Political Prisoners and TSA goons: (Soapbox Podcast, June 30, 2013)

June 30, 2013

 This week Cindy welcomes Ralph Poynter, the husband of Lynne Stewart.

Cindy joined Ralph in front of the White House to vigil for the compassionate release of Lynne--this week, we learned the sad news that the petition had been denied.

FROM LYNNE: DISAPPOINTED BUT NOT DEVASTATED

Cindy also welcomes Lisa Simeone who has a blog detailing the civil rights abuses of the TSA.

TSA News Blog

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(BEGINNING 2PM PACIFIC TIME)




CINDY SHEEHAN SPEAKING AT CIA HQ TODAY!

Consitution? What Constitution? by Cindy Sheehan

Constitution, What Constitution?

I know that the US Constitution is a deeply flawed document that only protected white male property owners when it was written and ratified a couple of centuries ago. Through hard fought struggles, men of color, then women were given the vote, but women are still not guaranteed equal protection under the law. However, since the USA PATRIOT ACT (Uniting and Strengthening America By Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001) and the psychotic War OF Terror, the Constitution and it's protections for we the people have become even more obsolete. After all, what did Bush call the Constitution? A "goddamn piece of paper?"

Every person who enlists in the Imperial Armed Services takes this oath, which is now just an exercise in..what? An exercise in the absurd, I think:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. 

The military has become, if it always wasn't, the supreme institution that sets fire to the Constitution every time it lands in another foreign country where presidents, not the Congress has sent it. The military regularly punishes people who do hold their oaths sacred, such as Bradley Manning, Camilo Mejia and other truth tellers and resisters, while allowing the real war criminals to escape punishment and flourish. I think there's a reason that "defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the same" is put at the highest point in the oath because the president of the United States and the "officers appointed over me" have become the domestic enemies of the basic rule of law of the land.

Today, I, the mother of a troop killed in one of the deadly wars for Empire, am on a three month trip across the country riding my bike for peace and justice, and my crew and I are here in Maryland to try and support Bradley Manning. It hasn't been easy.

This past Wednesday, June 26th, the Tour de Peace van with all of our peace propaganda stuck to it, sailed through the visitor's check point and we stayed on post all day to go to the trial. We drove the van to the food court and back to the court martial without one problem.

Yesterday, I stayed at the place we are being hosted at because I had a bad headache, so our driver Malcolm went to Ft. Meade with another activist and was ushered in through the main gate. Malcolm is a vet, so he has a veteran's benefits card as well as a driver's license. The court martial went to a recess and Malcolm left to drive the other activist to a local bus station and when he went back to Ft. Meade he was stopped and prevented from entering because of this sign:

So, today (June 28), TdP tried to go support Bradley Manning again at Ft. Meade.

We drove up to the visitor's entrance and dutifully handed over ID and got out of the van to open all the doors and engine hood and some authority types walked over (one with his flashlight out ready to strike) and told us that we would have to empty the entire van so they could search the contents of a three month trip that included a lot of camping. Malcolm asked, "Cindy you want to go through all this?" I said, "Sure, the court martial will recess for lunch soon, we have lots of time," so I started hauling gear out. 

That ploy from the military/security state was obviously a bluff because I be that they figured we wouldn't want to "go through" all that, so the highest ranking person said, "You have to remove the posters if you want to go in." We declined to have our 1st Amendment rights stomped on so rudely by people sworn to protect them, but I had some questions for the violators.

My first one was, "My son died in Iraq and you are telling me that his mother doesn't have her First Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression?" Mr. In-Charge said, indicating the public road (Maryland 175), "Sure, you have it out there, but this (pointing toward the post) is a federal installation." Of course, my follow up question was, "Isn't the Constitution a federal document?" No answer. I asked Mr. In-Charge why were allowed on before, and his answer was, "that was a mistake, you should never have been allowed to enter the post."

