I attended the Occupy San Diego General Assembly (GA) on Wednesday July 18, 2012. Occupy San Diego holds GA’s on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The Wednesday GA is held at the Children’s Park at the base of 1st Avenue near the waterfront. Walking along the waterfront to the GA, there are MLK quotes in the cement. I thought this one was appropriate for the GA: Continue reading Occupy San Diego,CA General Assembly 7/18/12
“Bound for Glory” a song by Phil Ochs, which tells the story of Woody Guthrie, is the Peace Song of the Day for July 8th. The Duchess heard this song played today on “Woody’s Children” radio show, on 90.7FM WFUV radio from New York City. The song was played in honor of Woody Guthrie‘s 100th birthday, which will be on July 14th, 2012.
This song is the finale for the Peace Song of the Day project. Yes! We started the project back on July 9, 2011. (Unfortunately, there is not a song posted for everyday. But, we did our best, and may figure out how to fill in throughout this next year.)
Tomorrow will be an “encore” post to the project. The Duchess will reflect on her year of song-searching and share lessons learned. And, also, tomorrow, we will announce our new, upcoming, daily project.
For now, hope you enjoy the video. And, maybe you will learn the song for Woody’s birthday?
Continue reading Peace Song for 7/8/2012: Phil Ochs tribute to Woody Guthrie
The sixteenth chapter of The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace contains Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1967 speech Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam. The speech, which is also known as Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence ,was given in the Manhattan’s Riverside Church exactly one year before King was assassinated. It is sad to realize that Dr. King’s 45 year old attempt to seek freedom from war applies equally to the Vietnam War as it does to the wars that the United States is now waging in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen.
Through the lens of history, it is hard to understand how controversial the speech was in 1967. It is common wisdom today that the Vietnam War was a mistake, despite the US government’s recently started 10-year plan to rehabilitate American’s view of that war. In 1967, all the major media backed the Vietnam War. Dr. King was regularly attacked in national newspapers such as the New York Times for speaking out against the Vietnam War. Peace activists are still attacked in today’s media for opposing today’s wars for the same reasons that Dr. King cites.
Dr. King responds to his critics who say that he should only speak about the domestic issue of civil rights, and keep silent on the VietNam War. The critics make the lesser evil argument that Dr. King is hurting the cause of civil rights by speaking out against the war. Dr. Kings explains in the introduction of his speech that those critics misunderstand both who he is , and misunderstand”the world in which they live.” Dr. King gives seven reasons why he must speak out: Continue reading MLK: Declaration of Independence from the War
Charlotte Bronte’s novel Shirley is a must read for people interested in the topics of: economic justice; Occupy Wall Street ideas; women’s social history; feminism; war and peace; and charity. Bronte’s second published book, coming on the heels of the success of her Jane Eyre, is another masterpiece, full of drama and surprises, with some radical politics, and an extra heroine thrown into the mix.
Why haven’t many people heard of this book? One set of reasons can be traced to the structure of the book, while another set of reasons relates to suppression due to the political climate of the 1840’s, when it was published, through to today. Continue reading Book Review: Why You’ve Never Met A Man Named Shirley
Peace Couple was queried about receiving a free review copy of a book of essays called the Occupy Handbook (535pp, 2012, Back Bay Books).
The book’s title got me thinking about the possibility of which essays would be in my personal Occupy Handbook. First, would be a selection from the Fellowship of Reconciliation‘s 1958 MLK comic book that was translated into Arabic and used as a nonviolent training tool for the Arab Spring. Paired with that would be an essay from Gene Sharp, whose 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action shaped the tactics of the Arab Spring. Next, I would include an article by Adbusters and Naomi Klein about the fomenting of Occupy in the US. Delving into the Occupy movement itself would require an exploration of the power of consensus and direct democracy: So, I would include writings that reflect the concepts shown in the video Consensus (Direct Democracy @ Occupy Wall Street):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dtD8RnGaRQ]
The Occupy Handbook we were sent to review is heavily tilted toward economic issues (and covers them well), but the book barely acknowledges the democracy, social justice, antiwar, and environmental issues that have been raised by the Occupy movement. That is why it would be important to include the fruit of consensus process such as Occupy Wall Street’s One Demand and the Declaration of the Occupation of New York City which contain a much broader vision of a better world than simply economic reform.
In terms of people who have informed the Occupy movement, I would include:
Note to “60 Minutes” and “Vanity Fair”: No need for a poll. America already has a new national anthem. It’s “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie.
Susanna, Duchess of Peace, writes:
The mainstream media is posting everywhere that America needs a new national anthem, instead of “Star Spangled Banner”. Though, America has had a new national anthem, for decades. Continue reading America already has a new national anthem: Bruce Springsteen sings “This Land is Your Land”
Our humble thoughts as Americans who are peace and justice activists is below.
For those readers who are subjects of the Queen, and/or understand the monarchy better than we do, you may want to attend the Occupy London event on June 3rd, and/or read these articles from the English press:
from The Newser
Anti-Monarchists Gear Up to Derail Queen’s Jubilee
from The Independent UK
The case for a republic is as strong now as it has always been
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Peace Couple was born partly out of this idea: In our current culture of war and militarism, institutions such as the monarchy are used to gloss over war, and to co-opt the powerful energy of community story-telling towards a constant background banter for accumulated wealth and constant war.
So, while we wish Queen Elizabeth well as a person, we are not excited to see the English Monarchy — an institution of royalty, power, and privilege descending from the happenstance of birth — still existing in our world. Continue reading For peace and more democracy: An alternative to the royal, Diamond Jubilee