Be The Change Crew Rocks The Airwaves!

This Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the longest war in US history, Afghanistan. The human cost isn't measurable and the economic cost is estimated at close to 500 billion dollars.

Our favorite radio station in Atlanta, WRFG 89.3FM, graciously devoted five hours of air time during their fall fundraising drive to the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition for programing that focuses on the war in Afghanistan.

The Be The Change Crew was asked to take the last hour of the show to focus on the effects of war on high school aged youth.

Dejah Ault and Jasmine Enadeghe hend it down for the Be The Change crew. Both focused on the realities of being raised with war. Jasmine prepared a really staggering economic breakdown of US federal budget priorities and what the resources that are taken out of our communities to pay for war could be paying for if there was no war.

Dejah spoke about the militarization of Atlanta youth, focusing on military recruitment in schools. When they opened the phones lines they were immediately jammed with traffic. I hope to get the recording of the program up in the next few days, and there's definitely talk of a regular Be The Change Crew radio show!

Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

Field Trip to AFSC!

Today our downtown office had a visit from high school students and faculty of one of our favorite Atlanta are schools, the Horizon's school!

They came to experience our Windows and Mirrors exhibit, which highlights the human impact of America's longest war in history, the war in Afghanistan.

Students took the time to walk the gallery and take in all the pieces. We later facilitated a discussion about the pieces that spoke to each student the most. I was really impressed by the focus and articulation that students put into describing their reactions to seeing the art. It was clear that, for the group, Windows and Mirrors accomplished what it set out to, it opened a window into the realities of the war experience in a time when war's realities are often hidden, it acted as a reflection to the roll we all play in systems of violence and oppression.


Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

Windows and Mirrors Gets a Visit From Fourth Graders!

On the eve of the Atlanta leg of the national Windows and Mirrors national art exhibit we had the pleasure of hosting a fourth grade class from the Atlanta Friends School. As some may know the Atlanta Friends School hosted three of the Windows and Mirrors art panels, which was enough to make students curious to see the rest of them at our downtown office.

In the two hours the students spent viewing the exhibit they had an assignments, which they were all eager to complete. They were asked to pick the five panels that spoke the most to them and explain why.

We also did a group activity with the group designed to spark dialogue about our connection to the war in Afghanistan and the personal power wall all have to recognize, act against, ignore, or facilitate systems of violence and oppression in our communities and around the world.

Each art panel in the exhibit is a window into the realities of war in Afghanistan, a window into the horror and despair, and a window into the hope and resilience of the Afghan people.

Each panel is a mirror that reflects our responsibility for each bullet, each bomb, each death. It's a reflection of our obligation to change the direction in Afghanistan, to build schools instead of tanks, to recruit Afghan youth to grow food and build infrastructure, instead of recruiting low income American youth to police Afghanistan with the barrel of a gun. We have the power to look through these windows, to reflect, to change.


Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

Questioning War From the Inside

by Lily Moseley

Chamblee High School Senior

A former senior CIA analyst and intelligence briefer for Presidents Reagan and H.W. Bush turned political activist, Ray McGovern has used his ethos in politics and his experience with war to validate his outspoken opinions against the war in Afghanistan.

McGovern graduated from Fordham University where he majored in Russian and proceeded to obtain a position in the CIA, where he worked as an intelligence briefer and analyst for 27 years.

“So I went back and I signed up for Russian [as my major]. Within a couple months the first man in space; another couple months there was a crisis in Berlin with Russian tanks and German tanks, then there’s the Bay of Pigs thing. So there became a real need for translators or people who knew about the Soviet Union and so it was a kind of natural step to go into the Army first, where I served two years as an officer, and then go into the CIA in the analysis part.”

Since his retirement from the CIA, McGovern has repeatedly protested US involvement in both the war in Iraq during the W. Bush administration and the war in Afghanistan during the Obama administration. McGovern has challenged the sincerity of several authorities including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld when he quoted Rumsfeld as saying that he knew where the Weapons of Mass Destruction were after it had been confirmed that none existed. In addition, he was arrested for disorderly conduct when he stood silently in protest during a speech made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

McGovern’s strong thoughts against the wars are influenced by his experiences with the War in Vietnam and the Cold War.

