[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2009-06-28

[Randall Cotton]

Minutes of 06/28/2009 AWARE meeting are below, but first, AWARE Volunteer
Opportunities and the Upcoming Events Calendar:

*************** NOTE - IMPORTANT *******************
AWARE's monthly "Main Event" demonstration will be postponed for July
by one week due to conflict with July 4th holiday and parade and will thus
take place July 11th at the usual time and place (see Upcoming Events
Calendar below for details.
*****************************************************

AWARE Volunteer Opportunities
----------------------------------
(various ways to volunteer in AWARE's work)

AWARE is considering moving our monthly demonstration venue from Main &
Neil in Champaign to a higher-traffic site. It would be helpful for us to
discover which intersections in Champaign/Urbana have the most traffic to
help us in that decision. A volunteer is needed to contact the appropriate
city department/official in both Champaign and Urbana to obtain a list of
and available statistics on, say, the 10 busiest intersections in each
city. It's probably a fair assumption that this is tracked by both cities
and that it's public information. For assistance, contact Randall Cotton,
recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470.

AWARE is helping search for locations to set up
a portable electronic LED display that reports (in a loop) various
statistics on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (casualties, financial
cost, etc.). Here's a video of the sign going through a typical loop:
http://dart.ncsa.uiuc.edu/stuffed/slevy/costofwar-sign.mp4 Dimensions of
the sign are: 50.3" L x 6.3" H x 1.7" W and it weighs 12 pounds. Full
specifications are at: http://www.bigbrite.com/product.aspx?id=78 . The
display could be set up anywhere indoors - home, business, event - where
it will be seen by many, for as long or as little as you like. If you can
volunteer to display the sign somewhere or have any ideas where it could
be set up, contact Barbara Kessel, barkes at gmail.com, 365-9473 or Randall
Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470. As of March 2009, the
sign is installed in the lobby of the Urbana/Champaign Independent Media
Center, right next to the Post Office there in the building (202 S.
Broadway, Urbana).

Help is needed with content creation and maintenance for AWARE's website,
anti-war.net. Technical experience (UNIX/HTML/CSS) required for
maintenance work (but not content creation) Contact: Stuart Levy,
slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu, 351-9264/244-1543 or Randall Cotton,
recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470.

Meeting minutes: Someone is needed to share or take over meeting minutes
duty (preparing these notes each week). Help will be provided (as much as
necessary). Contact: Randall Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net,
351-8644/722-8470

AWARE publicity: Someone is needed to maintain AWARE publicity documents
(and arrange for copies, as needed). This includes our business card,
intro sheet for new meeting attendees and our general information sheet
for tabling events). All reproduction costs reimbursed, Help provided as
needed. Contact: recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470

Upcoming Events Calendar
----------------------------
Jun 30 (TODAY, Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S Vine St
Taping of "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV to be broadcast later the same day
(see below)

Jun 30 (TODAY, Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Jul 4 (Saturday) 8AM-noon, AWARE's weekly presence at Farmer's Market
(Urbana Market at the Square), providing literature, expression (bumper
stickers, buttons, etc) and conversation to further AWARE's mission.

Jul 7 (Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S Vine St
Taping of "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV to be broadcast later the same day
(see below)

Jul 7 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Jul 11 (Saturday) 8AM-noon, AWARE's weekly presence at Farmer's Market
(Urbana Market at the Square), providing literature, expression (bumper
stickers, buttons, etc) and conversation to further AWARE's mission.

Jul 11 (Saturday) 2-4PM Main St & Neil St, Champaign
The Main Event - AWARE's monthly street demonstration event. Largely
focuses on opposing U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, but is open
for anyone to join us either using one of our signs or one of their own.
We try to have a topical flyer to distribute to motorists and passers-by
each month.

*****
Minutes of 06/28/09 AWARE meeting:

About 8 in attendance

News of the week was reviewed jointly

-----------------
Finance  Report:
estimated balance: $705.35
AWARE funds are substantially lower than in the past ($2000 has been
typical for years, we're now in the few hundreds).

Contribution jar NOT passed around (slipped everyone's mind)

Working group reports:
******************
Main Event:
========
(AWARE's monthly street protest held at the intersection of Main & Neil
2-4PM on the first Saturday of each month).

**REMINDER** Main Event postponed by consensus without objection to July
11th due to conflict with the holiday & parade.

Suggested flyer topic - a quick outline of Iranian history esp. regarding
US involvement from, say, 1952 onward. David has volunteered to work on
this.

No new information yet on Champaign/Urbana's busiest intersections.
Volunteer opportunity posted for this.

Weekly Action
==========
**NEW** Suggestion: First AWARE joint Weekly Action could consist of
calls/letters to Durbin's office regarding the impending  markup of a
budget appropriations bill that includes over $2 billion in military aid
to Israel. Consensus without objection. Carol will work on this, Linda may
help.

AWARE Presents:
=============
(Organization of AWARE-sponsored events in the community)

An AWARE Presents meeting may not be imminent, but is still in the offing.

Mention made recently that AWARE could organize an event to educate about
the elections in Iran

Ideas under consideration for the future:

- Invitation to Stephen Kinzer to appear again.

- Invitation to William Blum

- Jeremy Scahill event: previously contacted, currently in a "wait and
see" pattern.

Anti-Racism:
=========
(AWARE's efforts to keep apprised of and provide support for
anti-racism/anti-discrimination efforts, including efforts of CUCPJ -
Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice)

**UPDATED** CUCPJ members continue studying the Toto Kaiyewu investigation
report from the Illinois State Police. Press conference held last week
keeping this issue in the public eye.

Efforts ongoing regarding opposition to tasers - refinements continue to
documentation stating case against acquisition of tasers by Champaign
police.

AWARE on the Air
==============
(AWARE's weekly television show on public access cable channel 6 - UPTV,
Urbana Public Television)

Discussion on who can make it this week. Some volunteered, more always
welcome.

Plans forming to incorporate a weekly discussion of recent news in much
the same form as occurs at each AWARE meeting.

Some "Aware on the Air" recordings are now available on-line. See the
AWARE home page at anti-war.net.

Taping typically occurs each Tuesday at 1PM and is broadcast later the
same day at 10PM. AWARE members (and friends) invited to participate - the
more the merrier (see details above in upcoming events calendar). Program
quality is always better with more participants.

There is always room for more participation in AWARE on the Air - prepared
statements OK. Arriving late/leaving early is OK.

Farmer's Market
===========
(AWARE's weekly seasonal presence at the Urbana "Market at the Square" AKA
"Farmer's Market")

**NEW** Farmer's Market presence will be maintained for July 4th as it
doesn't really conflict with the Parade.

**NEW** signup sheet passed around.

A recent visitor to the table mentioned a relative who currently works
for an NGO in Afghanistan and who also has done so in Pakistan and Iran.
We may be able to arrange a talk with him. Stuart and Randall have contact
info and will follow up.

**UPDATED** T-shirt purchase proposal amended: to include two other
designs.
http://syracuseculturalworkers.com/t-shirt-love-thy-neighbor-unisex
and
http://syracuseculturalworkers.com/t-shirt-peace-mideast
along with the original suggestion:
http://syracuseculturalworkers.com/sites/default/files/images/5261no-justice.jpg
Proposal is still to spend $100 for various sizes of these to be sold at
Farmer's Market for slightly more than cost:
This proposal to be ratified at a future AWARE meeting as per standing
rule.

Blackwater
========
(Activism regarding notorious domestic policing and international
mercenary contractor Blackwater, including coordination with
Illinois-based activist group Clearwater: see:
http://www.noprivatearmies.org )

**NEW** Local folks attended the June 24th court date arising from civil
disobedience by Catholic Workers and others at the Stockton
anti-Blackwater event earlier this year. Some pled guilty, some wanted
bench trial, some a jury trial. Court observed to be notably careful and
scrupulous.

Student Groups
===========
(AWARE's efforts to keep apprised of and provide support for local
chapters of student-affiliated progressive and anti-war groups such as
Campus Anti-Network, International Socialist Organization, and Iraq
Veterans Against the War).

(nothing new this week)

Monthly Message
============
(Efforts to propagate the content of the Main Event monthly flyer through
various media channels)

**NEW** Suggestion: a Monthly Message regarding the issue being addressed
by the proposed Weekly Action (military aid to Israel) could be propagated
to media outlets.

AWARE Films:
===========
(Organization of film and video showings in the community)

Possible future showings:

1. "On White Privilege" (see
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=137 )

2. Another showing of Naomi Wolf's "The End of America".

3. "Pray the Devil back to Hell  - the gripping account of a group of
brave and visionary women who demanded peace for Liberia, a nation torn to
shreds by a decades old civil war. Combining contemporary interviews,
archival images, and scenes of present-day Liberia the film recounts the
experiences and memories of the women who stood up to their country's
tyrannical leader and brutal warlords, in order to bring peace to their
tormented country" [from imdb.com]. **NEW INFO** Rights to show this could
be as much as $300, but we could charge admission and provide copies for
checkout to Libraries.

Talk has arisen regarding a possible film festival focused on
"Peacemakers".

Old Business
**********
(new developments regarding ongoing issues)

Anti-Recruitment - Meeting still being pursued with
administration at Centennial High School, where it was reported that
apparently, military recruiters were given free access to students in the
hallways recently. AWARE has met with Centennial in the past regarding
this issue, but there's been a change of principal since then. Folks
interested in pursuing this: Mort, Linda, Dave H, Durl. **NEW INFO** After
repeated attempts to contact and set up a meeting, finally there is
agreement for a meeting in July, which will be finalized when Mort returns
from France.

**UPDATED** July 4th parade - Entry form has been submitted and approved.
AWARE has position 47 in the parade (with set up spot on the west side of
Gregory street between Illinois and Oregon). However, an individual or
group to lead the work has yet to come forward. Chris invites folks to
join the Marriage Equality float (in position 51, also setting up on the
west side of Gregory between Illinois and Oregon). Proposed resolution put
forth: In case an AWARE parade presence does not materialize, individual
AWARE members and friends are encouraged to join the Marriage Equality
float or another float of their preference (though AWARE as a group is not
formally joining or endorsing the Marriage Equality float). Proposed
resolution passes by consensus without objection.

Pursuit of meeting with Senator Durbin regarding his letter in support of
Israel during Gaza attack: Follow up attempts are planned to contact
Durbin after initial non-response. 3/1/09 update: Written response
received from Durbin, but making no reference to the meeting request.

Sweet Corn Festival application has been received. Some folks wonder
whether early submission will help us get a choice booth.

Concern regarding dwindling AWARE attendance. Idea was proposed to survey
past AWARE participants to discover why they have lost interest. Anonymity
deemed important. A survey could be constructed online to assure
convenience and anonymity using a service such as surveymonkey.com.
Randall has volunteered to construct list of folks to survey. Wayne has
volunteered to draft questions. Initially, however, questions may be
solicited via AWARE's mailing lists. Bob Illyes survey from 2004 may
inform question construction.

**UPDATED** Participation in the US Campaign to End the Occupation's
campaign to oppose military aid to Israel. See:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2143 . Carol proposes to
contact Durbin's office on behalf of AWARE to oppose military aid to
Israel and this is approved by consensus without objection.

Recent idea proposed for publicity/awareness efforts: a scavenger/treasure
hunt, perhaps at Farmer's Market, focused on raising awareness of peace
issues.

New Ideas
*********
(never before discussed ideas brought up during this meeting)

(nothing this week)

Events of the past week
******************
(comments/reviews of recent events since the last AWARE meeting)

(nothing this week)

Other Upcoming Events
******************
(events of note which aren't listed in the upcoming events calendar above)

Plans may be forming for a July 4th "Tea Party" in town (in the
vein of the April 15 "tax day" Tea Party) - some AWARE members attended
the prior Tea Party to gawk and disseminate information. Neocons would
probably be present. Also Constitutionalists (who are opposed to the
current wars for their own reasons).

Jul 18-20, Chicago
Socialism 2009
Speakers include Jeremy Scahill, Phyllis Bennis, David Roediger (U of I
connection). Jeffrey St.Clair (editor, Counterpunch) attended last year
and visited here in town as a consequence.

Plans in formation for a "Midwest Liberty Festival", perhaps in the fall,
possibly at Du Quoin in southern Illinois. Possible speakers mentioned so
far: Naomi Wolf, Ron Paul with Rand Paul, Cindy Sheehan

Mennonites may offer a presentation this summer from a couple who live in
Tehran.