La tortura y la estrategia de la indefensión de la Asociación Psicológica Americana [USA]
Torturando en la oscuridad
Stephen Soldz, Brad Olson, Steve Reisner, Jean Maria Arrigo y Bryant Welch
CounterPunch
Traducido del inglés para Rebelión por Sinfo Fernández
El nuevo libro de Jane Mayer, “The Dark Side”, vuelve a centrar su atención en la participación de psicólogos en las torturas y malos tratos a los detenidos por parte de la administración Bush. En uno de los capítulos, Mayer aporta detalles anteriormente desconocidos sobre el papel de los psicólogos James Mitchell y Bruce Jessen en las brutales y “mejoradas técnicas de interrogatorio”. Al parecer esas técnicas se apoyan firmemente en la teoría del “indefensión aprendida” desarrollada por el antiguo Presidente de la Asociación Psicológica Americana [USA] Martin Seligman. (El trabajo de Seligman consistió en atormentar perros con choques eléctricos hasta que eran totalmente incapaces o no estaban dispuestos a salir ellos mismos de la dolorosa situación. De ahí la frase “indefensión aprendida”).
Mayer informa, y Seligman lo ha confirmado, que, en 2002, Seligman impartió una clase de tres horas en la escuela de la Marina SERE, en San Diego. SERE es el programa denominado Escape, Resistencia, Evasión y Supervivencia del ejército, que intenta inocular a los pilotos, a las fuerzas especiales y a otros potenciales prisioneros de alto nivel, actitudes contra la tortura en caso de que fueran capturados por un poder que no respeta las Convenciones de Ginebra. Al parecer, por razones que no están claras, no fue la Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA), que dirige ese programa, quien invitó a Seligman a hacer la presentación sino, directamente, la misma Agencia Central de Inteligencia (CIA).
Al responder a las informaciones sobre la clase impartida ante los psicólogos del SERE, el Dr. Seligman confirmó la presencia allí tanto de Mitchell como de Jessen. Parece ser que también preguntó a sus anfitriones si se iba a utilizar su clase para diseñar técnicas de interrogatorio. Seligman informa que se negaron a responder a esa pregunta alegando razones de seguridad militar. A pesar de la respuesta, Seligman llegó a la conclusión de que su presentación iba a utilizarse únicamente para ayudar a los psicólogos del SERE a proteger a las tropas estadounidenses. También afirma inequívocamente que él se opone personalmente a la tortura.
La Asociación Psicológica Americana (APA), la organización de la que Seligman fue presidente en 1999, se hizo eco en un comunicado de prensa de la declaración del Dr. Seligman. El comunicado negaba las alegaciones de que el Dr. Seligman había contribuido a sabiendas al diseño de técnicas de tortura. La APA, en recientes declaraciones, ni negó ni afirmó ninguna de las otras informaciones que sugerían que se había utilizado el trabajo de los psicólogos –incluidos los de Seligman, Jessen y Mitchell- para torturar a los detenidos. El único comentario que la APA hizo sobre Jessen y Mitchell fue que, como no pertenecían a la Asociación, no caían dentro del ámbito del comité de ética de la APA.
Lo que nosotros sabemos ahora, a partir de un informe publicado por la Oficina del Inspector General (OIG, en sus siglas en inglés) del Departamento de Defensa y de una serie de documentos publicados durante las recientes vistas celebradas en el Comité de Servicios Armados del Senado (SASC, en sus siglas en inglés), es que esas técnicas del SERE, diseñadas para suavizar los efectos de la tortura, habían sido “manipuladas hasta lograr el efecto contrario”, transformadas desde su objetivo de fortalecer la seguridad de nuestros propios soldados a implementar las torturas a los detenidos en Guantánamo, Afganistán e Iraq. Esos documentos revelan, además, que ciertos psicólogos del SERE transformaron sus papeles en la supervisión de programas de protección SERE a la supervisión de interrogatorios, inspirados en el SERE, que incluían malos tratos y torturas. Varios periodistas han citado a Mitchell y Jessen (antiguos psicólogos SERE bajo contrato) como responsables de esa “manipulación para conseguir el efecto contrario” que la CIA utilizó en sus “lugares negros” secretos. El Comité de Servicios Armados del Senado informó que otros psicólogos jugaron también un papel en la “manipulación contraria” de las técnicas SERE para el Departamento de Defensa en la Bahía de Guantánamo y en Iraq. El Senador Carl Levin, en sus comentarios en la introducción a la vista afirmaba:
“Un… alto abogado de la CIA, Jonathan Fredman, que fue consejero-jefe del Centro de Contraterrorismo de la CIA, se desplazó a [Guantánamo] para asistir a una reunión del equipo en GTMO y discutir una propuesta de memorandum sobre el uso de técnicas agresivas de interrogatorio. Un psicólogo y un psiquiátra de [Guantánamo] habían redactado ese memorandum y fueron ellos quienes, un par de semanas después, estuvieron presentes en el entrenamiento ofrecido en Fort Bragg por instructores de la escuela SERE JPRA… Aunque el memorandum sigue siendo secreto, no lo son las actas que recogían las discusiones habidas durante dicho encuentro. Esas actas… muestran claramente que la discusión se centró en la utilización de técnicas agresivas contra los detenidos”.
El psicólogo al que Levin se refería al principio de sus comentarios era miembro de la APA, el Mayor John Leso, cuyas recomendaciones en aquella reunión incluyeron: “privación del sueño, negación de alimentos, aislamiento, pérdida de la noción del tiempo… [para] fomentar la dependencia y el conformismo”. También se informó en las vistas que el psicólogo Coronel Morgan Banks había proporcionado entrenamiento en técnicas SERE para maltrato a los interrogadores de Guantánamo. El Coronel Banks, aunque no era miembro de la APA, fue designado por el grupo de trabajo sobre interrogatorios de la Seguridad Nacional y Étnica Psicológica (PENS, en sus siglas en inglés) del APA. La APA aún no ha hecho comentario alguno sobre las alarmantes revelaciones de complicidad por parte de los psicólogos en esas vistas del comité.
Según Mayer en “The Dark Side”, y según otros informadores a lo largo de los últimos tres años, en las semanas que siguieron a la clase de Seligman, Mitchell hizo un uso liberal del paradigma de la “indefensión aprendida” en las duras tácticas que diseñó para interrogar a los prisioneros retenidos por la CIA. Un prisionero fue encerrado en posición fetal en una jaula tan diminuta que no le permitía hacer el menor movimiento, sólo podía yacer en esa posición fetal. La jaula había sido claramente diseñada no sólo para restringir movimientos, sino también para hacer que el detenido respirara con la máxima dificultad posible. En los períodos en los que el detenido estaba fuera de la jaula, el mecanismo de tortura permanecía siempre ante su vista para que fuera constantemente consciente de que estaba pendiente su regreso al dispositivo de tortura.
Otro detenido fue suspendido por los dedos gordos de los pies con las muñecas atadas por encima de su cabeza. Sin embargo ese detenido tenía una prótesis que los agentes le quitaron para que se estuviera balanceando sobre la punta de un pie durante horas o para que colgara de las muñecas.
A la mayoría de los detenidos se les sometió a largos períodos de aislamiento en la más absoluta oscuridad y frecuentemente desnudos. Se minimizó al máximo el contacto humano durante esos períodos. En uno de los casos, el único contacto humano que tuvo un detenido se producía durante una única visita diaria en la que aparecía un hombre enmascarado que afirmaba: “Ya sabes lo que quiero”, para desaparecer a continuación.
En base a estos informes de los medios y documentos gubernamentales, parece más que probable que se utilizó el trabajo del Dr. Seligman sobre “indefensión aprendida” para ayudar a desarrollar esas técnicas de tortura tras su presentación en la escuela SERE.
La respuesta de la APA al asunto de Seligman es desconcertante. Si el informe del Dr. Seligman es exacto, y no se le permitió saber cómo iba a utilizar la CIA su material porque no tenía autorización, evidentemente se engañó a Seligman. Como mínimo, uno esperaría que la APA se preocupara lo suficiente por este engaño e hiciera sonar una alarma de cautela contra la implicación de psicólogos inocentes en programas del gobierno que potencialmente pueden utilizarse para diseñar técnicas de tortura en los interrogatorios.
En lugar de eso, la APA ha hecho esfuerzos inauditos para mantener y ampliar las oportunidades para que los psicólogos trabajen para instituciones de seguridad e inteligencia estadounidenses. Como anunció orgullosamente en enero de 2005 el Science Policy Insider News (SPIN) de la APA: “Desde el 11-S, los psicólogos han buscado oportunidades para contribuir a la agenda de contraterrorismo de la nación y de la seguridad interna”.
Esos esfuerzos incluyeron copatrocinar una conferencia con la CIA para investigar la eficacia de las técnicas mejoradas de interrogatorio que incluían el uso de drogas y de bombardeo sensorial. Entre las personas, según se informó, que habían organizado esa conferencia estaba el miembro de la APA Kirk Hubbard, Jefe de la Rama de Análisis e Investigación de la División de Asesoramiento Operativo de la CIA. Hubbard reclutó a “los expertos de operaciones” para esa conferencia. Entre los asistentes a esa conferencia “sólo para invitados” estaban Mitchell y Jessen. (Hubbard también ayudó a organizar el evento en el que habló Seligman y en el que se invitó también a Mitchell y Jessen).
Además, la APA copatrocinó una conferencia con el FBI durante la cual se sugirió que los terapeutas informasen a los funcionarios encargados del reforzamiento de la ley de la información obtenida durante las sesiones de terapia que pudiera suponer un “riesgo para la seguridad nacional”. Y justo este pasado mes de junio, los esfuerzos de la APA incluyeron tareas de lobby para el mantenimiento de “inapreciables programas de ciencia conductiva dentro de la Actividad de Campo de la Contrainteligencia del Departamento de Defensa (CIFA, en sus siglas en inglés) sobre cómo se reestructura y se pierde la fortaleza personal”. Para quienes no están familiarizados con esta cuestión, el programa de la CIFA se clausuró debido a numerosos escándalos, entre ellos: mal uso de cartas sobre cuestiones de seguridad nacional para conseguir acceder, sin garantías legales, a información financiera privada de determinados ciudadanos, la dimisión de un congresista acusado de aceptar sobornos a cambio de contratos de la CIFA y, según el New York Times, la recogida de “una amplia base de datos internos que incluía información sobre protestas antibelicistas organizadas en iglesias, colegios y lugares de reunión cuáqueros”. Aunque se trató de una operación muy secreta, el directorio de psicólogos de la CIFA era famoso por sus arriesgados asesoramientos sobre los detenidos en Guantánamo, que incluían la remisión de preguntas para uso de los interrogadores.
