyond national boundaries and
will never be broken.
The most touching moment of the Festival came during
the closing ceremony held in Havana's Pan-American
Stadium. Anyone who doubts the power of the international youth movement would have never been able to
walk away from this ceremony with such a pessimistic
view of the world's youth. Imagine 12,000 young people
from various countries in one small stadium ...waving their
nations' flags, displaying banners proclaiming their visions
and chanting words which speak of their struggles. It was
powerful. A momentum was born which continues to
increase as young people, back in their nations of origin,
are telling anyone and everyone that will listen about
their experience in Cuba last summer. Any delegate to
the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students would
agree with the following words which form the chorus of
the Festival's theme song written by Carlos Manuel
Garringa Martinez and Frank Fernandez:

was the violation of the democratth by the U.S. government.
the Festival by several
tatives - Ronald Dellums, Jesse
ns, Charles Rangel, Bobby Rush,
U.S. Treasury Department
to U.S. youth on the grounds
possibility of a maximum
eral prison, over 900 U.S. youth
the World Youth Festival.
press this was the "most reprefrom [the U.S.) that has visited

Peace & Freedom

"For a festival I have a thousand reasons
to show the world dreams and truth,
and proclaim love... "
Oh yes, the international youth movement is
alive ... alive and well! ■
Michelle Rief was a delegate to the 14th World Festival of
Youth and Students. She is a graduate student in the
department of African-American Studies at Temple
University. She currently works part-time in WILPF's
Resources dept.

December 1997

7

Generation X?
by _Felicity_Hill

M

arilyn Clement and I were conspiring about the
future of WILPF when the subject of outreach to
"youth" came up in the conversation.

"I don't think it's fair to say that young people are
apathetic and apolitical; this Generation X stuff is propaganda," I said. "I hear this from WILPF members far
too often. We can't expect young people to come to us
when they don't know we exist!"
Next thing I knew, I was on the road with
an itinerary featuring 65 colleges, high
schools and juvenile incarceration units
to test my little hypothesis. (Be careful
when you throw your opinion around
Marilyn, you might find yourself having
the adventure of a lifetime!) .
I'm from Australia, a place we_
activists call the 52nd state of the USA
due to the 26 U.S. bases on our soil.
From the outside, many of us see the U.S.
as a very, very ugly place. I knew that when I
came here I would find the best and worst - the best
in terms of movement people and the worst in terms of
many good people doing evil through their culpable,
inexcusable ignorance and collaboration with what can
only be described as a political and corporate cannibal.
I have been saddened at times, but mostly uplifted by
the hopeful signs I have seen on this tour, that an
inherent sanity and strong desire for change exists, even
in the most distracted and sedated population on earth.
Starting in South Carolina and ending in Seattle four
months later, the tour is taking me into the classrooms
and lives of the student youth of the USA. What I am
finding is large-scale ignorance brought about by the
media, but also an intense and sometimes urgent sense
of searching for the kind of political information I'm
providing. Remember, next year's first year students
were born in 1980 - imagine their political memories eeekkk! They need to feel sonie hope and to be provided with some images and ideas of resistance to white
supremacist, capitalist patriarchy. They know something
is wrong but they are either too pacified, too poor or

8 December 1997

too alone to do anything about it. Making it easier to
become active, providing a connection to the network
and promising them they don't have to wear tie-dye
have been important messages! I have been overwhelmed by the positive response in terms of questions
and discussion as well as the eagerness to become
members and to set up campus branches of WILPF.
The main focus of my talks has been violence, but
many classes have asked for a different focus on
racism, feminism, economics, Cassini and
how to be an activist. I am stretching
notions of violence to include violence
against the environment, economic
violence, racist violence, the epidemic of violence against women and the
violence of preparation for war and
war itself. I have been touched by
some of the stories I have heard
straight from the lives of young people
who don't want their lives to be tied to
materialism like their parents' lives were.
They realize the environment will not tolerate
much more abuse and they, like me, feel robbed of a
carefree youth. Trying to remain numb or facing the
future honestly are the choices they have to make and
some are going to choose the latter. Lets welcome them!

The military is in the colleges, WILPF
should be there too!
The response to the advertising about the tour has
been surprisingly large - more than one speaker could
possibly cover. Most women's studies and peace studies
courses would love to have a speaker from a WILPF perspective. It has been so easy to arouse interest about
WILPF by going to where young people are and talking
about our wonderful organization. I recommend every
WILPF branch make themselves a part of their local
college or high school institutions, even if it's just one
speech per year it will make a difference. ■

Peace & Freedom

The latest update on peace?
Women's role in conflict resolution ...
Nuclear and conventional disarmament...
Views on global economic structures ...
Discover these and many other various
issues being addressed and tackled by
the bi-monthly publication of WILPF,
the International Peace Update -a great way to stay in touch with
women working for peace.

The Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom
is the oldest international
women's peace organization

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Tel:(4122) 733 6175 Fax:(4122) 740 1063
e-mail: womensleague@gn.apc.org

Peace & Freedom

December 1997

9

Breaking Down Barriers

l

am a senior communications major at Liberty
University and the editorial intern here at the U.S.
section office at WILPF. As an intern in the Jane
Addams internship program I have had the opportunity to
learn a lot about important issues that affect the world
around me, while gaining a lot of experience that will benefit me in the working world. Interning at WILPF has
helped me to see the world in a different perspective, to
rethink my actions and my place in society.
Although all of the issues that are supported by WILPF
are of equal importance, one that has seemed to migrate
to the top of my personal list of priorities is that of discrimination and racism in America. Working at WILPF
has shown me that racism is not always as black and
white as it seems. I have seen that racism comes in all
different forms and fashions. From the exploitation of
sacred Native American customs and rituals to institutiortalized racism in the work place and schools. One of the
most prevalent forms of racism that I have encountered in
my personal experience is that of stereotyping. Being a
student at a predominantly white Southern Baptist university I have been forced to deal with more stereotyping in
my three years as a student there than I have in my whole
entire life. To my surprise I have experienced stereotyping
from both the white and the black end of the spectrum.
Because of the reactions I get about different aspects in
my life I find it really hard to disclose a lot of information

about myself that has shaped me into the person that I
have become today.
When I first decided to accept a scholarship to attend
Liberty University I was hesitant to tell a lot of people
because of the reactions that I was afraid of getting.
Liberty is in Lynchburg Virginia, it's founder and chancellor is Dr. Jerry Falwell (also founder of the Moral Majority
of the late 70's early 80's), Southern Baptists have been
rumored to be racist in the past and blacks represent only
about 15% of the population at Liberty. Unfortunately, I
received more negative feedback than I anticipated. Most
people figured because I chose to go to "Jerry Falwell's
School," I must be supportive of every decision that the
man has ever made in his entire life. They assumed
because I was a Christian attending a Christian school I
hated homosexuals and I could not possibly take on a
feminist point of view. When other people at Liberty,
both black and white found out that I was from the inner
city they expected me to have an attitude, have a whole
list of wild experiences to tell and to end up either transferring or dropping out after one semester. I experience
the same type of scrutiny when I tell people that I am an
intern at WILPF. As soon as people hear of women gathered together to support important causes like justice,
equality, and women's rights they automatically assume
that the women involved are gay, and if a straight woman
gets involved with such a group it will be only a matter of
time before she decides to become a homosexual and
hate men.
So many people are trained to draw conclusions about a
person once they get a few small pieces of information. But
if we continue to do this type of thing, how can we ever get

U.S. WILPF Interns (I-r)
Michelle Rohner,
Development Intern, Hilary
Leland, Administrative Intern,
Sylvia Glover, Publications
Intern and Rosie Zaklad,
Program Intern.

10 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

to know each other? If you decide to take only small bits of
information about me and place me into a stereotypical
group how can you ever really know who I really am?
Yes, I am a young black woman who has lived all of her
22 years an the urban area. But no, I don't have any children, I've never been on public assistance, and I don't
have an attitude. I am in my senior year at Liberty
University, I am not white, and no I don't think I am better than my black sisters (or white sisters) who have children and are on public assistance, I don't hate homosexuals and I am not going to make you become a Christian.
Yes, I am an intern at The Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom. No, I am not gay and I do not
hate men. I am Sylvia Glover, a 22 year-old black woman
from North Philadelphia I am a Christian who happens
to believe in equality and justice. But you already knew
that. ■

Sylwx T. GlO'Ver- U.S. WILPFPublications Intern

WILPF: learning,
Growing and
.. . .....Activism

Af

iend once told me I had a lot of anger in me.
e said I should become an activist so I could put
y anger to use. "I am an activist", I said. He
just laughed. Well, after spettding the summer at WILPF,
the concept of my being an activist is nothing to laugh at.

My sophomore year in college was a real turning point
for me. I was the kind of student who sat in the back of
class and never spoke out. Then I took this wonderful
class with only eight people in it, all were women, including the professor. Because of the small class size, we
were forced to voice our opinions. Once I got started
talking, I found it was not all that hard. The all-women
setting was a very safe space for me. That is why I was so
excited to work at WILPF. For me, in all situations, work
and school, women have always been the minority. But at
WILPF, I always felt as if my opinion was important. I
also knew I had a lot to learn about things going on in
the world and could benefit from what others had to say.
One of the best parts about my experience was the
lunchtime talks. Once or twice a week women would
speak to us about a subject that was special to them.
Some of the topics were repressive legislation, disarmament, and violence against women, racism and many others. After these talks, we could ask questions of the
experts, and usually a very interesting discussion would
follow. This was a great way to learn about important
issues from people who are experts in their field. Some
of these women had actually lived through events that I
have only read about in books.
Being the Program intern, I learned a lot about the
issues that WILPF focuses on and got some hands-on
experience too. One day I had so much fun handing out
Cassini leaflets to an Episcopalian Convention at the nearby Philadelphia Convention Center. This summer, I wanted to get experience and knowledge about an organization
committed to social justice and I did, but I also had a lot
of fun doing it. It was great to work on issues that mattered to me. The internship program included a potluck
at Marilyn Clement's house and a dinner with Felicity Hill.
Besides fun stuff, I also had a lot of responsibility. I got a
chance to work with Jane Midgley on the Women's
Budget Project and with Z, WILPF's Program Director on
The Truth and Reconciliation Symposium. I was also in
charge of all the e-mail that WILPF sent and received.
WILPF gave a lot of responsibilities to the interns, and
with great results. I think it is really important to have
people my age getting involved with WILPF. I would like
to see WILPF more active on college and high school
campuses and involved with the many issues that affect
young women of all backgrounds. This involvement
would give women my age the opportunity to become
active members, and to make a difference in their communities. ■

Rosie Zaklad - U.S. WILPF Program Intern

Peace & Freedom

December 1997

11

Bio
ElaineJones
- DataAssistant
AndreaSaenz- Women'sPeaceandJustice
Treaty,Coordinator.

Elainewas born and raisedin Philadelphia.After receivingher
AssociateDegreein early childhood educationfrom Temple
University,she becameLeadTeacherat Children'sVillage,a
position she held for sevenyears.Elaineis alsoan organizer in her own community,doing work for People
TakingAction, an organizationfounded to help beautify
and maintainsafetyin the neighborhoodsin her area.
Shehasknown about WILPFfor manyyearsand has
learnedof the work that WILPFersdo from her daughter PamelaJones-Burnley,
a long-timeWILPFstaff member who is currentlythe AdministrativeDirector.
Elainesays,"It is good experienceto learnfirst handabout
11 ■
the work at WILPF.

AndreaS-enzwas born in Quito, Ecuador
and g~ew1,1p
in.LosAngeles,C,aliforni;iwher~
her family'moved'l'Vhenshe wasfour years •
old. Shehasworked on i·ssues
of socialjustice for seVeralyears,enteringthe world of
activismwith an action at the NevadaTestSite
and involvementwith the anti-Persian
Gulf War
effort during.highschool.
After spend_jng
.twoyearsat ReedCollegein
Portland,Oregon, Andrea movedback to southern
Californiato study LatinAmericanhistoryand literatureat Scripps
College. There,she becameacquaintedwith the Cuba solidarity
movementthrough her involvementin a studentorganizingeffort
that resultedin her participationin the third Pastorsfor 'Peace•
FriendshipmentCaravanto Cuba.Andrea'spolittcal1'rivolvement
while in college centeredon immigrants'rights.Shespent a summer intemingwith a SanFranciscoorganizationworking te defeat
Proposition187 and completedh,erdegreewith a thesisbasedon
oral historiesof LatinAmericanimmigrants.
Sincegraduatingwith a degreein LatinAmericanStudiesin
1995,Andrea has lived in SanDiego,working with the Support
Committeefor MaquiladoraWorkers,the SanDiego Friendsof
Cubaand continuing to work with Pastorsfor Peaceto end the
blorkade of Cuba. Sh~recentlymovedto Philadelphiaand is
adjustingto the changein climateas well as c~n be expected,■

ChrisMorin- Leadership/Outreach
Coordinator
ChrisMorin hasbeen a memberof WILPFsince 1990when her
mother,ElizabethMorin, also a WILPFmember,gaveher a membershipfor her 40th birthday,a fact that she is proud about. Chris
hasbeen activewith her local branchin Hartford,CT and has
servedon the Region4 SteeringCommitteeand WILPF'sNational
Board.Shemissesworking with the Hartford WILPFers,but she
lovesher new job as Leadership/OutreachCoordinator,which
wasformerly the MembershipCoordinatorposition.Sheenvisions
tripling WILPF'smembershipby the year 2000, becauseshe has
sensedthe energyand enthusiasmof our membership.■

Editor's Note: All of these positions are new or have been
significantly chan!Jed, so please show your support to
these women. They are here to further WILPF's work
and message of peace and justice and will need you, our
membership, to help see this work through.

12 December 1997

J

Peace & Freedom

Media & Democracy
by Tobi_White

M

edia and Democracy. Do these two words go
together? No, not usually. Should they? Yes. Can
we really expect the corporate-run bullies of the
mainstream media to really provide socially responsible
reporting and analysis? Probably not, at least not without
a fight. Should they? Yes. Do we have alternative
sources of media? The answer is a resounding - Yes!
That is why activists and journalists (primarily from
alternative or independent media sources) came together for the Media & Democracy Congress II last
October in New York.
The Congress provided a forum for
activists and journalists to discuss how
we can best use the media not only to
inform and hold the media accountable, but also to motivate the public
into action against injustices. Now,
of course this is a grand statement
as compared to reality, but. it is a " •
great goal!
The Congress, co-sponsored by the •
Institute for Alternative Journalism and
many other supporters, consisted of workshops and panel discussions. The pre-Congress
agenda featured workshops. Ther~ was a media training
workshop designed to help sharpen the media relations
skills of people working for non-profit social change
groups. Other workshops included: Fundraising Training
for Media Mahers and Activists, Building Connections
Between Labor and Independent Media; Computer-assisted Reporting, Young Media Mahers Exchange, Media
Activism, and Investigative Reporting: Roundtable
Discussions.
The Congress kicked-off with a panel discussion,
Communicating Our Vision of Democracy in the
Information Age, led by Barbara Ehrenreich
(author/activist), Jeff Cohen (FAIR), Jim Hightower
(radio host), Herb Chao Gunther (Public Media Center),
Makani Themba (Praxis Project, Congress organizer),
Robert Bray (Strategic Progressive Information Network,
TAJ, and Congress organizer), and Anita Roddick (The
Body Shop, a Congress co-sponsor). They shared their
visions and strategies on effective media relations, followed by questions from the audience.

Peace& Freedom

The panel discussions, the following day, led by leading communicators of the alternative press and activists,
covered a broad spectrum of topics as it relates to responsible media functions. The panels included: discussions on
the roles and uses of videos and films, the use of the
Internet in reporting, media literacy, investigative reporting, and how to make news with social change. There
were discussion panels that focused on fundraising and
strengthening relationships between funders and media
activists; how print journalists can effectively pitch
stories; pinpointing effective tools in holding
the media system accountable to our communities; and other panels focusing on

youth scapegoating in the media, and
"Girl Power" in the media which highlighted how independent media can
reclaim girl power.
There was some heated discussions during the
panel: Beyond Us and Them: Sex, race and the narrow
mind of the media. This discussion focused on how many
issues, such as welfare, affirmative action, crime, and
immigration are treated in the mainstream media.
Panelists and listeners also challenged the concept that
alternative media effectively addresses race, sex, homophobia and class.
In side conversations and even on some of the panels,
there was a lot of complacency and self-gratuitous
acknowledgment of being 'progressive'. However, many of
us know well that much of the information disseminated
by the independent press can and has been the some of
the same rhetoric of the mainstream, but to a different
tune. However, some of it is honest and accurate and
worth fighting for. The Media & Democracy Congress
gives us hope that one day the media makers of the alternative/independent press and perhaps some mainstream
will serve our communities justice and continue to be an
avenue of creative expression. ■

December 1997

13

Working Wof!len
Working Together
by _Kathleen.Kelley

I

f you received the ASK A WORKING WOMAN SURVEY, filled it out and returned it to the AFL-CIO
Women's Department, you were one of 50,000 women
who did the same.
The results from the survey indicate that working
women want change! They want equal and fair pay! The
50,000 women answered questions on raising pay;
improving opportunities for advancement; defending economic security; extending health insurance, child care,
elder care, pensions and other benefits; and helping working women and men organize for a stronger voice and a
better deal.
The survey was the prelude to the AFL-CIO Working
Women's Department WORKING WOMEN WORKING
TOGETHER Conference held in September in
Washington, D.C. It was an explosion of 1700 delegates
from all parts of the U.S., dedicated working women of all
colors and ages, and from support organizations. While
"checking in" during workshops, I mentioned that I was
representing Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom, there was applause and recognition.
Karen Nussbaum, Director of AFL-CIO Working
Women's Department, and a large number of assistants,
had planned things well. There were five plenary sessions
with speakers and entertainers and time slots for three
kinds of workshops: 1) 21 Issue workshops; 2) 17
Organizing workshops; 3) 7 Political workshops.
Speakers were forceful in supporting union organizing
and dealt with the various issues women had selected as
most important on the surveys. Some of the speakers
were Linda Chavez-Thompson - Exec. VP AFL-CIO, Gloria
Johnson - VP of AFL-CIO and national President of
Coalition of Labor Union Women, Ann Richards - former
Gov. of Texas, Dorothy Height - National Council of Negro
Women, Maxine Waters - U.S. House of Reps., Eleanor
Holmes Norton - U.S. House of Reps., and more.
A few speakers emphasized the importance of working
internationally. Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor
Committee reminded us of the direct link between sweat-

14 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

'

shop abuses in, ~ther countries and the growth of sweatshops in the U.S., th~ result of which could be that race
to the bottom for· all of us, where we compete for the low:est wages and behefits and the most miserable working
conditions.
Ann Richards said, ~·"S~venty-six
percent of women
.....
wi,th school-age children are in the labor force. More than
60 million are working: We are almost half of the work
. force ... An~,you know we are not in it for our health. We
are not working as part of some search for self-fulfillment... or a little extra pin money for the luxuries. We are
supporting our families and ourselves. And most of us are
working like dogs."
·John Sweeney, President.of AFL-CIO, promised, "We
will step up our efforts to heip un-represented workers
find their voice and organize unions - and we will empha• size iridustries where women work, from information management to education, from communications to clothing
. and textiles, and from health care to hotels and restaurants.''.,
Linda Chavez-Thompson., Gloria Johnson, Karen
Nussbaum and others went on a 20-city tour, meeting
with working women from ~ construction site to a school
·'library. Gloria Johnson s.aid they "met with working
.women: single mothers who work the night shift at facto,, ries, hotel workers, flight attendants, health care
providers, clerical workers, union and non-union women
in every part of the country."
, "We will launch a grassroots campaign that makes
wome,n's wages that public issue it deserves to be. We are
going to fig~t for equal, fair, and just pay for women .
. •...And we will fight in the halls of congress for legislation
• . that gives working women, fair and equal pay."
,·

SomeHighlights
Five-hundred of, the Working Women Conference dele. gates rallied in support of the workers at ARK Restaurant
• located at the Union Station' •Which has no union contract
with the Hotel and Restaurant Ei:nployees Union Local 27.
In the midst of Vice President Al Gore's speech, a

Peace & Freedom

voice in the back of the auditorium called out "No Fast
Track." The chant was picked up gradually, and soon the
entire 1700 delegates were shouting "NO FAST TRACK,
NO FAST TRACK, NO FAST TRACK." Indicating the opposition of the working women to NAFTA, GATT-WTO,
APEC, and any other deals cooked up by the transnational corporations to rob working people around the world of
jobs and to take away any sovereignty we all may have.
Gore stopped talking and after listening briefly he began
again as the chant subsided and said, "I don't think it will
do any good, but I'll take it back," (to the President).
The oh sooo Politically Correct Players were oh sooo
good, as they preformed political and educational plays
that they had written. Rebel Voices sang their exquisite
vocal harmonies with inspiring social commentary. And
Elise Bryant who brilliantly sings labor words to Gospel
tunes, led us many times in labor union and workers'
songs, including ending the conference with Solidarity
Forever as we all held hands.

LET'SSUPPORTTHE
UNION CAMPAIGNTO ORGANIZE
WOMEN WORKERS!
If you want more information on the results of the survey or any other aspect of the conference please write
Kathleen Kelley c/ o the WILPF office in Philadelphia. ■
Kathleen Kelley is on the U.S. Section WILPFBoard and
is co-chair of WILPF's Labor Committee.

