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Goodbye for Now

Sadly, the time has come.

I left DC on Friday to head up to Pennsylvania to stay at my dad's house for the next couple days before I get home to Little Rock.  Luckily, I had the greatest last week!

On Wednesday, we geared up and went to the Senate for a hearing--"Closing Guantanamo: the National Security, Fiscal, and Human Rights Implications."  It was super interesting; I'm so glad I was able to do that.  The line to get in the hearing ended up going all the way down the hall even an hour before the start time.  We were with a couple of other organizations (Veterans for Peace, Witness Against Torture, etc), dressed in jumpsuits and holding pictures of men currently detained in Guantanamo even after being cleared for release.  The hearing itself was slightly more positive than I thought it would be.  For the most part, many of the senators and military personnel all agreed Guantanamo needed to be closed and is an embarrassment, but a couple of individuals, *ahem, Frank Gaffney and Mike Pompeo...* remained closed minded Islamophobes, to put things simply.  Check it out on C-SPAN: http://www.c-span.org/flvPop.aspx?id=10737440583

Then, during my last day in DC, everyone in the office got lunch together, and then we went to Fort McNair for a rally asking General Buchanan to Free Brad!  The turnout was amazing, and everybody had such great spirit.  It was absolutely the perfect way to end my time in DC.  Check this out: http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Manning-Wikileaks/8a84e9cb95c84154bde1ec25c6551373/19/0

I'm very sad to leave DC, but ready to get home.  I have learned so so so so so so SOOOO much this summer.  I can't even believe it.  It has been a rough road traveled--I learned a lot about myself and others--but I do not regret one bit.  People may judge those at CODEPINK for being so outwardly vocal in their disagreement with so many government policies, but after spending two months with these people, I can tell you that office is full of the kindest, most passionate and accepting individuals I have ever come across.  They aren't hateful people.  They genuinely care about the value of human lives globally and (believe it or not) the future of our country, because they want to make it to where we can go to anywhere in the world and say we are proud to be Americans without anyone feeling spiteful about how our country killed or imprisoned their innocent brother, or gave millions to a militant group that destroyed their village, or demonized their religion.  They are indeed true Patriots, and I am so thankful for all they have taught me.  

I am happy to continue this chapter in my life, working in any way I can towards peace and justice and improving myself as a person.  Thank you to those who have been so incredibly supportive throughout the summer--I would not have been able to stick it through otherwise.  And for those who weren't, thank you for still loving me anyways; I hope one day we may see eye to eye.  I appreciate everyone who has kept up with my posts, and thank you for educating yourself as an American citizen: you are lucky to have and deserve that right.

So, this is goodbye for now, my friends.  It has been real, and it's been great.  It's been really great.  Keep your eyes peeled for a new permanent blog I'm starting up on WordPress.  And if you are in the Memphis or Little Rock area and interested in working with me on spreading the CODEPINK love down south, please message me on facebook or shoot me an email at erose526@yahoo.com.  I'd love to have ya.

So long suckas, see ya in the devil's heat.

Em

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Together, We Hit the Streets

I apologize for waiting so long to post this week.  My stress level has been skyrocketed...handling a lot of things and staying incredibly busy to say the least.

I've been dog sitting all week..good practice for one day when I want to get me a lil wolf, but I honestly could have done without poop scooping for the week and running back and forth from house to house.  

Let me begin with Monday, which was totally awesome.  Destroyed my feet and left me exhausted, but still pretty damn cool.  I got into the office and got to work making signs for the two rallies we would be going to that night.  At about 5 PM we got our goodies together and hopped on the metro to get to Malcolm X Park for a Justice for Trayvon rally at 6.  It was awesome to see all the support we got when people saw our signs.  We tried to tell lots of people who thanked us to come join; you could tell they thought about it, but it was like they're scared or something.  I'm just saying, people seem to be so quick to jump up and spit they're opinions on Facebook, but if you can't even put yourself out there and really do something about it, it really doesn't mean much.  Anyways, our rally started out small, so we decided to start marching on the sidewalk.  Sure enough, momentum picked up quite a bit!  We got more followers and ended up marching on the streets.  People cheered and took videos as we came by.  Our crowd grew in numbers.  Musicians came and joined us.  Everyone's spirit was so strong.  I don't know how long we marched for (at least a couple miles), but it was real hot, and I now have massive blisters on my feet.  Unfortunately, we had to peace out early to get to the White House for a women's rights protest.  But we told them to head that way to meet us there.  So we jumped on the metro, ripped off our Trayvon signs to reveal the women's rights signs we had made, and hopped off to run to the White House.  When we got there, the most awesome thing happened.  Justice for Trayvon protesters were circling in front of the gate, so must of us hung back to let them do their thing.  Then, all of the sudden, most of the women's rights protesters jumped in with the crowd, and we all chanted together.  Solidarity in its finest form.  After that, a HUGE Trayvon rally came in front of the White House.  The momentum was amazing.  Yet, by then I was really to get home and take a warm bath to ease the pain in my feet.  Awesome day.