El asunto de la implicación de los psicólogos en los esfuerzos de la “seguridad nacional” es algo muy delicado. Aunque a nivel ético pueda haber vías apropiadas y aceptables para que los psicólogos participen en esas actividades, incluso una conciencia histórica superficial adivierte que tal implicación es con frecuencia éticamente problemática. Para bien o para mal, la CIA tiene un largo registro de científicos académicos que han intervenido ilegalmente como asesores e investigadores voluntarios o involuntarios y que han proporcionado determinada protección en historias secretas. Por ejemplo, la investigación del Senado de 1977 sobre el Proyecto para la Modificación de la Conducta de la CIA (denominado MKULTRA) reveló que la CIA había contratado a investigadores en unas ochenta universidades, hospitales y otras instituciones dedicadas a la investigación a través de la fachada de una agencia de financiación. En la vista celebrada en el Senado, el Director de la CIA afirmó: “Creo que todos nosotros tenemos, ante todos esos investigadores e instituciones, la obligación moral de protegerles de cualquier molestia o daño injustificado que la revelación de sus identidades pudiera acarrear a sus reputaciones”. Pero éstas no sólo fueron tretas del pasado. Recientemente, la Dra. Belinda Canton, desde hace mucho tiempo administradora de inteligencia de la CIA y miembro de la Comisión Presidencial de 2005 sobre las Capacidades de Inteligencia de los Estados Unidos en Armas de Destrucción Masiva, recomendaba el uso oportunista de científicos como forma de acercamiento al control de la incertidumbre: “Identificar académicos y científicos que puedan tener perspicacia” y observar donde “hay oportunidades para explotar a los cuadros científicos”.
Esta historia, junto con la actual, de autorizaciones bien documentadas para torturar a los detenidos, debería haber representado una seria advertencia para los dirigentes y psicólogos individuales de la APA sobre los riesgos morales de ayudar al aparato de la seguridad nacional, especialmente bajo la actual administración estadounidense. Pero la APA no se ha preocupado de ayudar a los psicólogos a enfrentar esas situaciones éticamente peligrosas. Muy al contrario, la APA se ha mostrado insensible ante el uso de técnicas psicológicas de tortura y ante el papel como ayudantes de los psicólogos en esas torturas. Esa misma insensibilidad ha alarmado a muchos psicólogos de dentro y de fuera del país.
En 2006, la revista Time publicó los registros diarios de los interrogatorios del detenido número 063 de Guantánamo, Mohammed al-Qahtani. Esos registros demostraban que al-Qahtani había sido sistemáticamente torturado durante seis semanas a finales de 2002 y comienzos de 2003. El registro también alegaba que el psicólogo y miembro de la APA, el Mayor John Leso, estuvo presente al menos en varias ocasiones durante esos episodios. La APA no dijo nada sobre esta supuesta participación de un miembro de la APA en un caso documentado de torturas. Hace ya al menos 23 meses desde que se presentaron quejas a nivel ético contra el Dr. Leso y todavía la APA sigue permaneciendo en silencio.
En mayor de 2007, el Departamento redefensa desclasificó el informe de la Oficina del Inspector General, que documentaba el papel de psicólogos SERE en el entrenamiento de personal del ejército y de la CIA en técnicas de malos tratos que “violaban las Convenciones de Ginebra”. La APA respondió con el silencio. Cuando preguntamos por la reacción de la APA, se nos dijo que la organización necesitaba tiempo para “estudiar cuidadosamente” el informe. Han pasado catorce meses, y hasta la fecha ningún dirigente de la APA ha hecho comentario alguno sobre ese Informe.
Los dirigentes de la APA han fallado a los psicólogos y han fallado a la profesión de la psicología. También le han fallado al país. Cuando se le pidió una guía ética, la APA puso su autoridad ética en manos de los implicados en las cuestionables prácticas que requerían investigación. Cuando hubo pruebas abrumadoras de que varios psicólogos habían ayudado a diseñar, poner en marcha y normalizar un régimen estadounidense de torturas, la APA permaneció en silencio. Cuando se informó de la utilización de paradigmas psicológicos tales como “indefensión aprendida”, que han servido para guiar la manipulación, por parte de los psicólogos, de las condiciones de los detenidos, la APA continuó ignorando o minimizando esos informes. En lugar de preocuparse, se han dedicado a afirmar que la presencia de psicólogos en los sitios negros de la CIA y en campos de detención “fortalece la seguridad”. Cuando quedó claro que la APA debería ofrecer una voz firme y una política clara prohibiendo la participación de psicólogos en operaciones que violan sistemáticamente las Convenciones de Ginebra y el Derecho Internacional, los dirigentes de la APA manifestaron su preocupación por que pudiera implementarse contra ellos un juicio “que limitara sus actividades”. Desde luego, estos argumentos no ayudan a salvar la cara en ningún foro serio de opinión mundial.
Esos no son nuestros valores. Los dirigentes de la APA nos han hecho sentirnos avergonzados a nosotros y a nuestra profesión con su indefensión estratégica. Ya es hora de que la APA clarifique que los psicólogos no pueden éticamente apoyar de ningún modo ni en ningún momento tácticas de tortura o coercitivas en los interrogatorios. Ya es hora también de identificar y responsabilizar públicamente a los psicólogos individuales que han convertido a la APA en lo que es en estos momentos. Ya es hora de pedir cuentas a esos psicólogos por el desarrollo de extendidos fallos morales sistemáticos en la actual infraestructura de la organización. En efecto, si así no lo hacemos, también nosotros seremos cómplices de las torturas.
Los autores son miembros de la Coalición por una Psicología Ética. Puede contactarse con ellos en: ssoldz@bgsp.edu
Referencias:
· U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Intelligence and Subcomité on Health and Scientific REsearch of the Committee on Human Resources (1977). “Project MKULTRA: the CIA’s program of research in behavioral modifiation”. U.s. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. Pp. 7, 12-13, 123&148-149.
· [Canton, Belinda (2008). The active management of uncertainty. International Journal of Intelligence and Counterinteligence, 21 (3): 487-518].
Enlace: http://counterpunch.org/soldz07232008.html
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7/28/08
7/10/08
CALL TO ACTION BY THE TOHONO O'ODHAM INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
The following press release was issued by the O'odham Solidarity Project:
CALL TO ACTION BY THE TOHONO O'ODHAM INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
AGAINST THE US-MEXICO BORDER WALL
The Traditional Tohono O'odham Indigenous People Demand a Halt to the
Construction of
the US-Mexico Border Wall and the Destruction of Indigenous Nations.
The Tohono O'odham Nation has the second largest reservation recognized by
the United States,
with territory and members on both sides of the US-Mexico political boundary
in the states of
Arizona, US and Sonora, Mexico. As original people of the territory, the
Tohono O'odham have
lived on and cared for that land long before such a boundary even existed;
before there was a US
or a Mexico. Now, however, the construction of the border wall along the
entire US - Mexican
border is splitting border communities and Indigenous nations alike,
including the Tohono
O'odham.
The construction of this wall will destroy the Tohono O'odham way of life
(their traditions and
religious practices), not to mention the many rights sworn to the O'odham
people that are being
violated. Tohono O'odham elders and traditionalists maintain their legacy
through oral history,
conducting natural ceremonies that include offerings to the land and sea.
They also use many
plants and environmental resources of the region as a source of food and
medicine. But, many of
these sacred ceremonies take place in Mexico.
"This Wall and the construction of this Wall has destroyed our communities,
our burial sites, and
ancient O'odham routes throughout our lands. The entire International border
has divided and
displaced our people," says Ofelia Rivas, a representative of the
traditional Tohono O'odham in
Washington D.C. "The Wall is also severely affecting the animals. We now see
mountain lions
going into areas where people live because of the Wall."
The right of the O'odham to travel freely and safely via these traditional
routes in their territory
has previously been guaranteed under United States, Mexican, and
International Law. The US
government's American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 acknowledges
rights for the
O'odham people that the construction of the US-Mexico Border Wall directly
violates. By
restricting the mobility of the O'odham people, the Wall prevents the free
practice of their
religion and their cultural traditions. Further, rights granted by the
United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration of Human Rights for Indigenous
Peoples, and the
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man are also being ignored
due to a waiver
issued by the US Department of Homeland Security. Under this document, the
President claims
the power to waive any and all environmental and Federal Indian laws in
order to build the Wall
in the name of national security.
The US-Mexican border policies and the Wall have also increased the military
presence within
the O'odham lands, further affecting their lives and communities.
"This Wall has militarized our entire lands," states Ofelia Rivas, "We, as
original people, are
now required to answer to United States armed forces as to our nationality
on our own lands."
Ofelia Rivas, herself, was once asked, at gunpoint, to produce
identification to establish her right
to be on lands that she was born on and her ancestors lived on since before
Columbus.
Ironically, the increase in militarization of the US-Mexican Border has
coincided with the rise of
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that went into effect in
1994. Supporters
at the time said NAFTA would decrease immigration and bring good paying jobs
to Mexico but
the exact opposite has happened.
"Many of the people crossing from Mexico into the United States are
indigenous people and
families," says Ofelia Rivas. "They tell me that under these free trade
agreements they can no
longer farm and make a living."
Under NAFTA it has become easier for commercial goods to cross the border
than people,
especially the Tohono O'odham. This is illustrated by a striking example
told by Mrs. Rivas:
"An O'odham elder and her daughter were interrogated and watched by United
States Border
Patrol guards as they collected traditional O'odham food in the desert."
