Call
to Action March 19 and 31
• No
Draft, No Way!
• March
31 Day of Action to Stop the Draft
• Military Recruiters, Out of Our
Schools: Fairport
Superintendent Confronts Military
Call to Action March 19 and 31
No Draft, No Way!
Youth were in the forefront of organizing for anti-war actions across the country on March 19, with military recruiting centers a main target for the protests. Numerous organizations actively opposing recruitment and the draft, such as Books Not Bombs and No Draft, No Way, organized contingents, with signs and leaflets against recruitment and any draft for the March 19 actions. Many made a special effort to make it down to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to stand against the war alongside veterans and military families. The action called for resistance among the troops and supported those refusing to go. The common stand is that the U.S. is committing war crimes, that Bush is a war criminal and that a stand against the war is a stand for humanity.
No Draft, No Way! and others are calling for local actions March 31 against any draft. The No Draft Now Way statement brings out that “On March 31, the Selective Service System (SSS) will report to President Bush that it is ready to implement the draft within 75 days. Right now, the SSS is staffing local draft boards, training volunteer registrars to work on high school and college campuses, and streamlining its induction process. They have also gained access to the Department of Education's computer files, to ensure maximum registration.”
Youth and activists are organizing local actions March 31. As the statement continues, “On March 31, the same day that the Selective Service System is reporting that the draft is ready to go, youth all over the country will report that they will refuse to go.” Protests, walkouts, and direct action at recruiting centers, selective service offices, and other sites are planned. Below is a partial list of planned actions.
[TOP]
March 31 Day of Action to Stop the Draft
NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte
Stop The Draft Before It Starts Protest! Protest at Military Recruiting Station-
March 31 at Baxter St & Kings Dr;
Raleigh
Protest Against the Draft & Military Recruiting - Friday, April 1
TENNESSEE
Nashville
Stop the Draft Before it Starts March 31st; This event is being organized by
the Nashville Peace Coalition. An Afternoon of Peace, Education and Saying
No to War! Three Events to Educate, Activate and Motivate:
First: Lecture: "Women: The Secret Weapon of Modern Warfare."
Date: Thursday, March 31, 2005
Time: 4 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Location: Wilson 103 (Near 21st and Division, Vanderbilt University)
Second:
Stop the Draft Before It Starts! A Call to Action
What: Rally to say No Draft! No Way!
When: Thursday March 31st, 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Where: 21st and Division (Across from Vanderbilt University)
Third: Clarksville
Weekly Peace Vigil
Thursday March 31st 7:00pm - 7:30pm
Downtown Clarksville, Public Square and Main Street
Cars will be carpooling from Vanderbilt to Clarksville at 6:00pm
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia
March 28th 7:30 pm, Carl Webb - Soldier Resister; Calvary Church, 48th & Baltimore
Organized by International Action Center/Solidarity; Carl Webb is an African-
American member of the Texas National Guard who is refusing deployment to Iraq.
He is challenging the Pentagon’s Stop Loss Program, which the military
uses to force GIs to serve in Iraq beyond the length of their contracts. Webb,
with 12 years of Army experience, refused to report for training at Fort Hood,
Texas in August, 2004. He has been interviewed on National Public Radio, Pacifica
Radio, and other newspaper, radio and television outlets, and spoke at the
U.S. TROOPS OUT NOW Rally in New York City on March 19. Come hear him speak
out about his decision to resist the occupation and war in Iraq. Carl will
be joined by organizers from the NoDraftNoWay campaign.
NEW YORK
Voorheesville, New York
Our CO (Conscientious Objector) group will have its second meeting on April
1 at 6:30 PM We will be working on our belief statements and comparing our
CO files. Our group is made up of draft age youth 12-25 and their parents.
The purpose of our group is to form a support group for individuals who wish
to claim CO status in the event of a draft and/or to support those who are
CO; and finally to explore ways we can all be conscientious objectors by withholding
our support for the military.
New York City
FIST-NYC will gather at 12:30pm at the New York City Department of Education,
located at 52 Chambers St. (right behind City Hall). We will gather outside
and demand to meet with Joel Klein, Chancellor of New York City Schools. All
New York City students should be informed of the threat of an upcoming draft!
