WAND Michigan
WINTER
NEWSLETTER 2005
For
a PDF version of this newsletter, click
here.
NEWS BANNER … MEMBERSHIP
MONTH EXCEEDS GOAL…WAND CO-SPONSORS FILM in MCHR
FESTIVAL FEB15…TEA AND CONVERSATION WITH THE BOARD
FEB 27…BUDGET BLUES: FEDERAL HORRORS, MICHIGAN
HOPE… A LOCAL COURT VICTORY FOR PROTESTERS
LOOKING AHEAD ... VOTING RIGHTS ANNIVERSARY IN MARCH …
WiLL MEETING IN MARCH AT THE STATE CAPITOL …
ALLIANCE FOR NUCLEAR ACCOUNTABILITY (ANA) DAYS
IN DC APRIL 10-13 … MAY DAY RALLY FOR NON-PROLIFERATION
TREATY IN NYC … MOTHER’S PEACE DAY DINNER MAY
12 AT TROY HILTON … ANNUAL MEETING AND ELECTION
JUNE 15 … OAK RIDGE TN ACTION ON 60TH ANNIVERSARY
OF HIROSHIMA/NAGASAKI AUG 6-9.
MEMBERS
IN THE NEWS FROM JANUARY TILL JUNE!
For a comprehensive local calendar go to www.graypanthersmetrodetroit.org
This
referral does
not necessarily imply endorsement by WAND Michigan.
71
CANDLES FOR ARLENE
2004-2005 Membership Month
This year WAND Michigan was allowed to hold
Membership Month midway through our fiscal year,
which began July 1, 2004. Our appeal went
out on what would have been our late founder
Arlene Victor’s 71st birthday, Jan 4. We aimed
for at least 71 responses, 71 candles lighted
against the gathering darkness of violence and
war. We more than met our goal! Studies show
that a 1-3% response to any appeal is considered
good! Our response rate was almost 10%.
TEA
AND CONVERSATION WITH THE BOARD ON FEB 27
All who answered our annual Membership appeal
have been sent invitations in the mail for tea.
New and renewing members, and those who made
donations to WAND during Membership Month will
be invited to join the Board at the home of
Liz Bauer in Birmingham, from 3-6pm on
Sunday February 27. It will be a delightful,
delicious and downright d’lovely occasion.
WAND
CO-SPONSORS BILL MOYERS’ “EARTH ON THE EDGE”
First of four films in Feb/March Festival
WAND Michigan and many other local peace
and justice organizations or labor unions are
co-sponsoring a Human Rights Film Festival under
the leadership of the Michigan Coalition for
Human Rights. The films began with a Bill
Moyer’s documentary on Tues Feb 15, 7-9 pm and
will continue on successive Tuesdays through
March 8 at ST. JOHN EPISCOPAL CHURCH in Royal
Oak, 26998 Woodward @ 11 Mile (SE corner).
THE
BUDGET: HOPE IN MICHIGAN, HORROR IN WASHINGTON
Action is a great cure for anxiety. If
you are as horrified by the proposed Federal
budget as WAND is, give your Congressional reps
a piece of your mind. Read all about what’s
coming down and what you can do about it at
the home page link on www.WAND.org.
Let’s not take this lying down, ladies! And
while you are at it, go www.michigan.gov
to see Governor Jennifer Granholm’s hopeful
proposals for restoring jobs and offering hope
for a real future in Michigan, which is fast
becoming a poster child for the Rust Belt. Let
the Governor and your state legislators know
what you think of the proposals she made in
her state of the State address this year.
JUSTICE
SERVED: CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST PROTESTER
By
Mary Johnston
On Jan. 31, 2005, justice was finally served
in the case of Clint Coggar, a 20 year old protester,
who was arrested, jailed and charged with Assault
& Battery, during a campaign stop made by
President George W. Bush in early October in
Farmington Hills, Michigan. All charges against
Clint were dismissed “without prejudice”
by Judge Marla Parker of the 47th District Court.
It was a fortunate end to a very unfortunate
series of events. But many questions remain
including the actions of the police on that
day. The events leading up to the arrest began
on, Oct. 6, 2004 when President George W. Bush
was scheduled for a campaign appearance on the
Orchard Ridge Campus of Oakland Community College.
A
great many protesters were there from the Sierra
Club and
others were from anti-war groups. All were there
because of their opposition to the perilous
course that this government is on both nationally
and internationally. Fortunately, Kim Bergier,
an experienced and trained peacekeeper, came
with her camera and a treasure trove of experience.
Her attention to important details proved key
in the days after the arrest.
It
was a beautiful sunny day and several hundred
peaceful protesters gathered directly across
from the college campus. The Sierra Club members
had many signs about the degradation of the
environment taking place under the Bush administration.
The edginess and aggressiveness of the police
was immediately apparent.
There
were also sheriff’s deputies on horseback
from Oakland County. The pervasive feeling was
that we had no right to be there and had to
be contained and/or restrained. However, the
Bush supporters attending the rally were treated
with great care and respect.
As
the president prepared to exit his campaign
stop with his entourage of motorcycles, the
protesters were pushed back south of the campus
exit. The deputies on horses almost ran down
several who were slowly moving south. As the
protesters were pushed they began to get louder
in order for the president to hear even if he
didn’t see anyone.
At
this point an altercation broke out between
a Bush supporter and the young protester with
the sign. Clint had been ordered to give up
his sign to the sheriff ‘s deputy. When
he refused to do so, a strongly built man in
a blue shirt stepped out of the crowd and ripped
the sign out of Clint’s hands. He then
handed the sign to the deputy on the horse who
crumpled it up and threw it to the ground. He
was the most aggressive deputy that day. The
officer whipped his horse around without any
regard to the safety of the people standing
there. One eyewitness, who knew how to handle
horses, was able to push the horse to make it
back away from the protesters.
Clint
then went back to his car and got his camera
and returned. He began to take pictures of the
man in the blue shirt who had taken his sign.
At this point the older man said he was pushed
by Clint and in his police statement said that
he decided to “take him out.” This
much larger man then got a headlock on Clint
and threw him to the ground.
The police were alerted to what was going on
by the other protesters. They finally came over
and took both men to the other side of the road.
They then put Clint in the police car and let
the man in the blue shirt walk free. Clint was
taken to jail in Farmington Hills where he remained
for several hours, until he was bailed out by
his friend Samantha.
Kim Bergier had the presence of mind to take
down the names and phone numbers of the witnesses.
At this time the police had refused to perform
this very essential part of their job. I personally
did not even know that Clint had been arrested
until I read it in the Farmington Observer newspaper
on the following Sunday.
At
that time, I then called the police department
and got almost no information. I didn’t
even know if Clint was still in jail. The next
day I went to see Farmington Hills Police Chief
William Dwyer. During the hour I spent with
the chief I handed him the names and phone numbers
of the witnesses that Kim had given me (he didn’t
have them). The Chief then told me that Clint
had been arrested for using profanity in a public
place in the presence of children. One side
of Clint’s sign had f-war written on it.
Ironically I found myself in the middle of a
controversy over the use of a word that I personally
abhor. As it turns out that wasn’t even
the charge against Clint. He was arrested for
the very serious charge of Assault & Battery,
and not for the use of profanity in a public
place.
Kim
Bergier contacted the National Lawyers Guild
and Matthew Abel offered to defend Clint. That
was a really right spot for everyone involved
in all of this. It was to be a renewal of faith
in our system of justice to know that organizations
such as the NLG exist. And that there are lawyers
like Matt Abel who will defend a young man who
had been arrested and jailed while the other
man walked away.
As the time for the trial approached I waited
for the dismissal of the case. Instead I was
subpoenaed as a witness. This was a complete
surprise since I wasn’t a direct witness.
After finding out that our attorney had no objections,
I called the prosecutor and told him that this
matter should go to mediation or arbitration,
and not to a jury trial. And also that, in fact,
I was not an eyewitness. He then excused me
from that duty.
I told him that a jury trial would be a waste
of taxpayers’ money, and that this man’s
statement about acting in self defense did not
square with the facts. On that day there were
any number of police officers standing nearby
he could have asked for protection.
The final outcome of all of this was, fortunately,
the dropping of all charges against Clint Coggar,
But the chilling fact remains that our rights
as citizens were seriously jeopardized by the
actions of those in authority. We have to assert,
now more than ever, that we are protected in
our protests by the very bedrock of the laws
enshrined in the United States Constitution.
We who value freedom take these guarantees seriously,
and will not allow them to be abridged or modified
by overzealous law enforcement.
As
a free people we cannot tolerate the substitution
of claims of national security in exchange for
our rights as citizens under the First Amendment.
That particular rule of the law upholds our
right to assemble peacefully and to demand accountability
from our government. It is a sacred trust that
in its very essence protects all democratic
nations from an inevitable descent into tyranny.
Fortunately, people came forward to testify
to what they saw that day. If they had not,
a young man’s life could have been changed
forever. And we would all be diminished by such
an injustice.