Then I asked if the soldiers, marines and ? (looked like Homeland Security) if it was true that they all had to take the above oath. I got a non-sequitur answer from a young marine: "Ma'am, I was blown up in Afghanistan to protect you." "Protect me! Do you think blocking me from exercising my rights is 'protecting' me?" His answer: "Yes, because there are some people on post who don't agree with you and you may be in danger."

 Talking to the blown up Marine

What does that above statement imply? PTSD? Brain-washing? Short fuses? All of the above? I informed him that we had already been on post with our van, with all the posters, etc, and didn't have a problem, but if he got "blown up" protecting me, then shouldn't he escort us on and off the post to ensure that our rights were protected and that we would be physically safe? At least his mother didn't have to bury him for lies, like I had to bury my son!

It reminds me of the time that I was in Oslo, Norway to help the movement there protest at the Nobel ceremony of Barack Obama. After I spoke at the rally in a public square, I was asked to go to the head of the march. While I was standing there waiting for the march to begin, a huge Norwegian cop strode up to me and I must have jumped a mile, because he asked me, "What's your problem?" Me: "Oh, usually when a cop walks up to me in the US, I am about to get arrested and probably roughed up a little." I will never forget his face, or his answer. "This isn't the US, I am here to protect you and protect your right to protest." And he did! Staying with me all the way to the end of the march. Fat chance of that happening in the US. Cops and the military exist here to protect the property and persons of the 1%.

I really didn't want to end up in the Ft. Meade gulag for any kind of indefinite detention, and there was a soldier/security agent standing about 10 feet away with a taser (I think--I am not an expert in weaponry, but I have seen enough hanging off the belts of cops) so I stood my ground, we stood our ground, as much as we could without crossing the line that would get us tased or detained. When we pulled around and were heading out toward the area where we could exercise our rights--not on a "federal installation" goddess forbid--Mr. In Charge walked over and gave us back our papers (driver's licenses) and I thanked him for seriously inhibiting our rights.

A few salient points: 

A) according to our host and dedicated Bradley Manning supporter here in Maryland, no car has ever been searched before ours.

B) if we were really going to cause trouble, or bring in a bomb, would we drive up in a van covered with anti-war and anti-empire propaganda? Or would we try to looks like war lovers like Barack Obama who has been out on his Tour de War?

C) we have something up our sleeves...stayed tuned.

The Evil Van of Peace

Update from VFP member, Ward Reilly:

"They searched me and my rental car totally on my first trip inside, because I had a Manning poster in the back seat...they looked under the hood, in the trunk, the glove box, under the car with mirrors, etc...they also forced me to prove it was my rental car with the Enterprise paperwork...I did like you did, telling them I was a service connected disabled veteran, and that they were violating my "Constitutional" rights. I also told them that they were insane."

Disposable Humans by Cindy Sheehan

Disposable Humans

Cindy Sheehan

To The Empire, most people are as disposable as the lighters and razors that are sold in the brightly lit chain stores; Stores that are packed to the ceilings with cheaply made items that are either built to break or wear out quickly, or like the razors and lighters, made to throw away soon after purchase.

In The Empire, massive waste is a requirement, so those at the top can make even grander amounts of money and that is no less true for Wal Mart® as it is for the War Machine®.

Even though I concentrate more on the people that The Empire I live in murders, exploits or oppresses abroad, since I am here at Ft. Meade for the court-martial of Bradley Manning, I have been thinking of some US troops—still with us, or not.

Of course, my first thought of any day goes to my son, Casey. Since my stand against George Bush there is much misinformation about Casey out “there.” From the ridiculous: he left behind a widow and twin sons and I left him when he was 3 (5 or 7, depending on the lie) to be raised by his father and new stepmom; to the hurtful: he enlisted, he deserved to die.

