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How Do I Find My Niche in WAMM?
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Polly Mann, with the W AM M staff
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“How do I find my niche in Women Against Military Madness?” It was not a question that presented itself to those of us who founded WAMM.
In the beginning was only an idea—a belief that the U.S. government’s penchant for bigger and more powerful weapons (including nuclear ones) demanded a peace organization to oppose the arms race. We had no blueprint, no model. So much of what developed was through trial and error. We were clear on a few things: WAMM was to be a grassroots organization, a women’s organization to which men could belong, and there had to be full-time staff and an office. So many of our decisions were instinctive. If we had sought corporate advice, we would have proceeded in a much different direction.
The newsletter developed after a few months and then came the mailing list and membership fees to keep us in business. The social workers of WAMM believed that people would act against the military machine if they were sufficiently empowered. So empowerment workshops ensued along with the publication of an empowerment booklet, which was most successful. As various issues arose having to do with peace and justice, WAMM members would confer with each other and then devise a plan of action. An early maxim was “Never a meeting without an action.”
The first committee of WAMM was the steering committee and after it, various other committees having to do with the structure of WAMM were formed: newsletter, fundraising, finance, etc. Then came the issue committees. WAMM members, themselves, becoming aware and concerned about an issue or U.S. military involvement in a foreign country, developed an idea or a plan of action and set up a committee to implement it.
We’re Dreaming of a Place for You
There is a place within WAMM for members who want to become active. An easy way to learn about WAMM and how it operates is to volunteer in the office, answering the telephone, entering data on the computer, helping with mailings, etc. The conversation is always wonderful, very political, and humorous. I’ve never failed to learn at least one important fact while volunteering. Plus, of course, there is the camaraderie.
Over the years, WAMM staff members have sometimes been too busy responding to national and local crises to give sufficient time to files and records. It would be wonderful if some angel of a volunteer would come in and bring us up to snuff. A dream of mine has been to set up files on militarism and the various countries where the U.S. is involved so that we could provide information to those who want it. And the staff dream of having a volunteer scrapbooker who will help organize photos and clippings.
Politics by Community
Not interested in office work? Volunteers form the steering committee and the standing committees that give WAMM structure: finance, personnel, fundraising, new issues, and newsletter committees. Volunteers also lead WAMM’s issue committees, such as the depleted uranium, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia Pacific committees.
You may want to plug into an existing committee. But what if you are passionate about a particular issue and there is no committee working on it?
Any WAMM member with an interest in an issue related to WAMM’s mission statement and policies can initiate a committee. It isn’t necessary to know just how that committee will operate. One person can begin the process. Two or three can form a committee to study, educate, reach out, and act. Of course, a larger committee allows for the work to be shared by more hands. But whatever their size, WAMM committees research and study, then develop a plan of action—or maybe even a single action. The direction and focus of the group takes shape along the way—an organic process.
Want to form an issue committee, but you need some ideas for an issue? WAMM has a great need for many more issue committees. For example, there is no committee addressing the underlying cause of militarism itself: rampant capitalism, more commonly known as the economic system or corporate globalization. There conceivably could be one or more committees addressing the evils of the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.
WAMM also lacks committees concerned with the continent of Africa or any African country, despite ongoing conflicts and crises there. Certainly, the model for restorative justice that South Africa established in its “Truth and Reconciliation” hearings could be explored and studied as a model for the U.S. criminal justice system, which imprisons more people than any other nation in the world.
Over the years, WAMM has worked with Veterans for Peace, Friends For A Nonviolent World, and Pax Christi to oppose Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps in Twin Cities public schools. Former WAMM co-director Tammy McKenna was particularly successful in this. However, today there is little being done in this area, and it is a time of great need. There is talk of the draft being revived, and support for JROTC units in the St. Paul Schools is strong. Veterans for Peace has hired Gulf War veteran Chante Wolf, who works on the issue. But there is a need for an issue committee that can provide a core of committed volunteer activists. Every high school student should know that conscientious objection is allowable under U.S. law. Far too many do not.
There are many other issues that could be taken up by volunteer activists. For example, nuclear weapons, military pollution (the U.S. military is the number one polluter in the world), and civil liberties.
OK, so you have your idea now, and you are ready to start a new issue committee. Where do you begin? Start by contacting the WAMM staff and requesting an application packet. The staff will send you the information you need to start the ball rolling. Through the application process, your ideas will be reviewed by the new issues committee and the steering committee. These activists can help you find resources to get started. I encourage you to give it a try!
To Bring the World to Peace
Of course, the assumption of this article is that committees are the “way to go” in organizing. But here I am hampered by my own experience. It might be that we should try other ways. The difficulty in setting up a task force with a definite quantifiable goal is that so often we in the peace movement cannot quantify the success of our work. But the task in front of us is formidable: saving the planet, no less. So, we must try every strategy and means possible to bring the world to peace. |
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© 2004 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete March 2004 Index - click here
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