December 1997

15

As Land Mines Go,
So Go Nuclear Weapons
by Anabel __
Dwyer

.·
A

whopping 87 percent of Americans agree that we
need agreements to eliminate nuclear weapons,
imilar to those negotiated and signed to eliminate chemical and biological weapons. A broad majority,
74 percent, disagree with the fact that the U. S. government spends more o_nbuilding and maintaining its
nucleiir weapons than it spends providing head start programs,_ fighting illiteracy and providing college scholarships combined." ("Findings on Nuclear Weapons," April
1, 1997, Lake Sosin Snell & Associates.)
Such strong desires, which surprised even the pollsters,
may not indicate that most people stand ready to abandon violence altogether, but they certainly show we'd prefer to secure our future by means other than ecocide. As
pollster Celinda Lake said at a congressional briefing,
"The people are way ahead of Congress." How then do
we enact sensible and popular views as U. S. policy and
move beyond the nuclear age?
This country purports to operate according to the rule
of law, yet Congress and the Administration ignore our
present legal "obligation to pursue in good faith and bring
to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects" as affirmed unanimously by the
International Court of Justice.
Thus, while most people now understand that effective
law depends upon agreement, the Administration and
Congress cling to the view that the rule of law depends
upon force and refuse to abandon the annual $33 billion
expenditure for "the ultimate force," nuclear weapons.

It's up to us to transform a system in
which:
• 51 cents out of every discretionary federal tax dollar
goes to the military and only 7 cents to education
• Lockheed /Martin, McDonnell Douglas/Boeing and
BDM, all major military contractors, sit on an "independent" board to conduct the quadrennial defense
review (Nation 5/26/97)

16 December 1997

• The Lockheed Employees PAC was one of the top
contributors to federal candidates in 1995-96 (Post
5/14/97)
• All branches of the Pentagon have lobbying offices in
the Capitol
• Michigan alone has lost $10 billion annually in taxes
to the Pentagon since 1980 and is now plagued by 33
hazardous radioactive sites and 25 corporations
enmeshed in nuclear weapons production.

Ending Kick-Back Schemes for
Perpetuating Killing
Citizens need now to comprehend the workings of the
nuclear part of the military-industrial complex. Let's consolidate the information in a report on "U. S.
Corporations doing business in Nuclear Weapons and
Nuclear Waste: Who profits? Who suffers?" modeled
after the Human Rights Watch Arms Project report by
Andrew Goodpaster on "U. S. Corporations and
Antipersonnel Landmines."
As with landmines, the real costs of nuclear weapons
and nuclear power are not borne by those who make the
profits. Dangers :and specific horrors of radiation to people and our environment must be as graphically shown as
the terrible injuries caused by landmines. People can
then focus actions to end any participation in such
ruinou~ activity.
Based on extensive presentations, the International
Court of Justice conclu9ed that nuclear weapons are illegal because of the facts. "Nuclear weapons can not be
contained in either space or time. They have the_potential to destroy all civilization and the entire ecm;ystem·of
the planet. The radiation released by a nuclear explosion
would affect health, agriculture, natural resources and
demography over a very wide area. Further, the use of
nuclear weapons would be a serious danger to future generations."
It is in,ctimbent on_us all to face tµe real pain and suff\:)ring caused by the mining, production and testing of
uranium, ._aswell as the l,lSeof nuclear weapons.
Furtherriiore, we must hear the people of Hiro~hima and
:Nagasaki, the Marshall Islands, Chernobyl, indigenous
people from.many parts of the·wor~d, atomic veterans 1
victims of radiation experiments and down-winders. The

Pean~;& Freedom

realities can be presented in usable and accessible forms,
readily available to counter the continuing lies and to
insure that the horrors never happen again.
Unhooking ourselves from the nuclear debacle requires
identification and assessment of corporations that do business in hazardous nuclear weapons, waste and power. In
Michigan we are bringing together people from many
peace, justice and environmental organizations around the
Great Lakes Basin to link knowledge and presentations of
the hazards with actions for nuclear independence.
Nuclear-free zones and selective purchasing ordinances
and acts, stockholder initiatives and divestiture actions,
declarations of nuclear independence, invitations and
demands to corporations to cease production or deployment of nuclear weapons, demands for environmental
cleanup and safe waste disposal and an end to caps on
insurance liability for accidents, all will hasten serious

good faith negotiations for a treaty to eliminate all nuclear
weapons and achieve the demise of nuclear power.
It is our view that through concerted efforts rooted in
an informed and active grass-roots, we can make rapid
progress toward nuclear disarmament and as part of the
process stop other probes like Cassini, subcritical tests
and development and expansion of nuclear weapons and
of NATO. But we operate under no illusions. DOD and
DOE continue busily tying the failing nuclear power
industry into the disastrous nuclear weapons business
through tritium production, mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel and
plans to continue the nuclear wasting of the Western
Shoshone people and lands.
Weapons manufacturers and DOD have also devised
various ways of making information difficult to come by.
U.S. official reporting from the Procurement Data Center
only includes prime contracts over $25,000. Ask your
member of Congress for information on who has both
prime contracts and subcontracts for what military hardware in your state and at what cost. In addition, much of
the nuclear technology in dual-use involves nuclear waste
such as depleted uranium which the Pentagon hands out to
weapons contractors with no accounting as to amounts or
effects.
But the facts of health and environmental effects of
radiation speak most forcefully. When they are specifically collected, we can also connect contributions to candidates with corporations doing business in nuclear or dualuse weapons, delivery systems or nuclear waste and thereby unravel some of the illicit reasons why the nuclear age
as dangerous as it is has hung on as long as it has. This
will lead to findings of many below board activities including refurbishing F-lSs and F-16s to give away or sell with
subsidies so that F-22s are "needed" to "defend" against
"enemies" made by the military contractors themselves.
Milo Minderbinder would recognize such schemes.
Think of the wonderful lyrics for a battery of raging
grannies singing of compensation and cleanup from those
who profit from gross human and environmental harm.
Capitol Hill might never be the same as we increasingly
and more pointedly demand an end to the demented war
games which still command most of our public purse. ■

Anabel Dwyer, a Michigan attorney, is a member of
WILPF and the Board of the Lawyers' Committee on
Nuclear Policy.

Peace& Freedom

December 1997

1-

Leadership Institute WILPF's Loving Transformation
..............................................................................

Report from a participant of the Leadership Institute of U.S. WILPF's National Congress in Greeley, CO in 1996. Ooer
one year later, she shares her thoughts on her life since LI.
by Beth Lerch
..............................

I

t has been a very hard year for me personally, professionally and organizationally - probably due, in part,
to a greater realization of my self that came from the
Leadership Institute. "Smooth transition" seems like an
oxymoron to me! However, a "loving transition" has
become a powerful force in my life.
Upon my initial return, I was able to take a hard look
at my fading relationship with my partner and realize that
he was not a man whose belief system I respected; therefore this was not the person with whom I wanted to build
a family. Knowing how much peace and justice issues
mean to my life made that decision so much easier, and
we separated in a very understanding and loving way.
So, regarding "Leadership," I can honestly say that having a concentrated time period to examine ideas about
peace and justice allowed me to form a life-mission for
myself. I wish that every one had such a privilege.
My second transition this year was a professional one.
At leadership, I had a vision regarding my work and
returned to Los Angeles holding that vision in my mind. I
had been freelance writing and working for a morally and
financially corrupt film producer. He ran out of money
completely, and my "temp" agency sent me to a wonderful, progressive company called Rhino Entertainment.
This company is everything I thought a company could
not be: community-oriented, multi-cultural, and socially
and environmentally conscious. Employees are encouraged to do lots of community service (My WILPF times
counts!) and are rewarded with time-off. And very importantly our products are great, which was a key part of the
vision: to produce media projects that promote peace
and/ or celebrate multi-culturalism. It has been a nice
merging of career and organizational work.

18 December 1997

Finally, my greatest challenge this year has been living
up to the responsibilities of being Co-Chair of the Los
Angeles WILPF branch. I'm happy to say that I have used
some of the tools' from the Leadership Institut~ to teach
the elder members a few tricks, but I am certain they've
taught me so much more!
We face issues such as motivation, membership participation, geographical difficulties, night driving, time constraints, and lack of technological understanding.
However, we are continuing to "book" and promote
monthly speakers that tie in with the national as well as
our local goals. We are also in a long-term process of
reaching out to our inactive members in an effort to find
ways to involve them to a greater degree. A personal challenge is time management of various obligations: building
a career, dedicating time to writing, and organizing. I
often have the feeling that no matter how much time I
devote to organizing, it is not enough because there is so
much to be done. Perhaps other young women who struggle with career and family obligations feel the same pressures. This concerns me. I wonder if that is one of the
reasons we have few young members. It is hard to consistently work at something and not feel a sense of progress
or success; it makes it hard to continue giving what little
free time you have to an unending job. I guess it comes
back to the need to create your own internal sense of
accomplishment and feeling content in knowing you are
doing what you can. This is what I struggle with now, in
an effort not to burn.out on organizing. If anyone has any
tips or words of wisdom, I would love to hear them! ■

Beth Lerch participated in WILPF's Leadership Institute
in 1996. She is on the Young Women's Caucus and is
Co-chair of the Los Angeles WILPF branch.

Peace & Freedom

Leadershi /Outreach

....................................................

I

'W:

an ~iring
experience,
it was to meet you. " - "It
was great to make the connections between war and domesticvi<>lenoe."- "I want to be a member!"- "Put
me on the mailing list." These are responses from students as Felioity Hilltours the
U.S. college campuses and high schools for

WILPF.
I feel nothing but excitement about
membership growing in leaps and bounds.
The excitement stems from doing somethingnew, something different, gettingnew
tnergy from new people. Felicity sends
,reports in about her tour, every two weeks. They are:mtcW
withher reactions, dialogues and general enthusiasm
llhouther interactions with primarilyooJ1egeage~
She has also spoken with some high school students and
hasfoundthat even at that ~ age, activists are thirsting for information and waysto be comtected to other
IMXlvists.
Felicity has been collecting namesof students
aadotlF
ers who want more information about WILPF,
want fo
become members, and want to start groups on~.
It bas become a tedious task to put those names
ona
mainlist, to respond to particuJar
t'e<)UUts,to follow-up
withnew group assistance. BUTIT IS A JOYFUL
TASK!!
It keeps the work of membership alive and growing. This
campus tour has planted seeds for WILPFand has opened
many doors. We realize that youngwomen on~
want to make the connections between academics:dlld
activism.We know now that we can contact C1Ui1ptJ$
WomenCenters, Women Studies programs and Peace
We can bring speakers to the campus
Studiesprograms.
andshare our visions and expertise with the next generation.

Peace& Freedom

Human Rights and Disarmament Interns from International
WILPF office.

We also realize that all young women are not on campuses. What other groups can we approach where young
women are also thirsting to tell their stories and looking
for a community to support them? (See "It Takes A
Village" )
And what would happen if we "came off the mountain"
and went to organizations of women of color, working
women, progressive women of faith, and lesbians? What
would happen if we sat at their tables and shared each
other's stories? Would we triple our membership by the
year 2000? Yes, we would. Do you hear a challenge coming on? Yes, you do. If everyone got two people to join
WILPF, we would triple our membership. Why is tripling
the membership important? Because in recruiting people
to join WILPF, we are, paraphrasing Betty Burkes U.S.
Section WILPF President, asking one more person to
work for peace.
As I talk with members around the country, both at
large and in branches, I hear how very proud we are of
the work we do for peace and justice. But are we proud
out loud? Let's be PROUD OUT LOUD!! ■

December 1997

19

BabyTeeth

I

t was about forty years ago, shortly after the first
nuclear bomb tests ushered in the nefarious Nuclear
Age, when St. Louis scientists discovered strontium 90
in baby teeth,' setting, off such pandemonium and demonstrations among women that Kennedy and Kruschev finally agreed to ban nuclear testing above ground. That
Partial Test Ban Treaty, signed in 1963, is still in existence .(the n~w Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty awaits ratification), although WILPF hopes ALL nuclear weapons
and tests will soon be :gone with the WIND (Women Insist
on Nuclear Disarmament) Campaign, and for agreement
among the nuclear powers by 2000 to draft a Nuclear
Weapons Convention.
Meanwhile, we still must deal with radioactive pollution
from nuclear reactors, which is undoubtedly a serious but
often neglected factor in the increasing rise in cancer and
other immune-deficiency diseases. Jay Gould, head of the
Radiation and Public Health Project, is once again collecting baby teeth. Gould, internationally known epidemiologist who has painstakingly analyzed data indicating that
living near nuclear reactors is dangerous, wants to prove
clinically what he has already shown statistically.
Therefore, Radiation and Public Health is analyzing baby
teeth from children born in recent years and WILPF can
help. F<;>r
instructions and a video that can be used to
sprea,d the word, the baby teeth hotline number is 1-800582-3716. ,
Spreading the word is not easy in these times. The
nuclear power and weapons industry is so powerfully
entrenched that when National WILPF held a press conference for Jay Gould, nobody came! We escorted him to
the White Dog Cafe, where he gave a fine talk, but there
was no media coverage. We arranged bookstore appearances, and a local branch held a public meeting which
was well attended, but hostile, whipped up by a former
power company's head of nuclear systems. A local symposium on Women's Health has no plans to discuss radiation
as a fact<?,rin the brea~t cancer epidemic! So once again,
it's µp to us.· ■
Kay Camp.
WILPF Disarmament Committee Chair

20 December 1997

Office of War ·Crimes
by Suzy T. Kane
..................................

W

ile it is admirable that Secretary of State
Madeleine K. Albright wants to give the issues
f war crimes, genocide and crimes against
humanity a high priority in U.S. foreign policy, she has as
her ultimate goal the creation of a permanent international criminal court. Why does she find it necessary to
bypass the already existing United Nations International
Court of Justice whose very purpose is to hold jurisdiction over international law? Think of the lives t)iat might
have been saved if in 1963 Iraq had been allowed to take
its border dispute with Kuwait before this already existing
world court. That is what Iraq wanted to do, we learn in
Phyllis Bennis' Calling the Shots. Instead, Iraq was held
off by the United Nations Security Council.
The truth about war crimes is universally nonpartisan, but Secretary Albrig}Jt seems to be declaring the
United States as the true north on the world's moral compass. The Secretary's newly appointed U.S. Ambassador at
Large for War Crimes David J. Scheffer can hope, as The
New York Times recently reported, to "establish at least 'a
record' if not a prosecution of war crimes that the United
States believes Iraq committed against the Kurds and the
Kuwaitis." But will Scheffer be free to turn as diligent an
eye on his own government?
A Commission of Inquiry spearheaded by former U.S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark, for instance, collected
evidence and testimony to substantiate a nineteen-point
indictment of the United States that it presented at public
hearings held in twenty-eight U.S. cities and in fifteen
countries around the world. On the one-year anniversary .
of the Persian Gulf War, an International War Crimes
Tribunal of twenty-one judges from seventeen countries
that Clark convened in New York found George Bush,
Danforth Quayle, James Baker, Richard Cheney, Colin
Powell, Norman Schwarzkopf and others guilty as charged
with war crimes against Iraq, crimes against peace and
crimes against humanity. Where was public discussion of
these charges? The truth knows no sovereign borders. ■
Ms. Kane, a WILPF member, is writing "The Hidden
History of the Persian Gulf War."
I

Peace & Freedom

Women Challengin
"Women's stake and responsibility in security are beyo
energy from the discussion

T

his statement about the relationship between power and
gender caught my attention last June while preparing to
participate in a symposium in South Korea. I was invited to represent WILPF at an international women's peace conference titled "The Women's Movement and Peace in the 21st
Century - Women Peace and Reconciliation," in Seoul.
The conference was organized by KWAU, (Korean Women's
Association United) and financially supported by the American
Friends Service Committee (AFSC). It brought together women
from Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Africa, East Germany, East
Timor and WILPF.Women from Vietnam and North Korea
were invited but unable to attend. The following are excerpts
from my talk - "A Process for Women Creating an
International Women's Peace Network"

e Politics of Power
, yet it is their gender that excludes their voice and

andthe. halls of power.

II

r[d~
Forwomen ine peed and desireto nurtureeachother is
r:"
ct~tiy¢
l:)ndwhere we discoverour power.
m_·t<'
Aspeac(:!activistsour taskis to challengethe politicsof power.
an Ashwaride~on5tratesthat women negotiatingfor peace
af<fltf~rentsensitivityto the processthat forgesa discourse
gguagethat is both daring and defiant.Thedefianceis
·on self respect,with the confidenceof our own valueas
beingswho cr~atelife, not gestroyit.,
mendefiningis.suesof peace keep peaceat the center of
'.ationswith the patriarchy.Strugglingcollectively,we cre(6rct! for changethaf can not be achievedindividually.
ing internationalfy.givesus the opportunity to take our
strugglesout of the dornain of nation statesinto the
international arena.
Internationalorganizingoffersdiversityand
dhn.J3nds
that we examine~nd confront our

In an interviewlastyear,Dr. HananAshwari,
a central spokespersonfor the Palestinian
peoplein the negotiationswith Israel and
the United States,revealed the rationale
and missionof an internationalWomen's
PeaceNetwork.
J
Shetalked about her "deep and abiding commitmentto a senseof justice that
is not abstract,but one that is translated
into realities, a sense of justice which
imbueslife with real meaningand makesit
own weaponsof violence,racism,sexism,
worthliving."
dassism,heterosexism,and ageism.Thesedistortions prevent us from being the peacethat
Certainlythat commitmentis basicto women
we want to create in the world. Theyinterfere with
networkingfor peacebecausewithout justice there
our vision. ,,
canbe no peace,without peacethere can be no freedom.
•
Audre Lotde reminds us that we can not dismantlethe masWe gatherto considerand inquire into the difficultiesand
er's housewith the inaster'stools. Differencesignitethe sparkof
opportunitiesfor building unity,direction,and designinto the
. geativity,the energythat fuels the replacementof the cultureof
frameworkof an InternationalWomen'sPeaceNetwork.A strong
war.
Thereare countlessassociationsin placearoundthe world but
forceunitingus is our survivalof the Patriarchyand the ingenious
ere is alwaysan externalforce interveningto keepus apart,
inventionsthat haveenabledus to resistthe war culture.
Stressing
the humanaspectof peaceand reallyfocusingon
i,ng~omeof us insiders,some'of.usoutsiders.We haveto
thatwhichis keyto the vision of an InternationalWomen'sPeace
Sl:;;tntly
interruptthat destructiveimpulseanddo the personal
rkon ourselvesthat makesworking collaborativelypossible.If
Network.Peaceis a riskyand dangerousundertakingin a culture
drivenby violenceand war and dedicatedto the propositionof
fariln this task, the patriarchywill go on shapingthe content of
dominationand control.The solidarityof women internationally
r li:V!:lSand the qualityof our relationshipsto eachother.
providesthe power to seeknew waysof being in the world and
Wemust,adopta languageof inclusionto makeus more intengenerates
the courageto act. In this context,peacebecomes
eliberate,resilientand intelligentaboutaccessing
and nurmorethanjust a political exercise.The humandimensionand geng~igegderagendafor peace,for truth, for reconciliation.
ma'lly,
I believethat women can and mustre-imaginethe
derawareness
that women weavetogethermakepeacea genuine
objective.
qnt to live in, celebratethe life we haveand be vigilant
J{..ofwhat is right,rememberingthatnetworkingfor
Womenassurvivorsknow the power of resistance.We havea
sourceof strength,a senseof valueand self definition inherited
■
eginsin our own backyards.
fromresisting,perseveringand surviving.We are healersand our
ttyJJurkes - U.S. ~ction President
powerfrom within hasalwaysservedas an agentof changein the

Betty Burkes
U.S. Section President

Peace& Freedom

December 1997

21

How did WILPF come ••
to explore the issueof drug policy_refqrm?
····················································································-························

the wonien proposed specifically that WJLPF's U.S. Section take up the que$tion of the so-called

"war on drugs" that is being waged. Of! .peasants~
.

•

• 4; .

·,

"unwanted people" and "sub'Versi'Ves" in Colombia under the pretext.of keeping the citizens of the United States clean and sober.