The problem with numbering the war dead (on the US side) is that it reduces our young ones to impersonal digits. Many people, from the left to the right, think that they know everything there is to know about every soldier/airman/marine/sailor just because that person was in the military. From the left: “Cold blooded baby killers,” to the right, “Super-patriots defending the USA.” How about in Casey’s case? “Oldest son of a working-class family who wanted to take pressure off the family finances by joining to obtain college benefits?” No cold-blooded killer, in fact before he was forced to go to Iraq, he told everybody that he could never kill anyone and he was forced to go on the mission that killed him a few days after he arrived. Casey was a hero for that reason—knowing that it was wrong and refusing to kill—not because everyone in Casey’s chain of command, from his recruiter to the Commander in Chief, lied to him, that would make him a victim. Casey was not a liar so, sadly, he tended to trust people and paid for that dearly with his dear life. After all, hasn't The Empire conditioned us to trust people in uniform?

Then, since I am at Ft. Meade, I think of Bradley Manning. I don’t know his reasons for joining the military, but I did see one post on his own Facebook wall that said, after he heard fighter jets and saw flashes of lights at his post in Iraq, that he wondered if Israel finally got the “guts to bomb Iran.” That post disgusts me, but obviously Manning learned very quickly that the USA doesn’t stand for freedom or anything else good and actually tried to do something to help other USAians understand that. As far as I know, not one of the killers in the Apache helicopter in the “Collateral Murder” video have been held accountable—yet, Manning faces life in prison for exposing those crimes. The people at the top of all Empires historically go mad with bloodlust and power and the Imperial scum in the US are no exception!

Ethan McCord is seen in the “Collateral Murder” video helping to rescue the two children that the killers in the helicopter tried to murder and I think of him often. He is a friend of mine and he grew up in Vacaville and attended the rival high school of my children. Ethan has been through a lot of trouble dealing with his PTSD, but recently he found out that the children he rescued were safe, although their father was killed trying to help the two journalists that were slaughtered by the killers in the Apache. Ethan was rightfully overjoyed and I was overjoyed for him!

The heartbreaking eloquence in the suicide letter to his family of another veteran is currently haunting me. Daniel Somer was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and 2004 and since he left the military he has been trying to reconcile his life with the fact that he, and his comrades, slaughtered civilians:  The simple truth is this: During my first deployment, I was made to participate in things, the enormity of which is hard to describe. War crimes, crimes against humanity.

Daniel tried to use music and art to heal, but he felt that he shouldn’t be alive and creating art: How can I possibly go around like everyone else while the widows and orphans I created continue to struggle? If they could see me sitting here in suburbia, in my comfortable home working on some music project they would be outraged, and rightfully so.

Daniel knows that his family will be devastated, but he tries to reassure them that in the long run they will be better off and because of the pain in his soul and the pain in his body, he writes:

This is what brought me to my actual final mission. Not suicide, but a mercy killing. I know how to kill, and I know how to do it so that there is no pain whatsoever. It was quick, and I did not suffer. And above all, now I am free. 

I feel no more pain. I have no more nightmares or flashbacks or hallucinations. I am no longer constantly depressed or afraid or worried

I am free.

I ask that you be happy for me for that. It is perhaps the best break I could have hoped for. Please accept this and be glad for me.

While reading articles by and about Bradley, Ethan, and Daniel, I ran across two troubled vets whose stories have become intricately linked: Chris Kyle, the proud killer and Eddy Routh, the tortured Marine who killed him at a shooting range several months ago.

Eddy couldn’t deal with his pain either and Kyle only felt pain for the other Seals or troops he knew that got killed. Eddy was devastated because he had to pull babies out of the ocean after the earthquake in Haiti, while Kyle called the people he killed, “savages.” Kyle lived by the gun and put the gun into Eddy’s hands that ended up killing him. Eddy will go on trial for his life and Kyle’s widow gives speeches to the NRA and thinks teachers should be armed because guns can be used for “healing.”

What a rotten Empire we live in that can just do such things to humanity! Whenever anyone is dealt such unbearable suffering the entire psyche of our nation blackens, and blackens, and blackens. As Martin Luther King, Jr said on April 04, 1967, we are a “nation approaching spiritual death,” and even if one looks at the quote without the Christian aspect, I think we passed that point long ago.