Ofelia Rivas is in Washington, D.C. today with members of many different
Indigenous nations
and allies who have walked from San Francisco, California across the
continent to Washington,
D.C. This group calls their march "The People's Walk" not only for the
sovereignty of
Indigenous nations but also for the protection of sacred sites, plants, and
animals.
Thus, ordinary O'odham people and elders and their allies are issuing a call
to action against the
construction of the US-Mexico Border Wall. "As original peoples of these
lands," says Ofelia
Rivas, "we protest the violation of the thirty seven federal laws by the
April 1, 2008 Waiver by
Secretary Chertoff."
For More Information Contact:
O'odham VOICE Against the Wall and O'odham Rights Cultural and Environmental
Justice Coalition: Ofelia Rivas (520) 471-3398, uyarivas@hotmail.com,
http://www.tiamatpublications.com/odham_solidarity_project.html
The People's Walk: peoplejune13@yahoo.com
Earthpeoples: Rebecca Sommer: (718) 302-1949, www.earthpeoples.org
CALL TO ACTION BY THE TOHONO O'ODHAM INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
AGAINST THE US-MEXICO BORDER WALL
The Traditional Tohono O'odham Indigenous People Demand a Halt to the
Construction of
the US-Mexico Border Wall and the Destruction of Indigenous Nations.
The Tohono O'odham Nation has the second largest reservation recognized by
the United States,
with territory and members on both sides of the US-Mexico political boundary
in the states of
Arizona, US and Sonora, Mexico. As original people of the territory, the
Tohono O'odham have
lived on and cared for that land long before such a boundary even existed;
before there was a US
or a Mexico. Now, however, the construction of the border wall along the
entire US - Mexican
border is splitting border communities and Indigenous nations alike,
including the Tohono
O'odham.
The construction of this wall will destroy the Tohono O'odham way of life
(their traditions and
religious practices), not to mention the many rights sworn to the O'odham
people that are being
violated. Tohono O'odham elders and traditionalists maintain their legacy
through oral history,
conducting natural ceremonies that include offerings to the land and sea.
They also use many
plants and environmental resources of the region as a source of food and
medicine. But, many of
these sacred ceremonies take place in Mexico.
"This Wall and the construction of this Wall has destroyed our communities,
our burial sites, and
ancient O'odham routes throughout our lands. The entire International border
has divided and
displaced our people," says Ofelia Rivas, a representative of the
traditional Tohono O'odham in
Washington D.C. "The Wall is also severely affecting the animals. We now see
mountain lions
going into areas where people live because of the Wall."
The right of the O'odham to travel freely and safely via these traditional
routes in their territory
has previously been guaranteed under United States, Mexican, and
International Law. The US
government's American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 acknowledges
rights for the
O'odham people that the construction of the US-Mexico Border Wall directly
violates. By
restricting the mobility of the O'odham people, the Wall prevents the free
practice of their
religion and their cultural traditions. Further, rights granted by the
United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration of Human Rights for Indigenous
Peoples, and the
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man are also being ignored
due to a waiver
issued by the US Department of Homeland Security. Under this document, the
President claims
the power to waive any and all environmental and Federal Indian laws in
order to build the Wall
in the name of national security.
The US-Mexican border policies and the Wall have also increased the military
presence within
the O'odham lands, further affecting their lives and communities.
"This Wall has militarized our entire lands," states Ofelia Rivas, "We, as
original people, are
now required to answer to United States armed forces as to our nationality
on our own lands."
Ofelia Rivas, herself, was once asked, at gunpoint, to produce
identification to establish her right
to be on lands that she was born on and her ancestors lived on since before
Columbus.
Ironically, the increase in militarization of the US-Mexican Border has
coincided with the rise of
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that went into effect in
1994. Supporters
at the time said NAFTA would decrease immigration and bring good paying jobs
to Mexico but
the exact opposite has happened.
"Many of the people crossing from Mexico into the United States are
indigenous people and
families," says Ofelia Rivas. "They tell me that under these free trade
agreements they can no
longer farm and make a living."
Under NAFTA it has become easier for commercial goods to cross the border
than people,
especially the Tohono O'odham. This is illustrated by a striking example
told by Mrs. Rivas:
"An O'odham elder and her daughter were interrogated and watched by United
States Border
Patrol guards as they collected traditional O'odham food in the desert."
Ofelia Rivas is in Washington, D.C. today with members of many different
Indigenous nations
and allies who have walked from San Francisco, California across the
continent to Washington,
D.C. This group calls their march "The People's Walk" not only for the
sovereignty of
Indigenous nations but also for the protection of sacred sites, plants, and
animals.
Thus, ordinary O'odham people and elders and their allies are issuing a call
to action against the
construction of the US-Mexico Border Wall. "As original peoples of these
lands," says Ofelia
Rivas, "we protest the violation of the thirty seven federal laws by the
April 1, 2008 Waiver by
Secretary Chertoff."
For More Information Contact:
O'odham VOICE Against the Wall and O'odham Rights Cultural and Environmental
Justice Coalition: Ofelia Rivas (520) 471-3398, uyarivas@hotmail.com,
http://www.tiamatpublications.com/odham_solidarity_project.html
The People's Walk: peoplejune13@yahoo.com
Earthpeoples: Rebecca Sommer: (718) 302-1949, www.earthpeoples.org
Deaths en La Frontera reach 128
Six children, 35 women and 86 men, human beings who died in the Arizona Sonora desert
For Immediate Release
July 4, 2008
Contact: Kat Rodriguez, Derechos Humanos: 520.770.1373
Count for Recovered Bodies on the Arizona- Sonora Border Reaches 128
Arizona- The current number for bodies recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border for the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2006 through June 30, 2008 is 128, reports Coalición de Derechos Humanos. The data, which is compiled from medical examiner reports from Pima, Yuma, and Cochise counties, is an attempt to give a more accurate reflection of the human cost of brutal U.S. border and immigration policies.
These numbers include 86 men, 35 women, 6 children, including a miscarried fetus. While Border Patrol has proudly proclaimed that the slight decrease in recovered bodies is a result of militarization and deterrence strategies imposed on border communities, the more likely reason for the minimal decrease is the weather-cooler weather was seen all the way up through May. At the end of June 2007, there were 150 bodies recovered, while the current year is at 128. However, the number of recovered bodies for the month of June outpaced those of last year. "Despite the slight overall decline of bodies being recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border, the reality is that while there were 35 bodies recovered in June of 2007, 40 were recovered in the month of June this year" says Kat Rodriguez of Derechos Humanos. "Historically, July has been the most brutal month, and we are dreading the count that the harsh temperatures will bring." Increasingly alarming are the high number of unidentified human remains recovered. Of the 35 female remains recovered, 21 are still unidentified, and 51 of the 86 males have yet to be identified. All in all, 72 of the 128 remains recovered are unidentified, and not enough of the remains of six of these individuals were recovered to even determine gender; this speaks to the anguish that family members suffer as they wait to hear of their loved ones, and the reality that some might never know what became of them. While the Border Patrol continues to applaud their efforts to control the border, men, women and children are pushed into more harsh, isolated areas, where humanitarian aid and detection is less likely. This is, in fact, an intentional strategy that has proven deadly as more than 5,000 men, women and children have died on the U.S.-México border. And through this, there is no evidence that these militarization efforts have done anything to affect the numbers of people crossing the border. "It is a natural, global phenomenon and human right to migrate" said Rodriguez. "Continuing with these deadly strategies that cost the lives of hardworking women and men while lining the pockets of corporations and military industrialists is leaving a shameful legacy." The complete list of recovered bodies is available on the Coalición de Derechos Humanos website: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net. This information is available to anyone who requests it from us and is used by our organization to further raise awareness of the human rights crisis we are facing on our borders.
Coalición de Derechos Humanos
P.O. Box 1286 Tucson, AZ 85702
Tel: 520.770.1373 Fax: 520.770.7455 www.derechoshumanosaz.net
For Immediate Release
July 4, 2008
Contact: Kat Rodriguez, Derechos Humanos: 520.770.1373
Count for Recovered Bodies on the Arizona- Sonora Border Reaches 128
Arizona- The current number for bodies recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border for the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2006 through June 30, 2008 is 128, reports Coalición de Derechos Humanos. The data, which is compiled from medical examiner reports from Pima, Yuma, and Cochise counties, is an attempt to give a more accurate reflection of the human cost of brutal U.S. border and immigration policies.
These numbers include 86 men, 35 women, 6 children, including a miscarried fetus. While Border Patrol has proudly proclaimed that the slight decrease in recovered bodies is a result of militarization and deterrence strategies imposed on border communities, the more likely reason for the minimal decrease is the weather-cooler weather was seen all the way up through May. At the end of June 2007, there were 150 bodies recovered, while the current year is at 128. However, the number of recovered bodies for the month of June outpaced those of last year. "Despite the slight overall decline of bodies being recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border, the reality is that while there were 35 bodies recovered in June of 2007, 40 were recovered in the month of June this year" says Kat Rodriguez of Derechos Humanos. "Historically, July has been the most brutal month, and we are dreading the count that the harsh temperatures will bring." Increasingly alarming are the high number of unidentified human remains recovered. Of the 35 female remains recovered, 21 are still unidentified, and 51 of the 86 males have yet to be identified. All in all, 72 of the 128 remains recovered are unidentified, and not enough of the remains of six of these individuals were recovered to even determine gender; this speaks to the anguish that family members suffer as they wait to hear of their loved ones, and the reality that some might never know what became of them. While the Border Patrol continues to applaud their efforts to control the border, men, women and children are pushed into more harsh, isolated areas, where humanitarian aid and detection is less likely. This is, in fact, an intentional strategy that has proven deadly as more than 5,000 men, women and children have died on the U.S.-México border. And through this, there is no evidence that these militarization efforts have done anything to affect the numbers of people crossing the border. "It is a natural, global phenomenon and human right to migrate" said Rodriguez. "Continuing with these deadly strategies that cost the lives of hardworking women and men while lining the pockets of corporations and military industrialists is leaving a shameful legacy." The complete list of recovered bodies is available on the Coalición de Derechos Humanos website: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net. This information is available to anyone who requests it from us and is used by our organization to further raise awareness of the human rights crisis we are facing on our borders.