Wednesday was another big day.  We got up bright and early to get to the White House to protest $47 billion going towards further securing the border with more troops, drones, and fences.  We marched to U.S. Customs and protested outside of there for a bit.  After that, we had to get back to the office for another International Delegation from the State Department.  Let me just say, this one was SO much better than the last. We had a lot of activists in this group, so they were loving us.  Great, great people.  The chick from Bulgaria is pretty much the head of the massive protests happening of there--she told us to come join!  We had a lot of people from different African countries, some from northeast Europe, and even a man from Tonga!  It was really great and made all of our days!

Then, just yesterday I got to go witness the the oral arguments against the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss in the al-Aulaqi vs. Panetta case!  For those of you who don't know, Nasser al-Aulaqi is a Yemeni who spent many years getting educated in the US and is the father of Anwar al-Aulaqi, an American Muslim who became radicalized years after 9/11.  Anwar was targeted by a U.S. drone in Yemen and killed.  However, the lawsuit is over the fact that Anwar's 16 year old son and American citizen, Abdulrahman, was also targeted and killed by a U.S. drone two weeks later.  Abdulrahman was not a militant, just looking for his father.  Therefore, Nasser took it to court.  

Sitting in on the trial was awesome.  The judge was one of the most terrific judges I have ever seen.  She takes the system of law and of checks and balances very very seriously.  It was really great to sit in on history in the making.  I have the highest hopes that everything will turn out all right.

It has been a long week, indeed.  I've met some friends on the metro...one construction worker told me all about how expensive his daughter's tennis shoes are and another man gave me his number and begged me to call him because he could give me "illegal and legal" goods..(??).

I can't believe I am leaving in a week!  I'm heading to my dad's house in Pennsylvania for a few days next Friday and then back to Little Rock!  I'm sad my journey is ending, but still many more exciting things happening my last week.  I'll also probably continue blogging on a different site once I get home...details to come.  

Ciao for now.  Remember to stay true to you, and ask nothing more of others than for them to do the same.  

Love and Hugs.

Em

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America.

America.  The land where freedom reigns, yet it only applies to those able to afford it.  Where “United we stand," yet you’re “either with us or you’re not,"  and we hate each other solely by which party we stand with.  Where we want to always defend ourselves, but only because we are scared shitless of each other.  Where we defeat terror across the globe, yet we’ve now created and feed the terror ourselves.  Where we believe in human rights, yet have tortured men in a prison camp for over a decade without even charging them.  Where we believe in diversity, yet every day I look in the mirror and hate my race because it has spit on all the others.  Where we give $3 billion dollars to a fully developed war criminal country on the basis of the people living there were the original owners and survived a Holocaust, but have continued to cut funding for and killed off our Native population that has gone through the same damn thing, just under our own hands.  Where we stand for justice, yet bomb a 16 year old US citizen in Yemen because he may turn out like his father, who we also bombed without conviction.  Where we believe in equality, but still want to keep our women on a leash.  And now where George Zimmerman and Casey Anthony walk free, yet 25 year old Bradley Manning has been held in prison for 3 years for trying to let the American public know of the war crimes our own government committed.  This is America.  I did not learn about this America growing up.  I don’t know where that place went.  

Call me unpatriotic and a horrible person; I don’t care.  I’m just tired.  And I don’t know what to do anymore.

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Cold Facts: People are Idiotic, the Defense is Sweet, & Bolivians are Awesome

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, boys and girls.

My week for the most part has not been extremely eventful. I enjoyed a very long weekend for the 4th of July house sitting at my family friends' beautiful home, playing around in the city and getting some serious thrifting done. And boy, was this weekend hot! I mean hotter than satan's butt crack hot...pretty much as bad as Arkansas' summer last year, just up the humidity by about 50%..yuck.

This weekend I did get pretty hot-headed by doing exactly what I shouldn't and reading people's posts on the internet... You will literally find some of the most idiotic people in the entire world on the internet.  First of all, to have the nerve to say that Guantanamo is a luxury facility where even the hunger strikers are getting fat is complete and utter (pardon my french) horse shit. What's more, lo and behold, the sources for these articles are pro-Gitmo officers!  And then there's the comments...AGHHHEHFDLHFODHDHKSJK!  GOOD GOD!  I am so damn sick and tired of hearing people, including my own FATHER, refer to all of the prisoners as dangerous terrorists.  I'm not saying that a few of them aren't, but at least 86 of them are declared innocent men.  Yet, many continue that statement by saying that they "deserve to be slaughtered like the pork that should be put in their feeding tubes."  Infuriates me.  I know I need to get used to these comments and blow them off (which I normally do), but sometimes it weighs very heavily on me.  It's similar to my experiences getting called "baby killer" and "abortionist" in high school.  The ignorance truly gets old.