“Many of the officers that I finished officer infantry school with at Ft. Benning were killed in Vietnam; many of my classmates at Fordham ROTC were killed in Vietnam and when you think of the immense nature of, not only the 50,000 names on the memorial in Washington, but of the 3 million Vietnamese [killed]. So, what kind of people are we that will acquiesce in the killing of 3 million Vietnamese? That soured me on these stupid wars. And then of course skipping all the way to Iraq, we could see, before the war, that the evidence for Weapons of Mass Destruction or ties between Iraq and Al-Qaeda [was nonexistent.]”

McGovern also cofounded the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, an organization of retired US intelligence workers who have criticized government policies and issued memorandums criticizing the policies of former President George W. Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Additionally, he coined the acronym O.I.L. (oil, Israel, logistics).

“I don’t think there’s anyone that thinks we would have attacked Iraq if their main export was cabbages, so I think that’s pretty clear. I is for Israel, and the reason is that the people who were planning and executing this invasion of Iraq were people so-called Neo-Conservatives, and their big problem is that they have difficulty distinguishing between what they see as the strategic interests of Israel on the one hand, and the strategic interests of the United States of America on the other. Israel wanted us to be involved big time in Iraq; they thought that it would make things more safe for them, which turned out to be just the opposite. The L is for logistics, the strategic military bases that the people think are needed to protect our interests there for the oil and for Israel.”

McGovern has encouraged opposition to the war in Afghanistan, expressing the need for taking action against it.

“Writing letters, writing articles and speaking are good things to do, but I’ve come to the point where I’ve concluded that that’s not enough, that I have to put my body into it, that we need to indulge or resort to nonviolent civil disobedience or civil direct action. We should care. And young people, I think, are sold short; I think people just kind of write them off and say, ‘well this time [unlike in Vietnam] they don’t have any vulnerabilities so they don’t care.’ I think they do care.”

CIA Veteran Ray Mcgovern in Atlanta

For months the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition has been organizing for a multiple day visit from 27 year CIA veteran turned political activist Ray Mcgovern. His visit has opened up dozens of opportunities to create local discussions on US foreign policy during a week that has seen the war on terror back in the headlines.

In addition to multiple interviews and speaking engagements Ray McGovern spoke at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House last night to the largest crowd(about 300) I've ever seen there. We literally ran out of chairs. The topic was how to stop endless war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Beyond.

Ray touched on many other topics including the troubling shift in the culture of the CIA from an organization that collected data that was designed to help shape foreign policy to an organization that collected data in an effort to justify foreign policy. Of course there was much talk of the recent murder of Osama Bin Laden. One member of the audience asked Mr. McGovern if he thought that Osama Bin Laden had actually just been murdered or if it was a hoax.

Mr. McGovern did say that he believed the reports to be accurate but that he was troubled that there wasn't much of an attempt to capture him. He went on to say, "you would think that if the US really wanted intelligence on Al Queda then they wouldn't so quickly kill the one man who has more information than anyone else". Mr. McGovern went on to insinuate that he believes that the US didn't want to capture Osama Bin Laden alive because his testimony would be to damaging to the US.

Mr. McGovern will be in town for the next few days and I'm excited to report that he has agreed to do several interviews with high school and college students for school news papers that we set up. We will be publishing both student articles on this blog as well so look forward to those!

Photo Credit to Al Viola

Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition Host Statewide Meeting

On this past Saturday Members of the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition(GPJC) met in Macon to discuss a strategy to re-energize organizers outside the Atlanta metro area.

Before the Obama campaign took off GPJC had dozens of rural groups that were active. Groups hosted weekly demonstrations against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they participated in several statewide peace and justice tours, and played key roles in legislative work.

Three years after the historic Obama election our country spends more money on the Military industrial complex then every, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, torture is still an excepted practice, Guantanamo prison camp has yet to shut down, and nothing has been done to address the growing cancer of poverty. The cup is looking half empty.