0

n the 1995 Peace Train to Beijing, a group of
Colombian women approached members of
WILPF's U.S.. delegation to the 4th World
Conference on Women and asked that they affirm their
commitment to working cooperatively toward justice
and peace in the Western Hemisphere. They were
referring to the Women's Peace and Justice Treaty of
the Americas signed in Bolivia in 1992; the women proposed specifically that WILPF's U.S. Section take up the
question of the so-called "war on drugs" that is being
waged on peasants, "unwanted people" and "subversives"
in Colombia under the pretext of keeping the citizens of
the United States clean and sober.
WILPF took on the task of educating our members
and staff on the issue of the U.S. "drug war" in the
Andes. We discovered many parallels between the
effects on the lives of women from the increased militarization in the Andes and in U.S. cities. Due to the
political hype that has surrounded "getting tough on
crime," the United States government has increased
funding for military aid to Colombia at an alarming rate
and increased its military presence in United States
civilian areas, especially the area that borders Mexico.
Families in both Colombia and the United States are
facing increased civil and human rights abuses due to
the heavy military presence in their communities.
The initial investigation on the "drug war" was carried out by researching material published by human
rights groups, interviewing organizations that provide

22 December 1997

services to communities affected by drugs, _and by
WILPF members traveling to Colombia to meet ·with
communities that have been under siege ]?y heavily
U.S.- supported military and paramilitary gr<;mpsfor
many years. With the information gathered over several
months, we decided t~at we would take on the responsibility of calling this war by its real name: the latest
excuse for a heightened United States military presence
in the Americas. A Drug Policy Committee was formed
within WILPF to discuss the ways in which WILPF's
commitment to U.S. non-intervention in Latin America
could be coupled with support for U.S. communities living in our "drug war zones," which include all U.S.
urban centers and, arguably, the entire country, since
we are all in some way affected by the short-comings of
our national drug policy.
We have begun to build relationships with women in
the United States that are working toward a more
humane drug policy, always informing them that they
are not alone in their struggle to change the oppressive
nature of the punitive "drug war." The recent. Drug
Policy Foundation Conference in New Orleans gave us
the opportunity to participate in a gathering of a
diverse group of drug policy reformers; our next step is
to connect these reformers with the Colombian women
with whom we've worked to form a stronger and more
complete global reform movement.
My experiences representing WILPF at the 11th
International Conference on Drug Policy Reform sponsored by the Drug Policy Foundation were overwhelm-

Peace & Freedom

YOUHAVE A FEMALE AeTION FIGURE
THAT SPEAKS OUT AGAINST
DISCR/MIIVAT/ON ANO WA,f l?
ingly positive. Apparently, there were a lot more
women at this year's Conference than at any previous
DPFevent. We had a women's luncheon on the second
day of the conference at which 45 women expressed a
need and desire to wage a drug policy reform campaign
with women at its center, making an impact on drug
policy by publicizing personal accounts of the "drug
war's"effects on women's lives. The women present at
the luncheon were very open and eager to make this an
international effort by forming alliances with women
from "supply countries"; they immediately understood
the impact that U.S. punitive drug policies are having
on communities throughout the Andean coca-growing
region. Many of these women had joined the reform
movement as mothers wanting to provide their children
with more responsible drug education than is currently
available through programs like DARE, others were former drug users concerned with providing effective services to those currently living with addiction, many had
lost family members to HIV ... the stories are all rich
and compelling; it's time that they be heard and inform
policy decisions.
There were people at the Conference doing work on

Peace& Freedom

medical marijuana, harm reduction through syringe
exchange programs, treatment alternatives to incarceration, methadone maintenance, HIV/ AIDS education and
prevention, legal advocacy and policy work on decriminalization and alternative models to U.S. punitive drug
policy; all shared a desire to see a just, healthy and
more even-handed policy. The main message was clear:
current policy represents a war on people, not on
drugs, and there are smarter ways to lessen the negative effects of drugs on a society without doing as much
harm as the "drug war"' has done.
Robin Lloyd gave a presentation at the plenary session on women that moved many to express joy and
excitement at having WILPF as an ally to their policy
reform movement. Many people approached me upon
finding out that WILPF was interested in working on
drug policy reform from an international human rights
perspective and offered information and support as we
work toward defining what a more just policy will mean
for us.
Robin and I were able to solidify plans to sponsor a
national tour featuring women from the U.S. and
Colombia speaking on the same platform on the effects
of the "drug war" within their communities, highlighting
harm reduction alternatives in the U.S. and alternatives
to military support for Colombia. We will be working
with an international group of women that will lead our
work in this area. The next step will be to plan, carry
out and publicize the national speaking tour for women.
The focus of WILPF's work for the next several
months will be to bring women's voices into the drug
policy debate, empowering women to participate in
important policy decisions and adding an important element to the struggle for reform in an area where it is
badly needed. ■
Please contact Andrea Saenz to become in'Dolved in
WILPF's work in the area of U.S. non-inter'Oention and
drug policy reform. 215-563-7110 or
wilpfnatl@igc.apc.org
Andrea Saenz
U.S. WILPF Peace and Justice Treaty Coordinator.

December 1997

23

Action·
School Of The Americas - A Notorious Chapter in the
History of the U.S.
by Ruth Hunter
.................................

II There

is no excuse for a federally-subsidized school for murderers. I can think of no earthly reason why our government should be
using taxpayers' money to support
killing and torture ... " - Rep. Sam
Farr (D-CA). This terse condemnation referred to the U.S. Army School
of the Americas (SOA) on the
grounds of Fort Benning, GA. The
school, originally established in 1946
in Panama, relocated in 1984, to
comply with the terms of the Panama
Canal Treaty of 1977, was ostensibly
begun as a training for Latin

American military. In reality, the
beginning of the cold war was a signal for strengthening the U.S. foreign
policy in the Western Hemisphere.
The mission of the school, as stat'ed in the army brochure, is to "provide doctrinal sound relevant military
education and training to the nations
of Latin America; promote democratic values and respect human rights."
Father Roy Bourgeois, founder of
SOA watch, has challenged the true
role of the school, evidenced by its
notorious alumni charged with flagrant abuse of human rights. Many

Women's
Conference
••1tCuba
, womenfrom all overthe world will
$ women'sissuesfrom a globalper-

teinthe latestfollow-up to the 4th
r.omen
in Beijing.TheConferenceis
Federationof CubanWomen,the
eQ.fora Lifewith Dignity,and the
mocraticFederation;
WILPFis one of
sponsors.We will be puhlicizingthis
nal Sectionsand U.S.Branchesand
astronginternationalWILPFpresd the word.
WorkingCommissions
to develop
e following:
SustainableDevelopment
articipation
ation, Culture and Social
e and Discrimination
l Jndependence,Sovereigntyand

24 December 1997

have been honored in the school's
Hall of Fame during the decades of
the 80's and 90's - decades that have
been drenched in the blood of civilian populations of both Central and
South America.
Rep. Martin Meehan echoed other
lawmakers when he said, "If SOA held
an alumni association meeting, it
would bring together some of the most
unsavory thugs in the hemisphere."
These include Gen. Manuel Noriega,
ex-dictator of Panama and prisoner of
U.S. on drug charges, Roberto
D'Aubuisson, late Salvadoran death
squad leader, Gen. Leopoldi Galtieri,
President of Argentina, accused of
"dirty War" when an estimated 30,000
disappeared, Gen. Hugo Banzer, dictator of Bolivia who developed the
Banzer Plan which became the blueprint for repression in Latin America,
and Gen. Hector Gramajo, Guatemala
Defense Minister, notorious for instigating the death of thousands of Mayans,
union leaders, human rights worker
and the religious.

Opportunitiesto shareexperiences,
strategies
anddevelop
modelsfor globalwomen'ssolidarityareall a part of the
ConferenceandU.S.Delegationprogram.
U.S.SectionWlLPfis buildinga U.S.Women'sDelegation
alongwith MA[)RE,GlobalExchange
and Hermanas.Travel
packageswill be madeavailablesoonandwill includea
week-longprogramin Havanawith an optionfor someextra
daysin Cuba(o visit one of the easternprovinces.Datesand
pricesarestill tentative,but it is not too earlyto savethe dates
betweenthe 11to the 21 of April, 1998,startsavingyour penniesand beginraisinga scholarship
fund for low-incomewomen
and students.
Theapproximatecostfor the trip from Nassauwill be between
$1,000and $J,100;thisjncludesConferenceregistration,airfare,
transportationto andfrom programevents,housing,breakfast
and dinnerdaily,experiencedtrip leaders,pre• delegationstudy
packets,informalvisitsand more.
If you areinterestedin receivingdetailedinformationon the
Delegationand/orjoiningWILPPs.
CubaActionCommittee,
pleasecontactAndreaS-enzat 215• 563• 7110and
wilpfnatl@igc.apc.org
or JanStroutat 609• 448• 3819•

Peace& Freedom

I

Since the early 90 's, the evidence for clos~n~

down the SOA has been mounting.

The trail leading to the expose of
the SOA begun in the late 1980's,
became the compelling mission of
father Roy. When four Maryknoll sisters were raped and murdered in El
Salvador, he began to search for their
executioners, an odyssey that led him
to the SOA. He is convinced that the
school is a breeding ground for assassins, a belief held by the Panamanian
newspaper, La Prensa, when they
dubbed it the "School of the
Assassins." Father Roy's assertion was
validated by the disclosure of the UN
Truth Commission's 1994 report of
human rights abuses in Latin
America. The report named many
SOA graduates who were responsible
for the 900 dead in Mozote, El
Salvador, the death of Archbishop
Oscar Romero and the executions of
the six Jesuit priests, housekeeper

GiveTheGiftOfWILPF!
Are you looking for the perfect winter holidaygift for your mother, daughter,partner,sister,or friend? Searching
for a way to opt out of the corporate
spendi'ngsplurgethat marksthe year's
end in our money-drivensociety?
CelebrateChanukah,Christmas,
Kwanza,or Solsticewith a gift to
WILPF.Honor your loved ones with a
gift membershipor a contribution "inhonor-of."If you would like to support
WILPFand have a personalizedgreeting card sent to the person you are
honoring,contact Beth Trigg at the
nationaloffice at (215) 563-7110.

StockMarketBonanza
Rememberyou can give gifts of
appreciatedstock to WILPFor to our
educationalfund, the JaneAddams
PeaceAssociation(JAPA).Make taxdeductiblegifts of stock to JAPA,777
UN Plaza,New York, NY 10017.■

Peace& Freedom

and her daughter. Many of those
who were accused of torture, rape
and death were alumni of the SOA.
Another shocking story surfaced in
1996, when the U.S. Intelligence
Oversight Committee reported that
seven manuals, removed from the
SOA curriculum in 1991, taught procedures in torture, family intimidation, executions, false arrests, and
other methods to "stabilize" the population. The removal of these manuals
from the SOA curriculum was labeled
"damage control" by the Pentagon.
However, no one has been held
responsible for their circulation during the training, which included thousands of the 59,000 Latin American
military graduates.
Since the early 90's, the evidence
for closing down the SOA has been
mounting. Rep. Joseph Kennedy has
introduced legislation several times
demanding closure. Each time it has
been defeated; however, the pressure
is increasing. Father Roy, who had
been incarcerated for two years at
intermittent intervals for trespassing
on the grounds at Fort Benning, continues to initiate dramatic events to
draw attention to this notorious page
in the history of the U.S. army. On
November 16, 1996, 500 supporters
gathered outside the gates of the
school, each carrying a cross, commemorating the seventh anniversary
of the slaying of the Jesuit priests.
Sixty supporters were arrested when
they "crossed the line" in an attempt
to plant crosses bearing the names of
the victims of rape, torture and death
dealt by the graduates of the SOA.
In April of this year, another
guerilla theater act, dramatized at the

Pentagon, was led by a figure dressed
as Uncle Sam, dragging Latin
American poor, surrounded by mo· 1soldiers. The funeral procession th.
followed witnessed the re-enactment
of a death squad-style execution.
Seventeen members of the funeral
procession crossed the line to begin
digging a mass grave and were
promptly arrested. Father Roy
declared, "We brought the SOA trail
of suffering back to the place where
it begins - the Pentagon."
Once again, an action to close the
SOA is on the drawing board. Plans
included a protest by 1,000 supporters who converged at the main gate
of Fort Benning on November 13-16,
each bringing 1,000 signed signatures
demanding closure of the U.S. Army
"School of Assassins." The action, a
vigil and civil disobedience, commemorated the 8th year since the
massacre of the Jesuit priests.
1,000 TIMES 1,000 Campaign to
close the school has 100 co-sponsors
in Congress who have signed on to
Rep. Joseph Kennedy's bill, H.R. 611.
.A companion bill in the Senate, S980
introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin
has been co-sponsored by Senators
Paul Wellstone, Dianne Feinstein and
Robert Torricelli. For those who wish
to participate in the campaign, contact Father Roy Bourgeois, P.O. Box
3330, Columbus, GA 31903.
Father Roy's plea to close the
school echoes across the nation. "I
have no doubt that...the School of the
Americas which has caused so much
death· and misery to our sisters and
brothers abroad ...will close ...We will

.

SJ?eak from prison ...from our
cells ... the truth cannot be silenced,
the truth cannot be chained." ■
Ruth Hunter is a member of Santa

Cruz WILPF.

December 1997
I

2S

,-Peace
~d,
ft Takes
a Village

JaneAddams
BookAwards

,
A familystartsits weekendin DelawareCounty... daughter
arriveshomefrom schoolwheresheis a peermediatorin the district'snew conflictresolutionprogram...toddlersonis tiredafterplaygroupwherethe parentsencouragetheirchildrenin nonviolent,
nonsexist,
noo-TV-based
play...andthe parentspreparefood for a
communitypotluckandcooperativegameseveningtomorrow.
ln1thE!'mailarrivesa newsletterwith an articleabout the challengeof guidingchildrenthroughthe culturaldangersof adolescence,·~ well asannouncements
about communityeventsand an
updateabout the powerfulcampaignto end child labor in the
third·world.Here is a familythat feelssupportedin its effort to
raisechildrennonviolentlyand to participatein a broadermovementfor socialchange.
It Takesa Village,a parentingprojectof the Women's
Internationalleague for Peaceand Freedom,hasgeneralmeetingseverythree weeks.Thefirst portion of the meetingis devoted
to reflectionand sharingand in the secondpart we planactions
andeventsand makeorganizationaldecisions.Our second
Saturdayseriesbeganin Junewith an eventcalled"TheRoleof
Childrenand FamilyLifein SocialChangeWork."We beganby
wafuhingthe provocativefilm •A World Apart,•then brokeinto
smallgroupsto shareour own challengesabout integratingsocial
contems/activisrilwith raisingchildren.Theeveningwas
enhancedby further multi-generational
discussionovera potluck
dinner.July'ssecondSaturdayfound us at an eveningof cooperative gamesfor the whole family.In Septemberwe were proud to
present"AdolescentSelfand Society:EmpoweringGirls,
Transforming
Our Culture.•It wasa resoundingsuccess,drawing
about40 adultsand 20 children,mostof them new to our group.
An excerptfromthe film "StiUKillingUs Softly' enhancedour
smaffgroupdiscussionof our own experiencesand concerns
aboutgirls.We brainstormeda list of forcesthat disempowergirls
andforcesthat empowerthem:We werealsohappyto hearpresentationsfrom PhiladelphiaRrotGirls,a supportand action
groupfor young radicalfeminists;andfrom the Summer
CommunityLeamingProject,a successful
summerprogramfor the
of SwarthmoreColfegestaff.In October,we heldanother·
daughters
greatcooperativegamesdayandthe topicfor our Novemberevent
was'HohdaysWithout the Hype,•in whichwe exploredwaysto simp&fyandde-commercialize
familycelebrations.
It Takesa Villagehasbeena wonderfulgroupfor all of us and it
is growingall the time. We are both gratefulto and inspiredby the
Swarthmore-Delco
branchof WILPFfor creatinga parentsgroup
andcontinuingto supportus in so manyways.Anyonewith questionsor commentsis invitedto contactus throughSusanEberleat
(610)56&-5493or Robinlasersohnat (610)891-8968.■

by WendyUnderhill

~6 December 1997

After reviewingover 200 worksof juvenileliterature,WILPF's
nationwidecommitteeto selectthe JaneAddamsChildren'sBook
Awardsfor 1996hasmadeits final choices.
In the picturebook category,Wilma Unlimited:How Wilma
RudolphBecamethe FastestWomanin the World by Kathleen
Krull(HarcourtBrace;all ages)wasselected.Thisis a biographyof
an African-American
womanwho triumphedover childhoodpolio
- and povertyand racismin a smallTennessee
town-tobecome
the first Americanwomanto win threegold medalsin a single
Olympics.
.
Thewinner in the chapterbook categorywasGrowingUp in
·coal Countryby SusanCampbellBartoletti(HoughtonMifflin
Co.; grades4 and up).Thevoicesand picturesof the men,
women and childrenwho livedand workedin coal countrya century ago arecapturedin this non-fictionstoryof their exhausting
hoursof dangerousand often painfullabor.In spiteof exploitation, the warmthof familylife sustainedthem throughthe strikes
that finallywon betterworkingconditionsfor them.
Threehonor bookswere chosenaswell. Behindthe Bedroom
Wall by LauraE.Williams(MilkweedEditions;grades4-7)is a
page-turningnovelof a thirteen-year-old
girl who strugglesto
understandher loyaltyto a Naziyouth group duringWorld War II
when shediscoversthat her parentsare hidinga Jewishwoman
·andher child.
SecondDaughter:TheStoryof a SlaveGirl by Mildred Pitts
Walter(Scholastic;
grades6 and up) is basedon the true storyof
ElizabethFreeman,a slavein 18thcentury New England,who
took her caseto court in Massachusetts
andwon her freedom.
The lasthonor book,The Day GogoWent to Vote by Elinor
BatezatSisulu(LittleBrownand Co.;all ages)offersa child's-eyeview of a beloved100-year-old
great-grandmother's
first vote in
post-apartheid
SouthAfrica.Thebook capturesthe woman'spas·sionatedeterminationto participatein the democraticprocess.
TheJaneAddams'Children'sBookAwardshavebeengiven
annuallysince1953by WILPFand the JaneAddamsPeace
Associationto booksthat effectivelypromotepeace,socialjustice, world community,and the equalityof the sexesand all races.
JAPAhasa fund to enableWILPFbranchesto givecopiesof the
award-winningbooksto local libraries.A branchmayrequest
thesebooksfrom WILPF'sPhiladelphiaoffice for a nominalfee,
while supplieslast.Many brancheshold public eventsto call attention to the booksand WILPF.
A list of currentand pastwinnersand honor booksis available
by sendinga self-addressed
stampedenvelopeto the Jane
AddamsPeaceAssociation,777 UN Plaza,New York,NY 10017.
A supplementarylist of other 1996children'sbooksthat promote
■
peaceandjusticeis alsoavailablefor an additionalSASE.

Peace& Freedom

'

Boo~

BLOODRITES
- Originandt11I,....,
by Barbar~
Doesthe nameBarbaraEhrenreichring a
bell?Foryears,subscribersto The Nation,
Progressive,
Z magazine,Time and
Harper's
havereadand welcomedher
witty,irreverent,penetratingarticles.Her
books,too numerousto list, received
acclaim
from mainstreamcritics.
Herlatestbook, Blood Rites,represents
tenyearsof research,encompassingbiology,historyand culturalanthropology.I
worriedthat the materialwould be beyond
me,butwith her ever-presentdesireto
reacha broadaudience,Ehrenreichhas
crafteda book that is accessible,meaningful,provocativeand cautionary.Her originalinsightsand interpretationsgo a Ion~
wayin explainingwhy conflictsand wars
havebeenand continueto be the scourge
of humankind.
Goingbackover hundredsof thousands
ofyears,shedrawsa vivid picture of our
ancestors
asPREYof the mammothsand
carnivores
that roamedthe earth..These
awesome
predatorswere invulnerableto
sticksandstoneshurledfrom a distance.
Man'svulnerability,she believes,imprinted
adeep-rooted
terror of predationon the
human
psyche.Sheremindsus that this
fearis nurturedto this day by myths,folklore,oralhistories,fairy tales,and chi~
dren's
games.
A very limited reversalof roles
began
with collectiveresponsesto menacingbeastintruders,and with collective
stalking
of singleanimalsfor food. When
mandevelopedthe spear,about 25,000
years
ago,enablinghim to becomepredator,a senseof power and control deve~
oped.Thiscomparativelyrecentreversalof
roleshasnot,shecontends,alteredman's
innermost
fearof predation.
Tharcheological
record indicatesthat
vastclimaticchangesdecimatedwhole
species
of animals.Ehrenreich,however,
stresses
excessive
slaughterof game,by
manaspredator,asa strongfactor in

Peace
& Freedom

reducingareasuppliesof meat
believesa cavedra ngof 1.
(beforepresent)of
•
bow and arrow,repri ts
food. Throughoutth book
psychologicalimplic tionsof
flicts,surmisingthat cohesiveness,
altruism
and the need to expiatethe shedding
of
blood were by-products.
Ehrenreichutilizesthe historical
recordto
substantiatethat blood ritualsfunctioned
as religiousrites,and werethefirstform
of
organizedsociallyacceptable
violence.
~
Sheremindsus that the earlyHebrews,
foughtnot
Christians,Hindus,Aztecs,andMayans
butby inte
madeblood offeringsto appease
anangry, eth •
vengefulgod. As nation-states
developed,
religionsbecomeincreasingly
involved
Jna
nation'swars,"sacralizing"
warviaprayetS
and ritual blessings.Nationalism
is labeled
•
asour new religion,!tspervasive
impact
giving riseto unthinkingresponses
and
participation.With dangers
conjured
l!Pby
governmentand media,theatavistic
fear
of becomingprey is revivedandrevitalized. Ehrenreichcoinsanoriginal
phrase,
"the democratizationof glory,•
that,likea
virus,makesus mor susceptible
to calls
ofcommemfor war.Sheliststhe_panoply
orativeholidays,parades,
adorationof the
flag and medals(let me addgoldstat'$for
mothersto the list) t at ennobleswar.
f
would concludethat this"democratization
of glory" is designedto numboursense
of
grief and lossand to invokeanarliftcial
senseof patriotism.
The richnessof th authors
analysis
can
best be savoredand graspedby reading
her book. Ehrenreicn's
emphasis
on the
materialbasisof conflict putsto restearfier
instinct,• that
theoriesof an "innateaggressive
or "humannature•asthe primarycauseof
the
conflict and war. He stresson the primiwa,,wiU
tive fear of being prey,so easilystimulated
ANIN
by the variousmechanismsshedescribes, leaptl9ng
warrantscarefulconsideration.We are

.