But enough on that tangent.  My apologies.  

Since then, my mood has much improved.   Part of this is because I got to go to the first day of the Defense in Bradley Manning's trial on Monday, and they are doing so well!  Seriously, the prosecution has been fumbling around so much that when the Defense jumped up and immediately got down to business, it was such a refreshing change of pace.  They first played the Apache Helicopter Video, which shows a brutal air attack in Baghdad that killed two Reuters journalists.  The Defense's point in this was to claim that Bradley's release of the video was not as grave as prosecution claimed; rather, the transcript of the first 20 minutes (which are the worst) was already unclassified information.

It was hard watching the video, hearing what the soldiers say in the background--they had a clear thirst for violence.  They laughed and cursed a lot, saying, "Oh yeah, look at all those dead bastards."  It was like watching pre-teen boys play a violent video game.  Except this was real.  

After they played the video, the Defense called in a Witness that served in Iraq as an analyst with Bradley.  His testimony basically proved that a) Bradley was one of the best analysts they had, and b) access to classified information was easily obtained and could have been easily pocketed by the analysts.  The Prosecution tried to rebuff this claim, but couldn't seem to get past the smoothness of the Defense.

I didn't get to go to the last two days, but apparently they were awesome.  Yesterday, the Defense rested their case after having a 5 hour testimony by a Harvard Professor, who essentially lectured the entire courtroom in Bradley's favor.  So great.  Hopefully, the next few weeks will be positive.  

Today was another great day that reminded me how lucky I am to have this internship.  Early this morning, we were joined by representatives of countless peace organizations, packed up and headed to the embassies that granted Edward Snowden asylum to thank them.  First stop on the list was Bolivia...let me just say, I LOVE Bolivia!  We gathered around outside with our "Thank you" signs, and so many of their workers came out to take pictures, all with smiles on their faces.  The first man, Eduardo, took a few pictures then left for a little bit.  Finally, he came back with a small Bolivian flag and big Bolivian indigenous flag for us!  After our photo-op, we were graciously invited inside and immediately led upstairs to meet with their highest-ranking official since they haven't had an ambassador since 2008.  He shook all of our hands and spoke with my boss about how happy he was to see Americans that appreciate their commitment to justice and democracy (luckily Medea speaks impeccable Spanish).  It was a great way to start the day.

After that, we headed to Nicaragua and Venezuela.  Both of those consisted mostly of standing outside because Nicaragua did not have the staff authorized to speak with us and Venezuela would only accept a small group, but they both accepted our cards and flowers happily.  

We then headed to the Department of Justice to demand that they put an end to NSA spying.  It was a quick but effective demonstration.  What I noticed was that within about 15 minutes of us getting there, they pretty much doubled their police security outside of the building.  Seriously?  This seems to be a common theme with our demonstrations.  Sorry, but I don't think I look like much of a threat.  They wouldn't even let any of us walk close to the building, while so many others got to waltz on in!  Ridiculous.

Regardless, it was a good day and a good week.  Time has flown by!  I can't believe I will be home in less than three weeks.  I'll be ready to get back down south for sure, but I have learned so much and gotten some opportunities I never would have dreamed of with this group.  They share my values and passions.  I will miss it so much!  But hopefully I can take what I've done up here and continue it back at home and school.  So if you're interested, keep your eyes peeled and let me know if you want to join the activist party!

Stay classy SASSY

Em

PS. HAPPY RAMADAN!

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#FreeBrad and Happy Fourth!

Greetings, friends!

I wish I could tell you I had an eventful weekend, but sadly I did not. It was spent babysitting and sleeping. Fun, huh?

HOWEVER, Monday I went up to Fort Meade, MD with some other members of the CODEPINK crew to witness a day of Bradley Manning’s trial.  Pause for total fan girl moment—to sit in the same room as him and witness history in the making was so incredible.  It just makes me sad that this case does not have as much notoriety as it should and isn’t transparent to the public, whereas people seemed to be glued to their TV screens to keep track of the Casey Anthony trial.  Kind of twisted if you think about it.  Anyways, not too much happened while I was there.  The prosecution, AKA The United States Government, didn’t seem to really be getting down to business, mostly just mumbling around the issue.  I got to listen to them spit about Al Qaeda (AQ as they called it) for a good thirty minutes before they called a two hour recess.  After that, they brought in a man from the CIA for questioning.  Nothing too exciting.

It made me sad, sitting through the trial.  I kept looking over at Bradley, thinking of how he isn’t much older than me, is the same age as my sister actually, and he’s already been in jail under harsh conditions for three years for doing something so brave.  I mean, how would you like to be on trial against the United States of America?  He’s a really little fellow.  Short and tiny.  It makes you just want to give him a hug or take him away from all the big, bad things in life.  Anyways, I think he knows a lot of us support him for what he did.  You can at least get some comfort in that. 

However, I would highly suggest everyone keep up with the events of the trial and show support for Bradley any way you can.  Besides, whistleblowing is so hot right now.

Also, last night my co-workers and I were essentially crying in a Mexican restaurant after reading a message sent to my boss from a former Guantanamo prisoner.  It completely reminded me of why I’m here, blowing up everybody’s news feeds with politics and attending wild protests.  People notice.  Somewhere out there somebody is happy that we are fighting for their cause.  Here’s the note:

"Mourad Benchellali 5:42am Jul 2 Dear Diane Wilson, Medea benjamin and Jodie evans. First at all i apologize for my broken english. I learned english for survival but not yet to have a constructive conversation in guantanamo. America is the country where somme people imagined the prison of Guantanamo but also the country where this prison is the most contested.  I never wanted to put all américans in one basket. I know that the problem is very complicated. This is not good Americans on one side and bad on the other I know the traumatism was that the attacks of September 11 and and if you are sorry for me to have been at Guantanamo , I’m sorry for what happened that tragic day. But in life one should not pay the atrocity of oser. We live in this world and I want to be with you and all those who want to change it. f you have any questions do not hesitate.

friendships"

I have a long weekend for the fourth, so I plan on relaxing for a bit.  It is very exciting to be up here for such a holiday, but part of me very much misses being back home for it.  It gets lonely up here sometimes, ya know.  

Oh well, it will be a good weekend!

Everyone have a beautiful Independence day.  Tell those you love how much they mean to you.  Then grab a beer, put on your jorts, and set your Lynyrd Skynyrd on repeat cause this is ‘Merica!

Smoochies.

Em

PLUS:

Please support Bradley Manning by calling the U.S. Department of Defense at 703.571.3343 then click 5, to leave a Public Comment offering a positive statement in support of Bradley Manning, it can be as simple as “Free Bradley Manning", these call-ins carry a lot of weight with the DOD and therefore is the simplest proactive way anyone can be involved and please encourage friends and family to do same.

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From Hospitals to Hellfire

All I have to say…another wild week here in DC.  I apologize for the length of this post, but a lot happened.

Early Monday morning, I checked in to the hospital with excruciating abdominal pain.  Thank god my roommate Elizabeth came in with me.  Luckily, I got in fairly quickly, got some pain medication, and got a CT scan all before noon.  Throughout most of the day, doctors threw around the possibility of appendicitis.  It was stressful not knowing whether I would have to have surgery or not.  My dad drove down from Pennsylvania to be with me, and by the end of the afternoon, they determined I had an ovarian cyst that leaked, causing an infection in my abdomen.  However, I got some antibiotics and was discharged in time for dad to take Elizabeth and me to go munch…we deserved it.

So that was the start of my week.

I went to a follow-up Tuesday.  They decided everything was fine, so I sent dad on his way and spent the afternoon and evening resting for the events that would follow Wednesday.

And boy, am I glad I did.

We packed up and headed off to the White House around 11 AM to join a few other organizations for a demonstration at noon for International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.  To be perfectly honest, we didn’t have too much of a plan or idea of the actual events that would happen that afternoon.  Prior to arriving, my boss said something about how she was worried that Diane Wilson, who had been on day 58 of her fast in solidarity with the Gitmo hunger strikers, would actually try and jump the White House fence.  I didn’t really know what to expect.

We arrived and got all set up for the vigil, which would last about an hour.  We got a beautiful turnout…practically all I could see was orange.  We all stood out there in the blistering heat, even those of us who have been fasting for weeks now, and held various signs, banners, and painted parasols, all speaking out against torture and the failure to close Guantanamo.  Unfortunately, our demonstration fell on the same day that DOMA was ruled unconstitutional by SCOTUS, so many of us felt conflicted between the happiness of this ruling and anger that the government, though now “standing" for equality and freedom, still discriminates against and tortures innocent men every day.  However, we still attracted some media attention and maintained focus on the issue at hand.  

After the official vigil ended, a fellow co-worker told me that the civil disobedience would begin soon.  The other interns and I had no idea of what all that would entail.  Would we get arrested?  We were advised to hang back and show support whichever way we could.  