Coalición de Derechos Humanos
P.O. Box 1286 Tucson, AZ 85702
Tel: 520.770.1373 Fax: 520.770.7455 www.derechoshumanosaz.net
End To Torture Worldwide
COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS
JUNE 24, 2008
BY ROBERTO DR. CINTLI RODRIGUEZ
TORTURE AND HOODED JUSTICE
In any language, torture is a four-letter word. While the repugnant
practice is primarily associated with the Inquisition and the darkest
chapters of human history, as a result of the release of hundreds of
pages of declassified memos, torture will forever in history also now
be associated with American President Bush.
Contrary to his July 26, 2003 insistence – that the United States does
not torture – as a result of those memos, we have learned that torture
and the abuse of prisoners have had the U.S. presidential seal of
approval since 2001. Contrary to all the documented evidence, this is
also a president who claims he did not lead the nation into war under
false pretenses.
On both the topic of torture and illegal wars, this has set the worst
possible example. As Amnesty International recently reported: "The
so-called "war on terror" has led to an erosion of a whole host of
human rights. States are resorting to practices which have long been
prohibited by international law, and have sought to justify them in
the name of national security." These fear-driven practices include
abductions, illegal detentions, extraordinary renditions, illegal
deportations and secret prisons, specifically designed to be outside
of the reach of international law. Physicians for Human Rights also
recently concluded that despite the administration's denials, the U.S.
Government has tortured prisoners in its "war on terror."
It is for this reason that the world human rights community nowadays
calls for the end of torture every year on June 26.
That an American president, with professed Christian values, would
embrace state-sponsored torture, should shock the human conscience.
And yet beyond the "war on terror," after five years of waging a
criminal war in Iraq, why should anyone be shocked that that embrace
violates a series of International treaties and the 1996 Federal War
Crimes Act, plus the clear wishes of Congress?
Because of those memos – through the prodding of the ACLU – we now
know that the dehumanization of prisoners was policy and not the
doings of a few bad apples, as was claimed after the release of the
Abu Ghraib photos. History will judge President Bush as a torture
enabler who continually sought exemptions and loopholes via a
redefinition of torture. But no need to wait for history; in its 2008
annual report regarding torture, Amnesty International also noted that
the Bush Administration has distinguished itself in "defiance of
international law."
The memos reveal that the Bush administration since Sept. 11, 2001
engaged in extensive discussions about how to get around U.S. and
international laws (including the Geneva Conventions) against torture.
This included assertions that torture was only illegal if carried out
on U.S. soil (thus Guantanamo) and it was only illegal if carried out
by members of the U.S. Armed Forces – which left an opening for the
CIA, mercenaries and the secret services of allied rogue nations.
Other assertions included the argument that torture was not illegal if
carried out against members of irregular forces.
Such assertions have been a boon to despots everywhere. Additional
assertions have included the "right" to secretly arrest and detain
suspects indefinitely and incommunicado, without legal representation,
without charges and without trials. All this is predicated on the
notion that this president has special powers during times of [legal]
war, thus the need for permanent war.
While seemingly "old news," revelations regarding torture continue to
make the news. The nation recently learned that FBI agents in 2002
created a "war crimes file" against U.S. military personnel at
Guantanamo, though the agents were directed to disband it in 2003
because creating such a file was not their mission (NY Times, May 21,
2008).
However, torture is not old news; it remains U.S. policy. This
administration continues to assert the "right" to utilize torture by
playing gymnastics with its legal definitions. All of this while
insisting that other nations exempt the United States from the
International War Crimes Tribunal. (It also asserts the right to war
against Iran).
Fortunately, the European Court of Human Rights – which earlier this
year reaffirmed its ban on torture – is not vacillating in the same
manner as the Bush administration… or even Sen. John McCain, who
supports the CIA torture exemption. Even the nation's top law
enforcement official, U.S. Attorney General, Michael Mukasey,
purportedly opposes torture, yet declines to define the
Inquisition-era water-boarding as such.
These assertions have begun to erode the moral fabric of our society.
That fabric is increasingly orange and the faces are hooded. The hoods
dehumanize not simply the prisoners, but all those that permit these
barbarities in the name of America.
* For information regarding the July 26 event, go to the Torture
Abolition Support & Solidarity Coalition International website at:
http://www.tassc.org/
* For information regarding the July 26 event, go to the Torture
Abolition Support & Solidarity Coalition International website at:
http://www.tassc.org/
Rodriguez, a research associate at Mexican American Studies at the
University of Arizona can be reached at: 520 743-0376 or Xcolumn@gmail.com
or Column of the Americas - PO BOX 85476 - Tucson, AZ 85754. The column is
archived at: http://web.mac.com/columnoftheamericas/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html
JUNE 24, 2008
BY ROBERTO DR. CINTLI RODRIGUEZ
TORTURE AND HOODED JUSTICE
In any language, torture is a four-letter word. While the repugnant
practice is primarily associated with the Inquisition and the darkest
chapters of human history, as a result of the release of hundreds of
pages of declassified memos, torture will forever in history also now
be associated with American President Bush.
Contrary to his July 26, 2003 insistence – that the United States does
not torture – as a result of those memos, we have learned that torture
and the abuse of prisoners have had the U.S. presidential seal of
approval since 2001. Contrary to all the documented evidence, this is
also a president who claims he did not lead the nation into war under
false pretenses.
On both the topic of torture and illegal wars, this has set the worst
possible example. As Amnesty International recently reported: "The
so-called "war on terror" has led to an erosion of a whole host of
human rights. States are resorting to practices which have long been
prohibited by international law, and have sought to justify them in
the name of national security." These fear-driven practices include
abductions, illegal detentions, extraordinary renditions, illegal
deportations and secret prisons, specifically designed to be outside
of the reach of international law. Physicians for Human Rights also
recently concluded that despite the administration's denials, the U.S.
Government has tortured prisoners in its "war on terror."
It is for this reason that the world human rights community nowadays
calls for the end of torture every year on June 26.
That an American president, with professed Christian values, would
embrace state-sponsored torture, should shock the human conscience.
And yet beyond the "war on terror," after five years of waging a
criminal war in Iraq, why should anyone be shocked that that embrace
violates a series of International treaties and the 1996 Federal War
Crimes Act, plus the clear wishes of Congress?
Because of those memos – through the prodding of the ACLU – we now
know that the dehumanization of prisoners was policy and not the
doings of a few bad apples, as was claimed after the release of the
Abu Ghraib photos. History will judge President Bush as a torture
enabler who continually sought exemptions and loopholes via a
redefinition of torture. But no need to wait for history; in its 2008
annual report regarding torture, Amnesty International also noted that
the Bush Administration has distinguished itself in "defiance of
international law."
The memos reveal that the Bush administration since Sept. 11, 2001
engaged in extensive discussions about how to get around U.S. and
international laws (including the Geneva Conventions) against torture.
This included assertions that torture was only illegal if carried out
on U.S. soil (thus Guantanamo) and it was only illegal if carried out
by members of the U.S. Armed Forces – which left an opening for the
CIA, mercenaries and the secret services of allied rogue nations.
Other assertions included the argument that torture was not illegal if
carried out against members of irregular forces.
Such assertions have been a boon to despots everywhere. Additional
assertions have included the "right" to secretly arrest and detain
suspects indefinitely and incommunicado, without legal representation,
without charges and without trials. All this is predicated on the
notion that this president has special powers during times of [legal]
war, thus the need for permanent war.
While seemingly "old news," revelations regarding torture continue to
make the news. The nation recently learned that FBI agents in 2002
created a "war crimes file" against U.S. military personnel at
Guantanamo, though the agents were directed to disband it in 2003
because creating such a file was not their mission (NY Times, May 21,
2008).
However, torture is not old news; it remains U.S. policy. This
administration continues to assert the "right" to utilize torture by
playing gymnastics with its legal definitions. All of this while
insisting that other nations exempt the United States from the
International War Crimes Tribunal. (It also asserts the right to war
against Iran).
Fortunately, the European Court of Human Rights – which earlier this
year reaffirmed its ban on torture – is not vacillating in the same
manner as the Bush administration… or even Sen. John McCain, who
supports the CIA torture exemption. Even the nation's top law
enforcement official, U.S. Attorney General, Michael Mukasey,
purportedly opposes torture, yet declines to define the
Inquisition-era water-boarding as such.
These assertions have begun to erode the moral fabric of our society.
That fabric is increasingly orange and the faces are hooded. The hoods
dehumanize not simply the prisoners, but all those that permit these
barbarities in the name of America.
* For information regarding the July 26 event, go to the Torture
Abolition Support & Solidarity Coalition International website at:
http://www.tassc.org/
* For information regarding the July 26 event, go to the Torture
Abolition Support & Solidarity Coalition International website at:
http://www.tassc.org/
Rodriguez, a research associate at Mexican American Studies at the
University of Arizona can be reached at: 520 743-0376 or Xcolumn@gmail.com
or Column of the Americas - PO BOX 85476 - Tucson, AZ 85754. The column is
archived at: http://web.mac.com/columnoftheamericas/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html
Frontier Gardening - bringing green spaces to the urban jungle
Frontier Gardening - bringing green spaces to the urban jungle
Greg Rodgers
http://slingshot.tao.ca/displaybi.php?0095013
Throughout the city of San Francisco residents are returning nature to the public fabric. Unlike the vast, open greenery of Golden Gate or other city parks, these spaces are cultivated directly by members of the community, on a scale which makes sense to the particular needs of people living there.
These spots blossoming around the city are not locked away for private use; they are part of public and community life. They are part of the neighborhood. They are not the projects of 'New Urbanism' and don't come from any planning department, nor are they official beautification projects, though they do make the city more beautiful. They are not administered through the city and do not have professional groundskeepers. There are no budgets, boards, permits, or lawyers.
They are evidence of an emerging viewpoint in which nature belongs as a part of the city, where urban residents have a direct connection to natural processes and reclaim some of the space that has been devoted to other enterprises such as commerce, industry, transportation, etc.
