Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2003 1:44 AM
Subject: this will make you cry
This letter was forwarded to me from the Minnesota Women's Press
Because many of you respect the writing of Terry Tempest Williams, we'd like
to share this letter that she recently wrote.
Glenda Martin, Mollie Hoben and Denise Scheibe
Friends,
This was written by Terry Tempest Williams and I'm betting you do not
know this happened because "our" news media doesn't tell us. Please
read every word of it and determine just what you can do for
democracy. Today. This week. In the coming months. Terry was writing
to the folks at Dartmouth, where she was recently visiting and
speaking. We HAVE to know this is happening, so please share it.
Nelda Holder
* *
Dearest Andy:
[first line deleted]......as we gather together in these last
moments of peace. I can hardly bear to imagine what we are about
to unleash. I just wanted to extend to you my love and gratitude.
The shared days at Dartmouth were extraordinary -- and I have to
tell you that the students had such an impact on me, so much so,
I carried their inspiration with me when I returned home and then
back to Washington, D.C., the following week.
I wanted to share these thoughts with you, hoping that you will
convey to the students in the Environmental Studies Program,
along with the wonderful faculty, that in a very real way, they
accompanied me.
The intensity of the capital was palpable -- Sam Hamill asked if
I would accompany William Merwin and him to deliver the 13,000
poems against the war to Congress. On March 5, we presented the
poems to the Democratic Progressive Caucas. (Forgive my spelling,
I'm exhausted). Congresswoman Marcie Kaptur from Ohio was
amazing saying "What we need most right now are words." Kucinich
(sp.) also from Ohio who as you know is running for president,
quoted Aristotle and Plato. He was truly eloquent. And John
Conyer moved people to tears when he spoke about the power of
poetry to change society. "Words were what moved all of us to
the streets to follow Dr. King." William then read his new poem,
"Ogres." I had to fight back the tears.
When asked if he thought this would have any affect on President
(Resident) Bush, Merwin said, "We are under no illusions. It is
our gesture on behalf of democracy. Why would this move an
illiterate and illegitimate president?"
It was very, very rich -- allowing me to believe there is still
some semblance of democracy in this nation of ours.
On Saturday, there was the "Code Pink" Rally at Martin Luther
King Park. I honestly cannot articulate the power of that day --
When Michelle Shocked (a former Mormon) stood up on stage and put
on a burqa made from American flags -- and then belted out in
the power of her voice, "The Ballad of Penny Evans". People
were physically stunned -- the recognition of, the truth of that
gesture. Again, the tears.
We walked four miles or so to Lafayette Park directly across
from The White House only to find a blockade of police dressed in
black, bullit proof vests, rifles, clubs -- standing shoulder to
shoulder. We were not allowed to enter the park, this park that
is a public park, this park I had just sat in hours before, this
park where "Pro-life demonstrators" were standing in with their
hideous, brutal pictures. They were standing in front of The
White House -- where we could not.
We tried to negotiate with the police. It was clear they could
barely uphold the law they were being asked to enforce. We made
the decision that 25 of us would test the waters......Rachel
Bagby, one of the most powerful, beautiful African American
women, began singing with the strength of her voice (her voice is
legendary). She began singing, "All we are saying....is give peace a
chance."
She would not stop. We joined her, thousands of women joined in
this song. Her eyes locked on the African American policeman
blocking her. His eyes met hers......and in that moment, you
could see the instant recognition that both of them were there
because of dissent, the dissent of their mothers and fathers
before them. He quietly stepped to the side and created an
opening, the opening we walked through.
This is how I remember it.
Once "inside" we walked toward the White House, now prohibited.
Slowly, incrementally, we just kept walking backwords, singing,
quietly, peacefully. The police said our arrest was imminent.
That at 4:05 p.m. they would begin the arrests if we did not
leave. 4:05 came, 4:10, 4:20 -- We had managed to simply be
there, as people have always been allowed to be there before all
this "Homeland Security".
The local captain of the police said he was not going to arrest
us. He then asked, Nina Utne in a whisper, if he could have a
Code Pink button for his wife.
The atmosphere changed abruptly when the federal police arrived.