-

'

w;:

OwtLPF "~:,
.,,.
w,,

con't

:.{ft~{

A Tribute To Yvonne Logan

Branch Action News

We join in celebrating the life of one who has served
on the board of the Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom and the Jane Addams Peace
Association for forty years at the local, regional, national
and international level. She has traveled on their behalf to
the USSR, Cuba, Czechoslovakia and Japan and to
Finland on the 1995 Peace Train.
She has served WILPF as St. Louis and National president and served on the JAPA board for many years and
on WILPF's International Executive Committee from
1992-1995.
Yvonne is presently director of the World Community
Center, the Missouri coordinator of the Great
Decisions Program of the Foreign Policy
Association and serves on the boards of St.
Louis Americans for Democratic Action,
the World Federalists and the United
Nations Associations.
During World war II Yvonne'swar time
job was in army intelligence at the
Pentagon. Since meeting Annalee Stewart,
WILPF'slongtime, dynamic legislativedirector, Yvonnehas advocated for disarmament to
the point of even going to jail.
She graduated from the University of Michigan, married Attorney Joseph P. Logan, raised four children and
engaged in many cultural activities such as acting, writing
peace skits and lyrics and serving on the board of the St.
Louis Repertory Theater.
From 1962-1967, Yvonne directed the Baby Tooth
Survey measuring the amount of Strontium 90 in baby
teeth all over the U.S. She also directed the Peace
Information Center from 1967-1975 during the Vietnam
War.
What we have reported above by no means covers all
the activities and all the capacities in which Yvonne has
served WILPF and JAPA. She has enriched the lives of all
who know her. Thank you, Yvonne, for everything!

LeslieReindl- BranchAction Editor

Reprintedfrom program of the St. Louis Ethical Society
honoringY~nne Logan and the Jane Addams Peace
Association.

28 December 1997

Nuclear and Military Issues
In connectionwith Abolition 2000 and the WIND (WomenInsist
on NuclearDisarmament)programof WILPF,FelicityHill hasbeen
hostedthroughoutthe fall by manybranches,includingPortland,San
Jose,Boston,Fresno,Sacramento,
and Colorado.Hill is the 29-yearold whirlwindactivistnow coordinatingthe WIND program.Sheis
traversingthe U.S.thisfall to discusswith WILPFersand othersall
sortsof issuesthat makethe world unsafefor humansand other
creatures,suchas NATOexpansion,domesticand internationalviolence,racismand homophobia,the failed"Waron Drugs,"and the
globalizedeconomy.
Sacramentourgesaction on the U.S.Departmentof Energy's
plan to begin shippingspent nuclearfuel from research
reactorsin PacificRimcountriesto DOE weapons
production sitesat SavannahRiver,SC,and Idaho
Falls,ID. The wastewill be shippedby train within
the U.S.Shipmentis to begin within the first four
monthsof 1998.
DesMoines,Swarthmoreand Portlandparticipatedin "A DayWithout the Pentagon,"a campaignspearheaded
by the War Resister's
League
that happenedacrossthe country on October 24.
Other PoliticalIssues
Ongoingissuesincludeattemptsto closethe Schoolof the
Americas,on which almostall brancheshaveworkedand are still
working(therewasa gatheringin at Fort Benning,GA in November).
Portlandshowedthe new video, "Insidethe Schoolof Assassins."
Fresno,DesMoines,Boston,Detroit,MinnesotaMetro, continue
work on the landminesissue.(TheU.S.and Chinaare now the only
holdoutson signingthe Ottawatreaty).Detroit urgedpeopleto
bringa pottedyellowor white mum to JaneAddams'dayeventon
October 25 - "plantmumsnot mines"is the theme.Swarthmore
includedin its Septembernewslettera 1997Action Guide,giving
Guidelinesfor PoliticalAction,the namesand addresses
of all representativesand theirdistricts,and of both senators,the nameand
addressof the governor,statesenators,the local newspapers,
the
DelawareCountyCouncil,and the TV and Radiophonenumbers.
GreatIdea!!
SanJosetabledat the librarywith literature,petitions,and postcardson currenthot issues.Fresnois urgingmembersto work to
"Free[Leonard]Peltier,"now in prison21 yearsfor the murdersof
two FBIagents.The evidenceand trialwere flawed;a petitionfor
executiveclemencycurrentlysitson the deskof AttorneyGeneral
JanetReno'sassistant.
Fresnois alsopublicizingRep.JohnConyers,
Jr.(D-MI}bill, H.R.753,the IntelligenceBudgetAccountabilityAct,
that callsfor disclosingthe amountof moneyour government
spendson intelligencework.
Peace & Freedom

Fundraisers
and SpecialBranchPrograms
Detroit held a theatrepartyfundraiser,invitingmembersto play"In
the SweetByeand Bye."BothMontereyandVancouverheld play
readingsby differentauthorsabout the meetingof women at The
Haguefrom both sidesof World War I that led to the foundingof
WILPF.Portlandis sellinga book of essaysand photographs,Oregon

Movie Review
GI Jane
by FelicityHill
Thisfilm is worse thanyou evenimagine.
Likethe PromiseKeepers,it reinforcesand
amplifiesthe very problemsit supposedly
exposesas evil. Let me explain- the Promise
Keepersare speakingdirectlyto a crisisin
masculinitythat is very real- the rigid role
that patriarchyprovidesis actuallyvery fragile becauseit is impossibleto fill. Insteadof
questioningit, the PromiseKeepersare
sharpeningit to razorbladeedges,staginga
quantumleap backwardsusingthe truth as
a diving board.

In the sameway,GI Janeposes
questions
aboutwomen in the military
butleaves
the
structuresand practicesof militarytraining
andwarsintactand unquestioned,reinforcing the militaryasa timelessfundamental
truth that shouldbreakand rebuildthe
womenwho aretough enoughandimpor•
tantly,non-lesbian.
And surprise,surprise,
the majorenemyof the heroineis another
woman,the troublesomepoliticianwho
startedall the troublein the first placeby
muckingaroundwith feministideasin the
sacredhallsof Washington,D.C.
Thisstory confirmsthe distorted
ideathat
the anti-affirmative
actionfolkwould
have
us believe- that realequalitydoesnot
requireanythingother than equalaccess.
Demi Moore demandsto be treated
as

Bread& Roses- Women DefiningGlobalization
WILPF's International Congres§ of 1998
July 24th - July 31st
Baltimore, Maryland
"As we come marchingin the beauty of the day,
A million darkenedkitchens,a thousandmill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiancethat a suddensun discloses,
For the people hear us singing:'Bread& roses!Bread& roses!"'
"Heartsstarveaswell as bodies;give us bread,but give us roses!"
A picket sign at the great 1912strike of textile workers in Lawrence,
Massachusetts,inspiredthis famous labor song which in turn has
inspired the title and shapeof WILPF'sInternationalCongress.
The first to be held in the United Statesin almost20 years,this
congresswill heralda new way of looking at the reality of women
and work iri this current atmosphereof globalization.
It beginswith a weavingtogether of all participantsto create a
community of women representingmanyculturesand languages
exploring together the issuesof peaceand justice. Gita Sen,
Professorof Economics,Indian Instituteof Management,
Bangalore,India hasbeen invited to be a keynotespeaker.Sheis
the coordinator of DAWN (DevelopmentAlternativeswith Women
for a New Era.)
In conjunction with the congress,Goucher Collegewill co-sponsor a conferenceon "Buildinga Culture of Peace."Studentsattending the specialclasssessionsand the congresscan receivecredit
for the conferenceweek.
"Our livesshall not be sweatedfrom birth until life closes."The
first two daysof the congresswill usethe Augusto Boal Forum
Theatre,known world wide as a way to bring together a diverse
Peace & Freedom

Rivers.Fresnohasstartedwhat it is callingA Circleof WiseWomen,
to promotespiritualdevelopmentof women.Swarthmorewill continue its "4th SaturdayLunch"program,an informalget-togetheron
the fourth Saturdayof the month at a localrestaurant.Detroitand
Fresnoreportedon peacecamptraining.■

group of people to explore options for dealingwith oppression.
Fromthere we move into PanelI: CULTURALAND ECONOMIC
DIMENSIONSOF GLOBALIZATION:STATE
& CORPORATE
OPPRESSION,
an examinationof th.eoppressiveforcesthat stand
in the way of bringing about the outc~meswe would wish for people and the planet. PanelII: HUMAN RIGHTS:ARENAFOR
CLAIMING POWERAND BUILDINGSOLIDARITY,
will look at
solutionsrelatedto WILPF'swork. Workshopswill deepenthe
issuesraisedin the panelsin order to developthe programand
future policy of WILPF.
"Smallart and love and beautytheir drudgingspiritsknew,
Yes,it is breadwe fight for - but we fight for rosestoo."
Add a day demonstratingin Washington,D.C.,a night rallying
around the Cuban revolution,internationalupdates,restructuring
sessions,the Gertrude Baerseminar,a peacecamp,celebrations
largeand small,and a time to be with new and old friends.So dust
off your poems,paintingsand paeansto peace.Bringyour songs
of solidarityand strength.We want your instruments,your dances,
and your skits.Festoonthe hallsand placeswe'll meetwith your
sewings,weavings,ribbons,and roses.Committo bringinga young
woman, a woman of color, women who deepenour diversity.

TO REGISTER:
write MercediaGreen,WILPF,1213RaceStreet,
Philadelphia,PA19107.Foradditionalinformationaboutthe congress,
call the congresshotline,(508)349-3277.Bea peacepractitionerand
join us at the InternationalCongressthat you'llneverforget!
"No more the drudge and idler - ten that toil whereone reposes,
But a sharingof life'sglories:Breadand roses!Breadand roses!"
December 1997

29

Wrap the year up right- WILPF Resources they only work when you use theml
NEWCARD51
WILPF member Mary Trigg has.created 4 new cards for this holiday season! all are hand carved linoleum
prints with images and inspiring messages that are sure to warm the hearts of you and yours this
season and all year round ... 10 cards with cream-colored envelopes.$8.00 per pack. All cards are
printed on heavy card stock with black ink. Paper colors are as follows: Tree- dark gray card stock/ Fireorange card stock/ Geese- light gray card stock/ Dove-blue card stock.
Tree (TR100)
Fire (Fl100)
Geeee (GE100)
Dove(D0100)

I

-~

·,~

'

~

:i::;

=

•••

.1111'
.: :

1&"9
OLD FAVORITES-ALL CARDS ARE $6.00. AND COME WITH 10 CARDS AND ENVELOPES
Soletlae Greetlnge- (OM610)
The winter sun bursts forth in
pink, purple and gold ink on recycled paper.
"Solstice Greetings" message inside.
Joy to the World- (OM650)
Festive design in pink, red lavender and
purple ink on white paper.
"Joy to the world" message inside.
Evergreen-(OM655)
•.
Crowned by a golden star, an evergreen
stands out against the sky. Green, gold and
red ink on purple recycled paper.
"Happy Holidays" me,ssageinside.
Seaeon'e Greetlnge- (OM660)
Festive design of snowfiakes in red
and silver. ,;Happy Wirlt~r:'' message inside.
Plaaeeo Card- (l;>W600), .•
. This graceful design of a woman and a
dove was donated to the peace movement by Pablo Picasso.

..

~
L _ ______,
i

PicassoNotes(DW600)

30 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

Shalom #1 (OM645)
Bold lettering in purple and pink ink
on cream colored recycled paper.

NEWBOOKS!
Cuba and the United Statee- A Chronological Hletory
by WILPF member Jane Franklin. This book presents the Cuban revolution in its relations with the U.S.
Designed to be used in many ways, this book may be read in whole or in part- as narrative history, or
used as a reference guide to a wide range of topics. A chronological method has been established to
organize the maximum amount of information, and to convey the interconnectedness of major and minor
occurrences. 415 pages, soft covered, $21.95.
The Enemy Within: The High Coet of LivingNear Nuclear Reactom
by Jay M. Gould. If there is one book that might encourage a protest against nuclear pollution and
military industrial violence this is it! Filled with drama, controversy, statistics, and charts it is an
excellent resource to mobilize concerned citizens. Read it and organize in your own community! 346
pages, soft covered, some signed copies available. $14.95

NEWVIDEOTAPES!
"TheCoura0eou5Womenof Columl:7ia"
directed and produced by WILPF member Robin Lloyd. In 1996 a WILPF sponsored delegation travelled to
Columbia to take part in the International Day of Actions Against Violence Against Women.The
delegation wanted to investigate how women were responding to the impact of the "war on drugs" in
their communities, and to question America's hand in all of it. Running time: 22 minutes. $15.00
"Sister to Sister"
directed by WILPF member Victoria Maldonado, produced by WILPFand Global Exchange. This video
records t~e 1996-97 Sister to Sister delegation to Cuba. It is in Spanish and English. Runningtime 15
minutes. ~15.00 for participants on the Sister to Sister delegation, $20.00 for non-participants.

Send All Ordereto:
WILPF
1213RaceSt.
Philadelphia,Pa 19107
(215) 563-7110/ (215) 563-5527 fax
shippin0and handlin0rate5 are as follows:
$1.00-$25.00- add $4.00
$25.01-$50.00- add $6.00
$50.01-$75.00- add $7.50
$100 and up add $11.00
WILPFaccepts check5,VISA and MASTERCARD-THANK YOU!

Peace & Freedom

December 1997

31

Peacea,-1
lntPrnational
NACa

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ONLY WAY

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Freedom

PEACE AND FREEDOM

v.........-wThe only U.S. magazine devoted ..
.__
•=--=-ca:.-to the women's peace and justice
movement. Published bimonthly.
·==--·
Subscription included with member
ship. $15 a year for non-members.

·=·-..

·---

Yes!
r-----

...................
_
.. ______
----. ....--------

5'.:=-;..t~~:'::~==
INTERNATIONAL PEACE UPDATE

Bimonthly publication of WILPF
• • I news, UN

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I would like to subscribe to __________
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Enclosed is$ _____
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Peace&Freedom

MAGAZINE
DECEMBER

OF THE WOMEN'S

1997

INTERNATIONAL

LEAGUE

FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM

ISSN: 0015-9093

• VoL. 57 • No. 6

Features
InternationalYouthMovement
is Aliveand Well.................................
Page6

7

Editor:Tobi White
Layoutand Design:J.Harding
EditorialAssistance:Celia Daldy

GenerationX.......................................
Page8

PublicationsCommittee:Betty Burkes, Kay

BreakingDownBarriers.....................
Page10

Camp, Marilyn Clement, Louise Dunlap,
Jean Gore, Anne Ivey, Farzana Khattak, Lisa
Silverman, and TobiWhite

Learning,Growing
and Activism....................................
Page11
Biographies
.......................................
Page12
Media& Democracy........................
Page13
WorkingWomen,Working
Together...Page14
AsLandMinesGo,
So GoNuclearWeapons..................
Page16
LeadershipInstituteWILPF'sLovingTransformation......Page18

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF)has been working since 1915 to unite women worldwide
who oppose oppression and exploitation. WILPF stands for
equality of all people in a world free of racism, sexism and homophobia; the building of a constructlve peace through world disarmament; and the changing of government priorities to meet
human needs.
National Program: WILPF envisions a world free of violence,
poverty, pollution and domination - a genuine New World order
of peace and justice. WILPPs program stands firm for disarmament and against oppression. The 1997-2000 program cycle has
four key campaign areas: Disarmament; Ending U.S. Intervention;
Racial Justice; and Women's Rights/EndingViolence. Each campaign area focuses on local and national effectiveness in creating
lasting social change.
WILPFhas sections in 42 countries, coordinated by an internationaloffice in Geneva. U.S. WILPFcarries out its work through
grassroots organizing by WILPF branches, coordinated by a
national office In Philadelphia, PA. WILPFsupports the work of
the United Nations and has NGO (Non-Covernmental
Organization) status. We invite all people who support our goals
to join us.

Outreach/Leadership
........................
Page19
U.S.Sedlon WILPF:
1213 Race Street. Philadelphia, PA 19107;

BabyTeeth................................................
20

phone: (215) 563-7110; fax (215) 563-5527; e-mail:
wilpfnatMtigc.apc.org

Prellclent:
Betty Burkes

Officeof WarCrimes.................................
20
WomenChallenging
the
Politicsof Power.........'..............................
21
Howdid WILPFcometo explorethe issueof
drugpolicyreform....................................
22

&ealtiw Dlredar:MarilynClement
UN ltepraentadw: Paula Tasso

laneAddamsl'eaat Allodalioa (JAPA):777 United Nations
Plaza.New York. NY 10017; phone: (212) 682-8830. JAPAis
WILPPseducational fund.
Administrator: Eurydice Kelley

lnwmafionalWILPF:1 rue de Varembt 1211Geneva 20,
Switzerland; phone: 41-22-733-6175;fax: 41-22-740-1063.

Departments

President:Edith Ballantyne
Sec:relary-Cene

Barbara
Lochbihler

Reader'sForum ..:..............................
Page4
UNReport..........................................
Page5

Peace and Freedom magazine Is published 6 times a year by the
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF),
U.S. Section. Subscriptions: $15/yr.; free to WILPF members.
Submissions welcome, but queries suggested first.

ActionAlert.......................................
Page24
PeaceEducation..............................
Page26
WILPFAction....................................
Page27
Resources..........................................
PageJO
2 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

WILPF PAINTING THEFUTURE
.........................................
. .................... ...

T

he WILPF program for this triennium is unique
among organizations. What other group has
combined a major program on the roots of
racism, another on the economic and military implications of the war on drugs both here and in our sister countries in Latin America, an international challenge to everything nuclear, including the nuclearpacked Cassini space probe and beyond into the
frightening prospect of space-based war on the peoples of the earth, and the empowerment of women to
create our own federal budget designed to challenge
the greed and corruption that underlies them all?
To say that all these issues are connected and we
can not work ~n one of them without considering the
others is truth -a wilpfism- to coin a new word. Who
else, but WILPF, puts them together in concrete pro,

Marilyn Clement
U.S. Section Executive Director

I,

Tlie lVILPF restr·uct " ,
which, is called Chan i , .
Uuiltling · I ~
gram? The. ~ords "domination" and "greed" are almost
too weak and overused to describe what is happening
in this post cold war world. But, as we all know, we
live in a country determined to dominate the world,
dominate the r:aces, dominate wom~q and use us all
as pawns in conjunction with the corporate leaders
who believe they have the world on a string.
You could call it utopian to think that we can transcend the horrors I have just described, but WILPF
women are also a beloved community of people of all
ages, colors, and persuasions working together in
their communities on the most basic level. There is a
strength in the modeling of leadership, coalition-building and yes, sometimes conflict-transformation
that is
happening in WILPF. In a culture desperate for community, WILPF offers something unique, a place to
bond with other women in mutual support as we

Peace & Freedom

resist the domination and gefrXIthat Js parto( the
current definition of globalizadon.
We have lots of new members, probably 2500
before the end of this year. Hello to all of you who are
reading Peace and Freedom for the tll'Sttime. The
new infusjon of thousands of women of color, young
women, and activists from new perspectives ,!!lto
WILPFwill stretch our understandings, provide us
with broader vision, and sometimes challenge the way
we have always done things. The WILPF~turing
plan which is called Change Mavens: Building WILPF

for the 21st Century is incorporating leadership development into every part of our organization, andthis
will provide us with a means of renewing and broadening ourselves. We will also be able to developdeliberately-invigoratedleadership at every level, working
in more collegial and loving ways. Our new
Leadership/Outreach Coordinator, ChrisMorin, Js
offering to help coordinate leadership dewlo~~t
and outreach work to regions and branches as we
grow in strength and numbers. Felicity Hill, our young
sojourner, is carrying a message of renewal and love
to every region of the U.S. as she speaks on 65 campuses and visits with branches.
So, although it may not be apparent at first gluce,
this is a love letter to all of you. It is fill~ with love for
WILPFbecause of the wom~ who emJ;odyits extraordinary herstory and also becauseof
futurewe are
crafting, painting, organizing togeth... Heartsstarve as
us roses. ■
well as bodies. Give us bread, and '1r,e

"8

December 1997

3

'9Reader'S
---------~Dear WILPF Members,
We tell potential members and
renewing members that WILPF
serves as their collective voice,
speaking out for them on issues and
in places where they cannot themselves, We also seek to make our
voices more effective by speaking
together in chorus, creating a loud
and mov.ing rumble aimed to make
change. In addition to working on
our four program priority areas
(racial justice, women's rights, disarmament and ending U.S. intervention), WILPF also addresses many
other related issues of concern to
our members. The Program and
Action committee chairs and consultants help broaden the range of our
political response and enable WILPF
to stay,up-to-date and active in
areas beyond our chosen national
program priorities .
..Below is a list of WILPF Program
and Action Committees. These are
the committees to contact if you
have a question or a concern about
those areas. The door to the
WILPF issue committee representative "chat-room" is wide open.
Come on in!
The truth is that every issue is
potentially a WILPF issue., The
Program Staff (just two women!)
can't know everything about every
issue. We rely on the input of
members to inform our actions. If
you are well-informed about an
issue and can provide WILPF with
guidance through the waters of that
particular rapid, speak up! Call,
send a letter, fax or e-mail. We can
mobilize with your information in

4 December 1997

many ways; from the phone tree alert for THE most critical actions, a
branch mailing to ask branches to take on an issue, a letter to con°·
cerned parties from the national organization, and e-mail post to our
network, etc. You may be able to think of other ways WILPF can
respond to alerts. So let us know if something crucial is coming up to
which WfLPF should issue a response. Write the response and send it
to us, anci we'll put the sound of your WILPF sisters' voice behind the
call. Become a Program and Action Issue Representative!

