Which was a lot of files. Those people were never caught. They told their story to the media long after the event was over and the statute of limitations had expired but the aim there was not to do it as a public action, not to wait around to be caught. The aim was to do it without income but it was definitely a form of direct action. Our fivern it over to terrific panelists and we will take them as it happens in the order that is on this sheet and that is also the order that we are sitting up here the table. Weif you do not have a sheet will pass out copies. I will say the name of the person who is doing it because the sheet has more information that i could do without taking up a lot of time. Keelert speaker is randy. Is good to be with you for this very important discussion. I do not know exactly what direct action is. I do not know if there is a correct definition. If there is, i do not know it. I have rarely studied any theories of direct action. Done what i just have made sense to me in the face of certain circumstances. That made sense to me strategically and ethically. Ifhink mostly defined, direct action may be loosely defined, i spent most of my adult life engaged in direct action. Some of that is in the program you have, i will try not to repeat. Many of us who when we first get involved in direct action of any and anhere is a moment issue that gets us involved. For me, the moment was 1966 by was 22 years old, and the issue was the u. S. War on vietnam. Went gradually but steadily , peaceful protest to out resistance and noncooperation in a very public way. Turning in my draft card and finally getting arrested by the fbi in a brutal incident and spending 22 months in federal prison as a result. Years, i found that organizing was something that i like to do and i could do and seemed to helpful thing to do. It was not just an active participant in direct action but i spend more time organizing whether it was trying to stop 20 from beinger plants built on the montague claims north of here or stopping the construction which we did not succeed in doing of the Seabrook Nuclear power plant in New Hampshire in the late 1970s. A number of things like that. Mylso started early with wife betsy corner to feel that war was so horrendous in our minds in so many ways whether it is creating poverty and abuse, not to mention the killing of the war itself and destruction of land and the environment, so many ways that we not only i did not want to give my body to the war, did not want to give my tax money to the war. Betsy and i have been more tax resisters ever since 1976 and as a result have had Bank Accounts levied andour wages 1991, i think, seized and sold out from under us. A number of you here were involved in that. We had hundreds of supporters which was an amazing thing. Most of the 1980s and 1990s i spend is organizing in nationalg two major campaigns, one for Nuclear Disarmament and the other for the abolition of privately financed bigmoney election campaigns. After a few years of respite, trying to recuperate from my exertions, i got involved in trying to stop the Vermont YankeeNuclear Power plant which is north of here in vermont which has been stopped. [applause] other people here have been very much involved in that. And now i am one of many people, again, including a number of people here tonight who is involved in trying to think through what should be the role of direct action and stopping this huge pipeline project that destroy major pieces of through towns all throughout western massachusetts to carry a needed gas that should never have been fracked in the first place to impart foreign markets for the corporation to want to build the pipeline. That is a whole other issue and some people will talk about that in the discussion period. Let me share a few observations, conclusions may be, alternative. About anyll tentative of these activities i have described. Direction act and direct action is not the same as civil disobedience. Civil this obedience is involved direct action can be a number of things, not just blocking or stopping things which is the primary activity and i have been involved in lots of those things, but it can also involve the Creative Arts in all sorts outays, impromptu speaking and hanging banners on buildings and sculptures and street theater and you name it. Secondly, direct action so it is a key element in campaigns for social or political change, is rarely, in my estimation, able to pull off fundamental change on its own. Ands at best an element often the key element as part of a wider, broader strategy that involves a kind of other things from neighborhood organizing and theic education, use of media and initiating discussions with elected officials. Vanessas dan said and clearly also said, there is a risk in direct action especially when it involves civil this obedience but the risk is undeniably a most always greater for people of color, for women, for working class, poor people, that it is for people like male, who are white, privileged people. That is the way it is and i think that needs to be always recognized. I want to also say that acts of andage, of conscience, passion are contagious. They are contagious. And when people step out with compassion,science, passion, and in compassion take a risk. It inspires other people. It is contagious and that is key to building a movement. Some number of people always end up doing that and it spreads and it inspires. Mentionwanted to just some people have told many of us , certainly have told me why do you bother risking arrest or taking time off from work or disrupting family life or any direct action or event when you know it just will not do any good, you know . You cannot fight city hall. Who cares, it does not matter, so forth. I want to say that i have heard that many times. Noant to say that for me, active conscience, of courage, of passion can ever be said to be futile. Simply because we do not know what ripples grow out from what we do, who hears, who in my own life, i have a rather dramatic story to say, i was in 1969 peech just giving a talk i was talking about the fact that i had been arrested by the fbi. I was almost certainly on my way to prison. There was a guy in the audience, whose name happen to be daniel, who later revealed to the public i didtopsecret papers not he