I will try my best to accurately described the events that followed, but everything escalated so quickly and literally flew by in a total blur.

I looked over to see Heidi sitting next to Diane in a wheelchair.  Tighe, dressed as a Gitmo soldier, wheeled her up on the sidewalk by the fence.  The crowd then slowly crept with a rumble to surround her.  They then portrayed a theatrical and violent (and fake) force-feeding demonstration as we all chanted and described the events happening before us.  It got pretty intense and drew the attention of just about everyone in the area, including the police.  I was so intent on videotaping the force-feeding that I almost didn’t notice a man briskly entering the circle screaming that Diane had scaled the fence.  She was over and on the lawn.

After that, all hell broke loose.  The police started screaming at the crowd to back up off the sidewalk as we all ran over to get a look at Diane, shouting.  I just remember seeing bodies pushing past me, hearing the vicious barking of a dog and people shouting “Torture!  Torture!"  I kept fighting to see if I could find Diane…and then I did.  Or rather, I just saw orange sprawled out flat on the grass.  The first thing that ran through my head was that she was hurt; I knew she was very weak from her fasting.  My throat closed up at the sight of two Secret Service men pointing guns at her as another struggled to hold back a German Shepard.  My video at that point was violently shaking because I couldn’t seem to keep my hands still.  A man behind me kept screaming “Get that Nazi dog off her!"  I wanted to shout along with the crowd, but no words could come out.  I was stunned.  

Luckily, Diane was fine and had flattened herself out voluntarily.  They slapped some handcuffs on her and walked her off the lawn.  After that, a handful of the protesters, many of which were some of the long-term fasters, stayed up against the fence as the police insistently cleared the street.  They were much more brutal than I had expected, shoving and yelling at people.  They roped off the sidewalk, and I stayed on the street to gather some things with the other CODEPINK people as the rest of the crowd had cleared to the other side.  I was talking with another intern when I heard people screaming.  I looked on the sidewalk to see that the police had tackled a woman to the ground very violently.  I was pissed to see those stupid young men handling a small, older woman that way.  Then I found out it was Medea Benjamin.  It was my boss.

I pushed forward with the rest of my co-workers screaming at them for being so brutal but was soon pushed back with the threat of arrest.  A fellow intern and I were backed up with the rest of the crowd.  I had one foot on the street, so an officer got right up in my face and told me to listen and get off the street.  I said that there was a whole crowd behind me, so it was difficult to back up much further, so he threw a fit and told me to shut up or he would arrest me.  I rolled my eyes as he walked away.

For a while things calmed down as we watched and shouted in solidarity with our friends across the street.  A man beside me pointed and told me Elliott Adams, the man I interviewed a few weeks ago, was trying to chain himself to the fence.  I don’t know if that was true, but I tried to see if I could find him anyways.  Then, before I could think, I heard screaming again.  I looked up to see two police dragging an older man away from the White House fence and flatten him on the street.  The man was wearing a Veterans for Peace cap.  He looked so frail.  It was Elliott.

At that point, I was just about blind with rage.  How dare they handle such an incredible man that way.  The crowd kept shouting, “He’s a Veteran!  Don’t treat him that way!  He hasn’t eaten in a month!"  I was screaming at the top of my lungs, angry that I was helpless.  The police handcuffed him and finally set him up to sit on the edge of the sidewalk.  They later released him to the crowd for being so cooperative.

For the next hour, not much happened, just a stand-off.  The police then arrested those at the fence one by one.  There was around twenty of them.  By standers walked by the closed street with confused looks on their faces.  Afterwards, they released Medea to us.  Her arm was injured, and she was pretty scraped up.  We were all worn from the long day and left to get back to the office to wait to hear back from those who went to jail.

I still feel angry with the brutality I saw yesterday.  Honestly, I’m still trying to process everything.  It is absolutely amazing how the events that occurred were pretty much a walk in the park for those involved.  If the bravery and persistence of these people does not say much about the goodness that is still present in so many individuals, I don’t know what does.  I found my heroes yesterday.  My heroes are so strong in their beliefs and values that they would lay their lives on the line.  My heroes know what is good.  My heroes stand for freedom and justice.  Those are my heroes.  Can you say the same about yours?

Em

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Happy Saturday, kids!