These micro spaces vary in scale from a cultivated windowsill facing a public street to a fully-developed community garden. Private and community gardens are, of course, an established part of the urban environment. Emerging now are the often contested spaces, where "guerrilla gardening" and creative use of parking spaces are gaining interest. Some folks are even making a "claim" on parts of larger parks. The claim they make, however, is not for private gain. They do have an agenda, but it includes notions of biodiversity, community involvement, native plantings, food security, soil sanctity, etc.
Urban residents are encouraging do-it-yourself green spaces to enter the public environment.
The Life and Death of an Urban Garden
At the corner of Fulton and Stanyan streets, there is a lot where corn stalks grow among discarded Starbucks containers. A graffiti on the pavement reads :
Where did the garden go?
I saw it go
I saw it taken away
Fucking Bastards!
If you watch the site carefully at night, you might even see someone harvesting potatoes or gathering ingredients for a salad. What is going on here?
There once was a lot here which, as some of the residents say, was merely "Collecting trash". The residents complained for some time about the blight of the trash-strewn lot to a largely unresponsive landlord. The lot in question had been sitting for 20 years. The bounty of the lot included "weeds, trash, dog shit, and heroin needles." So some folks neighboring the lot decided to use it in a different way.
A small group got together and cleaned out the space, removing weeds, cleaning up the trash and other refuse, and creating a space they would be able to plant in. An abandoned lot was fast becoming a fledgling community garden.
Within twenty minutes of the first planting, one of the gardeners remarked, people from the neighborhood became curious. And some folks became involved -- after all, it was their community.
When it was clear that the garden was to be a reality, the gardeners made contact with a property-management firm that handled the lot for the landlord, who lived out-of-town (way out -- Hawaii, actually). The property manager intimated that he couldn't see any harm in what was happening, and didn't deem that "official permission" from the land owner would be necessary.
So it looked to the gardeners as if they had been sanctioned to keep up their activity.
Meanwhile the garden flourished. Plantings included artichokes, garlic, fava beans, potatoes, strawberries, lettuce, chard, tomatoes, and quinoa. The gardeners had street parties, music, and barbecues in the new community space, but unexpectedly, the land owner became aware of the situation and demanded that the garden be destroyed. The landlord wanted everything ripped out.
The site underwent a complete transformation, but the owner wanted everything put back the way it was.
When the site was set for 'removal', the gardeners occupied the garden for five days. Members of the community also came out to support the garden. A neighborhood watch was formed to look after it. Three and a half weeks went by before the property management company paid a crew to remove the garden.
As one of the former gardeners remarks, "Gophers were our second-biggest pest in the garden. They did almost as much damage as the capitalists." The gardeners have become galvanized to look for other spots in which to plant, but the community does not have its garden anymore.
But plants have a tenacity that no removal crew can easily overcome. Many of them are coming back even as the lot fills again with the wandering garbage that blows through the city.
Space Reclaimed
Streets used to be a lot like the living rooms of the city, available to all the public for a variety of uses. Now most streets are treated solely as traffic conduits for private automobiles. What's worse is that even more space is required for the cars that aren't being used, the ones that must "park". The going rate for a few feet of downtown space in which to leave your car can be up to three dollars per hour. What a deal! Parking is the dominant land use in many areas.
But what would happen if you put in your quarter and instead of rolling a car into the space, you rolled out some sod?
Last September, the group Rebar (www.rebargroup.org) took several car parking spots throughout the city and made them into temporary green spaces. They transported their materials by bicycle and set up miniature parks in San Francisco's downtown, in the South-of-Market area (SOMA), in front of city hall (in the Mayor's parking spot, which was empty as the mayor wasn't around) and several other locations.
The parks each had a different design and theme. Some were a basic public park with benches and trees, while others were elaborate garden paths or tea gardens.
The groups navigated their bicycles through San Francisco traffic, hauling everything they needed in trailers. Some items included fully-grown trees in large pots and full-scale benches. It is an inspiring sight indeed to see a tall tree squeezing its way through an urban traffic snarl without any hang ups.
The parks had an immediate positive effect. Once they were set up, they transformed the urban space dramatically. Passersby used the parks as places to relax, to have lunch, to meet and talk with others, to take the sun, and of course to think about how we treat urban space. When the meter ran down, they would just pop another quarter in and go back to reading, people watching, or laying on the grass.
Of course there is a two-hour time-limit for all downtown parking spots, so Rebar would take the trees and benches down, roll the sod back up, and move to another site once their two hours were up.
Rebar converted more than a dozen parking spots into parks in San Francisco, while other people did the same thing all over the world. It happened again this September as well. But arts groups aren't the only ones reclaiming urban space for a green city.
Within the confines of the enormous Golden Gate Park, a gardener started a tiny native plant garden in a somewhat obscure corner of the park. This garden was accomplished by fiat, without going through the typical channels that community gardens often go through (after all, it's already a green space -- a park. Why make a garden there? Or so the thinking might go).
Green grass is great to play frisbee on, and big trees are very pretty and great for shade, but in terms of biodiversity, there isn't much going on in the lawn. Ecologists have a pet-term for lawns: green deserts.
Over time, the gardener peeled back more of the grass as his garden grew. There is now a diverse mix of native plants in this little corner of Golden Gate park. And the amount of space in the park is so vast that the native plant garden in no way diminishes the experience of the park, only adds to it. Plus, it is an in-tact seed bank for native varieties of plant life. A library of species, if you will.
The Garden in the City
Clearly people are thinking about urban space in new ways. There are even single-block neighborhood organizations dedicated to planting charming sidewalk gardens like the one on Fillmore street in the Lower Haight neighborhood. Residents are becoming emboldened to actively manage their own environment, whether publicly or privately "held". There are even people planting seeds in soaked clay balls and throwing them over fences, planting gardens that way. Witness the "illegal" fruit-tree plantings or the vegetable-growing tradition of People's Park in Berkeley.
Guerrilla gardeners are taking to the city with trowels and soaked beans, sowing new life into the urban environment with methods like those of graffiti artists.
All cities are built on top of what were once natural, intact ecosystems. But most cities, especially since industrialism, have kept an extremely tenuous relationship with nature -- typically it's a patch of green grass in a sea of development. Things got even worse after the automobile, when the streets themselves became largely devoid of life because life was too slow, too organic for the mechanized mobility that became an international obsession.
But as we all know, if we don't constantly re-pave, things grow up through the cracks. Grasses grow inside of potholes; tree roots tear up pavement. Nature is still here demanding a reckoning. Perhaps the push toward "Garden Cities" should have been a push toward city gardens.
Many cities are now building their own soils, growing their own food, and rediscovering nature. Some have even argued that this is where the ever-elusive "frontier" is sprouting up once again.
www.rebargroup.org
Greg Rodgers
http://slingshot.tao.ca/displaybi.php?0095013
Throughout the city of San Francisco residents are returning nature to the public fabric. Unlike the vast, open greenery of Golden Gate or other city parks, these spaces are cultivated directly by members of the community, on a scale which makes sense to the particular needs of people living there.
These spots blossoming around the city are not locked away for private use; they are part of public and community life. They are part of the neighborhood. They are not the projects of 'New Urbanism' and don't come from any planning department, nor are they official beautification projects, though they do make the city more beautiful. They are not administered through the city and do not have professional groundskeepers. There are no budgets, boards, permits, or lawyers.
They are evidence of an emerging viewpoint in which nature belongs as a part of the city, where urban residents have a direct connection to natural processes and reclaim some of the space that has been devoted to other enterprises such as commerce, industry, transportation, etc.
These micro spaces vary in scale from a cultivated windowsill facing a public street to a fully-developed community garden. Private and community gardens are, of course, an established part of the urban environment. Emerging now are the often contested spaces, where "guerrilla gardening" and creative use of parking spaces are gaining interest. Some folks are even making a "claim" on parts of larger parks. The claim they make, however, is not for private gain. They do have an agenda, but it includes notions of biodiversity, community involvement, native plantings, food security, soil sanctity, etc.
Urban residents are encouraging do-it-yourself green spaces to enter the public environment.
The Life and Death of an Urban Garden
At the corner of Fulton and Stanyan streets, there is a lot where corn stalks grow among discarded Starbucks containers. A graffiti on the pavement reads :
Where did the garden go?
I saw it go
I saw it taken away
Fucking Bastards!
If you watch the site carefully at night, you might even see someone harvesting potatoes or gathering ingredients for a salad. What is going on here?
There once was a lot here which, as some of the residents say, was merely "Collecting trash". The residents complained for some time about the blight of the trash-strewn lot to a largely unresponsive landlord. The lot in question had been sitting for 20 years. The bounty of the lot included "weeds, trash, dog shit, and heroin needles." So some folks neighboring the lot decided to use it in a different way.
A small group got together and cleaned out the space, removing weeds, cleaning up the trash and other refuse, and creating a space they would be able to plant in. An abandoned lot was fast becoming a fledgling community garden.
Within twenty minutes of the first planting, one of the gardeners remarked, people from the neighborhood became curious. And some folks became involved -- after all, it was their community.
When it was clear that the garden was to be a reality, the gardeners made contact with a property-management firm that handled the lot for the landlord, who lived out-of-town (way out -- Hawaii, actually). The property manager intimated that he couldn't see any harm in what was happening, and didn't deem that "official permission" from the land owner would be necessary.
So it looked to the gardeners as if they had been sanctioned to keep up their activity.
Meanwhile the garden flourished. Plantings included artichokes, garlic, fava beans, potatoes, strawberries, lettuce, chard, tomatoes, and quinoa. The gardeners had street parties, music, and barbecues in the new community space, but unexpectedly, the land owner became aware of the situation and demanded that the garden be destroyed. The landlord wanted everything ripped out.
The site underwent a complete transformation, but the owner wanted everything put back the way it was.
When the site was set for 'removal', the gardeners occupied the garden for five days. Members of the community also came out to support the garden. A neighborhood watch was formed to look after it. Three and a half weeks went by before the property management company paid a crew to remove the garden.
As one of the former gardeners remarks, "Gophers were our second-biggest pest in the garden. They did almost as much damage as the capitalists." The gardeners have become galvanized to look for other spots in which to plant, but the community does not have its garden anymore.
