Tucson, Southern Indiana actions

Photo: Tucson Branch members join others at vigils against drone attacks.

Drone warfare - Tucson connections
By Deborah Livingston Tucson  AZ Branch

Tucson WILPF members join others in the peace community at vigils outside the gates of Davis Monthan Air Force Base (where armed drones are piloted around the world) and Raytheon Missile Systems (manufacturer of surveillance drones and weapons for armed drones).

These hour-long monthly vigils protesting the use of drones have been held for many years organized by a dedicated antinuclear couple, Jack and Felice Cohen Joppa.  In March they had a celebration of 35 years of activism. Many of the people who had been helped by the Nuclear Resister were in Tucson for the event. 80 year old, Sister Megan Rice spoke to the crowd about her time in prison and the reasons for her activism.

The peace vigils are a regular, nonviolent presence in our community

• to call for an end to wars and occupations waged by our government in our name and with our tax dollars
• to take a stand against war profiteering
• to remember the victims of war (including those killed by drones)
• to join others around the world in working for peace
   

Southern Indiana  fights TPP
By Diane Legomsky, Communications Liaison of Southern Indiana WILPF

The Southern Indiana Branch has fought hard to oppose passage of the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership). We have targeted three areas: working with the local city council, educating the public, and meeting with our Congressperson’s office.

We worked with the Bloomington City Council in encouraging them to pass a resolution opposing the TPP.  WILPF members sent council members TPP information from WILPF US. In addition we spread the word to the public about the council meeting to discuss such a resolution, and WILPF members spoke out at that meeting with well-informed concerns about TPP. The resolution passed! It is Resolution 16-02, passed on March 3, 2016, and can be accessed here. https://bloomington.in.gov/media/media/application/pdf/25678.pdf.

To educate the public on the harmful implications of TPP, many of our members wrote letters to the editor, one member published a guest column in the newspaper, and we held a public forum where a faculty member from Indiana University’s Labor Studies Department spoke on “Trading Away Democracy.”

We also arranged a meeting with our US Representative Todd Young’s office to explain the negative impact TPP will have on our environment, our labor force, and even our sovereignty.

As a follow-up, our chapter is now reading Change the Story, Change the Future: A Living Economy for a Living Earth, by David C. Korten. We are meeting weekly to discuss his ideas.