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Change of Pace

I write this post with a heavy heart. Today, we held a vigil outside the White House for those in Guantanamo. We threw on our orange jumpsuits and placed black bags over our heads just as those in Gitmo are adorned. Each of us got a placard with the name of a prisoner (both those dead and those alive). We stood in a line in front of the White House with signs while various people spoke of the atrocities at Gitmo. I stood there sweating my ass off with a horrible headache from the heat, but persistent in my first demonstration. In one moment, this all became real. It was no longer “fun,” but imperative, and I realized why I was here. Our speaker spoke of a prisoner named Adnan Latif, who died in Guantanamo at the age of 36 after being cleared for release multiple times. As he read this, a man in the distance was shouting to Allah in Arabic; when our speaker spoke of Adnan’s death, a man behind me shouted, “Good! Let him die!” It pissed me off until I looked down to realize this dead man everyone was speaking of held the name on my placard. Uncontrollable tears then just ran down my face, and my heart sunk to my stomach. I pulled my bag down further and gave thanks for the sweat that was already formed on my face so I wouldn’t appear weak.

This behavior and upset with humanity continued over the next two hours. I stayed behind at the White House to help with a group petitioning to get Lynne Stewart (please please look her up) out of prison since she is dying of stage 4 cancer and should have a full compassionate pardon to go home with her family to die in peace. In that short time, while standing and holding a sign, three upsetting things happened.

First, a small group of soldiers and their friends were walking in front of me. They stopped and turned around, making sexual comments and pointing and laughing at me as I just stood there, staring blankly into their eyes. I was disgusted. Second, a middle-aged man asked me what my sign was for. Happy to see an interested person, I began to explain Lynne’s story to him. He nodded and asked a few questions. Soon his questions led me to understand that it wasn’t Lynne he was interested in. He asked about my tan, how old I was, if I had a boyfriend (and told me i should have lots of sugar-daddies). I had to walk away and shake my head at that point. And lastly, an old man walked by me, stopped and looked up to read my sign, then shook his head and walked away laughing. My sign said “Free Lynne Stewart, Civil Attorney.” How is that funny?

I should not be bothered by these close-minded bigots, but it was interesting to notice. People can be cruel. But that is not the issue to get hung up on. Guantanamo needs to be closed. Lynne needs to be freed. Any person reading this, you must understand there are people spending up to twelve hours a day fighting to educate the public to make a change on this issue, dealing with people like the ones I encountered today. Politicians move with votes. That is why spreading the word is so important. It is time to start caring. If you call yourself an American citizen, you should be concerned with the drastic effects our government’s decisions are having on human lives. If you have a heart, use it to love.

Please.

Em

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Cracker Barrel, Music, and Bus Rides

Holy shit.

Pardon the indecency, but I have had a hell of a week.

I left DC last Tuesday morning and headed back on down to Tennessee for Bonnaroo! Another long-ass car ride and Cracker Barrel stop later (don't judge me) and ma and I made it to Murfreesboro to chill out at our friends' house for the night!  Thanks Jeff and Laura!  Got my rations for the weekend and hung out there until about 2 AM the next night, when I got picked up by my friends and made my way to Roo!

I wish I could give you guys an accurate and detailed description of the weekend, but I can't.  Here's my summary: it was hot, it was fun, and I was sad to leave.  Saw some amazing acts and had some amazing times.  My feet are blistered, my heart light, and my hair matted.  Lovely days, lovely nights, lovely times.

I would post a video from one of the concerts at this point, but I really should first go through all of them to find one where you can't hear me "singing" along in the background (in reality, it sounds something like a dying cat or a drunk baby..whatever that would sound like).  

Anyways, I returned to DC a couple of days ago.  Sitting on a plane in front of crying children, getting on the wrong bus that took me an hour ride to the sketchy metro station at 9 PM, and riding the metro for another hour...no, was not pleasant.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the city, but it is super depressing and hard to adjust to when you've been living simply in a field with drugged-up, happy people listening to music and having no worries.  Nonetheless, I was happy to be back at my place and back to political uprising.  

First day back was indeed eventful to say the least.  I met the other interns that joined the team this week, and we headed off to Congress to stop by a few Senators' offices and talk about the Gitmo Hunger Strikers and the 1400 Americans fasting in solidarity. BY THE WAY Y'ALL: Check out the damn awesome interview I did with Elliott Adams on Huffington Post: BLAM.  Congress really should get their shit together.  We spoke with receptionists at Senator Reid and Senator Levin's offices (bleck), but did get to speak with Head of Communications at Senator Feinstein's office..probably cause our office likes to harass her regularly.  I decided to also drop by good ole Mark Pryor's office to see if I could speak to anybody since they are horrible at responding to emails and phone calls and whatdoyaknow? I couldn't get anybody to speak with. Cool, dude.  What up 2014?

