Granny Peace Brigade Blog

We arrived at Times Square to find the NYPD all lined up as our welcoming committee, so it appears the word was out that the Granny Peace Brigade was back at the Times Square Recruitment Center. For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to check this out yet, there is something supremely surreal about seeing people collapsed into beach chairs in the hurly burly of Times Square, especially with those horrific images of marauding and murder beaming out from the Recruitment Center. Welcome to New York, folks!

This is not fertile ground for a phone-a-thon, especially one that targets the JROTC program in NYC schools — too many tourists and the vibe is all wrong.  However, in spite these factors, there are extraordinary opportunities to be had in this location. And all was not lost yesterday.  While the number of phone calls were few, some people did stop to engage and one handsome young man came back to get extra literature to take back to his office. We met some stateside visitor from as far away as California and they all were disturbed about the presence of JROTC in their local schools.

As for what is next — well, dear friends, it is time to start your creative engines. Mayor Mike has reconfigured our stage,

so if we want a place on it, we gotta get cracking.

The Friday Crew

- Fran Sears with Barbara H, Barbara W, Bev, Caroline, Edith, Eva-Lee, Jenny, Joan P, Lillian P
Photos: Caroline Chinlund

May 14 in Borough Hall Park, Brooklyn and May 21 at City Hall Park, Manhattan

It was noon and people in the street were taking our flyers and many were seeking-out their NYC City Council member’s name (if uncertain) and phone number.  Many made calls while others, requested the appropriate phone number saying they would make the call later.

Brooklyn near Borough Hall – May 14, 2009

The messages to City Council members varied but the essence of all was, “Get JROTC out of our high schools” or “I don’t want my city tax dollars used for military training and recruiting in our city high schools.” This seemed to us Grannies and Code Pinkers a no-brainer.  People who stopped at our table were mostly supportive of our efforts. Our small crowds at the table got the attention of some people in the military.  We discussed, with them, the purpose of our action.  Our positions differed but there was discussion.  In Brooklyn a 22 year military retiree was serious in hoping to convince us that the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were really necessary interventions.  His son was on his way to Iraq and he was a proud father.  Another 22 year veteran, at City Hall Park, assured us that high school age is much too young to be able to make the decision of going into the military.

City Hall Park – May 21, 2009

State Senator Bill Perkins stopped by and acknowledged his support of what we were doing.  In addition, he agreed with our ideas regarding the closing of the Time Square Recruiting Center and said, “It’s beating guns into plowshares” and said that he’s with us all the way.
Weather permitted, spring has sprung, and you can hear the rhythm of people fed up with a city budget that’s cutting education funds while continuing to support military service as a job option for our young people. We are keeping at phone-a-thoning.
What can you do?  Call your City Council member.  Tell them that you don’t want tax dollars going for military training in high schools.  You don’t know the name or number of your City Council member?  Find out here.  Please make the call with your message!

- Caroline Chinlund with Eva-Lee, Phyllis, Barbara H, Edith, Joan P, & Barbara W
for the Granny Peace Brigade
- Photos: Eva-Lee baird

As the NY City Council reviews the 2010 Education Budget, our counter-recruitment group is out in parks and plazas speaking to passersby about the unconscionable cost of the JROTC program to NYC taxpayers. During the Phone-A-Thon, a quick line,

‘We’re spending $2.4 million on a military based program, and the Mayor’s budget office will be cutting money for basic needs and services to public schools,” causes a person to stop.  It’s no surprise, that people want more information.

They agree that this money should be spent on public educational programs that they know may well be eliminated.  How can we cut materials, mentoring, and music and support JROTC?  Many cell phone calls to council members are made and literature taken, as people are motivated to address the issue and take action.

As taxpayers, we all contribute to this program that teaches a military biased curriculum and is often instructed by non-NYC certified teachers.  In a Department of the Army memorandum, under the subject of Army recruiting and partnership, it is noted that JROTC will facilitate recruiter access to cadets in JROTC programs and the entire student body. It advises JROTC instructors to work closely with high school guidance counselors to sell the Army story.

Our grassroots Phone-A-Thon action is presently focused on urging NY City Council members to vote against funding the JROTC program and to eliminate this line item from the FY 2010 Educational Budget.  The next step is to end the program in NYC high schools.

We must work to end this program just as we work to bring truth in recruiting to students, parents and the general public.

Educate for Peace, not for War.

- Barbara Harris
Photos: Eva-Lee Baird
for the Granny Peace Brigade

P.S.
When you have a moment, please call your City Council Representative. Don’t know who that is? Find out here.

CITY HALL PARK: 8 Grannies tabling and flyering, a nice sunny day.

Our signs say,
CALL YOUR CITY COUNCILPERSON !
NO TAX LEVY $ FOR MILITARY TRAINING
NO TO $2.4 MILLION TAX DOLLARS FOR JROTC IN NYC HIGH SCHOOLS

People are into conversation! We listen and learn. Just moved to town? Register to vote..here’s a form.

A very pregnant woman who just moved to Brooklyn tells Phyllis, “I’ll make a call. I don’t want my baby getting trained for the military in high school..”

Two young women with Eva-Lee: “Hey, this predatory recruitment needs to be stopped.”

Jenny recruits two other voters into making calls here and now. They want to know who represents them and she helps them look up their reps.

A BBC reporter down from Boston interviews Barbara H. about counter-recruitment actions.

A veteran from DeKalb Co., GA says they’re creating a U.S. Marines High School there. He’s not for it!! Hey, most U.S. voters aren’t for it. The majority are against the U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Edith’s guy says reduce conflict by having the US quit going all over the world imposing our will. Another guy was in Europe at 16 in ‘44. He thought the J-ROTC is a good thing and claimed that his mother had signed to let him join. However, according to information from a reliable source, they only let kids who were 17 and 4 or 6 months go into the Army and then with their parent’s approval.

People are zooming in – conversation gets intense. Callers are getting through to City Council offices. Staffers are listening. We like to see first-time callers getting the attention voters deserve. A guy in Rosie Mendez’ office asked for info on our concerns. We should have name-dropped Betty Brassell!

Lillian P. and Australian visitors to NYC get acquainted. They’re going to read her book and she has an invitation to visit them down under! On the other side of the equator, a guy Lillian encounters smacks out with some backlash: “God Help America from people like you!”

We guess the school teacher from Sheepshead Bay summed up our position: “Hey, I’m glad to see you people on the street..since the inauguration I’ve been wondering where the peace movement went!”

Yes, we’re here. It’s about our grandchildren’s future. They need a good education, from pre-school right on up. Being taught to shoot and drive a helicopter doesn’t cut it. If we’re not manufacturing anything (except weapons) in the USA, all of our children need some super skills. Let’s put our $2 million tax levy dollars into college advisement in the high schools. That makes sense.

We like today’s connections and intensity. We feel most urgency from our African American and Latino brothers and sisters. One woman comments, “I see recruiter people standing outside the high school every day. It breaks my heart.” It’s a high five phone-a-thon.

- Caroline Chinlund with Jenny, Joan P, Eva-Lee, Phyllis, Edith, Barbara H., Lillian P.
Photos: Eva-Lee Baird