Just to share the almost perfect day in Central Park for the reading of the Constitution.
It was really cool in more ways than one……towards the end, light rain…..and then heavier. But spirits were high, even though this year, due to our location on the grass near Colombus Circle, we didn't have much of an audience. Suggestions for better locations in the Park for next year are welcomed.
As usual, the presentations and commentary were led by Norman Siegel. Gale Brewer and Ben Kallos, City Council Member also joined the group of Raging Grannies, Peace Brigade and others….
The Raging started with a few songs and ended, in the rain singing a few more! The discussion focused on recent Supreme Court decisions…..with the recent unanimous decision on protection of information on cell phones. However it was noted with concern the conservative direction of the current Council.
And then a bit of a boon for us, maybe. Ben Kallos, Council Member, Upper East Side, asked for suggestions for Council resolutions……and so he was reminded of the materials already sent to his office on the Ban Drone resolution. He expressed "serious" and asked us to call him and meet with his staff. Joan will follow this up.
82nd St stop and at the Met….
the wonderful Rude Mechanical Orchestra that added so much to the stroll, families: Joan's and Nydia's and supporters from Brooklyn for Peace among others plus a young girl and her bike with her mother….who just joined from the start!
I think we all had very nice encounters with people as we walked and had the opportunity to chat about the day. And it was so encouraging to see people reading the cards so carefully as they were passed around.
This is always a special action.
Military recruiters are ever ready to engage high school students. They visit schools, participate in high school career fairs, hang out in playgrounds and parks getting to know the neighborhood and the students. Dressed in camouflage fatigues or full military uniform, recruiters form a relationship, discuss enlistment and glorify their mission. It's enticing to youth and full of promises for the future.
Every student deserves the opportunity to reach his/her goals without military interference. Our Questions to Ask flyer clarifies some of the misunderstanding parents and students may have about military service. The non-military Options for Life after High School flyer provides information to help families get started on finding job skill training courses, college programs, financial aid, and scholarship opportunities, or to consider a community service option. Parents gladly take the handouts and sincerely appreciate this information.
Few parents are pro-military, and they do not want their child to be recruited. But at one school, two mothers felt the military would be good for their sons. That's why the information we provide is so important. It answers questions parents may have about military service and offers alternatives for students to reach their goals.
One team put up a sign on the wall near the entrance of the school – Options After High School. At 2 schools JROTC students, in full uniform, hosted the event and greeted parents. A volunteer, a veteran himself, noted that he had a good conversation with a JROTC leader, who took the handouts as well. Volunteers unanimously declared this educational outreach action a success.
We hope to see you in the fall when school reopens, students return, and recruiters are not far behind. We'll be out there just telling it like it is. And everyone can continue to tell it like it is. For downloadable copies of the flyers, tips on leafleting, and websites to visit, go to: www.grannypeacebrigade.org, Counter Recruitment Recruitment page.
Many thanks to all the volunteers – in Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.
New York City's budget will come up for a vote this spring, and buried in its pages will be $2 million to fund the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) military programs at 18 NYC high schools, listed below.
JROTC is a program developed by the Department of Defense under the banner of citizenship and leadership for youth. Included as a regular part of the school day, the JROTC program masquerades as an educational curriculum.
But these classes are often led by instructors who are not certified by the NYC Department of Education. Instead the instructors are retired military personal, who are trained and prepared for classroom teaching using military procedures and management skills. JROTC is about winning the hearts and minds of students and school administrators. Recruiting students for military service is the goal.
Is this what we want for our kids? The GPB doesn't think so, and we suspect a lot of parents agree with us. At the very least, we want to be sure that parents know that the schools are helping the military recruit their children. Will you help us get the word out?
Aviation Career and Technical HS (Q610), 45-30 36th St.
John Bowne HS (Q425), 63-25 Main St.
The Michael J. Petrides School (R080), 715 Ocean Ave.