After that, we came back to the office to find an International Delegation arranged by the State Department.  Basically, around twenty professors, political activists, reporters, and government officials from all over the world sat and listened to Alli, Dooler, and Noor talk about the organization.  Some were pleasant and interested, whereas others chose to sit back and call us liars and terrorists.  Our friend Shlomo from Israel was particularly outspoken, then chose to play on his phone the rest of the meeting, except to take a photo of another intern wearing a "Peace with Iran" t-shirt.  I mean, it was expected, but whatever.  Oh well, what can you do?

By the end of the long day, I was ready to go home, but had to go grocery shopping.  And found my new arm workout in carrying two baskets around the store.  I got too much and had to take all my bags back on the metro, which was a miserable experience.

Anywho. That's my story for now.  Sometime this weekend, I'll post something a little different than usual, so get excited you sexy beasts you.

Don't sweat the small shit,

Em

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Dirty Wars and Hand Gestures

I hope everybody had one kick-ass weekend.  I know I did!

I’ve had a great time in the office this week, ending on Friday with working a showing of Jeremy Scahill’s film, “Dirty Wars.”  (Trailer) I got to pass out anti-drone stickers and talk to people about our upcoming campaigns.  I would highly suggest that you check out the film.  Your mind will be blown.  Jeremy travelled in Afghanistan and Yemen, learning about the corruption behind our country’s “targeted killings.”  It’s pretty tough stuff, but if you call yourself an American citizen, I suggest you watch it.

On saturday, I went to my first Nationals game; it was pretty fun, but they didn’t play very well.  Squeezing onto the metro afterwards was a nightmare, but I went out to eat at a great Italian restaurant and had literally the greatest sangria of my life.  Needless to say, day well spent. (but really…I have to watch my checkbook in this city..)

Today, I flipped off the president.

I went with mama to have brunch with some family friends (whose lives I would give my right arm for) and then did all that cool touristy stuff and looked at big buildings with statues of dudes’ faces in them.  So exciting!  We saw the Jefferson Memorial, the Korean Veterans’ Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, MLK Memorial, Lincoln Memorial…a damn memorial-filled day.  My favorite part of the day was standing by the pool of reflection where Amy Poehler and Chris Pratt stood in Parks and Rec’s episode “Ms Knope Goes to Washington.”  Apologies, but some us see the real importance of our nation’s capital. 

After that, we made our way to the White House.  Saw some super cute buddhist monks and met one radical old lady who posts up outside the White House in a pod, holding anti-Zionist and anti-nuclear posters.  She made me take some flyers.  I also probably disturbed some small children when I went up to the gates of the White House and flipped the bird.  May have been inappropriate, but then again so is detaining eighty-six men cleared for release.  But I’m not getting into that tangent.  I ended the day pleased with myself and mexican food in my belly.  Now, I just need to ice my feet for the next few days…

Tomorrow, I’m headed to the office for the day; then Tuesday, back down to Tennessee for BONNAROOOOOOO!!  I’ll let you sassy cats know how that goes when I return.  Until then, my friends, stay wild and let your hair down this week.

Keep it real,

Em

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"If you saw incredible things, awful things, things that belonged in the public domain and not in some server stored in a dark room in Washington, what would you do?"

freBradley Manning

#IamBradleyManning

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Thunderstorms, 16 Hours, and PINK

Good news, party people:  I made it to DC!

My weekend at Wakarusa was wild, but fun.  I got to see some great bands and live amongst raging hippies...I could not count the number of dreadlocks.  I could have done without sleeping in the car for four days due to the violent thunderstorms that hit Mulberry Mountain, collapsing our tent and soaking all my darn clothes.  But the last two days were sunny and fabulous, so I can't complain too much.

I left Wakarusa and got home at about midnight Sunday/Monday morning, took my first shower in several days, and slept harder in seven hours than I ever have before in my entire life.  I woke up at ten yesterday, packed my bags, and headed off to DC with my mama.  She drove most of the way, so I got to sleep a lot; still, we didn't get in until about six AM EST.  Needless to say, we were two damn tired ladies.  However, I got some good sleep in until about eleven, packed laptop, and headed to my first day (afternoon) at CODEPINK!

And boy, is it pink.

Peace signs covering the office left me in total heaven.  I immediately felt right at home in such a chill atmosphere where I could do my damn thing.  Today, I got to meet the staff at CODEPINK DC: Medea, Alli, Rooj, Dooler, Noor, Tighe, and (as of now) the other intern, Natalie!  There's nothing like a stone-cold pack of chicks (and dude) down to raise some hell and get weird.  Today, I got right to work with the big boss, Medea, on some transcribing projects...mostly spending a chunk of time figuring out how to record phone conversations.  Damn technology.  My absolute favorite was spending about an hour interviewing Elliott Adams, a former president of Veterans for Peace who has been fasting for three weeks in solidarity with the Guantanamo hunger strikers.  I mean, I thought I had passion, but hearing this man talk about how much he cared for the action was moving.  Elliott spoke with me about his absolute disgust with the treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo and how the public needs to open conversation on this issue to push government officials to shut the place down as a politically strategic move.  It was incredibly inspiring to hear someone so educated care so much about this issue to want to make a difference amongst the American public.  Check back to read my interview with this super cool dude!

