Looking back, it is surprising that a week has passed since the last entry. Most of our time this past week has been spent in preparation and planning for our action at Boeing on July 22.
Saturday, July 18 began with another spiritual discipline session, this time with yoga. Specifically, Kundalini Yoga. Our hour-long session consisted of basic spinal energizers. It was my first experience practicing yoga and while I've been sure of the positive effect it would have on me, I was taken off guard by the emotional and spiritual release that occurred.
After several brainstorming workshops and more discussion about non-violence theory and history (we watched a very powerful video about the desegregation of lunch counters in Nashville), the group came to a consensus that our public witness was to be the following:
- a solemn funeral procession from Federal Plaza to Boeing's world headquarters, downtown Chicago
- the procession, including some mourners in black shrouds holding small coffins, would be followed by a drone puppet
- once the group arrived at Boeing, there would be a mock drone attack on the funeral procession and there would be songs, prayers and calls to action/attention to Boeing's involvement with Predator drones
- the civil disobedience component would be a die-in (like a sit-in but instead of sitting, one lies down as if dead) inside the main lobby of the Boeing building, accessed by a side door through the building's food court. The participants in civil disobedience would be separate from the procession and arrive at Boeing ahead of time.
Before we each committed to a role in the action itself, we signed up for roles in the preparation of the action (or public witness - CPT does not like to use the terms protest or demonstration due to negative connotations/the need for new language). I was part of the media team, which was definitely where I was out of my comfort zone. Just the thought of contacting people who worked in media made me nervous, especially in regards to the action. All of us learned a great deal about organizing, planning, sharing responsibility and group dynamics through the preparation process. The experience of drafting a media alert, faxing & emailing, and then calling and speaking to media definitely served as a confidence builder and I no longer feel intimidated by the prospect of being in that role again.
Going in to the CPT training I knew that there would be public witnesses and I knew there would opportunities for civil disobedience (CD). From the beginning I felt inclined to take part in CD and risk arrest. Part of the motivation came from why I decided to pursue involvement with CPT in the first place: the chance to put action to my beliefs. First I will describe my experience in the action, then through my reflection, go into more detail about my motivations.
Wednesday, July 22. The morning was filled with a mix of excitement and anxiety. Finally all our planning would bear fruit. As one of the participants in civil disobedience (CDers), there was a certain kind of emotional roller coaster, navigating a satisfaction and happiness that a rewarding experience was ahead, yet some apprehension and tension about the arrest that would likely result.
Myself and three of my teammates headed to Boeing's headquarters before the procession was to start. We bid our time at a neighboring coffee shop. After a half-hour or so, when the procession should have been getting close, we went to Boeing and hung around the outdoor dining area that overlooked the river. We had a view of the bridge that the procession was to cross to Boeing's front door. It was a little surreal since we were waiting for our cue and were essentially "infiltrating" (we were dressed in business casual to blend in). When the procession arrived, we took the side entrance as planned and entered the lobby. The four of us gathered in the lobby, pretending to simply look outside in curiosity at the rest of our group. Boeing security was obviously distracted as well. Then when the we received the cue, we pulled out the sheets we had with us in plastic bags (the sheets were stained with fake blood, one of them saying "700 civilians killed by Boeing drones." Looking back, we would have thought of something different). As we laid down on top of the sheets, guards were yelling, obviously taken by surprise. What took all of us by surprise were the immediate presence of dogs, ferociously biting. One of them bit the shoe of my teammate next to me.
From the outside, one of our teammates took out a video camera upon seeing the dogs. From the ground I heard the guards saying that they had better get the dogs out of there because that video "will end up on YouTube." It wasn't until later that day that we figured that the presence of the video camera de-escalated the situation, potentially saving us CDers from attack from the dogs. Good practice for the field.
The four of us were warned several times that if we didn't leave we would be arrested and that the police are on their way. I'm not sure how long we were laying there, but none of us moved. There was a sense of peace while lying still, despite the threatening dog barks and growls.