WILPF Programand Issue Committees
• Aging

• Latin America

• Asia/Pacific

• Lesbian/Bi

• Civil Liberties

• Middle East

• Cuba Action

• Peace Education

• Death Pe~J~

• Religious Right

• Disarmament-

• Southern Africa

• Environment

• Trade Issues

• Former Yugoslavia

• Women's Budget

•·Labor

There ore also other non-issue committees and caucuses that you c~:mi<;>in!
• Peace and Freedom magazine Advisory Committee (editors, journoli*,
designers, & issue mavens welcome)

• Women of Color Caucus • Young Women's Caucus

Write the WILPF National Office at 1213 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA
191071 We. can put you in touch with the chairs of each committee. ■

Letters should be under 300 words.
Peace. and Freedom reserves the right
to choose and edh letters.

Peace & Freedom

Paula.H..Tasso,.United ,Nations. Representative

About the CassiniSpace Probe. ..
It is now a done deed. The Cassini with its 72 plus pounds
of plutonium is in outer space. The lift-off was apparently
problem-free, but now set your clocks for two years hence that is when the space probe returns to circle the earth in
order to build thrust for its sling-shot maneuver to Saturn.
The Cassini will orbit the earth at an altitude of 500 miles
and at a speed of 43,000 miles per hour - many times faster
than a speeding bullet. And in the two years in space the plutonium batteries will have experienced what? How much
heat? How much sub-zero cold? What other modifications
could have affected the missile and the batteries? No space
scientist really knows. Indeed, no one anywhere really knows.
We are not free of our fears regarding Cassini for years to
come, but the two-year mark is probably the next concern.
Alan Kohn, the retired emergency preparedness operations
officer at the Kennedy Space Center, says that all sides of the
Cassini issue are lost in fogs of scientific uncertainty. He said:
''Who is right? That's not the relevant question. The point is
that Cassini is part of a series. Eventually you're going to
have an accident. We are trying to stop ... the whole-doggoned plutonium idea. It's insane, criminally insane."
And looking at the outer space program in broader perspective, one can say that problems with the plutonium
shoot will only affect human health and the environment.
Although whatever could be ONLY about that!! But the
planned laser shoot of a satellite already in orbit in space is
a certain military move. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967
does say that space must not be militarized or nuclearized.
This is an issue we must keep before us. The NGO
Disarmament Committee is planning a program on these
prescribed uses, but that has limited exposure and is only
the very beginning of the beginning.

About Iraq...
It is difficult to write about ongoing news for a periodical,
so there will be no predictions of whether it is negotiation or
confrontation on which the United States goes forward with
Iraq. Thus far it negotiation looks like it might have a chance.
Now Saddam Hussein is nobody's Prince Charming. He is a
dictator, he is a liar to his own people, to the UN Special
Commission investigating weapons of mass destruction, to the
United States, to his allies. Saddam Hussein has been uncaring

Peace & Freedom

about both bloody civilian and military casualties, and he
probably has vats of botulin,· anthrax, and nerve gas cooking
all over Baghdad. However, and this is ery important, this is
the very same man who was behaving in the very same wax
and both the United States and Britain armed him and sup-,
ported him for almost ten years while he fought a terrible war
against Iran. Sometimes we reap the wind..
And why, this time around are so many of our allies·'reluC!
tant to join us in military action against Iraq? A number of
contradictory U.S. practices cause allies to wonder about our
high morale stance, insisting that Iraq must meet UN conditions, while we thumb our noses for years at our delinquency
in paying our share of monies for UN work. There might· be
concern about our unilateral sanctions on companies' dealing
with Cuba or Iran, or our· lack of interest in any sanctions on
. other nation-states (China, Israel). Or the U.S. agenda might
be considered not entirely benevolent.
It is known that both the Bush and Clinton administrations
would have vetoed the lifting of sanctions until Saddam
I Hussein is overthrown. This is something that is entirely '
beyond the parameters of the international community.
The Australian diplomat, Richard Butler is heaqing the .
negotiation attempts. He has considerable negotiating ability
and smarts, as he showed wheri·he was one of the important
policy makers that forced the C'PBT to the table and to its .'
acceptance. We give him our support and wish him much
good fortune.

I

About DisarmamentWeek at the UN ...
The NGO Committee on Disarmament, representing
WILPF and other organizations. who oppose the buildup of
both conventional and nuclear arms presented a four-day program at ·''"·-:,;
the United Nations.called "The Future of Disarmament." There were paricipants from many parts of the
worl<;ldiscussing subjects such as· human development ad
disarmament, banning anti-persemnel land mine., conven-,
tional weapons. There were two Nobel Laureates with us:
Jody Williams, 1997, Joseph Rotblat, 1995. Richard Butler
was awarded the Josephine Pomerance Award for, outstanding effort in disamament affairs: Both Mr. Butler and
Randall Forsberg of the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies discussed the evolving role of the UN and·
disarmament.

December 1997.

5

The International Youth Movement Is Alive and Well

'H

by Michelle Rief
...................................

ow often are we told by the popular press that
youth today are shiftless and indifferent to the
social and political issues so critical to their
future? The 14th World Festival of Youth and Students held last summer in Havana, Cuba - proved to the world
that the international youth movement is alive and active!
An astonishing 12,000 young people from over 130
nations gathered in Havana from July 28th to August 6th
to celebrate "anti-imperialist solidarity, peace and friendship." The World Youth Festival first took place in Prague,
Czechoslovakia in 1948 when young people from around
the globe gathered and vowed never again to allow the
horrors of fascism to terrorize the world. Like the first
Festival held in Prague, youth at this year's event came
together to confront the pressing issues of their time.
Each day delegates at the Festival had the option to
either tour sites of socioeconomic interest - such as factories, hospitals and schools, to visit one of the seven
regional clubhouses and meet with youth from various
continents of the world, or to attend one of the impressive international political discussions. Additionally, some
delegates were given the opportunity to spend a portion
of the week visiting one of Cuba's various provinces.
On the site tours, Cuban employees welcomed young

6 December 1997

visitors to their workplaces to share with them their trade
and to expose them to working conditions in Havana. For
example, delegates that visited ETECSA, Cuba's telephone
company, learned that pregnant women workers in Cuba.
are entitled to six months of paid maternity leave.
Delegates also discovered that in most companies women,
as well as young workers, are provided with a forum
through which they can discuss issues of particular relevance to them and voice their unique concerns to their
employers. Other festival delegates visited medical clinics
in Havana and became acquainted with Cuba's renowned
free system of health care.
In the regional clubhouses delegates took part in bilateral and trilateral discussions. For instance, young people
from the U.S. met with representatives of South Africa's
ANC Youth League to discuss the overwhelming role that
race continues to play in these two nations. Delegates
from the U.S. also met with youth from Canada and
Mexico to discuss such issues as immigration and NAFTA.
The thirteen topics for political discussion included:
democracy and participation, culture and social communi-

Parade of delegates at the 14th World Festival of Youth and
Students. Photo courtesy of Lyn-Li Pugh

Peace & Freedom

tional cooperation, employment,
, the environment and sustainood, human rights, young
racism, anti-imperialist solith, and finally, the student
ly 1,000 young people attended
ation and democracy, which lastinstantly translated into three
tions system as complex as
. Not only were young people
with other youth from around the
t.echnology they were exposed to

w e egate Jenni er Perna
their host family, Rayner and

~t:'esl!led

in the discussion on partic--

Cuba from 1959 to the present." Though this historic
event was virtually ignored by mainstream America,
young people from the U.S. courageously demonstrated
their solidarity with the Cuban people in their struggle
against the unjust economic blockade currently being
waged by the U.S. government.
The hospitality of the Cuban people throughout the
Festival was astonishing. Each delegate was hosted by his
or her very own Cuban family. Each day these families
provided breakfast and dinner for their guests and introduced them to everyday Cuban life. Some families took
their young visitor on a tour of the city, showed them
their place of employment or invited them to participate
in a traditional neighborhood clean up. Not only did these
adopted families share with Festival delegates their honest feelings about Cuban life, but they enabled the
youth of the world to establish bonds with the Cuban
people which stretch beyond national boundaries and
will never be broken.
The most touching moment of the Festival came during
the closing ceremony held in Havana's Pan-American
Stadium. Anyone who doubts the power of the international youth movement would have never been able to
walk away from this ceremony with such a pessimistic
view of the world's youth. Imagine 12,000 young people
from various countries in one small stadium ...waving their
nations' flags, displaying banners proclaiming their visions
and chanting words which speak of their struggles. It was
powerful. A momentum was born which continues to
increase as young people, back in their nations of origin,
are telling anyone and everyone that will listen about
their experience in Cuba last summer. Any delegate to
the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students would
agree with the following words which form the chorus of
the Festival's theme song written by Carlos Manuel
Garringa Martinez and Frank Fernandez:

was the violation of the democratth by the U.S. government.
the Festival by several
tatives - Ronald Dellums, Jesse
ns, Charles Rangel, Bobby Rush,
U.S. Treasury Department
to U.S. youth on the grounds
possibility of a maximum
eral prison, over 900 U.S. youth
the World Youth Festival.
press this was the "most reprefrom [the U.S.) that has visited

Peace & Freedom

"For a festival I have a thousand reasons
to show the world dreams and truth,
and proclaim love... "
Oh yes, the international youth movement is
alive ... alive and well! ■
Michelle Rief was a delegate to the 14th World Festival of
Youth and Students. She is a graduate student in the
department of African-American Studies at Temple
University. She currently works part-time in WILPF's
Resources dept.

December 1997

7

Generation X?
by _Felicity_Hill

M

arilyn Clement and I were conspiring about the
future of WILPF when the subject of outreach to
"youth" came up in the conversation.

"I don't think it's fair to say that young people are
apathetic and apolitical; this Generation X stuff is propaganda," I said. "I hear this from WILPF members far
too often. We can't expect young people to come to us
when they don't know we exist!"
Next thing I knew, I was on the road with
an itinerary featuring 65 colleges, high
schools and juvenile incarceration units
to test my little hypothesis. (Be careful
when you throw your opinion around
Marilyn, you might find yourself having
the adventure of a lifetime!) .
I'm from Australia, a place we_
activists call the 52nd state of the USA
due to the 26 U.S. bases on our soil.
From the outside, many of us see the U.S.
as a very, very ugly place. I knew that when I
came here I would find the best and worst - the best
in terms of movement people and the worst in terms of
many good people doing evil through their culpable,
inexcusable ignorance and collaboration with what can
only be described as a political and corporate cannibal.
I have been saddened at times, but mostly uplifted by
the hopeful signs I have seen on this tour, that an
inherent sanity and strong desire for change exists, even
in the most distracted and sedated population on earth.
Starting in South Carolina and ending in Seattle four
months later, the tour is taking me into the classrooms
and lives of the student youth of the USA. What I am
finding is large-scale ignorance brought about by the
media, but also an intense and sometimes urgent sense
of searching for the kind of political information I'm
providing. Remember, next year's first year students
were born in 1980 - imagine their political memories eeekkk! They need to feel sonie hope and to be provided with some images and ideas of resistance to white
supremacist, capitalist patriarchy. They know something
is wrong but they are either too pacified, too poor or

8 December 1997

too alone to do anything about it. Making it easier to
become active, providing a connection to the network
and promising them they don't have to wear tie-dye
have been important messages! I have been overwhelmed by the positive response in terms of questions
and discussion as well as the eagerness to become
members and to set up campus branches of WILPF.
The main focus of my talks has been violence, but
many classes have asked for a different focus on
racism, feminism, economics, Cassini and
how to be an activist. I am stretching
notions of violence to include violence
against the environment, economic
violence, racist violence, the epidemic of violence against women and the
violence of preparation for war and
war itself. I have been touched by
some of the stories I have heard
straight from the lives of young people
who don't want their lives to be tied to
materialism like their parents' lives were.
They realize the environment will not tolerate
much more abuse and they, like me, feel robbed of a
carefree youth. Trying to remain numb or facing the
future honestly are the choices they have to make and
some are going to choose the latter. Lets welcome them!

The military is in the colleges, WILPF
should be there too!
The response to the advertising about the tour has
been surprisingly large - more than one speaker could
possibly cover. Most women's studies and peace studies
courses would love to have a speaker from a WILPF perspective. It has been so easy to arouse interest about
WILPF by going to where young people are and talking
about our wonderful organization. I recommend every
WILPF branch make themselves a part of their local
college or high school institutions, even if it's just one
speech per year it will make a difference. ■

Peace & Freedom

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the bi-monthly publication of WILPF,
the International Peace Update -a great way to stay in touch with
women working for peace.

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for Peace and Freedom
is the oldest international
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Peace & Freedom

December 1997

9

Breaking Down Barriers

l

am a senior communications major at Liberty
University and the editorial intern here at the U.S.
section office at WILPF. As an intern in the Jane
Addams internship program I have had the opportunity to
learn a lot about important issues that affect the world
around me, while gaining a lot of experience that will benefit me in the working world. Interning at WILPF has
helped me to see the world in a different perspective, to
rethink my actions and my place in society.
Although all of the issues that are supported by WILPF
are of equal importance, one that has seemed to migrate
to the top of my personal list of priorities is that of discrimination and racism in America. Working at WILPF
has shown me that racism is not always as black and
white as it seems. I have seen that racism comes in all
different forms and fashions. From the exploitation of
sacred Native American customs and rituals to institutiortalized racism in the work place and schools. One of the
most prevalent forms of racism that I have encountered in
my personal experience is that of stereotyping. Being a
student at a predominantly white Southern Baptist university I have been forced to deal with more stereotyping in
my three years as a student there than I have in my whole
entire life. To my surprise I have experienced stereotyping
from both the white and the black end of the spectrum.
Because of the reactions I get about different aspects in
my life I find it really hard to disclose a lot of information

about myself that has shaped me into the person that I
have become today.
When I first decided to accept a scholarship to attend
Liberty University I was hesitant to tell a lot of people
because of the reactions that I was afraid of getting.
Liberty is in Lynchburg Virginia, it's founder and chancellor is Dr. Jerry Falwell (also founder of the Moral Majority
of the late 70's early 80's), Southern Baptists have been
rumored to be racist in the past and blacks represent only
about 15% of the population at Liberty. Unfortunately, I
received more negative feedback than I anticipated. Most
people figured because I chose to go to "Jerry Falwell's
School," I must be supportive of every decision that the
man has ever made in his entire life. They assumed
because I was a Christian attending a Christian school I
hated homosexuals and I could not possibly take on a
feminist point of view. When other people at Liberty,
both black and white found out that I was from the inner
city they expected me to have an attitude, have a whole
list of wild experiences to tell and to end up either transferring or dropping out after one semester. I experience
the same type of scrutiny when I tell people that I am an
intern at WILPF. As soon as people hear of women gathered together to support important causes like justice,
equality, and women's rights they automatically assume
that the women involved are gay, and if a straight woman
gets involved with such a group it will be only a matter of
time before she decides to become a homosexual and
hate men.
So many people are trained to draw conclusions about a
person once they get a few small pieces of information. But
if we continue to do this type of thing, how can we ever get

U.S. WILPF Interns (I-r)
Michelle Rohner,
Development Intern, Hilary
Leland, Administrative Intern,
Sylvia Glover, Publications
Intern and Rosie Zaklad,
Program Intern.

10 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

to know each other? If you decide to take only small bits of
information about me and place me into a stereotypical
group how can you ever really know who I really am?
Yes, I am a young black woman who has lived all of her
22 years an the urban area. But no, I don't have any children, I've never been on public assistance, and I don't
have an attitude. I am in my senior year at Liberty
University, I am not white, and no I don't think I am better than my black sisters (or white sisters) who have children and are on public assistance, I don't hate homosexuals and I am not going to make you become a Christian.
Yes, I am an intern at The Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom. No, I am not gay and I do not
hate men. I am Sylvia Glover, a 22 year-old black woman
from North Philadelphia I am a Christian who happens
to believe in equality and justice. But you already knew
that. ■

Sylwx T. GlO'Ver- U.S. WILPFPublications Intern

WILPF: learning,
Growing and
.. . .....Activism

Af

iend once told me I had a lot of anger in me.
e said I should become an activist so I could put
y anger to use. "I am an activist", I said. He
just laughed. Well, after spettding the summer at WILPF,
the concept of my being an activist is nothing to laugh at.

My sophomore year in college was a real turning point
for me. I was the kind of student who sat in the back of
class and never spoke out. Then I took this wonderful
class with only eight people in it, all were women, including the professor. Because of the small class size, we
were forced to voice our opinions. Once I got started
talking, I found it was not all that hard. The all-women
setting was a very safe space for me. That is why I was so
excited to work at WILPF. For me, in all situations, work
and school, women have always been the minority. But at
WILPF, I always felt as if my opinion was important. I
also knew I had a lot to learn about things going on in
the world and could benefit from what others had to say.
One of the best parts about my experience was the
lunchtime talks. Once or twice a week women would
speak to us about a subject that was special to them.
Some of the topics were repressive legislation, disarmament, and violence against women, racism and many others. After these talks, we could ask questions of the
experts, and usually a very interesting discussion would
follow. This was a great way to learn about important
issues from people who are experts in their field. Some
of these women had actually lived through events that I
have only read about in books.
Being the Program intern, I learned a lot about the
issues that WILPF focuses on and got some hands-on
experience too. One day I had so much fun handing out
Cassini leaflets to an Episcopalian Convention at the nearby Philadelphia Convention Center. This summer, I wanted to get experience and knowledge about an organization
committed to social justice and I did, but I also had a lot
of fun doing it. It was great to work on issues that mattered to me. The internship program included a potluck
at Marilyn Clement's house and a dinner with Felicity Hill.
Besides fun stuff, I also had a lot of responsibility. I got a
chance to work with Jane Midgley on the Women's
Budget Project and with Z, WILPF's Program Director on
The Truth and Reconciliation Symposium. I was also in
charge of all the e-mail that WILPF sent and received.
WILPF gave a lot of responsibilities to the interns, and
with great results. I think it is really important to have
people my age getting involved with WILPF. I would like
to see WILPF more active on college and high school
campuses and involved with the many issues that affect
young women of all backgrounds. This involvement
would give women my age the opportunity to become
active members, and to make a difference in their communities. ■

Rosie Zaklad - U.S. WILPF Program Intern

Peace & Freedom

December 1997

11

Bio
ElaineJones
- DataAssistant
AndreaSaenz- Women'sPeaceandJustice
Treaty,Coordinator.

Elainewas born and raisedin Philadelphia.After receivingher
AssociateDegreein early childhood educationfrom Temple
University,she becameLeadTeacherat Children'sVillage,a
position she held for sevenyears.Elaineis alsoan organizer in her own community,doing work for People
TakingAction, an organizationfounded to help beautify
and maintainsafetyin the neighborhoodsin her area.
Shehasknown about WILPFfor manyyearsand has
learnedof the work that WILPFersdo from her daughter PamelaJones-Burnley,
a long-timeWILPFstaff member who is currentlythe AdministrativeDirector.
Elainesays,"It is good experienceto learnfirst handabout
11 ■
the work at WILPF.

AndreaS-enzwas born in Quito, Ecuador
and g~ew1,1p
in.LosAngeles,C,aliforni;iwher~
her family'moved'l'Vhenshe wasfour years •
old. Shehasworked on i·ssues
of socialjustice for seVeralyears,enteringthe world of
activismwith an action at the NevadaTestSite
and involvementwith the anti-Persian
Gulf War
effort during.highschool.
After spend_jng
.twoyearsat ReedCollegein
Portland,Oregon, Andrea movedback to southern
Californiato study LatinAmericanhistoryand literatureat Scripps
College. There,she becameacquaintedwith the Cuba solidarity
movementthrough her involvementin a studentorganizingeffort
that resultedin her participationin the third Pastorsfor 'Peace•
FriendshipmentCaravanto Cuba.Andrea'spolittcal1'rivolvement
while in college centeredon immigrants'rights.Shespent a summer intemingwith a SanFranciscoorganizationworking te defeat
Proposition187 and completedh,erdegreewith a thesisbasedon
oral historiesof LatinAmericanimmigrants.
Sincegraduatingwith a degreein LatinAmericanStudiesin
1995,Andrea has lived in SanDiego,working with the Support
Committeefor MaquiladoraWorkers,the SanDiego Friendsof
Cubaand continuing to work with Pastorsfor Peaceto end the
blorkade of Cuba. Sh~recentlymovedto Philadelphiaand is
adjustingto the changein climateas well as c~n be expected,■

ChrisMorin- Leadership/Outreach
Coordinator
ChrisMorin hasbeen a memberof WILPFsince 1990when her
mother,ElizabethMorin, also a WILPFmember,gaveher a membershipfor her 40th birthday,a fact that she is proud about. Chris
hasbeen activewith her local branchin Hartford,CT and has
servedon the Region4 SteeringCommitteeand WILPF'sNational
Board.Shemissesworking with the Hartford WILPFers,but she
lovesher new job as Leadership/OutreachCoordinator,which
wasformerly the MembershipCoordinatorposition.Sheenvisions
tripling WILPF'smembershipby the year 2000, becauseshe has
sensedthe energyand enthusiasmof our membership.■

Editor's Note: All of these positions are new or have been
significantly chan!Jed, so please show your support to
these women. They are here to further WILPF's work
and message of peace and justice and will need you, our
membership, to help see this work through.

