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ISSUES & FORUMS
Archive of Past News & Notes
Wal-Mart Appeal Denied
A federal court just ruled that Wal-Mart must face a class-action lawsuit affecting more than 2 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees who say Wal-Mart discriminated against them both in pay and promotions. LINK
A Report on Peace Bus Trip
Some Thoughts on the Peace Rally
I took a bus with 54 other Quad Citians to be in Washington D.C. on Saturday, September 24 with an estimated 200,000 like-minded folks nation-wide for a Peace Rally. For you see, this was not an anti-war demonstration as much as it was a PEACE rally. I figured it was time to do something to let my children know what was important to me, important enough to be away from them for a weekend, which is not something I easily do. I also pride myself on minding my own business. There were grandparents, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands, friends and cousins of soldiers everywhere. There were poignant signs, and sassy signs. Signs I would not choose to share with my teen-aged children because of their content, and signs I wish I could have shared with them because they were so powerful.
I heard Ralph Nadar and Jessica Lange speak, and even when I got past the "Wow" factor of them being celebrities, they spoke for me. We want Peace. We want it NOW. We are tired of hearing about yet another young man or woman losing their life in a foreign country most of us cannot imagine. Some of us don't understand President Bush's reasoning for the U.S. being in Iraq, and those of us who think we understand disagree with his motives. One of the most moving examples of the costs of war was the display of combat boots, with the American flag attached, and a photo or name of a dead soldier. To see them firsthand was incredible. There were so many of them. All in the front yard of the Washington Monument.
One father had made copies of his son 's last letter home before he was killed in Iraq this year. I think I can use his name here, since his Dad was so proud, and wanted us to know who his son was. PFC Arrendondo. Allow me to quote from his letter: "I feel so lucky to be blessed with the chance to defend my country 6 months after I joined the military...It seems like my whole life changed in an instant. Yesterday I was in a classroom learning about Trigonometry and History. I graduated, went to boot camp, went to school, graduated as a Grunt, I was sent across the country to train. Now I'm being sent across the world to fight...I am not afraid of dying. I am more afraid of what will happen to all the ones that I love if something happens to me..." Even as a 20 year old he was more concerned about his loved ones at home than his own safety in a war zone. That is a son to be proud of.
During the march, I walked behind a man who held a poster-sized photo of his son, Nick Berg, who lost his life in Iraq in 2004. He too, had a story to tell. His son was 26, and gone too soon. The violent death of a child is something few of us can wrap our minds and hearts around, let alone his death in a foreign country.
On the bus ride home, someone purchased a Chicago Tribune, and several pages back, there was a photo of an angry protester yelling something at a Bush supporter (or so the caption said). I gotta tell 'ya, I did not see a great deal of anger at the Rally. What I saw was sadness. Loss. Confusion. And the desperate need to be heard. We had been informed that President Bush would not be there, but I wish he had been. He might have been moved. He might have even learned something. Another news source also estimated attendance as low as 10,000 people. I am not a Math scholar, but I am quite sure there were well over the 100,000 expected.
So, there you have it. 55 people from the Quad Cities on a bus to Washington D.C. A whirlwind tour in about 47 hours. And I guess I have figured out that going to this Peace Rally WAS my business. And something that I need to let people know about, and continue to say, "War doesn't work. Let's try Peace."
God Bless all the troops who are away from their families.
Kristine F. Oswald,
Mother, Social Worker and American Citizen
Davenport, Iowa.
Open Your Eyes Regarding the Sudan
On Wednesday evening, August 24 approximately 125 people gathered at the Illinois Center for Intellectual Thought in the District of Rock Island to Open their eyes to the events occuring in Sudan. It is called the first genocide of the new millenium. People from the three Abrahamic faiths gathered to decry the 400,000+ innocent civilians who have been systematically murdered in a conflict over resources in the poor, arid region of Darfur. Rape, burning of villages, plunder, and torture are the tools of intimidation that haunts the land as 2.5 million have been displaced within Sudan and in neighboring Chad. There the squalid conditions open the door to approximately 10,000 more deaths a month as aid workers are harassed and denied access to the camps.
And we've heard little of it. Our national attention has been riveted on Michael Jackson, a run-away bride and Martha Stewart. The group Wednesday night asked people to be aware and to call for more information from our media, to write letters to legislators that as a nation we might apply economic and political pressure to the oil-rich Khartoum government. We were asked to pray and to give from our hearts that conditions might be improved. Speaking and telling a bit of their own stories were Sudanese Refugees Michael Agok and Rashida. Michael is one of the 14,000 orphaned boys who streamed into the refugee camps in the mid 1980s as part of the North-South conflict of Sudan. Rashida told the story of her father, a village elder who refused to send the men and boys of his village to pillage, burn and kill in southern Sudan and who was then murdered, himself. Songs were sung and methods of response were lifted up. (Those called for responses will be published here early next week.) Those organizing this event were Roger Butts of the Unitarian Church, April Johnson from Augustana College, Julie Abdul-Fattah of The Islamic Center, Rabbi Henry Karp from Emmanuel Temple, Joyce Basler of New Windsor Presbyterian Church and Ron Quay from Churches United. Please contact any of these individuals to gather more information.
QC Peace Vigil to Stand with Cindy Sheehan
On August 17th , we held an amazing 'welcome home' ceremony for Caryn Unsicker and a peace vigil in support of Cindy Sheehan, the Gold Star mother who is camped out near President Bush's camp in Crawford Texas. Caryn, one of our own PACG leaders, travelled to Crawford last week to hold vigil with Cindy and we thanked her and stood with Cindy on Wednesday evening. We sang - led by Hazel Wilson in "Imagine", "Can't turn me around" and other great songs of protest. Dick Fallow played his accordion and wrote a song in tribute to Caryn to the tune of "It's a long way to Tipperary" (a WWI song) that started "It's along way to Crawford Texas" We lit candles and came together - more than 175 of us - to stand against this war - stay involved - stand up - energy against this war is building.
PACG PICNIC
Our PACG picnic and concert was awesome - thanks to a break in the weather , it was not unbearably hot and 120 hardy souls gathered for great food, great conversation and great music. It was a fun evening --people met and networked about important issues and simply enjoyed each other's company. Thanks to Rick Schloemer, Roger Butts, Joyce Basler, Caroline Vernon and Cathy Bolkcom for their work on this great event. Thanks for John Kinser for bringing the great local music and to Meridain Green for another terrific performance.
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As progressives, we value and promote peace, racial, social and economic justice, civil rights, diversity, civil liberties, human rights, a preserved environment, and a reinvigorated democracy.We seek to empower people to take action for positive change and we advocate for fundamental change when necessary.
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