So Saturday we had folks from Macon, Augusta, Aiken, Jonesboro, Eastman, and Atlanta come together to make a plan. Over the next few months GPJC will begin the hard work of rebuilding a statewide base in every community across our great state. When the call come we hope you're there to answer.

Expect to hear plans of our legislative platform next week, a mobilization against against the Iraq war March 19th(no one's fooled by the war's rebranding), a GPJC weekend gathering in the summer, the re-starting a weekly demonstrations in Macon against the war on terror, and a mobilization around the state against the war in Afghanistan on October 7th.


Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

Banners Invade the Atlanta Sky!

Today, on the 9th anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan, we began to receive reports of banners carrying messages of resistance against the seemingly endless war and occupation being dropping in prominent spots around the city. Many of the banners where made during a series of art parties that we hosted to help promote a day to defend public education in Georgia.

While the AFSC does not encourage the illegal dropping of banners we also do not condemn it. The eyeways belong to all of us, not just those that can afford it. It seems a group of folks felt that we can no longer afford the human and economic cost of war and occupation, so much so that they took the time and risk to put their message to the Atlanta eyeways. Other banners reported but not pictured said, "Cut War Not Schools", and, "Defund War, Refund Schools"

Pictures By Josie Figueroa


Tim Franzen
American Frends Service Committee

Banners, Stencils, Wheatpastes for Oct 7th!

Over the past few weeks we've been working with folks to create a number of stunning images designed to bring to attention the increasing defunding of Georgia Public Education. All over Georgia, from Milledgeville to Athens, Atlanta to Savannah, Columbus to Kennesaw, communities are coming together in an effort to protect public education.

From the cuts in K-12 that have dramatically increased classroom sizes, cut important programs, and laid off much needed support staff, to the cuts in public universities which have resulted in dramatic tuition and fee increases for an already struggling student body. Georgians are resisting what some call a crisis of priorities.

Young people may not have millions of dollars to spend on a slick campaigns to win back their future(or societies future) but they do have energy, truth, and a whole lot of creativity. Look for dozens of beautiful banners, stencils, and wheatpastes that have been created to provoke thought and bring awareness to what we are losing in Georgia...our education funding, our future.

We've, of course, encouraged young people to drop banners, paint stencils, chalk, and wheatpaste in spaces that are totally legal. Though we don't condone illegal art, it should be said that we do not condemn illegal banner droppings and such, as the eyeways belong to all who look, not just all who pay.


All of this work is leading up to a nation wide day of action on October 7th, a day to defend education, a day to examine this crisis of priorities, to stand with immigrant students who are under attack everywhere including Georgia. If you are a college student, then you are likely already aware of actions planned on you campus, join them or plan your own. If you are in the Atlanta area and you want to add your voice to the choir, then come to Woodruff Park Thursday October 7th at 4:30pm. Stand with us, march with us, for the future.

It's been exciting watching different struggles unite for this cause. Anti-war groups like the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition seeing the education budget cuts through the lens of unjust war spending. October 7th is, after all, the nine year anniversary of American longest war, Afghanistan. Joining the call for October 7th mobilization is the Georgia dreamers, who face so much more than budget cuts. Student Career Alternatives Program(SCAP) has joined the call. Members of SCAP see the attack on education as an attack on the future post high school options for low income youth, a move that only strengthens the school to military/prison pipeline. SCAP plans to unveil several banners around the city October 7th and at Woodruff Park.

More and more people of conscious are making the connections. Why does it rain money every time our government asks for money to bomb non white nations, yet when we ask for money to fund our own domestic education system we hardly get a drop? Why are we sinking so much money into policing and imprisoning our own citizens while defunding that which arms young people with the power to truly reach their potential and achieve their dreams?

We hope YOU will add your voice to the choir in defense of education in whatever way you can. It's not to late to make your own banner, wheatpaste, or stencil! It's not to late to fight for the future!



Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee