October 2008

Studs Terkel: A Remembrance

 

 

 

 

   Learn more about Studs writings

Holly Near: I Am Willing

Holly Near and company sing "I Am Willing" at the School of the Americas Watch 2007.

Books that Shed Light on Democracy

 

 

 

 

Why Every American's Voice Should Be Heard

Dan Shea wrote this letter to the New York Times. It was published on Nov. 1, 2004:
I want to share a story with those Americans who do not intend to vote.

You have heard the news about the more than 1,100 marines and soldiers who have been killed in Iraq.

12 Ways You Can Safeguard the Vote


One of our strategic partners, YES! magazine, has a great list of things you can do before, during and after Election Day. Here's a sample:

Democracy and the Arts

Our latest curricula module, Democracy and the Arts, was written by Merna Hecht for The Poet Populist Program.

Conduct Under Fire, by John A. Glusman

In his book, Conduct Under Fire: Four American Doctors and Their Fight for Life as Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945, John A. Glusman recounts the events of Bataan and Corregidor, Philippines through the eyes of his father. Murray Glusman was a Navy doctor who was captured by the Japanese during World War II.

The Death March of Bataan

In Mariveles, which is on the southern tip of the Bataan peninsula of the Philippines, nearly 66,000 Filipino and 12,000 American soldiers surrendered to the Japanese in 1942 as part of World War II.

Lessons from Iraq and the Samurai


John Roth's Story

VFP Launch Ban Torture Campaign

Ban TortureVeterans for Peace are working on shaping the direction of their new campaign, Ban Torture. And they want your help!

Here's a blurb from their newsletter:

Mothering and the Military: How Do We Raise Our Children?

This essay by Sharon Doubiago explores the tension between the culture of individualism and mothering:
In the SF Chronicle last month a mother told of fighting two years as an attorney to annul her underage son's enlistment, but then the day came when, of age, he enlisted again. Her attitude now (as if she'd learned her lesson and was anxious to show this) was classic. "We fully support his decision. We realize he has his own life to live."

Finding Peace in Esfahan

Essay by Abdi Sami

Anti-War Films & Documentaries

Our curricula now includes a module on anti-war films. Learn more about how you can use film as part of a classroom lesson.

Activities and an annotated bibliography on anti-war films and documentaries from various parts of the world are included.

Here's the entry on "Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War":

"A Sin Worth Mentioning," a poem by John Roth

John Roth is an Iraqi war veteran and Bellevue Community College student. In the video below, he prefaces his poem by talking about an armed encounter with a 17-year old Iraqi who wore black.

This experience continues to stay with him even after returning home to Washington, safe but not so sound.


Oct. 16 - PBS Documentary, "Soldiers of Conscience"

Tune into PBS this Thursday, October 16, for the U.S. premiere of "Soldiers of Conscience," a documentary that cuts through politics to the moral dilemma facing every soldier in combat.

Research from World War II shows that only 25% of U.S. soldiers who were in combat actually fired their weapons at the enemy.

Interrogation without Torture

In our earlier post on torture, John Davis refers to Fort Hunt.

Voices of Veterans: A Welcome Home Ceremony

On Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11th at the First Unitarian Church in Portland, Oregon, Mosaic Multicultural Foundation presents a public gathering that brings together veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and community members in a ceremony of honoring, healing, and welcoming home. Such a welcoming involves a community conversation that moves beyond politics and goes deeper than the rhetoric of war; it requires courage and is too-often avoided.

Antonieta Villamil and Her Brother Pedro

In this video -- an excerpt from the documentary film Voices in Wartime -- Antonieta Villamil presents her poem "Pedro," about her brother's death in the civil war. Villamil is a Colombian poet, editor and translator. She won the International Poetry Award "Gastón Baquero 2001" with her book Los Acantilados del Sueño. Villamil's brother may well have been tortured before being murdered, as were so many other activists who disappeared into the chaos and horror of that war. Their families may never know what happened to them.

Torture Breaks Everyone, Including the Torturers

by John Davis

In the center of the empty concrete room squatted a single, ancient, wooden bathtub. The museum director who placed it there knew the power the tub conveyed. It was the actual tub used by the Gestapo in Den Haag, the Netherlands, as an interrogation device during World War II. The prisoner was strapped to a board, then held under the water until he thought he was going to drown. It was that simple.