[Peace-discuss] Observations on Anti-War Anti Racism

[Barbara kessel]

I also appreciate Marti's initiation of this discussion and Ricky and
many others taking part.
      I do want to note that the Brian Chesley sentencing May 9 and
the Patrick Thompson trial #3 coming up May 12 are excellent
opportunities for people of all races to show interest/solidarity
together, to discuss in the hallways of justice how the criminal
justice system works in our County, and to learn more as I always do
from time in the courtroom about the ways that racism as a system
works on a daily basis.
      I always see faces there from AWARE, from CUCPJ, from the
Ministerial Alliance, from the NAACP, and the numbers of people are
starting to increase. Even if you work every day, you might get in on
your lunch hour. (the noon breaks are at all different times).
      There has been a massive internal migration from poor Black
neighborhoods into jails and prisons in this country and the least we
might do, if we are not Black and poor, is to take an interest in how
this happens and why it happens.  I met a young Black man in the
county jail last week while staffing the jail Books to Prisoners
library. He was reading the Public I article on Brian Chesley (we take
in a pile of them every week) and he was so amazed, and then touched
that I knew about it and had been to the trial. He emphasized to me
how utterly common Brian's experience was and also how excited he was
that this had not gone unnoticed, unwitnessed by people this was not
happening to. Please come.
Barbara Kessel

On 5/3/08, Brussel Morton K. <mkbrussel at comcast.net> wrote:
> Thanks Ricky, for an excellent balanced update-history and commentary about
> AWARE's record relative to trying to join with the African American
> community in U-C on issues of peace/war and racial justice.  I would only
> add that I remember Imani B. (?) saying, at an AWARE meeting to which she
> was invited, just what you note in the paragraph below. We also tried to
> approach pastors of the African-American community, but were not
> enthusiastically received. This has probably dampened further efforts of
> AWARE to unify with that community. Of course, that should not deter us from
> continuing to support that community.
>
> Mort
>
>
>
> On May 2, 2008, at 1:09 PM, Ricky Baldwin wrote:
>
>
> I know of at least two working groups that have attempted to explicitly
> address the
>
> issue of AWARE's lack of ethnic diversity.  Currently there is an
> "anti-racism" working
>
> group that reports back, I believe, mostly on solidarity work with other
> groups like
>
> CUCPJ.  I know that a couple of times AWARE has cleared a big space on its
> agenda to
>
> focus on race and the anti-war movement: a long discussion with David R. and
> Sundiata
>
> C. from the Center for Democracy in a Multiracial Society, another with
> Imani.  Someone
>
> can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe I recall most of those
> dicussions ended
>
> with a general impression or specific 'advice' that there wasn't much a
> group like
>
> AWARE could do to change its ethnic makeup - and maybe even that it
> shouldn't try:
>
> maybe solidarity and participating in the work of groups led by people of
> color (I'm
>
> paraphrasing) is more important than trying to "recruit" people of color
> into our
>
> agenda.  Maybe that's right, maybe it's wrong, but that is my recollection
> of these
>
> discussions.
>
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