Needless to say, I had a great first day and cannot wait to see what else is in store.  More crazy mess to come.

Give someone a hug this week friends,

Em

Also! Learn more about Elliott and support him in his fast:

Elliott Adams is past national President of Veterans for Peace and was a paratrooper in the infantry serving in Viet Nam, Japan, Korea, and Alaska. He has served his local community in a variety of capacities such as: President of the School Board, Mayor, Committee Chair of BSA Explorer Post 17, President of Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, and Master of the Masonic Lodge. He left politics to become an activist which included organizing work for United For Peace and Justice, War Resisters League, School Of Americas Watch, Peace Has No Borders, Veterans For Peace and many other organizations, at events across the country. He has also done nonviolence and social movement trainings for Fellowship Of Reconciliation, School Of Americas Watch, Peacemakers of Schoharie, Student Environmental Action Coalition, War Resistors League, Veterans for Peace and, other groups. He is currently Nonviolent Training Coordinator of Veterans for Peace.

-http://clearingthefogradio.org/bruce-gagnon-and-elliott-adams-on-north-korea-nuclear-weapons-and-us-expansion-into-asia/

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I managed to survive Wakarusa 2013 with just some soaked clothing and mud stains up my legs. Crazy good time; now off to DC!

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dayWOOOOOO I'm 20 guyzzz

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Today, May 23, Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder, interrupted President Obama as he addressed Guantanamo, questioning his use of drones and failure to close the prison.  This is how the big boss does it. 

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Ready for this?

So I started this damn thing to chronicle my experiences in our nation's capital over the summer and keep friends and family updated on the trouble I'm getting into.  I made the decision to try to land an internship this summer after tirelessly debating as to whether or not I should choose to study abroad in Istanbul for a month, missing the beloved music festivals that are Wakarusa and Bonnaroo.  Travel across the world or camp and listen to music?  Mature, I know.  The truth is, I am so glad I chose to stay in the states.  The program I looked into just was not right for me.  Now, I can get to know the capital, enjoy my fest, and have the time to find the right program for next summer, perhaps studying Arabic in Rabat, Morocco.

Anyways, back to the point.  Internship.  Throughout my application process, I really struggled the idea of working in an office performing completely meaningless tasks...I mean, that's what interns do, right? I've been the office bitch before, and trust me, itchy clothing and copy machines do not suit me.  Yet, lucky for those for those of us seeking to break into the non-profit job sector, it was easy to find organizations that stray from the traditional office setting.  One of such groups I stumbled upon was CODEPINK.

I initially referred to CODEPINK as the "radical organization" of the bunch to which I applied.  They have strong stances on specific issues (one of the current campaigns is focused on Guantanamo), and their demonstrations are meant to get attention.  It scared me a little at first, but I finally decided that I needed to be at a place where I could feel to my very core that I was doing something to bring a little justice in this world.  

So I'm going for it.

People around me have been extremely supportive; they know I am doing what suits me perfectly.  However, that did not stop the neo-conservatives in my family from initially sticking their noses up at me.  I will admit it hurt a little bit, but I have learned throughout the past several years to get used to this behavior.  I went to a Catholic high school and dealt with being the "liberal" one in classes.  I've been called a baby killer and a doctor hater numerous times.  I've been called an idiot.  And this even occasionally happened once I moved on to college (although people are much more understanding); people still sometimes point me out as "that liberal."  I didn't think I was even that politically involved.  The thing is, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so it doesn't bother me too much.  It is just a matter of miscommunication...when it comes down to it I joined this group on the basis of the shared opinion that war is bad.  Torture is bad.  Killing is bad.  Is that so hard to accept?

I leave for DC in a little over a week.  Until then, I have lots of packing to do, my twentieth birthday to celebrate, and a crazy good time waiting for me at Wakarusa.  My summer so far has been disgustingly boring, but boy, will it pick up here in a few days.  While I get ready for this wild ride, I cannot help but to think of how happy I am.  I am surrounded by some kick-ass people who love me exactly for the person I've become.  I've finally learned to to throw my fears out the window.  I may fall flat...but damn, it feels good.  

So I'll keep everyone posted on my wins and fails.  But for now I present you, stranger, with a challenge:  stand up and give a voice to something you care about.  You never know who might hear it.

Rock on and never fear my friends,

Em