STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS

Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment

June, 2001

A Modesto Peace/Life Center Publication

Peace Community

Peace Camp speakers address energy crisis, national missile defense

By MONIQUE KAMILLE

President George Bush’s energy plan calls for rolling back pollution controls for power plants and refineries, opening up federal lands for oil and gas drilling, and fast-track licensing for new nuclear power plants. Bush says, "If we fail to act, this great country could face a darker future, a future that is unfortunately being previewed in rising prices at the gas pump and rolling black-outs in the great state of California." But, arguably, the California energy crisis has not been caused by a supply shortage. In fact, in 1996, in the wake of deregulation legislation, Dan Berman predicted this crisis.

Dan Berman, Ph.D., author of Who Owns the Sun, will speak at Peace Camp. Dan is a utility analyst for the Office of Ratepayer Advocates of the CA Utilities Commission and, as co-founder of the Coalition for Local Power, has been pushing for public ownership of utilities in his home town of Davis. Dan believes that “public ownership with local control…is a necessary, if not a sufficient condition for a solar economy.” Dan brings his expertise on this timely topic and his discussion shall surely give us all better information about California’s energy crisis.

Another important topic is the militarization of space. Andrew Page of California Peace Action will speak to campers about successful activism and engage his audience in a discussion about National Missile Defense, “mini-nukes”, and the offensive capabilities of the President’s military plans. Andrew writes that, “The Pentagon’s plans favor military omnipresence over the rule of international law. To the rest of the world, that looks like tyranny. When our President denounces the ABM Treaty, the cornerstone of nuclear arms control, that, too, looks like tyranny.” Andrew’s experience as Political Director has given him the opportunity to influence politicians in a variety of ways. His insights into successful activism are lessons we can all use.

Andrew will also work with camp youth, giving them ideas and advice about how they might act on the issues that they feel drawn to.

ACTION: Sign up for Peace Camp! For information, contact the Center, (209) 529-5750 or call Lynn Lucas, 527-7634.

Reflections on Cesar Chavez Day

By SANDY SAMPLE

For me, creating the Modesto Peace/Life Center’s display honoring the life and work of Cesar Chavez for the March 31st Chavez Day celebration was both a powerful revisiting of my past connection to the farmworker’s movement, and a powerful reminder of how far we still need to go in valuing the contribution farmworkers make to the life of the entire community.

I first met Cesar Chavez in the summer of 1962 in a church basement in Modesto. We were a handful of seminarians and college student volunteers gathered for a week-long training before being sent out to various farm labor camps throughout the San Joaquin Valley, with the California Migrant Ministry summer service program. This shy, unassuming man held us spellbound as he spoke with quiet intensity about what life was like for California’s farmworkers. He spoke of his vision of uniting farmworkers in a struggle for justice in the fields. We sensed that the work we were about to embark on would be meaningful, perhaps even life-changing—and a part of a larger vision.

What I could not, of course, envision was that 39 years later I would be digging through piles of memorabilia centered around Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers movement. Some of it was unearthed from boxes in my garage, some loaned by others. From this I created 18 panels featuring pictures, news clippings, fliers, articles, quotes from Cesar Chavez, and other mementos from the UFW movement, in hopes that the story they told would inform, inspire and move others to learn more about this remarkable man and the vision he brought to life: justice for farmworkers.

But what moved me most was not my personal reflection as I sifted, sorted and arranged memorabilia to create the display, but what happened to those who viewed it at the Modesto Junior College quad the day of the event. People lingered awhile, fascinated by the story our display panels told of farmworkers’ lives, and of the power they had claimed when they met Cesar Chavez and joined him in creating a movement that challenged entrenched power in this Valley. There were people who read every word, even the small print, even the inside of folded-over brochures and fliers. People seemed hungry for the story, even if they were encountering it for the first time.

Young Latino parents pointed to pictures and told their young children with pride: “This is what life was like when I was a child.” “This is the work your grandparents did.” “Your abuelita picked grapes like in this picture.” “We lived in a camp like this when I was little.” People reached out to touch the short-handled hoe and winced in pain, remembered or imagined, at the thought of workers stooping over all day in the hot sun. Watching children push the “migrant baby” in a cradle fashioned from a lug box, hanging from a tree branch, one young mother tenderly placed her own infant in the cradle and we all watched the baby gently swing back and forth, back and forth, entranced by the sunlight filtering through the branches above. An 85 year-old farmer worker with a sun-weathered face reminisced in Spanish about his days with the UFW movement.