But plants have a tenacity that no removal crew can easily overcome. Many of them are coming back even as the lot fills again with the wandering garbage that blows through the city.
Space Reclaimed
Streets used to be a lot like the living rooms of the city, available to all the public for a variety of uses. Now most streets are treated solely as traffic conduits for private automobiles. What's worse is that even more space is required for the cars that aren't being used, the ones that must "park". The going rate for a few feet of downtown space in which to leave your car can be up to three dollars per hour. What a deal! Parking is the dominant land use in many areas.
But what would happen if you put in your quarter and instead of rolling a car into the space, you rolled out some sod?
Last September, the group Rebar (www.rebargroup.org) took several car parking spots throughout the city and made them into temporary green spaces. They transported their materials by bicycle and set up miniature parks in San Francisco's downtown, in the South-of-Market area (SOMA), in front of city hall (in the Mayor's parking spot, which was empty as the mayor wasn't around) and several other locations.
The parks each had a different design and theme. Some were a basic public park with benches and trees, while others were elaborate garden paths or tea gardens.
The groups navigated their bicycles through San Francisco traffic, hauling everything they needed in trailers. Some items included fully-grown trees in large pots and full-scale benches. It is an inspiring sight indeed to see a tall tree squeezing its way through an urban traffic snarl without any hang ups.
The parks had an immediate positive effect. Once they were set up, they transformed the urban space dramatically. Passersby used the parks as places to relax, to have lunch, to meet and talk with others, to take the sun, and of course to think about how we treat urban space. When the meter ran down, they would just pop another quarter in and go back to reading, people watching, or laying on the grass.
Of course there is a two-hour time-limit for all downtown parking spots, so Rebar would take the trees and benches down, roll the sod back up, and move to another site once their two hours were up.
Rebar converted more than a dozen parking spots into parks in San Francisco, while other people did the same thing all over the world. It happened again this September as well. But arts groups aren't the only ones reclaiming urban space for a green city.
Within the confines of the enormous Golden Gate Park, a gardener started a tiny native plant garden in a somewhat obscure corner of the park. This garden was accomplished by fiat, without going through the typical channels that community gardens often go through (after all, it's already a green space -- a park. Why make a garden there? Or so the thinking might go).
Green grass is great to play frisbee on, and big trees are very pretty and great for shade, but in terms of biodiversity, there isn't much going on in the lawn. Ecologists have a pet-term for lawns: green deserts.
Over time, the gardener peeled back more of the grass as his garden grew. There is now a diverse mix of native plants in this little corner of Golden Gate park. And the amount of space in the park is so vast that the native plant garden in no way diminishes the experience of the park, only adds to it. Plus, it is an in-tact seed bank for native varieties of plant life. A library of species, if you will.
The Garden in the City
Clearly people are thinking about urban space in new ways. There are even single-block neighborhood organizations dedicated to planting charming sidewalk gardens like the one on Fillmore street in the Lower Haight neighborhood. Residents are becoming emboldened to actively manage their own environment, whether publicly or privately "held". There are even people planting seeds in soaked clay balls and throwing them over fences, planting gardens that way. Witness the "illegal" fruit-tree plantings or the vegetable-growing tradition of People's Park in Berkeley.
Guerrilla gardeners are taking to the city with trowels and soaked beans, sowing new life into the urban environment with methods like those of graffiti artists.
All cities are built on top of what were once natural, intact ecosystems. But most cities, especially since industrialism, have kept an extremely tenuous relationship with nature -- typically it's a patch of green grass in a sea of development. Things got even worse after the automobile, when the streets themselves became largely devoid of life because life was too slow, too organic for the mechanized mobility that became an international obsession.
But as we all know, if we don't constantly re-pave, things grow up through the cracks. Grasses grow inside of potholes; tree roots tear up pavement. Nature is still here demanding a reckoning. Perhaps the push toward "Garden Cities" should have been a push toward city gardens.
Many cities are now building their own soils, growing their own food, and rediscovering nature. Some have even argued that this is where the ever-elusive "frontier" is sprouting up once again.
www.rebargroup.org
Longest Walk Update!
Almost there
© Indian Country Today June 30, 2008. All Rights Reserved
Posted: June 30, 2008
by: Lisa Garrigues / Today correspondent
Longest Walkers head toward nation's capital
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - ''Wake up! Circle up!'' The shouts rang out in the pre-dawn Alabama darkness as nearly 100 people began to stir inside their tents. By 5 a.m., they would be standing in morning circle, ready to embark on another day of cross-country walking that started on Alcatraz Island in California Feb. 11 and will end July 11 in Washington, D.C.
The Longest Walkers are almost there.
Snow, rain, searing heat, blisters, illness, and internal and external struggles have not dissuaded the 200 walkers on the northern and southern routes of the Longest Walk II from reaching their destination, where they will deliver a manifesto to Congress on Native and environmental issues.
The walk, organized by American Indian Movement activist Dennis Banks and other Native leaders to draw attention to environmental destruction and Native issues, is made up of Native and non-Native people, including several supporters from Japan, some of them members of the Buddhist Nipponzan Myohoji order. Commemorating a 1978 walk that was organized to protest the abrogation of Indian treaties by the U.S. government, it contains some of the walkers who took part in the original walk.
On June 11, walkers on the northern route entered Pennsylvania, after being stuck for several days in Ohio with no food or gas money. A skirmish with police in Columbus, Ohio, ended up with one member being led away in handcuffs.
Walkers on the southern route arrived in Asheville June 16, after a group of 18 people broke away from the group to form their own walk. Walkers report that the breakaway group got upset after a young girl hurt her foot in an accident and not enough attention was paid to her, an incident that spiraled into arguments and conflicts before the breakaway group finally left.
Banks was not present during the incident, but has since returned to the southern route. He could not be reached for comment on this recent incident by press time.
Earlier, he had asked 24 people to leave the walk because they were using marijuana and/or alcohol.
When interviewed in May in New Orleans, Banks said the walk ''was going good'' and thanked the Rumsey Rancheria, the Havasupai, the Apache, the Navajo, the pueblos, the Cheyenne and the Arapaho for being particularly helpful with donations.
Walkers on the southern route are averaging about 17 miles a day, waking at 4 a.m. to get on the road an hour later, and walking three to seven miles before breakfast. Short breaks are taken every three and a half miles, and the entire distance usually takes about seven hours to cover. Runners average 30 - 50 miles a day, so that every mile across the country is covered. Walkers take turns participating in the trash crew, which cleans up garbage and trash along the way, and the kitchen crew, which prepares the meals.
While northern walkers have had to use snowshoes on their journey, temperatures on the southern route have soared into the high 90s. Sweat-drenched walkers have used garden hoses, swimming holes and - when they are lucky - showers to cool down. Support vehicles accompanying the walkers, carrying food, luggage and water, have frequently needed repair.
Southern walkers report a large number of them got sick in Bakersfield from what they believe was contamination from nearby oil wells.
At night, the walkers unroll their sleeping bags and pitch their tents on the grounds of community centers, city parks, reservations and national forests.
In late June, walkers on the southern route were awakened when a car full of hecklers drove into an Alabama city park where the walkers were camped and yelled insults at the campers. The invaders were driven out by the walkers and local police.
''I can't believe I've already covered 4,000 miles,'' said Ray, a Native walker and runner on the southern route, as he carried the flag of the Mohawk Nation down a hot road in Alabama.
He was philosophical about the interpersonal difficulties and challenges that had arisen from within the group.
''They are human beings.''
Native and non-Native communities, businesses and individuals along the way have shown their appreciation and support of the walkers with gifts of money, food and water.
Native communities have spoken to the walkers about the issues they face, including environmental degradation, health problems and political struggles. These issues will be included in the manifesto delivered to Congress.
On May 27, walkers on the southern route carried the flags of several Indian nations into the 9th Ward of New Orleans, where, three years after Hurricane Katrina, residents are still struggling to rebuild their houses and community, with little support from city government.
Robert Green, who lost his mother and grandchild to the hurricane, spoke to walkers in front of the trailer he now lives in, as the walkers looked out on the flattened overgrown empty lots that once contained the homes of middle-class families.
''A lot of people don't realize one person can make a difference. One march can make a difference.'' he said. ''You're making us whole again, and that's important to us.''
For more information on the Longest Walk II, visit www.longestwalk.org.
© Indian Country Today June 30, 2008. All Rights Reserved
Posted: June 30, 2008
by: Lisa Garrigues / Today correspondent
Longest Walkers head toward nation's capital
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - ''Wake up! Circle up!'' The shouts rang out in the pre-dawn Alabama darkness as nearly 100 people began to stir inside their tents. By 5 a.m., they would be standing in morning circle, ready to embark on another day of cross-country walking that started on Alcatraz Island in California Feb. 11 and will end July 11 in Washington, D.C.
The Longest Walkers are almost there.
Snow, rain, searing heat, blisters, illness, and internal and external struggles have not dissuaded the 200 walkers on the northern and southern routes of the Longest Walk II from reaching their destination, where they will deliver a manifesto to Congress on Native and environmental issues.
The walk, organized by American Indian Movement activist Dennis Banks and other Native leaders to draw attention to environmental destruction and Native issues, is made up of Native and non-Native people, including several supporters from Japan, some of them members of the Buddhist Nipponzan Myohoji order. Commemorating a 1978 walk that was organized to protest the abrogation of Indian treaties by the U.S. government, it contains some of the walkers who took part in the original walk.
On June 11, walkers on the northern route entered Pennsylvania, after being stuck for several days in Ohio with no food or gas money. A skirmish with police in Columbus, Ohio, ended up with one member being led away in handcuffs.
Walkers on the southern route arrived in Asheville June 16, after a group of 18 people broke away from the group to form their own walk. Walkers report that the breakaway group got upset after a young girl hurt her foot in an accident and not enough attention was paid to her, an incident that spiraled into arguments and conflicts before the breakaway group finally left.
Banks was not present during the incident, but has since returned to the southern route. He could not be reached for comment on this recent incident by press time.