was there, and did not know he would somehow here something i had said which is, what can we do more than we are already doing to risk imprisonment. He said that he knew the topsecret study had to be revealed to the public, showing years and years, if not decades, of lies about the war in vietnam to the public and the press. He faced a potential 115 years in prison. Nothing is futile. Another personal story i would give is when i was in federal prison, a number of us hotheads, some of the older convicts called us, that we should organize a strike. We were told, this place had not had a strike in 40 years, no one. Ould strike, forget it finally, i went on my own personal strength because i was set up with the conditions. Weeks later, we had the first strike in 40 years, and guess who led it you got it, the chicanos and the mexicans. Who would have thought. You think, maybe this does not work, maybe this sales, but you never know down the road what the ripples are that go out. Example iat is the could give. Finally, women over others to me is a key feature, and should be a Strategic Focus of all the actions we do. Win when we get enough people, if not joining us, to support us, to force decisionmakers to change things. We have to think, what does what we do affect other people, and will they run for us, or will they join us . Finally, open and active nonviolence is also absolutely key. People are afraid of those who use violence, no matter who they are, and their cause. Most people are afraid of that. There is a reason, if we are to win over others, not to use violence. Also, for me personally, it is both an ethical and a spiritual question. It coincides with my values, and allows me to feel good about the actions i do, and keep on doing it over the longhaul. The last thing is there is something called the law of and and means. I regard it as a fundamental law of the universe, which is to say, we get not what we want, we get what we do. It is like chickens always come home to roost. What goes around comes around. If we use violence, somewhere, it will trigger counter violence. Oft is the sad, sad story our country, and the world. It is one reason why we think about how we do things, and not just what we do. Thank you. [applause] thank you very much. Ky. Next speaker is pa i want to know what i think is direct action. Sometimes it is walking, sometimes it is just standing. I was talking to one of my sisters and black lies matter lives matter, and i said, what do you want from me . She said, i want you to walk with me. With leastthe people privilege are the people we most listen to. When i think about direct theon, i think about actions i participate in. One thing i think of is the sense of community that i have. I could talk to not for 12 minutes god, i could talk to you for 12 years about the power of community, but i will not. We will do something even better than that. My good sisters, the raging grannies are here, and we are going to sing a song. This is one of the things that are community of raging grannies does. We are passing out song sheets for you to sing the song. We are not doing a concert. We are doing one song. We thought, what is the best song to do right now, right here. Won the contest is the one about the pipeline that randy just talked about. Diane, do you want to hit it . Join in. If you are not singing the same notes as your neighbor, dont worry. Pete seeger said that is just your own way of doing your harmony. Come on, sing loud no white lies for us we will keep them all out we will raise and we will shout ways we makeo many power these days from the wind and the sun, dont you see. Frackingp the to keep us healthy and whole we come here to say, no fracking [applause] not only was that a nice but, a wonderful rendition, you, in singing with us, become part of the community. I know some of us are already part of the community opposing the pipeline, but anyway we can emphasize our connections in resistance is a good thing. Thanks for singing along. Im paying attention. Do was reallyto spend a little time looking at how i came to this. My own story is that i grew up in new orleans. Your grandparents were born in 1943. I was born in new orleans in 1943 in the apartheid south. It was an amazingly horrific time. I did not know it because look at the color of the skin. I was very privileged. I had another dimension of my life. That was with my parents, who were extraordinarily quiet advanced alcoholics. Where did i turn and where did i find support . Where i found support was in a church. In nuns and priests, who were strong people, caring people, and provided those seeds of my appreciation of community. Not only were they there, caring,g and ca they were aware of the Racial Injustice that was happening. It was through them that i learned what was happening in the various dimensions of racism that you know about and have heard about, and was actually there when we took the signs down. We were working for integration. We have come some way from that. It was a step. As i have talked to my other friends, particularly other white southerners, who have also learned about how not only did the people of color suffer, but. E did because we bought a lie it has taken many years to undo those lies. That is just the early seeds. Since then, what i have come to is we are in this in a place of confluence, where all of our context matters. It is so important, i think, as i look at some of the students, and not so students, and i realize that each of us is located in where we came from, our own stories. In knowing those stories, we are informed to participate in this present, where we find ourselves. An extraordinary time. We are talking about the press. Once upon a time, when we did activities, actions, i was part of the womens pentagon action. That actually made the washington post. The energyple at commission right, fasting, protesting, and im sure you have read all about it. , or we dohave a press not have a press that covers anything of substance. Let me tell you a story about something that happened last week. I was down in washington, and last tuesday, the day after labor day, there was a man speaking at the american , oneprise institute aei of our friends dubbed it the american Empire Incorporated anyway, dick cheney, who some of you may remember was giving