The above was pieced together by written statements
and the testimony (including photos) of those
who witnessed what had happened. I was a witness
to the fact that eyewitnesses' names and phone
numbers were not taken. --M.J. 1/31/2005
For
longer articles by Mary Johnston and Kim Bergier,
go to http://www.WAND.org/chapters/michiganpoliceencounter.htm
MEMBERS
IN THE NEWS:
Mother’s
Peace Day Dinner Co-chairs Linda Kohlenberg
and Janice Andahazy are in the process of confirming
a very special keynote speaker for the May 12
event. Save the date and stay tuned! This year’s
theme will be a nuclear free future: free of
weapons, free of hazards to the environment,
free of nuclear terrorism …
Sigrid
Dale is working on Michigan plans for participation
at the May 1 rally in New York’s Central Park,
calling for renewal of the vital nuclear Non-proliferation
Treaty …
Kim
Bergier will again assist Detroit’s Bishop Thomas
Gumbleton in organizing the Michigan Stop the
Bombs Campaign in preparation for the annual
August 6 –9 action in Oak Ridge, TN, where our
nation’s last functioning nuclear production
facility (Y12) is located …
Both
WAND and Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance
(OREPA) (www.stopthebombs.org) are members of
the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. For
more on this year’s ANA lobbying days
in Washington see Looking Forward at the end
of this newsletter …
WiLL
Michigan Coordinator Liz Bauer is planning another
meeting in Lansing for March, date to come …
WAND
member Peggy Collins, who also serves on the
Board of the Detroit Women’s Forum, recently
planned a sold out program for one of the Forum’s
popular monthly luncheons…
Maria
Mannarino Thompson, Barbara McKeand Stevenson
and Fern Katz, all of whom recently trained
in Washington with the Aspen Institute to become
members of the WAND Speakers Bureau, have already
booked a number of local engagements (topic:
the federal budget pie) …
WAND
Board member Fern Katz announced that she is
a candidate in the May election for the Southfield,
MI School Board (she wasn’t busy enough already?)
Fern was on the short list for an appointment
to the school board late last year. Current
member Janie Fulton apparently gave Fern the
winning sales pitch that inspired her to file
for office …
WAND
member Annette de Petris, who is also artistic
director of The Roeper School Theater Company
in Birmingham, MI, produced a moving evening
of reader’s theater, A PIECE OF MY HEART, voices
of women who served in Vietnam. Local peace
and justice organizations were invited to display
their literature on tables in the lobby; Kim
Bergier tabled for WAND …
On
January 20 a number of WAND members helped to
plan and/or take part in a special event organized
by DAPJN, the Detroit Area Peace with Justice
Network. The evening was affectionately nicknamed
the “soup and serf inaugural bawl.” It spoofed
the $100,000 a plate inaugural dinner in DC
and engaged diners in a town hall meeting to
discuss issues and needs that have been dangerously
neglected or eroded by the present administration.
In contrast to the big bucks DC event, all comers
received soup and bread for just one dollar
(unemployed ate free). WAND member Rudy Simons
was emcee and Mike Whitty played the part of
“King George” (both were cheered on by their
wives Roseanne and Gail, respectively).
Sigrid
Dale and Clare Mead Rosen played the part of
billionaires grateful for tax cuts (“Thank you
for paying our fair share”). Ron Dale, Ethel
Schwartz and Bill & Mary Carry were spotted
among the animated crowd. Judy Burgess was there
wearing both her WAND hat and her Raging Grannies’
hat. The Grannies, along with a band and a solo
vocalist provided the night’s entertainment
and processional music for the “coronation.”
The Wobbly restaurant donated the food and a
UAW union local lent its hall for the event.
At the end of the evening, those present
reached into their pockets and pitched in almost
$800 for UNICEF’s Tsunami relief effort…
At
Detroit’s Martin Luther King, Jr birthday commemoration
on Jan 17, longtime WAND/Will supporter/member
US Senator Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) and Congressman
John Conyers (who is responsible for the resolution
that made MLK Day a national holiday) spoke
to a packed church downtown about the need to
protect electoral rights and to oppose violence
and war as King did. They and a host of other
speakers kicked off a rally and march sponsored
by numerous local peace and justice orgs, including
WAND Michigan. A number of WAND members worked
on and/or attended the event, including Barbara
McKeand Stevenson, Kim Bergier, Sigrid Dale,
Fern Katz and Clare Mead Rosen.