They arrested Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, press -- They took
her camera. She was yelling, "You cannot arrest me I am press, I
am protected by the First Amendment. I am bearing witness. I am
not with this women." It didn't matter. They then went over and
arrested a second press person, took her camera. It was only
then, I became frightened.
We kept walking until our heals touched the White House fence.
We turned and faced The White House....our "illegal act."
Two cars arrived and wagons -- the FBI police arrived, set up a
tripod with a video camera and filmed us, each one of us -- after
they were done -- the arrests began. Can I tell you what that
felt like to watch Alice Walker, Maxine Hong Kingston, Susan
Griffin and the Reverend Patricia Ackerman who had just returned
from Iraq handcuffed, photographed like criminals against a white
sheet taped to the paddy wagon and taken away? Can I tell you
what it felt like to be stripped of all possesions, notebook,
pen, handcuffed, photographed, then yanked into the back of a
dark vehicle and shoved into a makeshift cell and find yourself
sitting next to Amy Goodman who almost died in Timor -- and then
hear the door slam shut and locked. I smiled and asked her what
breed she was. It felt like being inside a dog pound. In the
back of the vehicle, we listened to these women tell their
stories about what was it in their lives that brought them to
this place.
None of us had any intention of being arrested.
And then we were taken to Anacostia Corrections Facility,
booked, fingerprinted, and locked in a cell. Alice, Maxine, and
I were in one cell with a brave student named Holly, 19 years
old, and a wonderful housewife from Houston who told us her name
was "Mrs. McWhorter."
To witness Alice's deep calm -- and then to hear her speak of
meeting Martin Luther King as a young woman in high school. She
said, "I now understand that his calm came from being a free man,
he was his own sovereign, his obligation was to follow his own
conscience."
Four hours later, we were released. As Maxine said, "It was the
least we could do."
The police at the Correctional Unit were quite wonderful.
Nobody has the will to uphold these newly instated laws and
regulations.
Our citation is for "Stationary demonstration in front of The
White House (restricted)" A direct quote.
When we were released -- we walked out of the fenced compound to
the edge of the Anacostia River, a Superfund site, where as Bob
Hass put it "the shit of Congress flows" and were met by other
women who were there to drive us come.
Two days later, hundreds of young activists, many part of the
Sierra Student Coalition, arrived to lobby Congress on the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge. They were on fire, so idealistic and
impassioned for the wild. It made me weep to hear of their hope
and strength and resolve. They had organized a rally for the
Arctic and Utah Wilderness on the hill, with their own student
speakers and all. They had invited a congressman or two. Now,
because of General Ashcroft, they have initiated a new rule that
after a member of Congress speaks, the gathering must be broken
up -- so of course, the kids, not knowing of this new rule by our
fascist government, deferred to the Congressman and allowed him
to speak first -- Then, the police ordered the rally to be shut
down. Can you believe it? The kids did not get to speak, did
not get to gather in the name of democracy, did not get to
celebrate and defend their arguments as to why the Arctic must be
saved. They began to protest, but were quickly silenced. The
look on their faces, Andy -- but they did not give up. They
witnessed what we are up against.
Even so, good news today -- the Arctic is saved by a vote in the
Senate, 52 to 48. It remains wild for now. Ah......bless those
caribou and their clicking heels across the tundra.
Forgive this long letter, but my heart is full and what can we
do but tell our stories and stand on our ground, even as we go to
war.
I read the other day in one of the poems sent to Congress that
"our personal anarchy is composed of deep pain and intense joys."
Please know how much I loved being with you and the students at
Dartmouth. And please thank Ann for sending on the boxes. They
arrived with all the beauty of the landscape and community you
represent.
With my love and respect,
Terry
"Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary
change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing
event LIKE A NEW PEARL HARBOR."
excerpt, pg. 51 of "Rebuilding America's Defenses," a document that
strategizes about the future American conquest of Iraq (among other things)
drawn up by the Project for a New American Century - a think tank that
includes many influential members of the current U.S. administration, dated
SEPTEMBER, 2000.
http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf
"Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience…Therefore [individual citizens] have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring" -- Nuremberg War Crime Tribunal, 1950
"Naturally, the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country." -- Hermann Goering, 1939
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