Mother's Day in Sacramento

Sunday, May 8th is Mother's Day and my mom and I go to Sacramento to participate in the action that Sam has coordinated with Natalie and others to mourn the loss of troops and innocent civilians and to call for an end to the war and to bring home the National Guard. The sky pours rain as we moan and wail and declare our solidarity in peace. The action draws over 50 people and is a beautiful demonstration of courage and conviction against war. I meet a midwife and grandmother who speaks very eloquently for peace. Bobbie sings Raging Grannies anti-war tunes. I am very grateful to my mom for spending this day with me. We share a meal together after the event at the local grocery co-op. Some punk eggs Sam's truck.

Months later, we find out that the National Guard has developed a surveillance unit and they "launched" their peace group activity spying by sneaking info about this event. We get national press attention and generate a lot of noise around the absurdity of this latest infringement of citizens' rights.

May: Stop the Next War Now Book Tour

May 1st CODEPINK begins a 100 city book tour to connect with people all over the country (and several other countries as well!) and to promote the release of the new book, Stop the Next War Now, a collection of work from over 70 authors, activists, artists, politicians, poets, and conscientious objectors that highlights the ability of individuals and communities to rise up against war and to create peace. The kick off is a great action in Washington, DC. The book tour comes home to California with the following events, which I help organize (check out the links to see photos!):

Camilo Mejia speaking event http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=298
At this event, Camilo's daughter signs my copy of the book! Camilo also speaks at the Global Exchange Human Rights Awards dinner (I table for CODEPINK at this event and meet may exciting and interesting folks, and old friends).

Sausalito Ruth Group event: This book event is on a docked boat in the Bay. We have pink cupcakes, which become a signature addition for all the future Bay Area book events, and we premier the excellent Stop the Next War Now banner that Nancy made. At this event, a woman from the audience brings up her fears about an immediate exit strategy to bring the troops home, and we realize that people really need stronger voices for immediate withdrawal and more confidence in standing up against all the propaganda and messaging in the media which instills fear and makes people think that something positive is happening through the US occupation of Iraq.

Whole Earth Festival book event at UC Davis. Julia comes to the festival, Medea gives a great talk to a crowd scattered over the lawn, and I promote the book and counter-recruitment work while balancing the beehive wig on my head. Afterwards we zoom off to Stockton for the Peace and Justice Banquet at a steakhouse. A whirlwind, savory day of action!

San Francisco book event at Booksmith on the Haight and Berkeley book event at Cody's in Berkeley http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=297

Dena, Julia, and my domestic violence prevention high school project is honored at the Shalom Bayit event, which I go to with my mom and Ariel, who visits for the weekend of May 14-15. We eat a lot of really delicious chocolate and savor the presence of so many women dedicated to stopping violence in the home.

May 16th Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi speaks at USF and we table and sell the book, which includes an essay she wrote.

To read more about the book tour, visit http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?list=type&type=45.