state violence – Engaging Peace

Alicia Garza: Follow her to justice

Posted on February 17, 2018March 3, 2018 by kathiemm

by Kathie MM

In celebration of Black History Month, this post honors Alicia Garza (included in EP’s second list of 100 peace and justice advocates), a model of the characteristics that define peace activists.

Nonviolence: Alicia’s main goal is the elimination of violence, particularly the forms of structural violence that are the source of most other forms of violence. She notes, for example, “The fact that we have half-a-million black immigrants living in this country, living in the shadows, who are undocumented, is a product of state violence. The fact that black queer and trans folk… are being targeted for various forms of harassment, violence, and in some cases, elimination, is state violence.”

Inspiration: Following the acquittal of George Zimmerman on murder charges for killing Trayvon Martin, Alicia declared a truth that had never occurred to many colorless people: “Black Lives Matter.” The movement that grew out of that declaration has inspired activists around the world to confront a wide range of social problems.

Tolerating struggle: Alicia has devoted herself to the movement tirelessly. “If I’m clear about anything today…[it] is that we are really in for an uphill battle…This country in particular is having a very, very difficult time with addressing the root causes of the problems that we face and until we actually get to that point, unfortunately I do believe we’re going to have a lot more chaos and confusion.”

Empathy and compassion: Alicia tells us: “[to several deadly police shootings] is one of complete dismay and disgust. My prayers go out to their families and loved ones, who are having to watch the death of their loved one over and over again on multiple news stations.” Her deeds prove her words.

Integrity: “Her activism reflects organizational strategies and visions that connect emerging social movements without diminishing the specificity of the structural violence facing Black lives.”

Courage: It takes courage to combat racism in a racist society—especially perhaps for a woman of color—and courage to declare oneself gay, and to be openly committed to a trans partner. Alicia has done all these things.

Purpose-driven life: “That really is our work – to make sure that the movement is everywhere … in hospitals and healthcare, in schools, in our workplaces, in our churches,” she says. “That’s what’s going to really accelerate the pace of the change that we seek.”

Where it all begins, Part 1

Posted on July 21, 2017July 21, 2017 by kathiemm

By Kathie MM

Most children, in this country and much of the rest of the world, have been subjected to considerable verbal and psychological violence, and often physical violence, by the age of two—and it may only get worse. The “terrible twos” often means terrible treatment.

Toddlers are routinely yelled at, sworn at, called names, threatened. They are shaken, slapped on the hands or buttocks, sometimes slapped in the face, spanked, sometimes hit with switches, kicked, beaten—and all of these things may happen in what people think of as “good homes.”

Given the level of violence in families, it should not be surprising that in day care and nursery schools, children are heard yelling, “I hate you, I’m going to kill you!” They don’t need to watch TV to learn these messages.

Robert J. Burrowes has written passionately about the likely outcomes of violence against children.

Here is an example of what he has to say:

“The man who inflicts violence on women was damaged during childhood. The white person who inflicts violence on people of colour was damaged during childhood. The employer who exploits workers was damaged during childhood.

The individual who endorses the state violence inflicted on indigenous peoples was damaged during childhood. The terrorist, the political leader who wages war and the soldier who kills in our name were all damaged during childhood.

The person who supports structures of violence (such as the military, police, legal and prison systems) was damaged during childhood.

The person who supports structures of exploitation (such as capitalism and imperialism) was damaged during childhood. The person who thoughtlessly participates in destruction of the natural environment was damaged during childhood.”

What do you think of Burrowes’ argument?

Do you have other explanations for this country’s high level of engagement in violence?

Clearly poverty and racism can also damage children but hordes of violent people are reapers rather than victims of those social ills. If we really want to reduce violence in and by our country, we better play closer attention to what we do in our homes.

Please share your views.

Who is Anna Belen Montes? Part 1.

Posted on February 19, 2016 by kathiemm

If you want to believe the Washington Post, with its increasingly neocon voice, Ana Belen Montes, currently locked up at the U.S. Marines Air Station at Fort Worth, is a dangerous spy, guilty of “brazen acts of treason.”

On the other hand, maybe she is a whistle-blower, someone “who reveals wrongdoing within an organization to the public or to those in positions of authority.” Maybe she should be grouped with other better known whistle blowers vilified in the corporate media—e.g., Daniel Ellsberg, Joe Darby, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden, all of whom exposed various forms of illegal state violence.

Here is what Sean Joseph Clancy, member of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five (five Cubans recently pardoned by President Obama), tells us about Ana.

Ana Belen Montes, a Puerto Rican U.S citizen, with degrees in international relations, was recruited by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in 1985 and posted to the Bolling Air Base in Washington, where she worked as an intelligence investigation specialist. In 1992, she was transferred to the Pentagon, promoted to the position of Senior Analyst, and had access to almost all data on Cuba collected by the intelligence community. She spent time in a “fake” post with the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana to study the Cuban military and was sent back there in 1998 to “monitor Pope John Paul II’s visit.”

In September 2001, while working in her office in the DIA compound in Washington D.C., Ana was arrested by F.B.I. agents, and charged with espionage on behalf of Cuba. At her trial, she declared, “there is an Italian proverb that perhaps best describes what I believe: ‘The whole world is just one country. In this world country, the principle of loving others as oneself is an essential guide to harmonious relations between neighboring states.’ This principle implies understanding and tolerance of the different ways that others act. It establishes that we treat other nations the way we would like to be treated – with consideration and respect. In my opinion, we have unfortunately never applied this to Cuba.”

Ana went on to say, “In doing what has brought me before the court, I put my conscience above obeying the law. I believe our government’s policy on Cuba to be cruel and unjust and profoundly hostile. I felt morally obliged to help the island defend itself against our efforts to impose upon them our values and our political system….Why do we not let them decide how to manage their internal affairs, just as the U.S. has done for more than 200 years?…. We can see today more than ever that intolerance and hate – be it on the part of individuals or Governments – results only in suffering and grief.”

You decide. Spy? Whistleblower?

Learn more about Sean Joseph Clancy, author of this post, at http://en.escambray.cu/2013/the-irishman-who-dreams-with-the-cuban-five/