In Daniel Somer’s magnum opus he correctly states the fact that 22 veterans kill themselves EVERY DAY. So the little yellow ribbons should say BUT DISCARD THE VETERANS after SUPPORT THE TROOPS? Eddy Routh’s family tried their damned hardest to get them the help that he needed from the VA and the VA failed him spectacularly and tragically.

The above examples are just a tiny fraction of our damaged troops and veterans, but we must realize that war scars and harms us all, even if it’s just the trillions spent on war.

Nope, humans are not disposable and it’s up to us to reject the notion that The Empire can treat us as if we were. 

Please think about these discarded humans while you're eating hot dots, watching fire works and waving your flag on the 4th. That's the least that they deserve. Better yet, hang your flag upside down to indicate the distress that our "Republic" is in.

 

Cindy Sheehan and TdP at Ft Meade to Support Bradley Manning

For Immediate Release

June 25, 2013

Charlottesville, Va

After cycling across the country for peace and justice, Cindy Sheehan and Tour de Peace will head to Ft. Meade for June 26, 27, and 28 to support courageous whistle-blower Bradley Manning.

Two of the demands of Tour de Peace is, "Stop the persecution of whistle-blowers" and "Prosecute US war criminals."

From the current location of Tour de Peace, Charlottesville, Va, Cindy Sheehan had this to say, "it's incongruous to us that courageous whistle-blowers like Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden have the full force of the US (in)justice system thrown against them whereas the true criminals that were exposed have zero accountability." Sheehan continued, "Manning has been held in torturous conditions and he is facing harsher punishment and we will be honored to show up to support him."

Where: Ft. Meade Main gate on Reece Rd (at US-175)

            Vigil for Bradley Manning

When: Wednesday, June 26th
            7:30am to 8:30am

For more information, please contact Cindy Sheehan at:

CindySheehansSoapbox@Gmail.com

FREE LYNNE STEWART AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS! (TdP June 21)

Free Lynne Stewart

Cindy Sheehan 

I met Lynne Stewart and her husband Ralph Poynter in 2005 at San Francisco State University years ago--even before I went to Crawford in the summer of 2005.

I have called Lynne "Atticus Finch in the flesh." Lynne has been in a federal medical facility at Carswell in Ft. Worth after having her sentence extended to 10 years a couple of years ago. What was Lynne's crime? Like Atticus Finch, she believed that every person deserves, not just the appearance of having a defense, but a vigorous defense when she agreed to former AG, Ramsey Clark's, request to join the defense team of the "Blind Sheik."

There is more information at Lynne's website and in this interview I did with Ralph here on the Soapbox, but to bring everyone up to date, Lynne is dying from cancer which is in its 4th stage, now. Doctors at Carswell have given her 18-24 months to live and she has petitioned for compassionate release. Lynne could be anyone's grandma, but she has children, grandchildren and great grandchildren that deserve to have her presence in the last months of her life. Besides all that, Lynne never did anything wrong--she is just another in the long line of political prisoners that this disgraceful nation has detained in its own arrogance and cruelty.

On June 21, Tour de Peace and I had the honor of joining Lynne's husband, and lifelong partner in the struggle, in front of the Ugly House to vigil for Lynne. Ralph said that he will be there until "Lynne is released or dies" and he and Lynne deserve our support. The couple and their devotion to each other and humanity inspire me every day in this very tough line of work I have found myself.

Cindy and Ralph

 Tour de Peace is, as of this writing, 79 days into a 90 day cycling trip across this nation--although grateful for the many friends we have made along the way and for hundreds of fabulous experiences, I am growing weary and frustrated with the lack of support the Tour has been getting. Biking 3500 miles isn't easy for anyone, let alone a 55 year old grandmother of four!