12 December 1997

J

Peace & Freedom

Media & Democracy
by Tobi_White

M

edia and Democracy. Do these two words go
together? No, not usually. Should they? Yes. Can
we really expect the corporate-run bullies of the
mainstream media to really provide socially responsible
reporting and analysis? Probably not, at least not without
a fight. Should they? Yes. Do we have alternative
sources of media? The answer is a resounding - Yes!
That is why activists and journalists (primarily from
alternative or independent media sources) came together for the Media & Democracy Congress II last
October in New York.
The Congress provided a forum for
activists and journalists to discuss how
we can best use the media not only to
inform and hold the media accountable, but also to motivate the public
into action against injustices. Now,
of course this is a grand statement
as compared to reality, but. it is a " •
great goal!
The Congress, co-sponsored by the •
Institute for Alternative Journalism and
many other supporters, consisted of workshops and panel discussions. The pre-Congress
agenda featured workshops. Ther~ was a media training
workshop designed to help sharpen the media relations
skills of people working for non-profit social change
groups. Other workshops included: Fundraising Training
for Media Mahers and Activists, Building Connections
Between Labor and Independent Media; Computer-assisted Reporting, Young Media Mahers Exchange, Media
Activism, and Investigative Reporting: Roundtable
Discussions.
The Congress kicked-off with a panel discussion,
Communicating Our Vision of Democracy in the
Information Age, led by Barbara Ehrenreich
(author/activist), Jeff Cohen (FAIR), Jim Hightower
(radio host), Herb Chao Gunther (Public Media Center),
Makani Themba (Praxis Project, Congress organizer),
Robert Bray (Strategic Progressive Information Network,
TAJ, and Congress organizer), and Anita Roddick (The
Body Shop, a Congress co-sponsor). They shared their
visions and strategies on effective media relations, followed by questions from the audience.

Peace& Freedom

The panel discussions, the following day, led by leading communicators of the alternative press and activists,
covered a broad spectrum of topics as it relates to responsible media functions. The panels included: discussions on
the roles and uses of videos and films, the use of the
Internet in reporting, media literacy, investigative reporting, and how to make news with social change. There
were discussion panels that focused on fundraising and
strengthening relationships between funders and media
activists; how print journalists can effectively pitch
stories; pinpointing effective tools in holding
the media system accountable to our communities; and other panels focusing on

youth scapegoating in the media, and
"Girl Power" in the media which highlighted how independent media can
reclaim girl power.
There was some heated discussions during the
panel: Beyond Us and Them: Sex, race and the narrow
mind of the media. This discussion focused on how many
issues, such as welfare, affirmative action, crime, and
immigration are treated in the mainstream media.
Panelists and listeners also challenged the concept that
alternative media effectively addresses race, sex, homophobia and class.
In side conversations and even on some of the panels,
there was a lot of complacency and self-gratuitous
acknowledgment of being 'progressive'. However, many of
us know well that much of the information disseminated
by the independent press can and has been the some of
the same rhetoric of the mainstream, but to a different
tune. However, some of it is honest and accurate and
worth fighting for. The Media & Democracy Congress
gives us hope that one day the media makers of the alternative/independent press and perhaps some mainstream
will serve our communities justice and continue to be an
avenue of creative expression. ■

December 1997

13

Working Wof!len
Working Together
by _Kathleen.Kelley

I

f you received the ASK A WORKING WOMAN SURVEY, filled it out and returned it to the AFL-CIO
Women's Department, you were one of 50,000 women
who did the same.
The results from the survey indicate that working
women want change! They want equal and fair pay! The
50,000 women answered questions on raising pay;
improving opportunities for advancement; defending economic security; extending health insurance, child care,
elder care, pensions and other benefits; and helping working women and men organize for a stronger voice and a
better deal.
The survey was the prelude to the AFL-CIO Working
Women's Department WORKING WOMEN WORKING
TOGETHER Conference held in September in
Washington, D.C. It was an explosion of 1700 delegates
from all parts of the U.S., dedicated working women of all
colors and ages, and from support organizations. While
"checking in" during workshops, I mentioned that I was
representing Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom, there was applause and recognition.
Karen Nussbaum, Director of AFL-CIO Working
Women's Department, and a large number of assistants,
had planned things well. There were five plenary sessions
with speakers and entertainers and time slots for three
kinds of workshops: 1) 21 Issue workshops; 2) 17
Organizing workshops; 3) 7 Political workshops.
Speakers were forceful in supporting union organizing
and dealt with the various issues women had selected as
most important on the surveys. Some of the speakers
were Linda Chavez-Thompson - Exec. VP AFL-CIO, Gloria
Johnson - VP of AFL-CIO and national President of
Coalition of Labor Union Women, Ann Richards - former
Gov. of Texas, Dorothy Height - National Council of Negro
Women, Maxine Waters - U.S. House of Reps., Eleanor
Holmes Norton - U.S. House of Reps., and more.
A few speakers emphasized the importance of working
internationally. Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor
Committee reminded us of the direct link between sweat-

14 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

'

shop abuses in, ~ther countries and the growth of sweatshops in the U.S., th~ result of which could be that race
to the bottom for· all of us, where we compete for the low:est wages and behefits and the most miserable working
conditions.
Ann Richards said, ~·"S~venty-six
percent of women
.....
wi,th school-age children are in the labor force. More than
60 million are working: We are almost half of the work
. force ... An~,you know we are not in it for our health. We
are not working as part of some search for self-fulfillment... or a little extra pin money for the luxuries. We are
supporting our families and ourselves. And most of us are
working like dogs."
·John Sweeney, President.of AFL-CIO, promised, "We
will step up our efforts to heip un-represented workers
find their voice and organize unions - and we will empha• size iridustries where women work, from information management to education, from communications to clothing
. and textiles, and from health care to hotels and restaurants.''.,
Linda Chavez-Thompson., Gloria Johnson, Karen
Nussbaum and others went on a 20-city tour, meeting
with working women from ~ construction site to a school
·'library. Gloria Johnson s.aid they "met with working
.women: single mothers who work the night shift at facto,, ries, hotel workers, flight attendants, health care
providers, clerical workers, union and non-union women
in every part of the country."
, "We will launch a grassroots campaign that makes
wome,n's wages that public issue it deserves to be. We are
going to fig~t for equal, fair, and just pay for women .
. •...And we will fight in the halls of congress for legislation
• . that gives working women, fair and equal pay."
,·

SomeHighlights
Five-hundred of, the Working Women Conference dele. gates rallied in support of the workers at ARK Restaurant
• located at the Union Station' •Which has no union contract
with the Hotel and Restaurant Ei:nployees Union Local 27.
In the midst of Vice President Al Gore's speech, a

Peace & Freedom

voice in the back of the auditorium called out "No Fast
Track." The chant was picked up gradually, and soon the
entire 1700 delegates were shouting "NO FAST TRACK,
NO FAST TRACK, NO FAST TRACK." Indicating the opposition of the working women to NAFTA, GATT-WTO,
APEC, and any other deals cooked up by the transnational corporations to rob working people around the world of
jobs and to take away any sovereignty we all may have.
Gore stopped talking and after listening briefly he began
again as the chant subsided and said, "I don't think it will
do any good, but I'll take it back," (to the President).
The oh sooo Politically Correct Players were oh sooo
good, as they preformed political and educational plays
that they had written. Rebel Voices sang their exquisite
vocal harmonies with inspiring social commentary. And
Elise Bryant who brilliantly sings labor words to Gospel
tunes, led us many times in labor union and workers'
songs, including ending the conference with Solidarity
Forever as we all held hands.

LET'SSUPPORTTHE
UNION CAMPAIGNTO ORGANIZE
WOMEN WORKERS!
If you want more information on the results of the survey or any other aspect of the conference please write
Kathleen Kelley c/ o the WILPF office in Philadelphia. ■
Kathleen Kelley is on the U.S. Section WILPFBoard and
is co-chair of WILPF's Labor Committee.

December 1997

15

As Land Mines Go,
So Go Nuclear Weapons
by Anabel __
Dwyer

.·
A

whopping 87 percent of Americans agree that we
need agreements to eliminate nuclear weapons,
imilar to those negotiated and signed to eliminate chemical and biological weapons. A broad majority,
74 percent, disagree with the fact that the U. S. government spends more o_nbuilding and maintaining its
nucleiir weapons than it spends providing head start programs,_ fighting illiteracy and providing college scholarships combined." ("Findings on Nuclear Weapons," April
1, 1997, Lake Sosin Snell & Associates.)
Such strong desires, which surprised even the pollsters,
may not indicate that most people stand ready to abandon violence altogether, but they certainly show we'd prefer to secure our future by means other than ecocide. As
pollster Celinda Lake said at a congressional briefing,
"The people are way ahead of Congress." How then do
we enact sensible and popular views as U. S. policy and
move beyond the nuclear age?
This country purports to operate according to the rule
of law, yet Congress and the Administration ignore our
present legal "obligation to pursue in good faith and bring
to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects" as affirmed unanimously by the
International Court of Justice.
Thus, while most people now understand that effective
law depends upon agreement, the Administration and
Congress cling to the view that the rule of law depends
upon force and refuse to abandon the annual $33 billion
expenditure for "the ultimate force," nuclear weapons.

It's up to us to transform a system in
which:
• 51 cents out of every discretionary federal tax dollar
goes to the military and only 7 cents to education
• Lockheed /Martin, McDonnell Douglas/Boeing and
BDM, all major military contractors, sit on an "independent" board to conduct the quadrennial defense
review (Nation 5/26/97)

16 December 1997

• The Lockheed Employees PAC was one of the top
contributors to federal candidates in 1995-96 (Post
5/14/97)
• All branches of the Pentagon have lobbying offices in
the Capitol
• Michigan alone has lost $10 billion annually in taxes
to the Pentagon since 1980 and is now plagued by 33
hazardous radioactive sites and 25 corporations
enmeshed in nuclear weapons production.

Ending Kick-Back Schemes for
Perpetuating Killing
Citizens need now to comprehend the workings of the
nuclear part of the military-industrial complex. Let's consolidate the information in a report on "U. S.
Corporations doing business in Nuclear Weapons and
Nuclear Waste: Who profits? Who suffers?" modeled
after the Human Rights Watch Arms Project report by
Andrew Goodpaster on "U. S. Corporations and
Antipersonnel Landmines."
As with landmines, the real costs of nuclear weapons
and nuclear power are not borne by those who make the
profits. Dangers :and specific horrors of radiation to people and our environment must be as graphically shown as
the terrible injuries caused by landmines. People can
then focus actions to end any participation in such
ruinou~ activity.
Based on extensive presentations, the International
Court of Justice conclu9ed that nuclear weapons are illegal because of the facts. "Nuclear weapons can not be
contained in either space or time. They have the_potential to destroy all civilization and the entire ecm;ystem·of
the planet. The radiation released by a nuclear explosion
would affect health, agriculture, natural resources and
demography over a very wide area. Further, the use of
nuclear weapons would be a serious danger to future generations."
It is in,ctimbent on_us all to face tµe real pain and suff\:)ring caused by the mining, production and testing of
uranium, ._aswell as the l,lSeof nuclear weapons.
Furtherriiore, we must hear the people of Hiro~hima and
:Nagasaki, the Marshall Islands, Chernobyl, indigenous
people from.many parts of the·wor~d, atomic veterans 1
victims of radiation experiments and down-winders. The

Pean~;& Freedom

realities can be presented in usable and accessible forms,
readily available to counter the continuing lies and to
insure that the horrors never happen again.
Unhooking ourselves from the nuclear debacle requires
identification and assessment of corporations that do business in hazardous nuclear weapons, waste and power. In
Michigan we are bringing together people from many
peace, justice and environmental organizations around the
Great Lakes Basin to link knowledge and presentations of
the hazards with actions for nuclear independence.
Nuclear-free zones and selective purchasing ordinances
and acts, stockholder initiatives and divestiture actions,
declarations of nuclear independence, invitations and
demands to corporations to cease production or deployment of nuclear weapons, demands for environmental
cleanup and safe waste disposal and an end to caps on
insurance liability for accidents, all will hasten serious

good faith negotiations for a treaty to eliminate all nuclear
weapons and achieve the demise of nuclear power.
It is our view that through concerted efforts rooted in
an informed and active grass-roots, we can make rapid
progress toward nuclear disarmament and as part of the
process stop other probes like Cassini, subcritical tests
and development and expansion of nuclear weapons and
of NATO. But we operate under no illusions. DOD and
DOE continue busily tying the failing nuclear power
industry into the disastrous nuclear weapons business
through tritium production, mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel and
plans to continue the nuclear wasting of the Western
Shoshone people and lands.
Weapons manufacturers and DOD have also devised
various ways of making information difficult to come by.
U.S. official reporting from the Procurement Data Center
only includes prime contracts over $25,000. Ask your
member of Congress for information on who has both
prime contracts and subcontracts for what military hardware in your state and at what cost. In addition, much of
the nuclear technology in dual-use involves nuclear waste
such as depleted uranium which the Pentagon hands out to
weapons contractors with no accounting as to amounts or
effects.
But the facts of health and environmental effects of
radiation speak most forcefully. When they are specifically collected, we can also connect contributions to candidates with corporations doing business in nuclear or dualuse weapons, delivery systems or nuclear waste and thereby unravel some of the illicit reasons why the nuclear age
as dangerous as it is has hung on as long as it has. This
will lead to findings of many below board activities including refurbishing F-lSs and F-16s to give away or sell with
subsidies so that F-22s are "needed" to "defend" against
"enemies" made by the military contractors themselves.
Milo Minderbinder would recognize such schemes.
Think of the wonderful lyrics for a battery of raging
grannies singing of compensation and cleanup from those
who profit from gross human and environmental harm.
Capitol Hill might never be the same as we increasingly
and more pointedly demand an end to the demented war
games which still command most of our public purse. ■

Anabel Dwyer, a Michigan attorney, is a member of
WILPF and the Board of the Lawyers' Committee on
Nuclear Policy.

Peace& Freedom

December 1997

1-

Leadership Institute WILPF's Loving Transformation
..............................................................................

Report from a participant of the Leadership Institute of U.S. WILPF's National Congress in Greeley, CO in 1996. Ooer
one year later, she shares her thoughts on her life since LI.
by Beth Lerch
..............................

I

t has been a very hard year for me personally, professionally and organizationally - probably due, in part,
to a greater realization of my self that came from the
Leadership Institute. "Smooth transition" seems like an
oxymoron to me! However, a "loving transition" has
become a powerful force in my life.
Upon my initial return, I was able to take a hard look
at my fading relationship with my partner and realize that
he was not a man whose belief system I respected; therefore this was not the person with whom I wanted to build
a family. Knowing how much peace and justice issues
mean to my life made that decision so much easier, and
we separated in a very understanding and loving way.
So, regarding "Leadership," I can honestly say that having a concentrated time period to examine ideas about
peace and justice allowed me to form a life-mission for
myself. I wish that every one had such a privilege.
My second transition this year was a professional one.
At leadership, I had a vision regarding my work and
returned to Los Angeles holding that vision in my mind. I
had been freelance writing and working for a morally and
financially corrupt film producer. He ran out of money
completely, and my "temp" agency sent me to a wonderful, progressive company called Rhino Entertainment.
This company is everything I thought a company could
not be: community-oriented, multi-cultural, and socially
and environmentally conscious. Employees are encouraged to do lots of community service (My WILPF times
counts!) and are rewarded with time-off. And very importantly our products are great, which was a key part of the
vision: to produce media projects that promote peace
and/ or celebrate multi-culturalism. It has been a nice
merging of career and organizational work.

18 December 1997

Finally, my greatest challenge this year has been living
up to the responsibilities of being Co-Chair of the Los
Angeles WILPF branch. I'm happy to say that I have used
some of the tools' from the Leadership Institut~ to teach
the elder members a few tricks, but I am certain they've
taught me so much more!
We face issues such as motivation, membership participation, geographical difficulties, night driving, time constraints, and lack of technological understanding.
However, we are continuing to "book" and promote
monthly speakers that tie in with the national as well as
our local goals. We are also in a long-term process of
reaching out to our inactive members in an effort to find
ways to involve them to a greater degree. A personal challenge is time management of various obligations: building
a career, dedicating time to writing, and organizing. I
often have the feeling that no matter how much time I
devote to organizing, it is not enough because there is so
much to be done. Perhaps other young women who struggle with career and family obligations feel the same pressures. This concerns me. I wonder if that is one of the
reasons we have few young members. It is hard to consistently work at something and not feel a sense of progress
or success; it makes it hard to continue giving what little
free time you have to an unending job. I guess it comes
back to the need to create your own internal sense of
accomplishment and feeling content in knowing you are
doing what you can. This is what I struggle with now, in
an effort not to burn.out on organizing. If anyone has any
tips or words of wisdom, I would love to hear them! ■

Beth Lerch participated in WILPF's Leadership Institute
in 1996. She is on the Young Women's Caucus and is
Co-chair of the Los Angeles WILPF branch.

Peace & Freedom

Leadershi /Outreach

....................................................

I

'W:

an ~iring
experience,
it was to meet you. " - "It
was great to make the connections between war and domesticvi<>lenoe."- "I want to be a member!"- "Put
me on the mailing list." These are responses from students as Felioity Hilltours the
U.S. college campuses and high schools for

WILPF.
I feel nothing but excitement about
membership growing in leaps and bounds.
The excitement stems from doing somethingnew, something different, gettingnew
tnergy from new people. Felicity sends
,reports in about her tour, every two weeks. They are:mtcW
withher reactions, dialogues and general enthusiasm
llhouther interactions with primarilyooJ1egeage~
She has also spoken with some high school students and
hasfoundthat even at that ~ age, activists are thirsting for information and waysto be comtected to other
IMXlvists.
Felicity has been collecting namesof students
aadotlF
ers who want more information about WILPF,
want fo
become members, and want to start groups on~.
It bas become a tedious task to put those names
ona
mainlist, to respond to particuJar
t'e<)UUts,to follow-up
withnew group assistance. BUTIT IS A JOYFUL
TASK!!
It keeps the work of membership alive and growing. This
campus tour has planted seeds for WILPFand has opened
many doors. We realize that youngwomen on~
want to make the connections between academics:dlld
activism.We know now that we can contact C1Ui1ptJ$
WomenCenters, Women Studies programs and Peace
We can bring speakers to the campus
Studiesprograms.
andshare our visions and expertise with the next generation.

Peace& Freedom

Human Rights and Disarmament Interns from International
WILPF office.

We also realize that all young women are not on campuses. What other groups can we approach where young
women are also thirsting to tell their stories and looking
for a community to support them? (See "It Takes A
Village" )
And what would happen if we "came off the mountain"
and went to organizations of women of color, working
women, progressive women of faith, and lesbians? What
would happen if we sat at their tables and shared each
other's stories? Would we triple our membership by the
year 2000? Yes, we would. Do you hear a challenge coming on? Yes, you do. If everyone got two people to join
WILPF, we would triple our membership. Why is tripling
the membership important? Because in recruiting people
to join WILPF, we are, paraphrasing Betty Burkes U.S.
Section WILPF President, asking one more person to
work for peace.
As I talk with members around the country, both at
large and in branches, I hear how very proud we are of
the work we do for peace and justice. But are we proud
out loud? Let's be PROUD OUT LOUD!! ■

December 1997

19

BabyTeeth

I

t was about forty years ago, shortly after the first
nuclear bomb tests ushered in the nefarious Nuclear
Age, when St. Louis scientists discovered strontium 90
in baby teeth,' setting, off such pandemonium and demonstrations among women that Kennedy and Kruschev finally agreed to ban nuclear testing above ground. That
Partial Test Ban Treaty, signed in 1963, is still in existence .(the n~w Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty awaits ratification), although WILPF hopes ALL nuclear weapons
and tests will soon be :gone with the WIND (Women Insist
on Nuclear Disarmament) Campaign, and for agreement
among the nuclear powers by 2000 to draft a Nuclear
Weapons Convention.
Meanwhile, we still must deal with radioactive pollution
from nuclear reactors, which is undoubtedly a serious but
often neglected factor in the increasing rise in cancer and
other immune-deficiency diseases. Jay Gould, head of the
Radiation and Public Health Project, is once again collecting baby teeth. Gould, internationally known epidemiologist who has painstakingly analyzed data indicating that
living near nuclear reactors is dangerous, wants to prove
clinically what he has already shown statistically.
Therefore, Radiation and Public Health is analyzing baby
teeth from children born in recent years and WILPF can
help. F<;>r
instructions and a video that can be used to
sprea,d the word, the baby teeth hotline number is 1-800582-3716. ,
Spreading the word is not easy in these times. The
nuclear power and weapons industry is so powerfully
entrenched that when National WILPF held a press conference for Jay Gould, nobody came! We escorted him to
the White Dog Cafe, where he gave a fine talk, but there
was no media coverage. We arranged bookstore appearances, and a local branch held a public meeting which
was well attended, but hostile, whipped up by a former
power company's head of nuclear systems. A local symposium on Women's Health has no plans to discuss radiation
as a fact<?,rin the brea~t cancer epidemic! So once again,
it's µp to us.· ■
Kay Camp.
WILPF Disarmament Committee Chair

20 December 1997

Office of War ·Crimes
by Suzy T. Kane
..................................