Eventually, the police came and cuffed the four of us and led us out (or carried out one of my teammates who intentionally went limp). I was a relieved that the police took us out of the main exit, in front of the crowd outside. The rest of the group gave us a lot of support, and addressed us over the loudspeaker once we were in the wagon. It was especially nice hearing them singing outside and us inside the wagon singing along with them. There was a sense of accomplishment for me there. The only female CDer was put in a separate section of the wagon in the back, separate from the males. I'm not sure why exactly.
The four of us were taken to the jail, our info taken and we were told to remove our shoelaces, belts, jewelery and anything in our pockets. Our info was collected and we were placed in our holding cells. These were small rooms with two benches on either side and one wrist was cuffed to a steel bar. Our female teammate was alone in her holding cell, with myself and the other two together. It was hard to gauge how long we were in there. For the three of us together, it wasn't so bad. We mostly joked about how surprised and confused the authorities were. At one point a bike cop, who was at Boeing when we were arrested, came in to the holding cell. He asked us if we had ever heard of the 9-11 truth project and started talking about how he thinks it was an inside job, and how he believes there will be a "new world order" and marshal law and the like. We were kind of nodding along, not sure what to make of it.
Then he removed his baseball cap and said, "I'm the only one with long hair around here. Everyone else thinks I'm crazy. Good luck to you guys."
After about 3 hours, all four of us were let out of the holding cell and our possessions were inventoried. That particular officer, mostly out of curiosity it seemed, asked two of us what kind of trespassing we were arrested for. After telling him, he asked me, "So... bombing Pakistan... you think that's wrong?" I replied affirmatively and after a while he asked me if I thought bin Laden was still "out there." I said "I guess so," but was a little unsure of how to handle the situation. If he was implying that bombing Afghanistan was worth civilian casualties if we killed bin Laden, then that also implies that the lives of humans in Afghanistan are worth less that the lives of humans in the United States (which someone did explicitly say when responding to a interview with one of the team broadcast on the radio).
Our photos were taken, we were fingerprinted, given our phone calls, offered our bologna sandwiches and led to our individual cells. My glasses were taken before I was locked in my cell. I know prisoners are not "supposed" to have any thing on them, but glasses? I can imagine this being worse for someone whose vision is much worse than mine.
Jail cells are cold. Really cold. It is obviously intentional as a means of torture. The cells are also bright. Fluorescent lights as in grade schools make it even harder to fall asleep. The night before the action, expressing a concern about being alone in the cells, we sought advice from the training facilitators. I personally mentioned this as my primary concern. Sylvia gave us great wisdom: own the space, conquer the space, make it your own, do not let it conquer you.
We were released around 8pm that night, much earlier than anyone anticipated. Our teammates were having two-hour shifts of two people outside of the jail to welcome us upon release. After practicing some of the yoga I mentioned at the beginning of this post, as well as some centering prayer (another spiritual discipline the group was guided in), I could feel myself growing weary.
This taps into my motivations for experiencing jail:
- to better identify with prisoners/the prison experience/isolation
- aid preparation for knowing I risk imprisonment at any time when I join a CPT team
- to confront how my privilege even makes my jail time/treatment less severe
- to know from experience (to the extent possible) that jail is not a healthy deterrent for law-breaking/that it is dehumanizing and oppressive by/in nature
I am very thankful for this experience. Writing about it was harder than I thought it would be. I found myself reliving the same nervousness when I wrote about the moments before the die-in. This has taught me many things, some I'm sure I am not even aware of right now. But it will certainly stimulate thought and conversation for time to come and provide a source of courage to engage in civil disobedience again.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Christian Peacemaker Teams training - Day 3
So much has happened already that I'm not sure where to begin.
Our first gathering was the afternoon of the 15th. We did a few short ice-breaking activities. All ten of us are from very different backgrounds, different areas throughout the U.S. and Canada and have a wealth of experiences among us. Everyone got along well very quickly and we began the orientation. The highlight from the first day was our "ritual of arrival" for which each of us was asked to bring a few ounces of water from our homes. After praying, singing and reading, each of the trainees poured their water into a bowl on the center table in our main training area, while sharing what the symbol of water meant to each of us.