As they moved around the display area, many spoke softly of the past, of their respect for Cesar Chavez, of the hope he brought to farmworkers. Many were visibly moved, caught in memory, even inspired. People stayed awhile, pondered, paid respect, shared stories and memories, asked questions, offered suggestions for next year’s display. Some offered us treasured photos, and other mementos of local events: the 1975 Gallo march or the 1995 Memorial March from Ceres through South Modesto, for next year’s celebration. A former farmworker told us, “This is the first time I have been able to be proud to say I was a farmworker.”

And many proudly signed their names to our posterboards: “I come from a farmworker family.” “I’m proud to have known Cesar Chavez.” “I participated in a UFW march/vigil/picket line/boycott.” “I went to Delano for Cesar’s funeral.” “Cesar Chavez inspires me. I want to commit myself to a life of nonviolence and service.” Forty people signed up to help plan next year’s event.

I was often moved to tears that day as I witnessed the connections people were making with the story our display told. I’m proud to have represented the Peace/Life Center on the committee that planned the Chavez Day event, and I’m honored to have been able to shape our display. But most of all, I continue to be deeply moved by people’s response to the story our display told: the attention they paid, the respect they showed, the tears they shed, the memories they shared, and the moments when, perhaps for the first time, some felt pride, not shame, in being a farmworker.

May there be many more days and ways we can come together to honor Cesar Chavez, who with determination and deep commitment to nonviolence led farmworkers in claiming their right to be treated with dignity and respect. And may his spirit continue to enliven our work for a more peaceful and just world.

The deadly effects of sanctions on Iraq

There can be no justification for the death and malnutrition for which sanctions are responsible. We are in the process of destroying an entire society. It is as simple and terrifying as that….
— Denis Halliday, former U.N. Assistant Secretary General, who resigned after 34 years of service in protest of the sanctions. On August 6, 1990, the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions when Iraq invaded Kuwait. The blockade continues ten years later with devastating results.

Economy

• Iraq has experienced a shift from relative affluence to massive poverty.

• Iraq’s GDP fell by 2/3 in 1991, owing to an 85% decline in oil production and the devastation of the industrial and services sectors of the economy. Per capita income fell from $3,416 U.S. dollars in 1984 to less than $1,036 in 1998.

Food and nutrition

• In July of 1995, average shop prices of essential commodities stood at 850 times the July 1990 levels.

• Alarming food shortages are causing irreparable damage to an entire generation of Iraqi children. One-fourth of Iraqi children under the age of five are malnourished.

• The dietary energy supply fell from 3.120 to 1.093 kilocalories per capita/per day by 1994-95. As many as 70% of Iraqi women are suffering from anemia. [

Health

• Government drug warehouses and pharmacies have few stocks of medicines and medical supplies. The consequences of this situation are causing a near-breakdown of the health care system. Infant mortality rates in Iraq today are among the highest in the world.

• The sanctions have contributed to the death of over one million Iraqis, half of them children. More than 200 people die each day in Iraq. More than 4,500 children under the age of 5 die each month.

Water and sanitation

• Access to potable water, relative to 1990 levels, is only 50% in urban areas and 33% in rural areas. The overall deterioration in the quality and quantity of drinking water has contributed to the rapid spread of infectious disease. Raw sewage often flows into streets and homes.

Electrical power

• In 1990, Iraq had 126 power station units capable of generating 8.903 Mw of power. Today, the capacity is about 3.500 Mw.

Education

• School enrollment for all ages (6-23) has declined to 53%. Some schools with a planned capacity of 700 pupils actually have 4,500 enrolled in them.

• Substantive progress in reducing adult and female illiteracy has ceased and regressed to mid-1980 levels. The rising number of street children and children who work can be explained, in part, as a result of increasing rates of school drop-outs and repetition, as more families are forced to rely on children to secure household incomes.

End the Sanctions! Join us at the Peace/Life Center
as we vigil and work to end this inhumane government policy.
Call 529-5750 or email modestoplc@ainet.com

From the National Network to End the War against Iraq: www.endthewar.org