I was especially down the other day thinking of all the sleep I am missing having to stay on a different bed or floor every day and how much I miss my family back home and especially my four grandbabies, when I reflected on Lynne's story and how lucky I really am to see light at the end of the tunnel. Although due to my activism, my stays at home are brief, at least I get to go home and sleep in my own bed. I am not chained to any bed and almost every day I get to hop on my bike and zoom to the next place!

Soon, I will be shopping at my local farmer's market after biking there and loading up my bike's basket with fresh fruit and produce and being grateful for my excellent health and strength.

Why does Lynne inspire me? Because through all of her unnecessary sufferings, she always has a smile and her face and love in her heart for everyone.

I want her released today--she is not a threat to her community, but by her unwavering example of courage and love, she is a threat to the status quo.

Stay strong Lynne--we will never forget! 

Cindy and Lynne and unidentified woman. 2007

"Hey, hey, NSA, how many laws did you break today?" (Soapbox PODCAST June 23, 2013)

June 23, 2013

Guest: Debra Sweet

Subject: NSA, Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning, Gitmo detainees

Cindy chats with the director of World Can't Wait, Debra Sweet, about the emergency forum in response to the recent revelations of widespread spying by the US government.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO FROM THE FORUM

CLICK HERE FOR RECENT DEVELOPMENT ON SNOWDEN: US GOVERNMENT CHARGES SNOWDEN WITH ESPIONAGE

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW

Cindy Sheehan to perform nude hirewire stunt in WashedUp, DeCeit to bring attention to Peace and Justice: For Immediate Release

June 21, 2013

For immediate release:

Cindy Sheehan to perform “stunt” near White House.

Beginning on April 4^th from the grave of her son Casey in Vacaville, CA, in an action called, Tour de Peace, Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan has recently cycled 3500 miles to the fence of the White House.

Cindy Sheehan and Tour de Peace made numerous stops along the way and were able to reach out to thousands of people to inspire and be inspired by the message of peace and environmental sustainability. Even though Tour de Peace is just one long action in Sheehan’s nine year long commitment to peace and justice, the Tour got no coverage from the national press or media.

From in front of the White House today in support of her friend, political prisoner, Lynne Stewart, Sheehan had this to say about the news blackout: “I realize that this current president is mired in scandal and up to his elbows in blood and gore, but I have written seven books, run for federal office twice, produce a weekly podcast and am still on the front lines advocating for peace and justice. I find it interesting that these dedicated acts receive very little national attention (even from "left-wing" media like Democracy, Now) when the press corps literally followed me to the outhouse when I was camped out in Crawford, TX when I was protesting yet another president mired in scandals and dripping with blood and gore.”

To try to do anything to call attention to the Tour de Peace and the thousands of people in solidarity with its demands, Sheehan has announced that she will perform a tightrope ride on her bike while completely nude and noshing on a gluten free-vegan pizza: the high wire will stretch from the tip of the Washington Monument to the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park across from the White House.

This Peace Stunt will take place on Junly 34^th at Never O’clock.

To schedule an interview with Cindy Sheehan, Please contact The White Rabbit at: 1-800-555-5555 or BiteMe@youcowards.com

Cindy Sheehan and Tour de Peace to Join the husband of Lynne Stewart in front of the White House to call for Lynne's immediate release from prison

Cindy Sheehan to Join Lynne Stewart's Husband at White House to Demand Her Release

For immediate release: June 20, 2013
Online:
http://lynnestewart.org
http://tourdepeace.org
Contact: Cindy Sheehan
CindySheehansSoapbox@gmail.com

Peace and justice activist, Cindy Sheehan and Tour de Peace will be joining the husband of unjustly imprisoned attorney, Lynne Stewart, in vigil in front of the White House to demand compassionate release for Lynne.

Lynne Stewart has stage 4 cancer and is petitioning for compassionate release from Carswell Medical Facility in Ft. Worth, Texas.  The warden there has agreed, and the friends and family of Lynne Stewart are only awaiting the U.S. Department of Justice to agree also.
Cindy Sheehan, who is currently on the last leg of a cross-country bike trip, called Tour de Peace, has called her friend Lynne Stewart, "a modern day and real Atticus Finch, who believes that everyone deserves a vigorous defense, including her past client, the so-called Blind Sheik, who was convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.  I join thousands of people around the world who have been advocating for justice for Lynne for many years, now."
Lynne's lifelong partner, Ralph Poynter, has said that he will stay in front of the White House until his wife Lynne is either, "dead or released."