A more personal highlight from that day came closer to meal time. Earlier the group was introduced to Carol, one of CPT's co-directors. Prior to CPT, she worked in Honduras, Thailand and the Philippines. Being a quarter Filipino and wanting to better engage that part of my heritage, I asked Carol about her experience there. After she explained her work to me and I explained the primary reason for my interest, she said something to me that I am holding back tears thinking about.
"We can fully own every part of who we are," Carol told me. "You are fully Filipino." I'm sure that will stay with me for a long time.
The CPT office is in the Douglas Park area of Chicago and we are staying at a place called the Darst Center in Bridgeport. It was named after Brother David Darst, who was a part of the Catonsville Nine. The building is formatted as a hotel of sorts which mostly functions as a place to educate high school and college students in various issues of social justice. The Darst Center also hosts groups, speakers and each CPT training group.
Yesterday we continued our orientation. We were instructed on leading worship for our daily meetings, a task that, like several others (photographing, video taping workshops, writing in the daily log), will rotate among the trainees. We were also introduced to meal preparation here (the CPT training center is essentially an apartment, including kitchen), as well as to the role technology plays in the CPT teams. This refers to photography & video, both as a tool for documentation and (hopefully) and encouragement for perpetrators of injustice (Colombian paramilitary, Isreali soldier) to stop what they are doing since they know they are being watched.
We also had an introduction to the role plays we will have throughout the month. The purpose of the roleplays is to simulate the feelings of a crisis situation that we will experience once on a CPT team. Most are modeled after actual events that took place. Our short practice involvled half of the team playing dog owners who were angry and kicking their dogs, while the other half of us played passerbys who would try to intervene. It was harder than it sounds.
This morning, our teammate David lead worship, reading from the Book of Esther which tells of two women, Vashti & Esther, who resisted authority, the former to assert her dignity and the latter to save lives, each risking being murdered. Also this morning, was our first workshop on non-violence. The group was given a large amount of material, including Gandhi's and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s principles of non-violence. Jessica, CPT's personnel coordinator led us in exercises like asking "What Is Non-Violence?" and discussing which of Gandhi's & MLK's principles do we find most difficult, which we easily accept, have trouble accepting or struggle with.
Next, Carol led us through two workshops. The first was based on Walter Wink's "Jesus' Third Way" (pp. 98-111, The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millenium), looking at Matthew 5:38-48 which deals with the love of enemies and creative non-violent resistance. The second involved photos of 20 different peace/non-violent activists from history, including Rigoberta Menchú, Abraham Heschel, Harriet Tubman, Thich Nhat Hahn, Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, etc. It was inspiring to learn about and hear quotes from people of many traditions and nations who have worked for positive change.
During lunch, we met Myrla, who shares CPT's office while in the U.S. She lives the rest of the time in the Philippines, where she is from, doing work mostly in regards to U.S. military bases that have been abadoned with toxic waste, and mobilizing around the currently active bases. I expressed interest in her work and had a good conversation. I'm looking forward to getting to know her and hopefully becoming involved in Filipino activism in some way.
After our lunch break Kryss, the training coordinator, led us in the spiritual discipline of silence. We spent 20 minutes silently mediatating or reading. We will be learning about other spiritual disciplines, such as yoga tomorrow. Then Kathy and Dan from Voices for Creative Nonviolence visited to brief us about the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or better known as drones. This is the primary focus of our action next week at the Boeing world headquarters downtown, as they created the "intelligence" gathering component of the Predator drones. Kathy and Dan recently returned from Pakistan trying to find information on the drone war. What it boils down to is that there are "pilots" on a military base in Nevada, in a high-tech box on a trailer, controling these drones with what resemble video game controls. From Nevada, these pilots push the buttons that send explosive missiles from 20,000 feet above ground down to wreck havoc.