Despite
temperatures in the single digits and wind chills
well below zero, hundreds of marchers made the
long trek to the waterfront, singing peace and
freedom songs and hoisting banners or flags
calling for social justice and an end to violence
and war. The marchers made a particular impact
when they trudged (chanting and singing) past
people entering or leaving the Cobo convention
center, where the international auto show was
in full swing …
Bonnie
Tout worked tirelessly in the multi-state post-election
campaign (spearheaded in Congress by John Conyers,
Barbara Boxer and Debbie Stabenow) calling for
wide ranging electoral reforms as well as an
immediate Congressional investigation into
voting irregularities in Ohio and other states
(an ironic development given that 2004-2005
marks the 60th anniversary of the
original voting rights act and other civil rights
legislation during the Johnson administration)…
On
Jan 11, several WAND members joined other Michigan
residents from all over the state to brave icy
early morning roads leading to the state capital
in Lansing. They packed the gallery at the
State Board of Education meeting. Among them
were Nancy Adadow Gray and Judy Burgess. Many
other members, including Fern Ettinger and most
of the WAND Michigan Board, worked their phones
or email servers that day to let the State Board,
their legislators and the Governor know how
important educational priorities are to WAND
and to our state.
Two
other WAND members were present in Lansing,
but not in the gallery: WAND Michigan Board
member Elizabeth Bauer, who is an elected member
of the State Bd of Ed, and longtime WAND member
Kathleen Straus, who is president of the State
Board. Liz and Kathy thanked all for their
efforts and urged continuing pressure on lawmakers
to approve a vitally needed study of the way
Michigan finances its educational system …
Longtime
WAND member Debbie Macon, whom many also know
for her work with the League of Women Voters
and the Women Officials Network, is currently
an elected trustee of the West Bloomfield Township
Board. A former member of the W Bloomfield
School Board, Deb also conducts training courses
for new members of Michigan school boards.
Former WAND Board member Claire Colman, despite
enduring chemo therapy and radiation treatments
this winter, still manages to keep a hand in
her many activist groups, including the Birmingham
Bloomfield Democratic Club, the Oakland County
Democratic Party and Michigan NOW as well as
WAND.
Let
us know what YOU’VE been up to!
Email
your news to Clare Mead Rosen at: WANDMichigan@Comcast.Net
FAREWELL,
KIM!
On
March 1, WAND will say good-bye to Kim Bergier,
our Membership Chair for five years and WAND’s
intrepid witness for peace. Kim attends virtually
every rally, vigil or march held in this town
-- to say nothing of other towns, like Oak Ridge,
TN and Washington DC. Kim has worn so many hats
for WAND that we will need to replace her with
three people! They are Fern Katz, who
will be our new Membership Chair, Bonnie Schemm,
who will be our new Database Manager, and Peggy
Collins, who will be the new Mailing Coordinator
for WAND Michigan. Kim will continue to work
on her many other projects, including the Michigan
Stop the Bombs Campaign, which is preparing
for the 60th anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki
with another national action in Oak Ridge TN.
Near the end of 2006, Kim and her husband Roman
plan to make major move: they’re going back
from whence they came to us, to California (Lucky
California. Poor Arnold).
We’ll Remember Charlotte
One of WAND’s sunniest, warmest personalities is gone. Charlotte
Grossman was also among our most passionate
advocates and activists, even after she became
an octogenarian. Most recently, Charlotte
Grossman served on the WAND Michigan Board,
where she revived the Afternoon Group. It
convened monthly, not for tea and crumpets,
but for current events discussion geared to
taking action on WAND’s issues. Charlotte
died in December a few days after the winter
solstice. She left a wonderful husband, Sam,
and a wonderful group of children and grandchildren.
Like them, we in WAND will miss her so very
much. Deep in every December to come, as
the winter solstice approaches, we’ll think
especially of Charlotte, who brought so much
hope and light into so many lives.
LOOKING
AHEAD: ANA DAYS ARE NIGH: LET US KNOW
IF YOU WANT TO GO!
Join activists from around the nation on April
10-13 in Washington, DC for four days of training,
advocacy, and networking focused on the Nuclear
Weapons Complex. Learn how to effectively voice
your concerns about nuclear weapons and nuclear
waste policies and then meet with Members of
Congress and the Administration. The Alliance
for Nuclear Accountability is a network of over
30 grassroots and national organizations, including
WAND, all of them working to protect human health
and the environment by addressing issues of
nuclear weapons production and waste cleanup.
NOTE! WAND
Michigan will again offer a small stipend to
help ONE current member take part in ANA Days,
so let us know if you want to go! Pls
email Clare Mead Rosen before Tues March 1,
2005: WANDMichigan@Comcast.Net.
Registration Deadline: March 11, 2005
Register by March 11, 2005 and pay only $85.
Students: $35.
After March 11, registration is $100.
For more information about DC Days:
visit www.ananuclear.org/dcdays2005.html
More
in next Bulletin about other future events,
including our annual
MOTHER’S
PEACE DAY DINNER, Thurs, May 12. SAVE
THE DATE!
