Just a few quick notes before our conference this weekend in Lansdowne/Philadelphia, PA!
- The documentary about anti-war activist, veteran, and war tax resister S. Brian Willson, Paying the Price for Peace, is now available! The website says, “Vietnam Veteran S. Brian Willson paid the price for peace by nearly being killed by a military train during a non-violent protest. Since then, he has not stopped calling attention to the US government’s defiance of international law through waging endless illegal wars.Paying the Price for Peace exposes the truth about the United States’ addiction to war, and the lies it perpetuates in order to wage ongoing violence, through the life and times of Air Force veteran S. Brian Willson and other veterans.” Order at this link.
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Photos of Dan Berrigan throughout his life, via Pax Christi USA.
Father Daniel Berrigan died on April 30, 2016. His civil disobedience, hard work, and creativity in pursuit of peacemaking and against war have helped shape the modern anti-war movement. He was one of the signers of the Writers and Editors War Tax Protest pledge, and was a member of the Catonsville 9, who burned draft files in 1968. He helped launch the Plowshares movement, which has taken action against nuclear weapons since the 1980s. He is remembered fondly in numerous places around the web, including many news pieces and a full hour show on Democracy Now!, an obituary on Pax Christi, this article on Antiwar.com, and this article on Common Dreams. His niece Frida Berrigan said of him on Democracy Now!, “[Philip and Daniel Berrigan] and my mother and the extraordinary community, the peace community, the Catholic Worker community, gave me a sense that anything is possible and that if we act in conscience, if we act together, if we are moved, we can accomplish extraordinary things and speak—speak with power and conviction against the powers that be, and that half of it is about showing up, you know, just being—being in the streets, being with one another, being—it’s about—it’s about showing up. And Dan Berrigan showed up. He was there. You know, all of the pictures that you’re showing, so many of them are in the streets. They’re holding signs. They’re in the bitter cold. They’re in extraordinary heat. And it’s about standing up and showing up. And so, so he taught us that.”
Also, poking through the newsletter archives, I found a mention of a book, Downwardly Mobile for Conscience Sake. The book contains “ten autobiographical sketches of people changing their lifestyles to live a more just, peaceful, and ecologically friendly existence. The majority of the writers are war tax resisters, including Juanita Nelson.” The Tom Paine Institute does not appear to be around anymore, but several copies were available on Amazon for less than $10 (and perhaps on other bookselling sites too).
Post by Erica