Arguments for the use of drones include that they are unmanned (and therefore do not risk "our boys'" lives, which neglects the value of the lives of people in Pakistan & Afghanistan) and that the drones are precise in targetting only "enemies". By the way, of the 700+ people killed by drone-fired missiles in Pakistan alone, only 14 were suspected "Taliban" or "al Queda" leaders. Not to mention that these 14 people were only alleged to be related to terrorist groups and never given an opportunity for trial. The U.S. has, using drones, bombed weddings, funerals that mourned other drone victims. We heard stories of repeated tactic: an initial bombing at 4:30 am or the very early; the dust settles and neighbors began to rescue survivors or clean up; a second series of bombs fall to kill the rescuers, and so on. It has gotten to the point that people are reluctant to help drone victims, in fear of their own lives. Kids don't play in groups or outside. Obiviously, this constant fear of being bombed has a profoundly negative effect on the psychology and culture of a people. Furthermore, what about the military personnel in Nevada, who just killed people from what is essentially his or her office, that leaves and picks their kids up from school and then has dinner with his or her family? What are the consequences in that case?
In light of this information and contemplation, we had a few brainstorming sessions about what is the core message we want to communicate with next week's action, and what we want it to look like. There are some very exciting ideas and the group will continue to work on it the next few days.
The final session of the day was an orientation to Chicago and its public transit system by Jessica. She also gave us a brief history of the neighborhoods Northern Lawndale (near the CPT office), Pilsen (which we travel through each day) and Bridgeport (where the Darst Center is), and a bit of the political history of the city including the Daley mayors and racial tension of the past century.
And to close our day, Sylvia, CPT's Undoing Racism coordinator, led us through a song and participitory reading/prayer.
The past few days have been long and sometimes emotionally and spiritually intense. But if they are any indication on how the rest of the month will be, then this will be one of the most rewarding, challenging, and life-giving experiences I have been involved in.
Our first gathering was the afternoon of the 15th. We did a few short ice-breaking activities. All ten of us are from very different backgrounds, different areas throughout the U.S. and Canada and have a wealth of experiences among us. Everyone got along well very quickly and we began the orientation. The highlight from the first day was our "ritual of arrival" for which each of us was asked to bring a few ounces of water from our homes. After praying, singing and reading, each of the trainees poured their water into a bowl on the center table in our main training area, while sharing what the symbol of water meant to each of us.
A more personal highlight from that day came closer to meal time. Earlier the group was introduced to Carol, one of CPT's co-directors. Prior to CPT, she worked in Honduras, Thailand and the Philippines. Being a quarter Filipino and wanting to better engage that part of my heritage, I asked Carol about her experience there. After she explained her work to me and I explained the primary reason for my interest, she said something to me that I am holding back tears thinking about.
"We can fully own every part of who we are," Carol told me. "You are fully Filipino." I'm sure that will stay with me for a long time.
The CPT office is in the Douglas Park area of Chicago and we are staying at a place called the Darst Center in Bridgeport. It was named after Brother David Darst, who was a part of the Catonsville Nine. The building is formatted as a hotel of sorts which mostly functions as a place to educate high school and college students in various issues of social justice. The Darst Center also hosts groups, speakers and each CPT training group.
Yesterday we continued our orientation. We were instructed on leading worship for our daily meetings, a task that, like several others (photographing, video taping workshops, writing in the daily log), will rotate among the trainees. We were also introduced to meal preparation here (the CPT training center is essentially an apartment, including kitchen), as well as to the role technology plays in the CPT teams. This refers to photography & video, both as a tool for documentation and (hopefully) and encouragement for perpetrators of injustice (Colombian paramilitary, Isreali soldier) to stop what they are doing since they know they are being watched.
We also had an introduction to the role plays we will have throughout the month. The purpose of the roleplays is to simulate the feelings of a crisis situation that we will experience once on a CPT team. Most are modeled after actual events that took place. Our short practice involvled half of the team playing dog owners who were angry and kicking their dogs, while the other half of us played passerbys who would try to intervene. It was harder than it sounds.
This morning, our teammate David lead worship, reading from the Book of Esther which tells of two women, Vashti & Esther, who resisted authority, the former to assert her dignity and the latter to save lives, each risking being murdered. Also this morning, was our first workshop on non-violence. The group was given a large amount of material, including Gandhi's and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s principles of non-violence. Jessica, CPT's personnel coordinator led us in exercises like asking "What Is Non-Violence?" and discussing which of Gandhi's & MLK's principles do we find most difficult, which we easily accept, have trouble accepting or struggle with.