About the Tour de Peace:

Gold Star Mother and "peace mom" Cindy Sheehan is leading a Tour de Peace bike ride across the United States from the grave of her son Casey in Vacaville, Calif., to Washington, D.C., following the mother road, historic Route 66 to Chicago, and other roads from there on to D.C.  Bicyclers have joined in for all or part of the tour, which has included public events organized by local groups along the way. Complete route: http://tourdepeace.org/the-route.html

The tour began on April 4, 2013, nine years after Casey Sheehan was killed in Iraq, and 45 years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed in Memphis.  It will conclude on July 3, 2013, with a ride from Arlington National Cemetery to the White House.

This August will mark 8 years since Cindy Sheehan began a widely reported protest at then-President George W. Bush's "ranch" in Crawford, Texas, demanding to know what the "noble cause" was for which Bush claimed Americans were dying in Iraq.  Neither Bush nor President Obama has yet offered a justification for a global war now in its 12^th year.  The Tour de Peace carries with it these demands:

To end wars,
To end immunity for U.S. war crimes,
To end suppression of our civil rights,
To end the use of fossil fuels,
To end persecution of whistleblowers,
To end partisan apathy and inaction.

Join Tour de Peace for antiwar/pro-environment rally in WashedUp on July 3rd

Also: Cindy Sheehan, Debra Sweet, Ray McGovern and other speakers at Arlington and White House

TdP will hang this banner on the White House fence that TdP "liberated" from the fence at 29 Palms Marine Base very early in the tour.

Obama has daughters and a wife and we think this sign is a despicable commentary on our "praise the warrior," pro-rape

mentality.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN ON TO OUR DEMANDS if you can't join us in DeCeit!

HOLDING THE BUSH STAIN ACCOUNTABLE (Soapbox Podcast, June 16, 2013)

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

 

Sunday, June 16

Guest: Inder Comar

Subject: Prosecution of the Bush stain for war crimes

Cindy met Inder at the Bush Lie-Bury dedication protest in Dallas in May, and since the Obama administration

refuses to hold the Bush crime stain accountable, she thought

it would be a great topic and guest to interview.

Inder represents an Iraqi refugee and himself in two lawsuits

that he has filed against the Bush crime stain in federal court.

Check out the website here:

www.WitnessIraq.com

UPDATE, JUNE 14, 2013:

Bush, Rice, Powell Served in Suit Filed by Iraqi Over Illegal War

By David Swanson
http://warisacrime.org/content/bush-rice-powell-served-suit-filed-iraqi-over-illegal-war

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW

or

LISTEN AT 2PM PACIFIC TIME AT:

www.CPRMetro.org

  

CLICK TO DONATE TO THE SOAPBOX

     

Tour de Peace in Kent on June 13, 2013

ARTICLE IN KENT COURIER

The Spirit of Detroit: Tour de Peace by Cindy Sheehan

 

The Spirit of Detroit

Tour de Peace

Cindy Sheehan

“Go ahead and laugh at Detroit. Because you are laughing at yourself.”

Charlie LeDuff: Detroit, An American Autopsy

I am naturally an optimistic person, however, after the elections of 2012 when most of the small amount of people who did manage to vote, voted for their oppressors of the Democrat or Republican Parties, I was feeling a little hopeless. There were at least 25 other candidates to choose from and 98.4 percent the people chose War Party A or War Party B.

After decades of propaganda and mass marketing of politics, it seems like the American people have nearly lost the ability to critically think and see through bullshit and that’s discouraging.

