By Debra Sweet .jpg)
On Monday June 8th, Carly Sheehan (whose brother Casey was killed in Iraq) and Rafael from World Can’t Wait went to Hayward CA High School as part of the "We Are Not Your Soldiers" tour. Hayward High is a diverse working class school in the Bay Area that recruiters regularly come to. There is also a brand new recruiting station that just opened in Hayward, right next to the junior college.
From Carly Sheehan: "Walking into Mr. Dwyer’s class at Hayward High School Monday, I had no idea what to expect from the students I was about to speak to. Speaking for the first time with the "We Are Not Your Soldiers" tour, I didn’t know if the students would be receptive to the message of resistance to recruitment and military service. I’m really heartened by what I found." read more
Monday, July 13, The World Can’t Wait and other organizations will protest the inclusion of military recruiters at the national NAACP Convention in New York City.
4:30-7:00pm New York Hilton Hotel 1335 6th Avenue (53/54 Streets)
Also, on Thursday, July 16, when Barack Obama addresses the convention, we’ll be there protesting the expanded war in Afghanistan, drone attacks on civilians in Pakistan, and Obama’s refusal to release the torture photos and prosecute the Bush era war criminals. 9:30am until noon @ New York Hilton
Read letter sent by NYC High School student to Benjamin Jealous, CEO of the NAACP, asking him why recruiters are invited to the convention.
To Benjamin Jealous, President & CEO, NAACP
We call on you to disassociate the 2009 NAACP National Convention from hosting or supporting the Army Strong national recruiting tour. The Army Strong tour schedule lists county fairs, malls, and sporting events as part of the military’s $5 billion recruiting effort to increase the size of the US military.
It’s bad enough that military recruiters, through the "No Child Left Behind" law have virtually unlimited access to students in public high schools, roaming the halls and lunchrooms, and the corners after schools. But it’s completely unacceptable, and shocking, that your organization, identified for many decades with fighting for the civil rights of oppressed people, is participating in the expansion of a military machine involved in two illegitimate occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and associated with torture and abuse of detainees in Bagram, and mass civilian deaths.
The NAACP took historic action, and real risks, to create a movement to stop lynching in the United States. It fought in the courts for basic rights of the people. It’s fighting for justice for Troy Davis and to stop his execution. Why is it willingly providing the military access to youth and students at this important annual event?
Bring your convention policies in line with social justice, and don’t offer up more fodder for these unjust wars. Dis-invite the Army Strong tour and US Navy recruiters.
Sign here and forward this message so that your friends and colleagues will sign!