In the midst of NYC's recent holiday shopping frenzy the Granny Peace Brigade and Raging Grannies got together at FAO Schwarz on Fifth Ave. Ever since 2009 we've hit the streets each December to remind holiday shoppers that "War Is Not A Game." We also give people tips on how to select gifts for children in our "Smart Toys For Smart Kids" flyer.
Earlier in December we'd been to Toys"R"Us in Times Square, and Target at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. We wound up our tour on December 19, assembling on the plaza outside FAO Schwarz. Some of us stayed outside singing and giving out flyers while others went inside to spread our message quietly.
What happened outside? It was deja vu all over again.
We belted out a number or two, passersby got interested, a security guard asked us to leave, we refused, saying our message was really important, and the security guard called the cops. When the police arrived, Alice, Nancy and Nydia explained our message to an officer, and the officer in turn explained to us that the very public-seeming plaza in front of the store was actually privately owned. If we refused to leave we could be arrested for trespassing. We didn't want to go that far – this time. We did want as many people as possible to witness the interaction with the officer, in the hope they would think about the increasing privatization of public space. Under these circumstances a long conversation with that officer would be a good thing.
Grannies are virtuosos at delicately extending these conversations. If they are soft spoken so bystanders have to lean in to hear, that's just fine. They get the timing right too, knowing when to call it quits and have the singers amble off to the public sidewalk for a bit more serenading.
Meanwhile, what happened inside the store?
Yes, we were inside, and the reaction was very positive. People passing by stopped to talk with us, including a guy in camouflage who was in the National Guard and a group of teenagers who wanted to know more about the Grannies and why we were there.
All discussions were respectful. We also spoke to the manager who may have agreed with us but wasn't committing to anything. She said the store was now owned by Toys'R'Us and they make all stock decisions and she gave us the name and email of the decision-maker. Security was clearly sent to keep an eye on us, subtly, and we were not thrown out of the store.
Happy new year and hope to see you soon.
P.S. the Granny Peace Brigade sends a huge thank you to Bud Korotzer for giving us so many wonderful photos.
Bud, your support means so much to us.
Rising from the escalator at Grand Central Terminal on Monday (16 Dec), I was shocked to see a lifelike soldier model with a rifle, in charging position, a grenade in his pocket, a ferocious look on his face. The display was for Supporting Our Troops. I first walked by, but then thought otherwise. I approached one of the Vets, a kind elderly Vet from Fort Bragg, and asked him if he thought this was the best way to support our troops at this season (well any season). He said no and when we discussed it a bit more, he did agree that this was quite a violent-looking soldier. I asked the two Vets there if this could be removed, but they said no.
When I finished up at the Save the Library action, I was still thinking about that horrible model. So I bought some flower sprays, thinking I could put one the barrel of the rifle. But, no hole! So with the Vets permission, I covered the grenade with a poinsettia and a silver spray over the rifle. (I wish I had put a sock or something in the model's mouth though!) Not ideal. Both Vets agreed, we need peace, no more wars! I hoped though they would take that model away.
A friend sent me a message later that day. No flowers were seen. She agreed: the model soldier really did look terribly violent and really not appropriate.
So when I returned the next day, the soldier was still there, but set behind a table and not quite as obvious as the previous day. I was ready with some more flowers, but then was told that I could not put them on the soldier model. It was against some military "rule" said the Vet in charge. He was an 83 year old Vet from the Korean War (whoops officially a conflict) and he was not very happy about the state of the world, all the wars/conflicts since then. He commented that few congressmen or the rich were among those serving in these wars.
And when I returned today (Thursday), ready with some more flowers, but in a mood to find where I could make an official complaint, the display, together with the model soldier was gone.
On reflection, Support Our Troops clearly had a right to be there. I recalled other times I have been in Grand Central Terminal doing things: a melt-in related to our nuclear power plant at Indian Point (do note, license expired); walking in silence with toy babies swaddled in cloth representing children killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza; in silence, dressed in the orange suits of the Guantanamo inmates on hunger strike. Maybe its just my bias, but seeing this model soldier depicting such violence and anger. It just didn't seem right. Let us support our troops by bringing them home, providing them and others with liveable wage-jobs, and re-building our broken country.