Frances Crowe: An Unexpected Holiday Gift! and Nancy Gwin: A Champion of Peace and Justice
Frances Crowe - An Unexpected Holiday Gift!
I am sitting in Anacostia Police Station in Washington D.C. The day before, on December 16, 2010, as an act of faith and in the spirit of peace and Christmas, 131 men and women, many of whom were U.S. veterans, were arrested in an act of civil resistance to the ongoing wars in the Middle East. Interestingly enough I don’t remember seeing a single individual dressed as a priest, rabbi or cleric of any type (with the exception of a Buddhist nun and monk) even though all of our religious traditions profess to believe in peace and love. Yet in practical affairs they mostly and willingly endorse war and killing and send their sheep off to slaughter. I thought Jesus said, “feed them”!
To be fair, having served in the USMC, I am in no position to judge and there are a handful Christians and others who practice non-violence. My friend, Fr. Louie Vitale is currently in federal prison serving 6 months for protesting the infamous U.S. Army, School of the Americas also known as the “School of Assassins”. Fr. Dan Berrigan his life dedicated to peace and justice and in so many ways he has reminded us that civil disobedience is not the problem in this country but civil obedience is.
Waiting less patiently now, a small, tranquil and elderly woman comes in and sits down next to me. I soon realized that she was waiting for her arraignment date also. We begin talking and I learn she is 91 one years old, a Quaker from Western MA. I would later learn that she has been working for peace and justice since the end of WW II. One of her friends, a younger woman in her 60’s, told me, that when we are feeling discouraged , we say to each other that, “if Frances can do it, we can do it.” I was sitting next to Frances Crowe.
Speaking with Daniel Ellsberg, Chris Hedges and Coleen Rowley was great, but honest to God , meeting Frances Crowe was thrilling. Perhaps at this point in my 60 some years of life I am a sucker for silver haired old ladies (although I still like the young ones too) who have worked for peace and justice, longer than I have been alive.
Frances is relentless in her opposition to war. She has been arrested at the White House, the Pentagon and the Nevada Test Site. She is a war tax resister and also described as an “eco-pacifist”. At one demonstration she painted, “Thou shalt Not Kill” on nuclear submarines, earning a month in federal prison. However that morning, I did not know of her history or work aside from her witnessing with us the day before. It was her tranquility, her determination and that almost invisible quality of humility, a quality so unobtrusive and which I encounter so rarely which so deeply impressed me.
It is likely we will all be considered idealists on a fools mission or worse for our civil resistance to war but I do know thanks to Frances, Louie, Dan and others, that “Thou shalt Not Kill” is more than a weak suggestion to be ignored by both Church and State, at our convenience. I also know sitting next to Frances in the Anacostia Police Station was an epiphany of our capacity to work for peace and justice, an epiphany of love and one of the best Christmas presents I have ever been given. If Frances can do it, we can do it.
Paz, John
Nancy Gwin : A champion of peace and justice
Something sad, something beautiful and something glorious happened at St Lucy’s Church in Syracuse on Sunday, March 7, 2010, though for the most part it was a festive and joyful occasion with the Raging Granny’s and approximately 100 members of the Syracuse peace community gathered to honor Nancy Gwin, a 63 year old peace worker, grandmother and choir member.
This was no ordinary gathering though and Nancy, no ordinary woman. The next morning she was headed to federal prison at Danbury Conn. to begin a six month sentence. Nancy is our latest champion in the war on terror, confronting nonviolently a U.S. terrorist training camp, the U.S. Army School of the Americas.
In Nancy’s court statement she noted:
“To find the School of Americas working actively ... to train officers which would then go back their countries and commit atrocities and assassinations and massacres. It just was appalling to me.”
“I have been to El Mozote in the Morazan Department of El Salvador, walked on the grounds where people were massacred and visited the small museum there. Graduates of the School of the Americas, Salvadoran armed forces trained by U.S. military, killed at least 1000 civilians at El Mozote. It is estimated that 130 were children under the age of twelve. I have a granddaughter who will turn twelve this week.”
Nancy also commented on the latest coup in Honduras which was carried out by a SOA graduate.
On the walls of St. Lucy, were pictures of many Catholic peace makers. It is so rare to see a church of any type that honors peace makers. How remarkable and wonderful that St. Lucy’s is adorned with pictures of their finest peacemakers, including Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Bishop Tom Gumbleton, Dorothy Day, Sr. Megan Rice, Phil and Dan Berrigan both the famous and unknown, to name but a few. I was particularly delighted to see Kathleen Rumpf’s picture too, as courageous a woman as one might meet, who helped to uncover and end the torture of prisoners in her home town of Syracuse.
Nancy Gwin was sentenced to 6 months for walking onto Ft. Benning at the annual SOA Watch protest and vigil. In a press release following the trial Fr. Roy said, "Judge Faircloth has sentenced our sister and brothers to 6 months in federal prison for speaking the truth about the SOA/WHINSEC. We are saddened by the court's continued blindness and hardness of heart, but we are stronger than ever in solidarity.”
Along with Nancy, Father Louie Vitale and Ken Hayes were sentenced to six months and are or soon will be in prison. The SOAW press release also spoke of Michael Walli.
“Michael Walli, a member of the Catholic Worker movement from Washington, DC refused to appear for the trial in Georgia. Walli had told the court during his November arraignment that he would not pay any bail and that he would not voluntarily return for the trial. "I walk out and it's goodbye" Walli told Judge Mallon Faircloth. Michael Walli made good on his promise and on Monday, Judge Mallon Faircloth issued a warrant for Michael Walli's arrest.”
At 6 am Monday morning Ann Tiffany was headed out the door to join Rae Kramer and two other women to escort/support Nancy on her journey to prison. It was International Women’s Day and collectively this group represented, the compassion and solidarity, the courage, honor and the willingness to put heart and soul on the line for the cause of peace and justice that I truly admire. Both Ann and Rae have been political prisoners at Danbury prison also working to close the School of the Americas.
After Ann left, Ed Kinane, (Ann’s partner, also a former prisoner of conscience for working to close the SOA) and I went to breakfast the Little Gem Restaurant on the east side of Syracuse. As both Ed and I quietly talked in the early morning hour, we openly expressed our admiration for Nancy and Ann and Rae and all of the prisoners of conscience, reflecting also on the compassion and caring of the Syracuse peace community, truly a community filled with many beautiful gems both large and small.
Something sad, something beautiful and something glorious happened at St Lucy’s Church on March 7, 2010. Nancy Gwin, now in prison, stood fast for peace and justice and offered herself as atonement for the crimes of the School of the Americas. God Bless you Nancy, and best of luck!
To affirm Nancy and all of the prisoners of conscience, please call your representative and ask that they co-sponsor HR 2567 - Latin America Military Training Review act , a resolution which will help close the U.S. Army SOA/WHINSEC. It is time to end the reign of terror conducted by the School of Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute For Security Cooperation at Ft. Benning, Georgia. For more information please go to www.soaw.org.
Paz, John
If you haven't seen "No Running Water - Close the SOA/WHINSEC" on you tube please take the time to watch this short music video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic8tH0pK1Lg
Thanks!