One of the goals of the Tour de Peace is to encourage others to break free from the chains of partisan politics and re-connect with our own values. Few people that we have met on this tour have the values of war, economic oppression and environmental destruction, but they keep voting for that. People not only vote for people that grossly deviate from their own principles and essentially hand their power over to scoundrels, murderers, and crooks. But, on Tour de Peace, I am thrilled to report that we have encountered communities that are beginning to reject any kind of governmental oppression and are turning away from it to each other.

We have been in countless of these fine communities, but I have to think that Detroit is the best example of this. Who would have thought that in Detroit my fountain of hope would be filled—and this is not “hope” based on illusion, but reality-based hope.

Recently (June 7-9), Charles and Sandra Simmons founders of Detroit's Hush House hosted the Tour de Peace. The Hush House is a “Black History Museum” and community center in Detroit’s District 8. Charles and Sandra have deep roots in the community, and, in fact, the grandparents of Charles lived in the house that has been set up to be this museum and community center. Our team stayed in two bedrooms upstairs and we were treated to delicious vegan and gluten free community meals that were catered by locally owned black chefs and caterers. As soon as we arrived, we instantly felt like valuable and loved members of the family.

Tour de Peace left Ann Arbor, MI towards Detroit via Seven Mile Road. Until we hit Grand River Blvd, the road was lined with McMansions and white suburbia. Incredibly, we even saw a lawn jockey at the end of one driveway. Seven Mile Road was mostly wide shoulders and clean roads once we hit Grand Mile, however, that all changed.

Cycling down Grand Mile Road was a wonderful experience of life and urban art. We came across a miracle called the African American Bead Museum and I missed Oakland where I used to live.

We spent hours talking to “Baba and Mama” Simmons and other members of the family about the attack against the poor in Detroit that has been ongoing for decades.

I think most people understand the Detroit has “problems” but to sit with our brothers and sisters and hear their stories, that weren’t unique, but systemic was heartbreaking. Mothers with young children and breathing equipment who can’t get the Detroit power company to restore electrical and gas power. In the suburbs, gas and electrical are two different bills, but in Detroit they are linked and both shut off with any delinquencies.

We heard of a young mother of three who refused to vacate her home when it was scheduled for demolition. In Detroit, after a home is condemned, it is often burned down and entire neighborhoods are often slashed and burned. This mother’s home was endangered by one such plan of urban “renewal” and she stood fast and the fire department eventually helped her, but her children had to live with debris and toxicity and she was forced to sleep in the living room with a gun on her lap to ward off hostile invaders demanding that she leave.

Naturally, the much-celebrated “bail-out” of the auto industry was accomplished off the backs of the workers who were forced to make terrible concessions in order for the top tier executives to not have to make any significant ones. With unemployment at 65% the corporate unions are also diabolically quick to sell out the workers.

The voters in the city voted down the plan to have an Emergency Manager (EM) who would co-ordinate massive police state collaboration between the FBI, state, local, and private security and police forces called Detroit One. However, governor Rick Snyder and Detroit mayor, Dave Bing, collaborated in some political hanky-panky to foist it on the embattled citizenry, anyway. Along with the EAA (Educational Achievement Authority that has long had this EM concept), Detroit One is bringing the people together to fight it.

We were told horrific tales of elementary school principals walking around with baseball bats and chaining young children into their school cafeterias during lunch in sweatshop conditions that is inviting trouble, not preventing it.

What gives me hope in the midst of all this blight and oppression generated from above is that through it all the embattled Detroiters refuse to become embittered. The oppressed Detroiters refuse to be oppressed and turn toward each other as they have discovered that the solutions lie in their churches and neighborhoods, not in WashedUp, DeCeit or Lansing.

There are almost no fresh food grocery stores in Detroit, so community gardens are springing up. Children must walk to school past condemned buildings on sidewalks bounded by weeds higher than them. Elders come out to make sure these youngsters get back and forth to school safely. Women, wonderful women, are running for office to be in city government. Some of the abandoned buildings are being reclaimed for these revolutionary communities of compassion.