Earlier, he had asked 24 people to leave the walk because they were using marijuana and/or alcohol.
When interviewed in May in New Orleans, Banks said the walk ''was going good'' and thanked the Rumsey Rancheria, the Havasupai, the Apache, the Navajo, the pueblos, the Cheyenne and the Arapaho for being particularly helpful with donations.
Walkers on the southern route are averaging about 17 miles a day, waking at 4 a.m. to get on the road an hour later, and walking three to seven miles before breakfast. Short breaks are taken every three and a half miles, and the entire distance usually takes about seven hours to cover. Runners average 30 - 50 miles a day, so that every mile across the country is covered. Walkers take turns participating in the trash crew, which cleans up garbage and trash along the way, and the kitchen crew, which prepares the meals.
While northern walkers have had to use snowshoes on their journey, temperatures on the southern route have soared into the high 90s. Sweat-drenched walkers have used garden hoses, swimming holes and - when they are lucky - showers to cool down. Support vehicles accompanying the walkers, carrying food, luggage and water, have frequently needed repair.
Southern walkers report a large number of them got sick in Bakersfield from what they believe was contamination from nearby oil wells.
At night, the walkers unroll their sleeping bags and pitch their tents on the grounds of community centers, city parks, reservations and national forests.
In late June, walkers on the southern route were awakened when a car full of hecklers drove into an Alabama city park where the walkers were camped and yelled insults at the campers. The invaders were driven out by the walkers and local police.
''I can't believe I've already covered 4,000 miles,'' said Ray, a Native walker and runner on the southern route, as he carried the flag of the Mohawk Nation down a hot road in Alabama.
He was philosophical about the interpersonal difficulties and challenges that had arisen from within the group.
''They are human beings.''
Native and non-Native communities, businesses and individuals along the way have shown their appreciation and support of the walkers with gifts of money, food and water.
Native communities have spoken to the walkers about the issues they face, including environmental degradation, health problems and political struggles. These issues will be included in the manifesto delivered to Congress.
On May 27, walkers on the southern route carried the flags of several Indian nations into the 9th Ward of New Orleans, where, three years after Hurricane Katrina, residents are still struggling to rebuild their houses and community, with little support from city government.
Robert Green, who lost his mother and grandchild to the hurricane, spoke to walkers in front of the trailer he now lives in, as the walkers looked out on the flattened overgrown empty lots that once contained the homes of middle-class families.
''A lot of people don't realize one person can make a difference. One march can make a difference.'' he said. ''You're making us whole again, and that's important to us.''
For more information on the Longest Walk II, visit www.longestwalk.org.
Students Not Soldiers
Students Not Soldiers:
The Work of Inner City Struggle
in Los Angeles
http://www.war-times.org/articles/WT_studentsnotsoldiers.htm
Inner City Struggle is a community organization working on educational and economic justice issues in the Boyle Heights, El Sereno, and East Los Angeles communities (see www.innercitystruggle.org). Nancy Meza is a youth organizer for ICS at the Roosevelt High School campus, and works in ICS’s youth group United Students. She has been working with the organization for about four years and is currently a community college student.
War Times/Tiempo de Guerras talked with Nancy about the economic pressures facing youth in working-class, immigrant communities in L.A. and how those pressures related to military recruitment.
Nancy Meza: ICS works in poverty-level communities. Most of the households make less than $22,000 a year in combined income. These communities also have the “worst” schools: schools that don’t have adequate funding and are overcrowded, schools where a high percentage of students don’t make it through their senior year to graduation.
Boyle Heights and East LA are 90% Mexican or Latino, El Sereno is a little more diverse. El Sereno has more of the 4 th generation, 5 th generation Latinos, and Boyle Heights has more of the 1st generation, 2 nd generation Latino immigrants.
WT: What do the youth you work with say about the war?
Many of the youth we work with are against the war. They feel it’s an unjust war. They’re against it because of the way it affects them. They see how funding for education has gone down, they see more military recruitment in their schools. Instead of being recruited to go to college to have a future, most of the students are being led into the military.
United Students has a college and educational justice week every year. One of the workshops we had this year was Students Not Soldiers, and we asked students about the war. Most of the students said, “Oh that’s just Bush’s little war.” These are just regular students who were consciously against the war.
WT: Do you have any friends or relatives that enlisted or who have seriously considered enlisting?
One of my friends signed up after 9/11. He was a really good student; he played varsity sports, and took AP classes. His thing was, “my grades are okay but they’re not that great. So even if I get into college, I’m not going to be able to pay for it.”
My other friends who are thinking about enlisting didn’t graduate from high school. So they think, “I can’t get a good job, the best I can do is work at McDonald’s making minimum wage. Why not go into the military and get good job training.” They’re being tracked into it because they can’t get a good job, because they were in a public school system that didn’t prepare them for a 21 st century job or for attending college. [Editors' note: The Army recently increased by 25% the number of high-school drop-outs it was willing to accept as enlistees.] E ven if they do graduate from high school they can’t pass the tests to get jobs with a livable wage.
My friend who enlisted went to Garfield High. It has close to 5,000 students, and they only have one college counselor. Maybe there were resources out there to pay for college. But since there’s only one counselor, most students don’t know those resources are out there. The only people that are actually giving out information in these schools are military recruiters. You don’t see college recruiters or counselors out there during lunch time or doing classroom presentations on how to get into college, how to get financial aid. But you see at least two military recruiters out there during lunchtime every week. So he just didn’t have information about what was out there to pay for college.
WT: What is the drop-out rate in the schools ICS works in?
Those schools have a 68% drop-out rate, so less than 40% are actually graduating.
Roosevelt High School , for example, is the most overcrowded high school in the nation. It has about 5,200 students on a campus built for 2,500. It has a lot to do with funding. Schools are doing the track system because they are so overcrowded. So students go in for two months, they have vacation for two months; go back in for two months. There are not even enough desks in the classroom or even enough books in the classroom for every student. The student-teacher ratio is 32 or 34 to one if you’re lucky, and most classes have up to 40 students. Students can’t find a learning environment in this.
Students who do graduate from these high schools don’t graduate with the college pre-requisites. So most go into fast food or construction with their parents, any kind of job that they can get without taking a test. One of my friends, she’s really smart, she was an A and B student, but she didn’t have any honors classes. She took all regular classes. After graduation, she applied to be a tutor at the middle school she went to, and she couldn’t do it because she wasn’t able to pass the test, because the test includes Algebra II, and she wasn’t given Algebra II because it’s not a high school requirement, it’s only a college requirement.
These problems been going on for decades. Recently it’s actually gotten a little better. Now you see students that did graduate from the public high school system coming back to the communities, as teachers, as counselors, as tutors. They’re the ones really helping students, giving them encouragement. But a 68% drop-out rate is still outrageous.
WT: In a lot of communities of color, there’s a tradition of military service. I’m thinking of second or third generation Latino communities, the African-American community, the Filipino community or Samoan community. Do you find folks talking about the military as less racist than the rest of society?
I don’t think they find it less racist, but they do find it as a way to fit into society. We saw this during the sixties, when African Americans were being recruited into the military, while outside they were segregated and they had no rights. I think they saw the military as a gateway into society. I think it’s happening also with these communities, because they don’t fit into demographics of the current society, just because of their culture or their economic situation. So here comes the military and it’s like, “Be American, join the military. If you join you’ll be fighting for your country.” People join the military because it’s a way to be accepted into society.
At school, teachers don’t teach you about your culture. And most people are below poverty level, struggling. To them, it seems like being poor is something to be ashamed of. Most of these people work two to three jobs just to make ends meet and they’re still below poverty line. I think many join the military as a way just to be viewed as a good member of society, a productive member. Also, for the immigrant community it’s so hard to get your legal status now, it’s so expensive. Many view the military as a way to get citizenship or an easier way to get legal status.
WT: I went to a conference in October on counter-recruitment and learned that even if you join the military you’re not guaranteed citizenship. They just speed up the process, by letting you apply immediately instead of waiting five years first.
It’s the same with money for schooling. Only 50% of veterans get those benefits. Students are being propagandized by the military, they’re being called every two years, there are commercials on TV, and at school there’s a big military presence. Students go in with these ideas that the military is going to offer them all these things. One of the things we’ve done is have students critically analyze the military. You know, so much money is being spent on the military that it detracts from education, housing, and health care. Out of one dollar [of government spending], fifty cents are spent on the military, only four or five cents on education, two on health care. We’re spending so much on the military that our social programs are not being funded, so you go into the military because they promise you all the programs you’re not getting as a normal citizen.
WT: And we see this at work with the JROTC programs. What’s JROTC like?
I’ve actually seen it at the middle school, but it was called Cadets. [Editors' note: The Naval Sea Cadets program is for youth aged 11-17. It is an affiliate of the U.S. Navy League, a citizen group that supports maritime military services.] Even students in the sixth grade are being trained to join the military, to be little soldiers. In high school you see it more; JROTC has its own buildings and its own facilities in our school district. At Roosevelt High School it has an underground shooting range.
At the beginning of every year, since our schools are so over-crowded, there’s not enough room to have everyone enroll in P.E. So the JROTC recruiters go into the P.E. classrooms and they outreach to everyone, saying, “Instead of doing P.E. you could join JROTC and it’ll be honorable, it’ll be considered as an extra activity, and it looks good on college applications.” They do this massive recruitment. Students don’t see other clubs going around, saying, “join this club to prepare for college.” All they see is JROTC.
And since there’s so much overcrowding, there’s no room in other classes, students are just put into JROTC to fill vacant spots in their schedule.
In JROTC you learn how to use guns, how to march. Most of the students who are in JROTC are from low-income communities. They are students who are in ESL, students who pushed out of the college track. These students are trained to go into the military right out of high school. Most students in JROTC go into the military after high school. [Editors' note: As counter-recruitment organizers have argued, JROTC actually constitutes a drain on a school’s resources and teaches a biased version of American history.]
WT: Jorge Mariscal of Project YANO was telling me that more and more Latinas are enlisting.
The military is recruiting Latinas; they’ve changed their message to target Latinas. They make it appear like if you’re a Latina , joining the military is a feminist act. You’ll be fighting alongside your brothers; you’ll be getting the power that a man is given now.