Next, Carol led us through two workshops. The first was based on Walter Wink's "Jesus' Third Way" (pp. 98-111, The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millenium), looking at Matthew 5:38-48 which deals with the love of enemies and creative non-violent resistance. The second involved photos of 20 different peace/non-violent activists from history, including Rigoberta Menchú, Abraham Heschel, Harriet Tubman, Thich Nhat Hahn, Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, etc. It was inspiring to learn about and hear quotes from people of many traditions and nations who have worked for positive change.
During lunch, we met Myrla, who shares CPT's office while in the U.S. She lives the rest of the time in the Philippines, where she is from, doing work mostly in regards to U.S. military bases that have been abadoned with toxic waste, and mobilizing around the currently active bases. I expressed interest in her work and had a good conversation. I'm looking forward to getting to know her and hopefully becoming involved in Filipino activism in some way.
After our lunch break Kryss, the training coordinator, led us in the spiritual discipline of silence. We spent 20 minutes silently mediatating or reading. We will be learning about other spiritual disciplines, such as yoga tomorrow. Then Kathy and Dan from Voices for Creative Nonviolence visited to brief us about the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or better known as drones. This is the primary focus of our action next week at the Boeing world headquarters downtown, as they created the "intelligence" gathering component of the Predator drones. Kathy and Dan recently returned from Pakistan trying to find information on the drone war. What it boils down to is that there are "pilots" on a military base in Nevada, in a high-tech box on a trailer, controling these drones with what resemble video game controls. From Nevada, these pilots push the buttons that send explosive missiles from 20,000 feet above ground down to wreck havoc.
Arguments for the use of drones include that they are unmanned (and therefore do not risk "our boys'" lives, which neglects the value of the lives of people in Pakistan & Afghanistan) and that the drones are precise in targetting only "enemies". By the way, of the 700+ people killed by drone-fired missiles in Pakistan alone, only 14 were suspected "Taliban" or "al Queda" leaders. Not to mention that these 14 people were only alleged to be related to terrorist groups and never given an opportunity for trial. The U.S. has, using drones, bombed weddings, funerals that mourned other drone victims. We heard stories of repeated tactic: an initial bombing at 4:30 am or the very early; the dust settles and neighbors began to rescue survivors or clean up; a second series of bombs fall to kill the rescuers, and so on. It has gotten to the point that people are reluctant to help drone victims, in fear of their own lives. Kids don't play in groups or outside. Obiviously, this constant fear of being bombed has a profoundly negative effect on the psychology and culture of a people. Furthermore, what about the military personnel in Nevada, who just killed people from what is essentially his or her office, that leaves and picks their kids up from school and then has dinner with his or her family? What are the consequences in that case?
In light of this information and contemplation, we had a few brainstorming sessions about what is the core message we want to communicate with next week's action, and what we want it to look like. There are some very exciting ideas and the group will continue to work on it the next few days.
The final session of the day was an orientation to Chicago and its public transit system by Jessica. She also gave us a brief history of the neighborhoods Northern Lawndale (near the CPT office), Pilsen (which we travel through each day) and Bridgeport (where the Darst Center is), and a bit of the political history of the city including the Daley mayors and racial tension of the past century.
And to close our day, Sylvia, CPT's Undoing Racism coordinator, led us through a song and participitory reading/prayer.
The past few days have been long and sometimes emotionally and spiritually intense. But if they are any indication on how the rest of the month will be, then this will be one of the most rewarding, challenging, and life-giving experiences I have been involved in.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Genesis.
I have been encouraged to start a blog by several people, mostly in regards to my upcoming training with the Christian Peacemaker Teams (http://www.cpt.org).
Posts will become more frequent as the beginning of the training approaches (July 15).
Currently listening to: mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright
Posts will become more frequent as the beginning of the training approaches (July 15).
Currently listening to: mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright
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