the talk. God knows what they were paying him. He was giving a talk. One of the young people, a number of friends try to get an, only one person got in, a young intern with code pink, who got onto the front row, and during mr. Cheneys speech stood up with a banner that said, arrest war cheney, he is a criminal. That was pretty amazing. Needless to say, there was a man who was upset about this, and started pulling the banner away from her. She did not let it go. Finally, he actually felt over, trying to take it away from her. Later in the day, and she was out sheete escorted got a call from the press, who wanted to know, what was her workout exercise. [laughter] i mean, how irrelevant can you possibly be that that was their question. , why are you here, how did you get in . But, this man not being held accountable by anybody, and this godyear old, young intern bless her. That is why we need to keep doing what we are doing. If we do not make the noise, if we do not tell the story, they do not get out. Im looking around at friends who have radio programs on our local lowpower Community Radio stations, and know that is where you are going to get your news. Forget fox. Even nbc and abc, you are just not going to get it. These are the pieces of news that we have to keep alive so that students today will know it is not simply a question of what is your exercise regime. That is one of the pieces. The other thing i want to bring up his the issue for me, of what i could call personalism get distracted by numbers and statistics. How big is the pipeline, how millimeters. W many i am just not a mathematician. Says, this is a really bad thing, and i want you to learn about it, and come and stand with me, i will do that. I had the good fortune recently to be offered that kind of invitation by father roy, the guy who started the school of americas watch. We happen to be at the same house, and he said, by the way, tomorrow, im going to the Salvadoran Embassy because they are doing terrible things to , sending them to jail for 40 years, would you come and protest with me. It is like with randy, or any of even if jeffere said, would you come and do this protest with me, to the state house because i trust you, and livesou when black matters says, we are doing something, would you come and be there. I think that is what we are called to do, to be in community, and keep moving, keep shifting things. A lot of us are familiar with the Martin Luther king jr. Quote, the arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards . Ustice, have you heard that i what you to know the rest of the sentence. Ark. A neutral it only bends towards justice when we put our weight on it. Stay awake. , andour weight on the arc bend it towards justice. Thank you. [applause] one very minor personal footnote before i turn the mic over to karen. My brother and i differ in our politics. The demonstration of that will be the 65 guy who tried to pull the banner away from code pink was in fact my brother. [laughter] speaker is karen, nolking about springfield one leaves a group that fights for foreclosures. Karen my name is karen, and i am a member of springfield no one leaves, an organization that helps people in their housing struggles. Tragedies struck my inily when my son was killed an auto accident. Four months later, my mother passed away. I spiraled into depression. I used up all of my shortterm disability, and borrowed from my Life Insurance to stay current with my mortgage. Exhaustedfter i had all of my disability, i began to on my mortgage. I immediately contacted the bank to work out some kind of arrangement to keep my home. They refused to work with me in any capacity to keep my home, and told me that my only option was to sell my home. After years of fighting for my home on my own, i found springfield no one leaves. I found that i was not alone, that there were thousands in my city, and i had rights. During my interactions with springfield no one leaves i learned many things. Particularly how banks target women, and, workingclass people, making houses for profit, and not for people. Withore involved i became springfield no one leaves, the more ive found that injustices ,ere happening in my community and the underlying systems that were allowing this to happen. People were being evicted that had a fear of paying rent, or had recovered from the economic crisis, and could not afford to buy back their homes at the current value. I found the banks having no humility or compassion, and putting children, elderly, and ultimately, families out on the street, making more and more homes vacant in my city, instead of making money by accepting rent or working with families to help them stay in homes, they were ruining our neighborhoods and our community. , one of of this year the families received an eviction from the judge. That family included a twoyearold child, her disabled grandparents, and her parents. Through my education with springfield no one leaves i knew this family would not be eligible to go to a shelter, and would be outliving on the streets. Eating evicted by a judge is proof that you are homeless. You have to show that you are living in a car, or on the street. I decided that i was not ok with this, and was going to do everything i possibly could to keep the family in their home. I attended an eviction blockade training, facilitated by luke bryan and springfield no one leaves to see what role i could lay and keeping this family and their homes. All roles that people could play were laid out on the table, including the practice of civil disobedience. Even though i had never participated in civil disobedience before, i decided then and there that i believed enough and this movement that i was going to block the doors alfredo,comrades turner,ose, and chris one of the owners of the home. In our training, we discussed in beingxperience arrested could differ from one another, even though we would all be doing the same exact act of civil disobedience locking the doors. We could be treated differently because of the color of our skin, our gender, and other disparities. Also made it clear that some of us could be held longer than others, based on the same reasons. I was not shocked by this ,nformation, as a black woman we are still facing the same disparities we had in the Civil Rights Movement in the