WT: The ability to be economically independent gives a sense of empowerment. Is that avenue getting closed off for women of color and is that pushing them to see the military as a feminist option?
That’s how the military’s putting it out there. But you know they say the same things about males not being able to get a job or pay for college. I think it’s more how the military is putting the message out there, and women are picking it up as “okay, I guess this must be true.”
WT: Does ICS work with other LA-based groups that focus on counter-recruitment work, like Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools (CAMS)?
Yes. Every time we found out military recruiters were going to be on campus, we did counter-recruitment the day before. We passed out brochures about the reality of war, the reality of the military, and what you should think about before joining the military. It was really cool because before the recruiters came onto campus students were already conscious about what the myths and realities were about joining the military. So recruiters would come in the next day and try to persuade students they would get money for college and students would say, “Well according to this paper we received yesterday only 50% of veterans do get that.”
That’s the same thing we did with Students Not Soldiers. This is a workshop that was given to over 45 classrooms in every high school. We let students know how much money was being spent on the military, and why students were joining the military. We gave them the facts and the realities, just so they could have more information before making a choice. Most of the students that were in the workshop changed their mind from, “Oh we want to join the military” to “I’ll go to college and try to get a good job.”
Interview by Lynn Koh.
The Work of Inner City Struggle
in Los Angeles
http://www.war-times.org/articles/WT_studentsnotsoldiers.htm
Inner City Struggle is a community organization working on educational and economic justice issues in the Boyle Heights, El Sereno, and East Los Angeles communities (see www.innercitystruggle.org). Nancy Meza is a youth organizer for ICS at the Roosevelt High School campus, and works in ICS’s youth group United Students. She has been working with the organization for about four years and is currently a community college student.
War Times/Tiempo de Guerras talked with Nancy about the economic pressures facing youth in working-class, immigrant communities in L.A. and how those pressures related to military recruitment.
Nancy Meza: ICS works in poverty-level communities. Most of the households make less than $22,000 a year in combined income. These communities also have the “worst” schools: schools that don’t have adequate funding and are overcrowded, schools where a high percentage of students don’t make it through their senior year to graduation.
Boyle Heights and East LA are 90% Mexican or Latino, El Sereno is a little more diverse. El Sereno has more of the 4 th generation, 5 th generation Latinos, and Boyle Heights has more of the 1st generation, 2 nd generation Latino immigrants.
WT: What do the youth you work with say about the war?
Many of the youth we work with are against the war. They feel it’s an unjust war. They’re against it because of the way it affects them. They see how funding for education has gone down, they see more military recruitment in their schools. Instead of being recruited to go to college to have a future, most of the students are being led into the military.
United Students has a college and educational justice week every year. One of the workshops we had this year was Students Not Soldiers, and we asked students about the war. Most of the students said, “Oh that’s just Bush’s little war.” These are just regular students who were consciously against the war.
WT: Do you have any friends or relatives that enlisted or who have seriously considered enlisting?
One of my friends signed up after 9/11. He was a really good student; he played varsity sports, and took AP classes. His thing was, “my grades are okay but they’re not that great. So even if I get into college, I’m not going to be able to pay for it.”
My other friends who are thinking about enlisting didn’t graduate from high school. So they think, “I can’t get a good job, the best I can do is work at McDonald’s making minimum wage. Why not go into the military and get good job training.” They’re being tracked into it because they can’t get a good job, because they were in a public school system that didn’t prepare them for a 21 st century job or for attending college. [Editors' note: The Army recently increased by 25% the number of high-school drop-outs it was willing to accept as enlistees.] E ven if they do graduate from high school they can’t pass the tests to get jobs with a livable wage.
My friend who enlisted went to Garfield High. It has close to 5,000 students, and they only have one college counselor. Maybe there were resources out there to pay for college. But since there’s only one counselor, most students don’t know those resources are out there. The only people that are actually giving out information in these schools are military recruiters. You don’t see college recruiters or counselors out there during lunch time or doing classroom presentations on how to get into college, how to get financial aid. But you see at least two military recruiters out there during lunchtime every week. So he just didn’t have information about what was out there to pay for college.
WT: What is the drop-out rate in the schools ICS works in?
Those schools have a 68% drop-out rate, so less than 40% are actually graduating.
Roosevelt High School , for example, is the most overcrowded high school in the nation. It has about 5,200 students on a campus built for 2,500. It has a lot to do with funding. Schools are doing the track system because they are so overcrowded. So students go in for two months, they have vacation for two months; go back in for two months. There are not even enough desks in the classroom or even enough books in the classroom for every student. The student-teacher ratio is 32 or 34 to one if you’re lucky, and most classes have up to 40 students. Students can’t find a learning environment in this.
Students who do graduate from these high schools don’t graduate with the college pre-requisites. So most go into fast food or construction with their parents, any kind of job that they can get without taking a test. One of my friends, she’s really smart, she was an A and B student, but she didn’t have any honors classes. She took all regular classes. After graduation, she applied to be a tutor at the middle school she went to, and she couldn’t do it because she wasn’t able to pass the test, because the test includes Algebra II, and she wasn’t given Algebra II because it’s not a high school requirement, it’s only a college requirement.
These problems been going on for decades. Recently it’s actually gotten a little better. Now you see students that did graduate from the public high school system coming back to the communities, as teachers, as counselors, as tutors. They’re the ones really helping students, giving them encouragement. But a 68% drop-out rate is still outrageous.
WT: In a lot of communities of color, there’s a tradition of military service. I’m thinking of second or third generation Latino communities, the African-American community, the Filipino community or Samoan community. Do you find folks talking about the military as less racist than the rest of society?
I don’t think they find it less racist, but they do find it as a way to fit into society. We saw this during the sixties, when African Americans were being recruited into the military, while outside they were segregated and they had no rights. I think they saw the military as a gateway into society. I think it’s happening also with these communities, because they don’t fit into demographics of the current society, just because of their culture or their economic situation. So here comes the military and it’s like, “Be American, join the military. If you join you’ll be fighting for your country.” People join the military because it’s a way to be accepted into society.
At school, teachers don’t teach you about your culture. And most people are below poverty level, struggling. To them, it seems like being poor is something to be ashamed of. Most of these people work two to three jobs just to make ends meet and they’re still below poverty line. I think many join the military as a way just to be viewed as a good member of society, a productive member. Also, for the immigrant community it’s so hard to get your legal status now, it’s so expensive. Many view the military as a way to get citizenship or an easier way to get legal status.
WT: I went to a conference in October on counter-recruitment and learned that even if you join the military you’re not guaranteed citizenship. They just speed up the process, by letting you apply immediately instead of waiting five years first.
It’s the same with money for schooling. Only 50% of veterans get those benefits. Students are being propagandized by the military, they’re being called every two years, there are commercials on TV, and at school there’s a big military presence. Students go in with these ideas that the military is going to offer them all these things. One of the things we’ve done is have students critically analyze the military. You know, so much money is being spent on the military that it detracts from education, housing, and health care. Out of one dollar [of government spending], fifty cents are spent on the military, only four or five cents on education, two on health care. We’re spending so much on the military that our social programs are not being funded, so you go into the military because they promise you all the programs you’re not getting as a normal citizen.
WT: And we see this at work with the JROTC programs. What’s JROTC like?
I’ve actually seen it at the middle school, but it was called Cadets. [Editors' note: The Naval Sea Cadets program is for youth aged 11-17. It is an affiliate of the U.S. Navy League, a citizen group that supports maritime military services.] Even students in the sixth grade are being trained to join the military, to be little soldiers. In high school you see it more; JROTC has its own buildings and its own facilities in our school district. At Roosevelt High School it has an underground shooting range.
At the beginning of every year, since our schools are so over-crowded, there’s not enough room to have everyone enroll in P.E. So the JROTC recruiters go into the P.E. classrooms and they outreach to everyone, saying, “Instead of doing P.E. you could join JROTC and it’ll be honorable, it’ll be considered as an extra activity, and it looks good on college applications.” They do this massive recruitment. Students don’t see other clubs going around, saying, “join this club to prepare for college.” All they see is JROTC.
And since there’s so much overcrowding, there’s no room in other classes, students are just put into JROTC to fill vacant spots in their schedule.
In JROTC you learn how to use guns, how to march. Most of the students who are in JROTC are from low-income communities. They are students who are in ESL, students who pushed out of the college track. These students are trained to go into the military right out of high school. Most students in JROTC go into the military after high school. [Editors' note: As counter-recruitment organizers have argued, JROTC actually constitutes a drain on a school’s resources and teaches a biased version of American history.]
WT: Jorge Mariscal of Project YANO was telling me that more and more Latinas are enlisting.
The military is recruiting Latinas; they’ve changed their message to target Latinas. They make it appear like if you’re a Latina , joining the military is a feminist act. You’ll be fighting alongside your brothers; you’ll be getting the power that a man is given now.
WT: The ability to be economically independent gives a sense of empowerment. Is that avenue getting closed off for women of color and is that pushing them to see the military as a feminist option?
That’s how the military’s putting it out there. But you know they say the same things about males not being able to get a job or pay for college. I think it’s more how the military is putting the message out there, and women are picking it up as “okay, I guess this must be true.”
WT: Does ICS work with other LA-based groups that focus on counter-recruitment work, like Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools (CAMS)?
Yes. Every time we found out military recruiters were going to be on campus, we did counter-recruitment the day before. We passed out brochures about the reality of war, the reality of the military, and what you should think about before joining the military. It was really cool because before the recruiters came onto campus students were already conscious about what the myths and realities were about joining the military. So recruiters would come in the next day and try to persuade students they would get money for college and students would say, “Well according to this paper we received yesterday only 50% of veterans do get that.”
That’s the same thing we did with Students Not Soldiers. This is a workshop that was given to over 45 classrooms in every high school. We let students know how much money was being spent on the military, and why students were joining the military. We gave them the facts and the realities, just so they could have more information before making a choice. Most of the students that were in the workshop changed their mind from, “Oh we want to join the military” to “I’ll go to college and try to get a good job.”
Interview by Lynn Koh.
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