The Department of Education has a responsibility to educate its students about
the real costs of military service and to keep military recruiters and JROTC
programs out of our schools. Money should be spent on education and on real
after school programs instead! Join FIST, along with other youth groups, students,
parents, and teachers to demand that the Department of Education protect NYC
students form being forced to kill and die in the illegal occupation of Iraq.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston
Students from around Boston will converge at Noon on March 31 for a picket
at the Military Recruiting Station on Tremont Street in Downtown Boston, across
from the Boston Common. Student walkouts are expected in Somerville, Boston
and elsewhere.
Western Massachusetts
Western Mass. No Draft, No Way will be distributing leaflets against the draft
on Wednesday, March 30
MICHIGAN
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Our group will be meeting at our US representative's office(Fred Upton) and
will present a letter that asks for Rep. Upton to denounce a military draft
and asks him to pledge that he would vote against a draft if a vote were called.
This will be on March 30th at noon at Upton's Kalamazoo office.
IOWA
Ames
Student Walkout & Rally - rally in front of the Iowa State Library at 3pm
on Thursday, March 31st, after students or while students are walking out of
classes.
CALIFORNIA
Santa Rosa
Sonoma County Says: No More Lies! No More U.S. or Iraqi Deaths! Santa Rosa
Courthouse Sq. Thursday, March 31st 4:00pm 18-25 year-old Males AND Females
Will Be Eligible For The Draft! Coma Lilies will be playing after the protest.
Come & Sign your Conscientious Objectors Pledge of Resistance. Sponsored
by the Sonoma County Peace & Justice Center.
[TOP]
Military Recruiters, Out of Our Schools
Fairport Superintendent Confronts Military
Dr. William Cala, superintendent of Fairport, NY, schools, near Rochester, will be confronting a uniformed colonel from the U.S. Army in the next two weeks. Dr. Cala is refusing to submit to the military’s demand to turn over the names, numbers, and addresses of all juniors and seniors for military recruiting purposes. Fairport High School has an enrollment of about 1600 students.
For three years the superintendent has been resisting the requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandating schools to turn over student information or lose federal funds. Dr. Cala emphasizes that, “Every aspect of No Child Left Behind is based on the threat concept that if you don't follow what we say, we're going to take your money away. Someone has got to stand up to that.”
In his district he has organized what is known as the “opt-in” option. This means that school officials will turn over names only if parents ask them to do so. This is the normal method for seeking parental permission. The military, facilitated by the law, has attempted to turn this on its head, demanding information unless parents specifically “opt out.”
The Fairport school district is currently the only district in the country known to be declared in violation of the NCLB and in danger of losing federal funds. Other districts across the country have confronted the law in their own ways. Many have launched large campaigns to educate parents and students about “opting out” and providing information and alternatives to the military. Youth and parents are increasingly confronting military recruiters at their schools and organizing as a group to refuse to hand over information. Resistance has grown so much among the youth that the Army now plans new recruiting tactics appealing to what they call the “patriotism” of the parents. Given the broad participation of youth and parents together in the March 19 anti-war actions, many of them demonstrating at recruiting stations, this latest ploy is also doomed to failure.
In Fairport, Dr. Cala has manuevered to be in compliance with the law, while still resisting the military recruiters, by allowing parents to “opt-in” to consenting to the release of student information to the military. He said that, “The Fairport Board of Education has a very long-standing policy that we don't share student information with anybody, period.” He added, “We're being forced to reverse this policy because the military says so, and we don't think that's fair or right.” Superintendent for 8 years, Cala said, “We feel to protect the privacy rights of our students, their information isn't released without their explicit permission. We've read the No Child Left Behind law and our attorneys have read it, and we believe we're compliant.”
The military is sending its colonel in an effort to insist that Cala use the Army’s “opt out” policy. Cala has the wide support of the youth, parents and community in Fairport. Many people have brought out that the military’s “opt out” approach is a self-serving way to increase access to a larger pool of youth from which to recruit cannon fodder. As Cala put it, “The Army wants to make it as difficult as possible to opt out. They want to get kids to join with the least input from parents.”
Dr. Cala remains firm in the face
of the military intimidation and has let it be known that he will continue
to defend the rights of the youth and parents
in his district. “We'll do what we have to do, but we won't be intimidated,” Cala
emphasized.
According to NCLB, when Cala stands firm, the military can then go to the New
York governor and use him to intimidate the district. When this too fails,
Congress will be informed. They can, according to the military, then cut federal
funds
to Fairport. According to Cala and the youth and parents of Fairport, the military
can needs to stay out of the schools!
[TOP]