W

ile it is admirable that Secretary of State
Madeleine K. Albright wants to give the issues
f war crimes, genocide and crimes against
humanity a high priority in U.S. foreign policy, she has as
her ultimate goal the creation of a permanent international criminal court. Why does she find it necessary to
bypass the already existing United Nations International
Court of Justice whose very purpose is to hold jurisdiction over international law? Think of the lives t)iat might
have been saved if in 1963 Iraq had been allowed to take
its border dispute with Kuwait before this already existing
world court. That is what Iraq wanted to do, we learn in
Phyllis Bennis' Calling the Shots. Instead, Iraq was held
off by the United Nations Security Council.
The truth about war crimes is universally nonpartisan, but Secretary Albrig}Jt seems to be declaring the
United States as the true north on the world's moral compass. The Secretary's newly appointed U.S. Ambassador at
Large for War Crimes David J. Scheffer can hope, as The
New York Times recently reported, to "establish at least 'a
record' if not a prosecution of war crimes that the United
States believes Iraq committed against the Kurds and the
Kuwaitis." But will Scheffer be free to turn as diligent an
eye on his own government?
A Commission of Inquiry spearheaded by former U.S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark, for instance, collected
evidence and testimony to substantiate a nineteen-point
indictment of the United States that it presented at public
hearings held in twenty-eight U.S. cities and in fifteen
countries around the world. On the one-year anniversary .
of the Persian Gulf War, an International War Crimes
Tribunal of twenty-one judges from seventeen countries
that Clark convened in New York found George Bush,
Danforth Quayle, James Baker, Richard Cheney, Colin
Powell, Norman Schwarzkopf and others guilty as charged
with war crimes against Iraq, crimes against peace and
crimes against humanity. Where was public discussion of
these charges? The truth knows no sovereign borders. ■
Ms. Kane, a WILPF member, is writing "The Hidden
History of the Persian Gulf War."
I

Peace & Freedom

Women Challengin
"Women's stake and responsibility in security are beyo
energy from the discussion

T

his statement about the relationship between power and
gender caught my attention last June while preparing to
participate in a symposium in South Korea. I was invited to represent WILPF at an international women's peace conference titled "The Women's Movement and Peace in the 21st
Century - Women Peace and Reconciliation," in Seoul.
The conference was organized by KWAU, (Korean Women's
Association United) and financially supported by the American
Friends Service Committee (AFSC). It brought together women
from Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Africa, East Germany, East
Timor and WILPF.Women from Vietnam and North Korea
were invited but unable to attend. The following are excerpts
from my talk - "A Process for Women Creating an
International Women's Peace Network"

e Politics of Power
, yet it is their gender that excludes their voice and

andthe. halls of power.

II

r[d~
Forwomen ine peed and desireto nurtureeachother is
r:"
ct~tiy¢
l:)ndwhere we discoverour power.
m_·t<'
Aspeac(:!activistsour taskis to challengethe politicsof power.
an Ashwaride~on5tratesthat women negotiatingfor peace
af<fltf~rentsensitivityto the processthat forgesa discourse
gguagethat is both daring and defiant.Thedefianceis
·on self respect,with the confidenceof our own valueas
beingswho cr~atelife, not gestroyit.,
mendefiningis.suesof peace keep peaceat the center of
'.ationswith the patriarchy.Strugglingcollectively,we cre(6rct! for changethaf can not be achievedindividually.
ing internationalfy.givesus the opportunity to take our
strugglesout of the dornain of nation statesinto the
international arena.
Internationalorganizingoffersdiversityand
dhn.J3nds
that we examine~nd confront our

In an interviewlastyear,Dr. HananAshwari,
a central spokespersonfor the Palestinian
peoplein the negotiationswith Israel and
the United States,revealed the rationale
and missionof an internationalWomen's
PeaceNetwork.
J
Shetalked about her "deep and abiding commitmentto a senseof justice that
is not abstract,but one that is translated
into realities, a sense of justice which
imbueslife with real meaningand makesit
own weaponsof violence,racism,sexism,
worthliving."
dassism,heterosexism,and ageism.Thesedistortions prevent us from being the peacethat
Certainlythat commitmentis basicto women
we want to create in the world. Theyinterfere with
networkingfor peacebecausewithout justice there
our vision. ,,
canbe no peace,without peacethere can be no freedom.
•
Audre Lotde reminds us that we can not dismantlethe masWe gatherto considerand inquire into the difficultiesand
er's housewith the inaster'stools. Differencesignitethe sparkof
opportunitiesfor building unity,direction,and designinto the
. geativity,the energythat fuels the replacementof the cultureof
frameworkof an InternationalWomen'sPeaceNetwork.A strong
war.
Thereare countlessassociationsin placearoundthe world but
forceunitingus is our survivalof the Patriarchyand the ingenious
ere is alwaysan externalforce interveningto keepus apart,
inventionsthat haveenabledus to resistthe war culture.
Stressing
the humanaspectof peaceand reallyfocusingon
i,ng~omeof us insiders,some'of.usoutsiders.We haveto
thatwhichis keyto the vision of an InternationalWomen'sPeace
Sl:;;tntly
interruptthat destructiveimpulseanddo the personal
rkon ourselvesthat makesworking collaborativelypossible.If
Network.Peaceis a riskyand dangerousundertakingin a culture
drivenby violenceand war and dedicatedto the propositionof
fariln this task, the patriarchywill go on shapingthe content of
dominationand control.The solidarityof women internationally
r li:V!:lSand the qualityof our relationshipsto eachother.
providesthe power to seeknew waysof being in the world and
Wemust,adopta languageof inclusionto makeus more intengenerates
the courageto act. In this context,peacebecomes
eliberate,resilientand intelligentaboutaccessing
and nurmorethanjust a political exercise.The humandimensionand geng~igegderagendafor peace,for truth, for reconciliation.
ma'lly,
I believethat women can and mustre-imaginethe
derawareness
that women weavetogethermakepeacea genuine
objective.
qnt to live in, celebratethe life we haveand be vigilant
J{..ofwhat is right,rememberingthatnetworkingfor
Womenassurvivorsknow the power of resistance.We havea
sourceof strength,a senseof valueand self definition inherited
■
eginsin our own backyards.
fromresisting,perseveringand surviving.We are healersand our
ttyJJurkes - U.S. ~ction President
powerfrom within hasalwaysservedas an agentof changein the

Betty Burkes
U.S. Section President

Peace& Freedom

December 1997

21

How did WILPF come ••
to explore the issueof drug policy_refqrm?
····················································································-························

the wonien proposed specifically that WJLPF's U.S. Section take up the que$tion of the so-called

"war on drugs" that is being waged. Of! .peasants~
.

•

• 4; .

·,

"unwanted people" and "sub'Versi'Ves" in Colombia under the pretext.of keeping the citizens of the United States clean and sober.

0

n the 1995 Peace Train to Beijing, a group of
Colombian women approached members of
WILPF's U.S.. delegation to the 4th World
Conference on Women and asked that they affirm their
commitment to working cooperatively toward justice
and peace in the Western Hemisphere. They were
referring to the Women's Peace and Justice Treaty of
the Americas signed in Bolivia in 1992; the women proposed specifically that WILPF's U.S. Section take up the
question of the so-called "war on drugs" that is being
waged on peasants, "unwanted people" and "subversives"
in Colombia under the pretext of keeping the citizens of
the United States clean and sober.
WILPF took on the task of educating our members
and staff on the issue of the U.S. "drug war" in the
Andes. We discovered many parallels between the
effects on the lives of women from the increased militarization in the Andes and in U.S. cities. Due to the
political hype that has surrounded "getting tough on
crime," the United States government has increased
funding for military aid to Colombia at an alarming rate
and increased its military presence in United States
civilian areas, especially the area that borders Mexico.
Families in both Colombia and the United States are
facing increased civil and human rights abuses due to
the heavy military presence in their communities.
The initial investigation on the "drug war" was carried out by researching material published by human
rights groups, interviewing organizations that provide

22 December 1997

services to communities affected by drugs, _and by
WILPF members traveling to Colombia to meet ·with
communities that have been under siege ]?y heavily
U.S.- supported military and paramilitary gr<;mpsfor
many years. With the information gathered over several
months, we decided t~at we would take on the responsibility of calling this war by its real name: the latest
excuse for a heightened United States military presence
in the Americas. A Drug Policy Committee was formed
within WILPF to discuss the ways in which WILPF's
commitment to U.S. non-intervention in Latin America
could be coupled with support for U.S. communities living in our "drug war zones," which include all U.S.
urban centers and, arguably, the entire country, since
we are all in some way affected by the short-comings of
our national drug policy.
We have begun to build relationships with women in
the United States that are working toward a more
humane drug policy, always informing them that they
are not alone in their struggle to change the oppressive
nature of the punitive "drug war." The recent. Drug
Policy Foundation Conference in New Orleans gave us
the opportunity to participate in a gathering of a
diverse group of drug policy reformers; our next step is
to connect these reformers with the Colombian women
with whom we've worked to form a stronger and more
complete global reform movement.
My experiences representing WILPF at the 11th
International Conference on Drug Policy Reform sponsored by the Drug Policy Foundation were overwhelm-

Peace & Freedom

YOUHAVE A FEMALE AeTION FIGURE
THAT SPEAKS OUT AGAINST
DISCR/MIIVAT/ON ANO WA,f l?
ingly positive. Apparently, there were a lot more
women at this year's Conference than at any previous
DPFevent. We had a women's luncheon on the second
day of the conference at which 45 women expressed a
need and desire to wage a drug policy reform campaign
with women at its center, making an impact on drug
policy by publicizing personal accounts of the "drug
war's"effects on women's lives. The women present at
the luncheon were very open and eager to make this an
international effort by forming alliances with women
from "supply countries"; they immediately understood
the impact that U.S. punitive drug policies are having
on communities throughout the Andean coca-growing
region. Many of these women had joined the reform
movement as mothers wanting to provide their children
with more responsible drug education than is currently
available through programs like DARE, others were former drug users concerned with providing effective services to those currently living with addiction, many had
lost family members to HIV ... the stories are all rich
and compelling; it's time that they be heard and inform
policy decisions.
There were people at the Conference doing work on

Peace& Freedom

medical marijuana, harm reduction through syringe
exchange programs, treatment alternatives to incarceration, methadone maintenance, HIV/ AIDS education and
prevention, legal advocacy and policy work on decriminalization and alternative models to U.S. punitive drug
policy; all shared a desire to see a just, healthy and
more even-handed policy. The main message was clear:
current policy represents a war on people, not on
drugs, and there are smarter ways to lessen the negative effects of drugs on a society without doing as much
harm as the "drug war"' has done.
Robin Lloyd gave a presentation at the plenary session on women that moved many to express joy and
excitement at having WILPF as an ally to their policy
reform movement. Many people approached me upon
finding out that WILPF was interested in working on
drug policy reform from an international human rights
perspective and offered information and support as we
work toward defining what a more just policy will mean
for us.
Robin and I were able to solidify plans to sponsor a
national tour featuring women from the U.S. and
Colombia speaking on the same platform on the effects
of the "drug war" within their communities, highlighting
harm reduction alternatives in the U.S. and alternatives
to military support for Colombia. We will be working
with an international group of women that will lead our
work in this area. The next step will be to plan, carry
out and publicize the national speaking tour for women.
The focus of WILPF's work for the next several
months will be to bring women's voices into the drug
policy debate, empowering women to participate in
important policy decisions and adding an important element to the struggle for reform in an area where it is
badly needed. ■
Please contact Andrea Saenz to become in'Dolved in
WILPF's work in the area of U.S. non-inter'Oention and
drug policy reform. 215-563-7110 or
wilpfnatl@igc.apc.org
Andrea Saenz
U.S. WILPF Peace and Justice Treaty Coordinator.

December 1997

23

Action·
School Of The Americas - A Notorious Chapter in the
History of the U.S.
by Ruth Hunter
.................................

II There

is no excuse for a federally-subsidized school for murderers. I can think of no earthly reason why our government should be
using taxpayers' money to support
killing and torture ... " - Rep. Sam
Farr (D-CA). This terse condemnation referred to the U.S. Army School
of the Americas (SOA) on the
grounds of Fort Benning, GA. The
school, originally established in 1946
in Panama, relocated in 1984, to
comply with the terms of the Panama
Canal Treaty of 1977, was ostensibly
begun as a training for Latin

American military. In reality, the
beginning of the cold war was a signal for strengthening the U.S. foreign
policy in the Western Hemisphere.
The mission of the school, as stat'ed in the army brochure, is to "provide doctrinal sound relevant military
education and training to the nations
of Latin America; promote democratic values and respect human rights."
Father Roy Bourgeois, founder of
SOA watch, has challenged the true
role of the school, evidenced by its
notorious alumni charged with flagrant abuse of human rights. Many

Women's
Conference
••1tCuba
, womenfrom all overthe world will
$ women'sissuesfrom a globalper-

teinthe latestfollow-up to the 4th
r.omen
in Beijing.TheConferenceis
Federationof CubanWomen,the
eQ.fora Lifewith Dignity,and the
mocraticFederation;
WILPFis one of
sponsors.We will be puhlicizingthis
nal Sectionsand U.S.Branchesand
astronginternationalWILPFpresd the word.
WorkingCommissions
to develop
e following:
SustainableDevelopment
articipation
ation, Culture and Social
e and Discrimination
l Jndependence,Sovereigntyand

24 December 1997

have been honored in the school's
Hall of Fame during the decades of
the 80's and 90's - decades that have
been drenched in the blood of civilian populations of both Central and
South America.
Rep. Martin Meehan echoed other
lawmakers when he said, "If SOA held
an alumni association meeting, it
would bring together some of the most
unsavory thugs in the hemisphere."
These include Gen. Manuel Noriega,
ex-dictator of Panama and prisoner of
U.S. on drug charges, Roberto
D'Aubuisson, late Salvadoran death
squad leader, Gen. Leopoldi Galtieri,
President of Argentina, accused of
"dirty War" when an estimated 30,000
disappeared, Gen. Hugo Banzer, dictator of Bolivia who developed the
Banzer Plan which became the blueprint for repression in Latin America,
and Gen. Hector Gramajo, Guatemala
Defense Minister, notorious for instigating the death of thousands of Mayans,
union leaders, human rights worker
and the religious.

Opportunitiesto shareexperiences,
strategies
anddevelop
modelsfor globalwomen'ssolidarityareall a part of the
ConferenceandU.S.Delegationprogram.
U.S.SectionWlLPfis buildinga U.S.Women'sDelegation
alongwith MA[)RE,GlobalExchange
and Hermanas.Travel
packageswill be madeavailablesoonandwill includea
week-longprogramin Havanawith an optionfor someextra
daysin Cuba(o visit one of the easternprovinces.Datesand
pricesarestill tentative,but it is not too earlyto savethe dates
betweenthe 11to the 21 of April, 1998,startsavingyour penniesand beginraisinga scholarship
fund for low-incomewomen
and students.
Theapproximatecostfor the trip from Nassauwill be between
$1,000and $J,100;thisjncludesConferenceregistration,airfare,
transportationto andfrom programevents,housing,breakfast
and dinnerdaily,experiencedtrip leaders,pre• delegationstudy
packets,informalvisitsand more.
If you areinterestedin receivingdetailedinformationon the
Delegationand/orjoiningWILPPs.
CubaActionCommittee,
pleasecontactAndreaS-enzat 215• 563• 7110and
wilpfnatl@igc.apc.org
or JanStroutat 609• 448• 3819•

Peace& Freedom

I

Since the early 90 's, the evidence for clos~n~

down the SOA has been mounting.

The trail leading to the expose of
the SOA begun in the late 1980's,
became the compelling mission of
father Roy. When four Maryknoll sisters were raped and murdered in El
Salvador, he began to search for their
executioners, an odyssey that led him
to the SOA. He is convinced that the
school is a breeding ground for assassins, a belief held by the Panamanian
newspaper, La Prensa, when they
dubbed it the "School of the
Assassins." Father Roy's assertion was
validated by the disclosure of the UN
Truth Commission's 1994 report of
human rights abuses in Latin
America. The report named many
SOA graduates who were responsible
for the 900 dead in Mozote, El
Salvador, the death of Archbishop
Oscar Romero and the executions of
the six Jesuit priests, housekeeper

GiveTheGiftOfWILPF!
Are you looking for the perfect winter holidaygift for your mother, daughter,partner,sister,or friend? Searching
for a way to opt out of the corporate
spendi'ngsplurgethat marksthe year's
end in our money-drivensociety?
CelebrateChanukah,Christmas,
Kwanza,or Solsticewith a gift to
WILPF.Honor your loved ones with a
gift membershipor a contribution "inhonor-of."If you would like to support
WILPFand have a personalizedgreeting card sent to the person you are
honoring,contact Beth Trigg at the
nationaloffice at (215) 563-7110.

StockMarketBonanza
Rememberyou can give gifts of
appreciatedstock to WILPFor to our
educationalfund, the JaneAddams
PeaceAssociation(JAPA).Make taxdeductiblegifts of stock to JAPA,777
UN Plaza,New York, NY 10017.■

Peace& Freedom

and her daughter. Many of those
who were accused of torture, rape
and death were alumni of the SOA.
Another shocking story surfaced in
1996, when the U.S. Intelligence
Oversight Committee reported that
seven manuals, removed from the
SOA curriculum in 1991, taught procedures in torture, family intimidation, executions, false arrests, and
other methods to "stabilize" the population. The removal of these manuals
from the SOA curriculum was labeled
"damage control" by the Pentagon.
However, no one has been held
responsible for their circulation during the training, which included thousands of the 59,000 Latin American
military graduates.
Since the early 90's, the evidence
for closing down the SOA has been
mounting. Rep. Joseph Kennedy has
introduced legislation several times
demanding closure. Each time it has
been defeated; however, the pressure
is increasing. Father Roy, who had
been incarcerated for two years at
intermittent intervals for trespassing
on the grounds at Fort Benning, continues to initiate dramatic events to
draw attention to this notorious page
in the history of the U.S. army. On
November 16, 1996, 500 supporters
gathered outside the gates of the
school, each carrying a cross, commemorating the seventh anniversary
of the slaying of the Jesuit priests.
Sixty supporters were arrested when
they "crossed the line" in an attempt
to plant crosses bearing the names of
the victims of rape, torture and death
dealt by the graduates of the SOA.
In April of this year, another
guerilla theater act, dramatized at the

Pentagon, was led by a figure dressed
as Uncle Sam, dragging Latin
American poor, surrounded by mo· 1soldiers. The funeral procession th.
followed witnessed the re-enactment
of a death squad-style execution.
Seventeen members of the funeral
procession crossed the line to begin
digging a mass grave and were
promptly arrested. Father Roy
declared, "We brought the SOA trail
of suffering back to the place where
it begins - the Pentagon."
Once again, an action to close the
SOA is on the drawing board. Plans
included a protest by 1,000 supporters who converged at the main gate
of Fort Benning on November 13-16,
each bringing 1,000 signed signatures
demanding closure of the U.S. Army
"School of Assassins." The action, a
vigil and civil disobedience, commemorated the 8th year since the
massacre of the Jesuit priests.
1,000 TIMES 1,000 Campaign to
close the school has 100 co-sponsors
in Congress who have signed on to
Rep. Joseph Kennedy's bill, H.R. 611.
.A companion bill in the Senate, S980
introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin
has been co-sponsored by Senators
Paul Wellstone, Dianne Feinstein and
Robert Torricelli. For those who wish
to participate in the campaign, contact Father Roy Bourgeois, P.O. Box
3330, Columbus, GA 31903.
Father Roy's plea to close the
school echoes across the nation. "I
have no doubt that...the School of the
Americas which has caused so much
death· and misery to our sisters and
brothers abroad ...will close ...We will

.

SJ?eak from prison ...from our
cells ... the truth cannot be silenced,
the truth cannot be chained." ■
Ruth Hunter is a member of Santa

Cruz WILPF.

December 1997
I

2S

,-Peace
~d,
ft Takes
a Village

JaneAddams
BookAwards

,
A familystartsits weekendin DelawareCounty... daughter
arriveshomefrom schoolwheresheis a peermediatorin the district'snew conflictresolutionprogram...toddlersonis tiredafterplaygroupwherethe parentsencouragetheirchildrenin nonviolent,
nonsexist,
noo-TV-based
play...andthe parentspreparefood for a
communitypotluckandcooperativegameseveningtomorrow.
ln1thE!'mailarrivesa newsletterwith an articleabout the challengeof guidingchildrenthroughthe culturaldangersof adolescence,·~ well asannouncements
about communityeventsand an
updateabout the powerfulcampaignto end child labor in the
third·world.Here is a familythat feelssupportedin its effort to
raisechildrennonviolentlyand to participatein a broadermovementfor socialchange.
It Takesa Village,a parentingprojectof the Women's
Internationalleague for Peaceand Freedom,hasgeneralmeetingseverythree weeks.Thefirst portion of the meetingis devoted
to reflectionand sharingand in the secondpart we planactions
andeventsand makeorganizationaldecisions.Our second
Saturdayseriesbeganin Junewith an eventcalled"TheRoleof
Childrenand FamilyLifein SocialChangeWork."We beganby
wafuhingthe provocativefilm •A World Apart,•then brokeinto
smallgroupsto shareour own challengesabout integratingsocial
contems/activisrilwith raisingchildren.Theeveningwas
enhancedby further multi-generational
discussionovera potluck
dinner.July'ssecondSaturdayfound us at an eveningof cooperative gamesfor the whole family.In Septemberwe were proud to
present"AdolescentSelfand Society:EmpoweringGirls,
Transforming
Our Culture.•It wasa resoundingsuccess,drawing
about40 adultsand 20 children,mostof them new to our group.
An excerptfromthe film "StiUKillingUs Softly' enhancedour
smaffgroupdiscussionof our own experiencesand concerns
aboutgirls.We brainstormeda list of forcesthat disempowergirls
andforcesthat empowerthem:We werealsohappyto hearpresentationsfrom PhiladelphiaRrotGirls,a supportand action
groupfor young radicalfeminists;andfrom the Summer
CommunityLeamingProject,a successful
summerprogramfor the
of SwarthmoreColfegestaff.In October,we heldanother·
daughters
greatcooperativegamesdayandthe topicfor our Novemberevent
was'HohdaysWithout the Hype,•in whichwe exploredwaysto simp&fyandde-commercialize
familycelebrations.
It Takesa Villagehasbeena wonderfulgroupfor all of us and it
is growingall the time. We are both gratefulto and inspiredby the
Swarthmore-Delco
branchof WILPFfor creatinga parentsgroup
andcontinuingto supportus in so manyways.Anyonewith questionsor commentsis invitedto contactus throughSusanEberleat
(610)56&-5493or Robinlasersohnat (610)891-8968.■

by WendyUnderhill

~6 December 1997

After reviewingover 200 worksof juvenileliterature,WILPF's
nationwidecommitteeto selectthe JaneAddamsChildren'sBook
Awardsfor 1996hasmadeits final choices.
In the picturebook category,Wilma Unlimited:How Wilma
RudolphBecamethe FastestWomanin the World by Kathleen
Krull(HarcourtBrace;all ages)wasselected.Thisis a biographyof
an African-American
womanwho triumphedover childhoodpolio
- and povertyand racismin a smallTennessee
town-tobecome
the first Americanwomanto win threegold medalsin a single
Olympics.
.
Thewinner in the chapterbook categorywasGrowingUp in
·coal Countryby SusanCampbellBartoletti(HoughtonMifflin
Co.; grades4 and up).Thevoicesand picturesof the men,
women and childrenwho livedand workedin coal countrya century ago arecapturedin this non-fictionstoryof their exhausting
hoursof dangerousand often painfullabor.In spiteof exploitation, the warmthof familylife sustainedthem throughthe strikes
that finallywon betterworkingconditionsfor them.
Threehonor bookswere chosenaswell. Behindthe Bedroom
Wall by LauraE.Williams(MilkweedEditions;grades4-7)is a
page-turningnovelof a thirteen-year-old
girl who strugglesto
understandher loyaltyto a Naziyouth group duringWorld War II
when shediscoversthat her parentsare hidinga Jewishwoman
·andher child.
SecondDaughter:TheStoryof a SlaveGirl by Mildred Pitts
Walter(Scholastic;
grades6 and up) is basedon the true storyof
ElizabethFreeman,a slavein 18thcentury New England,who
took her caseto court in Massachusetts
andwon her freedom.
The lasthonor book,The Day GogoWent to Vote by Elinor
BatezatSisulu(LittleBrownand Co.;all ages)offersa child's-eyeview of a beloved100-year-old
great-grandmother's
first vote in
post-apartheid
SouthAfrica.Thebook capturesthe woman'spas·sionatedeterminationto participatein the democraticprocess.
TheJaneAddams'Children'sBookAwardshavebeengiven
annuallysince1953by WILPFand the JaneAddamsPeace
Associationto booksthat effectivelypromotepeace,socialjustice, world community,and the equalityof the sexesand all races.
JAPAhasa fund to enableWILPFbranchesto givecopiesof the
award-winningbooksto local libraries.A branchmayrequest
thesebooksfrom WILPF'sPhiladelphiaoffice for a nominalfee,
while supplieslast.Many brancheshold public eventsto call attention to the booksand WILPF.
A list of currentand pastwinnersand honor booksis available
by sendinga self-addressed
stampedenvelopeto the Jane
AddamsPeaceAssociation,777 UN Plaza,New York,NY 10017.
A supplementarylist of other 1996children'sbooksthat promote
■
peaceandjusticeis alsoavailablefor an additionalSASE.

Peace& Freedom

'

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BLOODRITES
- Originandt11I,....,
by Barbar~
Doesthe nameBarbaraEhrenreichring a
bell?Foryears,subscribersto The Nation,
Progressive,
Z magazine,Time and
Harper's
havereadand welcomedher
witty,irreverent,penetratingarticles.Her
books,too numerousto list, received
acclaim
from mainstreamcritics.
Herlatestbook, Blood Rites,represents
tenyearsof research,encompassingbiology,historyand culturalanthropology.I
worriedthat the materialwould be beyond
me,butwith her ever-presentdesireto
reacha broadaudience,Ehrenreichhas
crafteda book that is accessible,meaningful,provocativeand cautionary.Her originalinsightsand interpretationsgo a Ion~
wayin explainingwhy conflictsand wars
havebeenand continueto be the scourge
of humankind.
Goingbackover hundredsof thousands
ofyears,shedrawsa vivid picture of our
ancestors
asPREYof the mammothsand
carnivores
that roamedthe earth..These
awesome
predatorswere invulnerableto
sticksandstoneshurledfrom a distance.
Man'svulnerability,she believes,imprinted
adeep-rooted
terror of predationon the
human
psyche.Sheremindsus that this
fearis nurturedto this day by myths,folklore,oralhistories,fairy tales,and chi~
dren's
games.
A very limited reversalof roles
began
with collectiveresponsesto menacingbeastintruders,and with collective
stalking
of singleanimalsfor food. When
mandevelopedthe spear,about 25,000
years
ago,enablinghim to becomepredator,a senseof power and control deve~
oped.Thiscomparativelyrecentreversalof
roleshasnot,shecontends,alteredman's
innermost
fearof predation.
Tharcheological
record indicatesthat
vastclimaticchangesdecimatedwhole
species
of animals.Ehrenreich,however,
stresses
excessive
slaughterof game,by
manaspredator,asa strongfactor in

Peace
& Freedom

reducingareasuppliesof meat
believesa cavedra ngof 1.
(beforepresent)of
•
bow and arrow,repri ts
food. Throughoutth book
psychologicalimplic tionsof
flicts,surmisingthat cohesiveness,
altruism
and the need to expiatethe shedding
of
blood were by-products.
Ehrenreichutilizesthe historical
recordto
substantiatethat blood ritualsfunctioned
as religiousrites,and werethefirstform
of
organizedsociallyacceptable
violence.
~
Sheremindsus that the earlyHebrews,
foughtnot
Christians,Hindus,Aztecs,andMayans
butby inte
madeblood offeringsto appease
anangry, eth •
vengefulgod. As nation-states
developed,
religionsbecomeincreasingly
involved
Jna
nation'swars,"sacralizing"
warviaprayetS
and ritual blessings.Nationalism
is labeled
•
asour new religion,!tspervasive
impact
giving riseto unthinkingresponses
and
participation.With dangers
conjured
l!Pby
governmentand media,theatavistic
fear
of becomingprey is revivedandrevitalized. Ehrenreichcoinsanoriginal
phrase,
"the democratizationof glory,•
that,likea
virus,makesus mor susceptible
to calls
ofcommemfor war.Sheliststhe_panoply
orativeholidays,parades,
adorationof the
flag and medals(let me addgoldstat'$for
mothersto the list) t at ennobleswar.
f
would concludethat this"democratization
of glory" is designedto numboursense
of
grief and lossand to invokeanarliftcial
senseof patriotism.
The richnessof th authors
analysis
can
best be savoredand graspedby reading
her book. Ehrenreicn's
emphasis
on the
materialbasisof conflict putsto restearfier
instinct,• that
theoriesof an "innateaggressive
or "humannature•asthe primarycauseof
the
conflict and war. He stresson the primiwa,,wiU
tive fear of being prey,so easilystimulated
ANIN
by the variousmechanismsshedescribes, leaptl9ng
warrantscarefulconsideration.We are

.

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A Tribute To Yvonne Logan

Branch Action News

We join in celebrating the life of one who has served
on the board of the Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom and the Jane Addams Peace
Association for forty years at the local, regional, national
and international level. She has traveled on their behalf to
the USSR, Cuba, Czechoslovakia and Japan and to
Finland on the 1995 Peace Train.
She has served WILPF as St. Louis and National president and served on the JAPA board for many years and
on WILPF's International Executive Committee from
1992-1995.
Yvonne is presently director of the World Community
Center, the Missouri coordinator of the Great
Decisions Program of the Foreign Policy
Association and serves on the boards of St.
Louis Americans for Democratic Action,
the World Federalists and the United
Nations Associations.
During World war II Yvonne'swar time
job was in army intelligence at the
Pentagon. Since meeting Annalee Stewart,
WILPF'slongtime, dynamic legislativedirector, Yvonnehas advocated for disarmament to
the point of even going to jail.
She graduated from the University of Michigan, married Attorney Joseph P. Logan, raised four children and
engaged in many cultural activities such as acting, writing
peace skits and lyrics and serving on the board of the St.
Louis Repertory Theater.
From 1962-1967, Yvonne directed the Baby Tooth
Survey measuring the amount of Strontium 90 in baby
teeth all over the U.S. She also directed the Peace
Information Center from 1967-1975 during the Vietnam
War.
What we have reported above by no means covers all
the activities and all the capacities in which Yvonne has
served WILPF and JAPA. She has enriched the lives of all
who know her. Thank you, Yvonne, for everything!

LeslieReindl- BranchAction Editor

Reprintedfrom program of the St. Louis Ethical Society
honoringY~nne Logan and the Jane Addams Peace
Association.

28 December 1997

Nuclear and Military Issues
In connectionwith Abolition 2000 and the WIND (WomenInsist
on NuclearDisarmament)programof WILPF,FelicityHill hasbeen
hostedthroughoutthe fall by manybranches,includingPortland,San
Jose,Boston,Fresno,Sacramento,
and Colorado.Hill is the 29-yearold whirlwindactivistnow coordinatingthe WIND program.Sheis
traversingthe U.S.thisfall to discusswith WILPFersand othersall
sortsof issuesthat makethe world unsafefor humansand other
creatures,suchas NATOexpansion,domesticand internationalviolence,racismand homophobia,the failed"Waron Drugs,"and the
globalizedeconomy.
Sacramentourgesaction on the U.S.Departmentof Energy's
plan to begin shippingspent nuclearfuel from research
reactorsin PacificRimcountriesto DOE weapons
production sitesat SavannahRiver,SC,and Idaho
Falls,ID. The wastewill be shippedby train within
the U.S.Shipmentis to begin within the first four
monthsof 1998.
DesMoines,Swarthmoreand Portlandparticipatedin "A DayWithout the Pentagon,"a campaignspearheaded
by the War Resister's
League
that happenedacrossthe country on October 24.
Other PoliticalIssues
Ongoingissuesincludeattemptsto closethe Schoolof the
Americas,on which almostall brancheshaveworkedand are still
working(therewasa gatheringin at Fort Benning,GA in November).
Portlandshowedthe new video, "Insidethe Schoolof Assassins."
Fresno,DesMoines,Boston,Detroit,MinnesotaMetro, continue
work on the landminesissue.(TheU.S.and Chinaare now the only
holdoutson signingthe Ottawatreaty).Detroit urgedpeopleto
bringa pottedyellowor white mum to JaneAddams'dayeventon
October 25 - "plantmumsnot mines"is the theme.Swarthmore
includedin its Septembernewslettera 1997Action Guide,giving
Guidelinesfor PoliticalAction,the namesand addresses
of all representativesand theirdistricts,and of both senators,the nameand
addressof the governor,statesenators,the local newspapers,
the
DelawareCountyCouncil,and the TV and Radiophonenumbers.
GreatIdea!!
SanJosetabledat the librarywith literature,petitions,and postcardson currenthot issues.Fresnois urgingmembersto work to
"Free[Leonard]Peltier,"now in prison21 yearsfor the murdersof
two FBIagents.The evidenceand trialwere flawed;a petitionfor
executiveclemencycurrentlysitson the deskof AttorneyGeneral
JanetReno'sassistant.
Fresnois alsopublicizingRep.JohnConyers,
Jr.(D-MI}bill, H.R.753,the IntelligenceBudgetAccountabilityAct,
that callsfor disclosingthe amountof moneyour government
spendson intelligencework.
Peace & Freedom

Fundraisers
and SpecialBranchPrograms
Detroit held a theatrepartyfundraiser,invitingmembersto play"In
the SweetByeand Bye."BothMontereyandVancouverheld play
readingsby differentauthorsabout the meetingof women at The
Haguefrom both sidesof World War I that led to the foundingof
WILPF.Portlandis sellinga book of essaysand photographs,Oregon

Movie Review
GI Jane
by FelicityHill
Thisfilm is worse thanyou evenimagine.
Likethe PromiseKeepers,it reinforcesand
amplifiesthe very problemsit supposedly
exposesas evil. Let me explain- the Promise
Keepersare speakingdirectlyto a crisisin
masculinitythat is very real- the rigid role
that patriarchyprovidesis actuallyvery fragile becauseit is impossibleto fill. Insteadof
questioningit, the PromiseKeepersare
sharpeningit to razorbladeedges,staginga
quantumleap backwardsusingthe truth as
a diving board.

In the sameway,GI Janeposes
questions
aboutwomen in the military
butleaves
the
structuresand practicesof militarytraining
andwarsintactand unquestioned,reinforcing the militaryasa timelessfundamental
truth that shouldbreakand rebuildthe
womenwho aretough enoughandimpor•
tantly,non-lesbian.
And surprise,surprise,
the majorenemyof the heroineis another
woman,the troublesomepoliticianwho
startedall the troublein the first placeby
muckingaroundwith feministideasin the
sacredhallsof Washington,D.C.
Thisstory confirmsthe distorted
ideathat
the anti-affirmative
actionfolkwould
have
us believe- that realequalitydoesnot
requireanythingother than equalaccess.
Demi Moore demandsto be treated
as

Bread& Roses- Women DefiningGlobalization
WILPF's International Congres§ of 1998
July 24th - July 31st
Baltimore, Maryland
"As we come marchingin the beauty of the day,
A million darkenedkitchens,a thousandmill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiancethat a suddensun discloses,
For the people hear us singing:'Bread& roses!Bread& roses!"'
"Heartsstarveaswell as bodies;give us bread,but give us roses!"
A picket sign at the great 1912strike of textile workers in Lawrence,
Massachusetts,inspiredthis famous labor song which in turn has
inspired the title and shapeof WILPF'sInternationalCongress.
The first to be held in the United Statesin almost20 years,this
congresswill heralda new way of looking at the reality of women
and work iri this current atmosphereof globalization.
It beginswith a weavingtogether of all participantsto create a
community of women representingmanyculturesand languages
exploring together the issuesof peaceand justice. Gita Sen,
Professorof Economics,Indian Instituteof Management,
Bangalore,India hasbeen invited to be a keynotespeaker.Sheis
the coordinator of DAWN (DevelopmentAlternativeswith Women
for a New Era.)
In conjunction with the congress,Goucher Collegewill co-sponsor a conferenceon "Buildinga Culture of Peace."Studentsattending the specialclasssessionsand the congresscan receivecredit
for the conferenceweek.
"Our livesshall not be sweatedfrom birth until life closes."The
first two daysof the congresswill usethe Augusto Boal Forum
Theatre,known world wide as a way to bring together a diverse
Peace & Freedom

Rivers.Fresnohasstartedwhat it is callingA Circleof WiseWomen,
to promotespiritualdevelopmentof women.Swarthmorewill continue its "4th SaturdayLunch"program,an informalget-togetheron
the fourth Saturdayof the month at a localrestaurant.Detroitand
Fresnoreportedon peacecamptraining.■

group of people to explore options for dealingwith oppression.
Fromthere we move into PanelI: CULTURALAND ECONOMIC
DIMENSIONSOF GLOBALIZATION:STATE
& CORPORATE
OPPRESSION,
an examinationof th.eoppressiveforcesthat stand
in the way of bringing about the outc~meswe would wish for people and the planet. PanelII: HUMAN RIGHTS:ARENAFOR
CLAIMING POWERAND BUILDINGSOLIDARITY,
will look at
solutionsrelatedto WILPF'swork. Workshopswill deepenthe
issuesraisedin the panelsin order to developthe programand
future policy of WILPF.
"Smallart and love and beautytheir drudgingspiritsknew,
Yes,it is breadwe fight for - but we fight for rosestoo."
Add a day demonstratingin Washington,D.C.,a night rallying
around the Cuban revolution,internationalupdates,restructuring
sessions,the Gertrude Baerseminar,a peacecamp,celebrations
largeand small,and a time to be with new and old friends.So dust
off your poems,paintingsand paeansto peace.Bringyour songs
of solidarityand strength.We want your instruments,your dances,
and your skits.Festoonthe hallsand placeswe'll meetwith your
sewings,weavings,ribbons,and roses.Committo bringinga young
woman, a woman of color, women who deepenour diversity.

TO REGISTER:
write MercediaGreen,WILPF,1213RaceStreet,
Philadelphia,PA19107.Foradditionalinformationaboutthe congress,
call the congresshotline,(508)349-3277.Bea peacepractitionerand
join us at the InternationalCongressthat you'llneverforget!
"No more the drudge and idler - ten that toil whereone reposes,
But a sharingof life'sglories:Breadand roses!Breadand roses!"
December 1997

29

Wrap the year up right- WILPF Resources they only work when you use theml
NEWCARD51
WILPF member Mary Trigg has.created 4 new cards for this holiday season! all are hand carved linoleum
prints with images and inspiring messages that are sure to warm the hearts of you and yours this
season and all year round ... 10 cards with cream-colored envelopes.$8.00 per pack. All cards are
printed on heavy card stock with black ink. Paper colors are as follows: Tree- dark gray card stock/ Fireorange card stock/ Geese- light gray card stock/ Dove-blue card stock.
Tree (TR100)
Fire (Fl100)
Geeee (GE100)
Dove(D0100)

I

-~

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'

~

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=

•••

.1111'
.: :

1&"9
OLD FAVORITES-ALL CARDS ARE $6.00. AND COME WITH 10 CARDS AND ENVELOPES
Soletlae Greetlnge- (OM610)
The winter sun bursts forth in
pink, purple and gold ink on recycled paper.
"Solstice Greetings" message inside.
Joy to the World- (OM650)
Festive design in pink, red lavender and
purple ink on white paper.
"Joy to the world" message inside.
Evergreen-(OM655)
•.
Crowned by a golden star, an evergreen
stands out against the sky. Green, gold and
red ink on purple recycled paper.
"Happy Holidays" me,ssageinside.
Seaeon'e Greetlnge- (OM660)
Festive design of snowfiakes in red
and silver. ,;Happy Wirlt~r:'' message inside.
Plaaeeo Card- (l;>W600), .•
. This graceful design of a woman and a
dove was donated to the peace movement by Pablo Picasso.

..

~
L _ ______,
i

PicassoNotes(DW600)

30 December 1997

Peace & Freedom

Shalom #1 (OM645)
Bold lettering in purple and pink ink
on cream colored recycled paper.

NEWBOOKS!
Cuba and the United Statee- A Chronological Hletory
by WILPF member Jane Franklin. This book presents the Cuban revolution in its relations with the U.S.
Designed to be used in many ways, this book may be read in whole or in part- as narrative history, or
used as a reference guide to a wide range of topics. A chronological method has been established to
organize the maximum amount of information, and to convey the interconnectedness of major and minor
occurrences. 415 pages, soft covered, $21.95.
The Enemy Within: The High Coet of LivingNear Nuclear Reactom
by Jay M. Gould. If there is one book that might encourage a protest against nuclear pollution and
military industrial violence this is it! Filled with drama, controversy, statistics, and charts it is an
excellent resource to mobilize concerned citizens. Read it and organize in your own community! 346
pages, soft covered, some signed copies available. $14.95

NEWVIDEOTAPES!
"TheCoura0eou5Womenof Columl:7ia"
directed and produced by WILPF member Robin Lloyd. In 1996 a WILPF sponsored delegation travelled to
Columbia to take part in the International Day of Actions Against Violence Against Women.The
delegation wanted to investigate how women were responding to the impact of the "war on drugs" in
their communities, and to question America's hand in all of it. Running time: 22 minutes. $15.00
"Sister to Sister"
directed by WILPF member Victoria Maldonado, produced by WILPFand Global Exchange. This video
records t~e 1996-97 Sister to Sister delegation to Cuba. It is in Spanish and English. Runningtime 15
minutes. ~15.00 for participants on the Sister to Sister delegation, $20.00 for non-participants.

Send All Ordereto:
WILPF
1213RaceSt.
Philadelphia,Pa 19107
(215) 563-7110/ (215) 563-5527 fax
shippin0and handlin0rate5 are as follows:
$1.00-$25.00- add $4.00
$25.01-$50.00- add $6.00
$50.01-$75.00- add $7.50
$100 and up add $11.00
WILPFaccepts check5,VISA and MASTERCARD-THANK YOU!

Peace & Freedom

December 1997

31

Peacea,-1
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ONLY WAY

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Freedom

PEACE AND FREEDOM

v.........-wThe only U.S. magazine devoted ..
.__
•=--=-ca:.-to the women's peace and justice
movement. Published bimonthly.
·==--·
Subscription included with member
ship. $15 a year for non-members.

·=·-..

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INTERNATIONAL PEACE UPDATE

Bimonthly publication of WILPF
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