I was profoundly honored to be invited to speak at the Historic King Solomon church where Malcolm, Martin and the mother of Emmet Till have spoken. For the leaders of that community to mention my name in the same breath and sentence was very humbling. I never forget that we stand on the shoulders of giants and our work must always strive to recognize and honor that.

Tour de Peace was also welcomed at the Liberty Temple where I spoke during Sunday services and was so sad for a mother there who had recently buried her son. I was able to tell her that she would never “get over” it, but with the help of her community and family, she would get through it. After I spoke, the dynamic pastor told me that I was a “jewel” and a “gift” to this world. The love and support extended to us combined with the tales of thrival (new word I coined in Detroit) are some of the reasons that being in Detroit re-filled my hope tank.

Tour de Peace was also able to share with the family in Detroit about how the “great” experiment of the attack on the poor, privatization, and increased austerity is now being extended into every community we have been in, but now we will also be able to share with each community that we pass through how Detroiters are learning to overcome their problems together, in community.

I am not a huge church person, but when I see believers who are honestly engaged in the work that is the ideal of Jesus of Nazareth, I don’t have a problem like I do with the war-loving sects and their hypocrisies.

On Sunday morning at the Liberty Temple, I was reminded of a song that I sang when I was a youngster in Sunday school that is exemplified in the people whom we were with in Detroit, but tragically rejected by most:

“Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow; black and white; they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

When the struggle is long and hard, it’s very encouraging to be reminded of why we are in it.

 Tour de Peace arrives at the African Bead Art Museum in Detroit

 Cindy speaking at the Liberty Temple

 Press Conference at The Hush House

 Cindy and Mama Sandra touring the neighborhood

 Mama Sandra and Cindy

 Grace Lee Boggs and Cindy at the Boggs Center

CINDY SPEAKING AT HUSH HOUSE

CINDY SPEAKING AT HISTORIC KING SOLOMON CHURCH



ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEO TAKEN BY DAN LEVY OF DAN LEVY PHOTOGRAPHY

Diane Wilson: An Unreasonable Eco-Outlaw (Podcast June 9, 2013)

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

June 9, 2013

 

This week, Cindy welcomes her friend Diane Wilson to 

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

 

Diane is a longtime activist and the co-author of such books as:

An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas

and

Diary of an Eco-Outlaw: An Unreasonable Woman Breaks the Law for Mother Earth

Currently, Diane is fasting in solidarity with the prisoners at Guantanmo who have been on an extended fast. 

The prisoners would rather die then remain in such harsh conditions and are guilty of nothing.

 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW

 

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO CINDY SHEEHAN'S SOAPBOX

 

 

 

Tour de Peace Route: re-adjustment June 14th to the 21

Change of Tour

From Philadelphia, Pa to Gaithersburg, Md

One of our friends and Tour de Peacers Jon Gold is recovering from back surgery in Philadelphia and we are diverting the Tour, again, to go visit him.

So far, we have had no one volunteer to organize anything for us in Pennsylvania.

We have an organizer who has volunteered to host us in New Jersey, but any of the other dates are open.

Please contact me, or Dede Miller, to volunteer/or get more information about hosting an event for Tour de Peace.

We would be open to deviating from these cities to other close ones.

Dede4Peace@gmail.com

CindySheehansSoapbox@gmail.com

 

June 14th drive to Philly from Kent, Oh to see Jon

June 15th drive to Jersey Shore for event there (90 miles)

June 16 Day off at Jersey Shore

June 17th: Bike to Allentown, PA (32 miles)

June 18th: Bike to Norristown, PA (50 miles)

June 19th: Bike to Wilmington, DE (31 miles)

June 20th: Bike to Aberdeen, MD. (40 miles)

June 21: Bike to Baltimore, MD (30 miles)

June 22: Bike to Gaithersburg, MD (42 miles)  

(We have an organizer in Gaithersburg)

(Rest of Tour from June 22 is the same)

DONATE TO TOUR DE PEACE