[Peace] AWARE Minutes

[Al Kagan]

AWARE Minutes
November 10, 2002

Facilitated by Karen Kohn

1. Discussion of election results.
Congratulations to Carl for getting 16% in Urbana, 10% in Champaign, 
and 9% in Champaign County!

2. News.
The Florence, Italy demonstration against the war had 500,000 to 
1,000,000 people but was hardly covered by the US media.  There was 
discussion of the UN Security Council resolution that describes a 
two-step process on the road to war.

3. Past Events.
The Prospect Street protests are going very well. There is a lot of 
support including much waving and honking, and some people are even 
stopping to join us.  Jeff talked with the Champaign Police who said 
that we could distribute our flyers according to local law.  The 
state law was used against us, and it can possibly be challenged in 
court.  So we did give out flyers again this week.  Channel 3 came 
without even a press release and we were on TV, so we must be making 
some headway.  In the past, they have found pro-war speakers to 
"balance" the coverage, but not this time.  We now have a list of 400 
people who have been at the demonstrations and we need to phone them 
to get them out.  Kim has followed up on the driver who threaten us 
by speeding up on the sidewalk.  He has now been charged with 
reckless driving.

The Post Cards for Peace fundraiser was a great success. We cleared 
$3271.90!  And there are still more post cards to sell. Sandra 
received thundering applause.

The last Farmers Market of year went well. The working group is 
checking on new places to set up, possibly Strawberry Fields.  We can 
leave our literature at the register at World Harvest. We can also 
display materials at the public libraries.  Carol will cover the 
Urbana Public Library and Al will cover the Champaign Public Library.

The IDF dinner and Afro-Colombian speaker was also a great success. 
Congratulations to Meredith.

4. Future Events.
Student Peace Action is holding a rally on the quad co-sponsored by 
AWARE at noon on Monday, November 11, 2002. The keynote speaker will 
be Rev. James L. Bevel.  There was some discussion about his 
affiliations, and we noted that we need to get accurate information 
before we decide to co-sponsor events in the future.  We noted that 
there is room for various opinions on the left.

The Teachers for Peace and Justice Teach-In also sponsored by AWARE 
will be 1-3 PM at the Illini Union also on Monday, November 11, 2002.

There will be a Quaker Peace Bazaar on Dec. 14th, 9 AM to 3 PM at 
Community United Church.

There will likely be a high school event on conscientious  objection.

-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu