Good News!

by Polly Mann and Lisa Ann Pierce, WAMM

WAMM Participates in a "Strong and Vibrant U.S. Peace Movement"
At least four WAMM members joined approximately 20,000 other peace protesters in the first national demonstration opposing the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Two buses chartered by the Anti-War Committee carried approximately 75 demonstrators to the protest, leaving Minneapolis on Friday morning, September 28 and returning Sunday evening, September 29. "There is a strong and vibrant U.S. peace movement. The U.S. corporate media misleads the public when it again and again denies its existence," said WAMM member Polly Mann. "For example, the British Guardian Weekly reported on September 20 that shortly after the World Trade Center terrorist attack in New York City there were, among the calls for retribution, calls for nonviolent responses, such as an e-mail-organized candlelit vigil, a group singing 'Give Peace a Chance,' and another group of young New Yorkers wandering about with notices strapped to their bodies demanding 'Global Peace.'"

Health Center Withdraws from Participation in State Executions
McAllister Regional Health Center has refused to supply the Oklahoma Corrections Department with the chemicals used in executions. This action follows a request from Human Rights Watch stating that "revelations that tainted evidence may have been used in capital trials in Oklahoma make your institution's participation in the administration of capital punishment particularly disturbing." (Baptist Peace Fellowship Newsletter, Fall 2001)

WAMM Activists Mobilizing in Cities Across the Nation
WAMM activists from Duluth, Minnesota, to Arcata, California, are mobilizing to oppose the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Duluth activists have organized rallies and weekly vigils for peace, and have compiled a brochure that calls for an end to terrorism through peace. In Arcata, a new feminist organization is forming to oppose militarism. Utilizing the name "Women Against Military Madness," they are attracting hundreds to meetings and have begun showing a documentary that details injustices in U.S. foreign policy. Send the WAMM office news of your activism: 310 East 38th Street, Suite 225, Minneapolis, MN 55409.