Mass anti-war protest march January 18

Converge in San Francisco and Washington DC on January 18, 2003 for a mass demonstration and in Washington on January 19 for the Convening of the Grassroots Peace Congress. 

The urgency has never been greater. On November 21, the Financial Times quoted former Secretary of State George Shultz as sating, "there will be military action, I would be surprised if we have not acted by the end of January." A top Bush security advisor, Richard Perle, told a meeting of Labour Party MPs in England that the administration was determined to go to war. MP Peter Kilfoyle, based on Perle's comments, reported, "President Bush intends to go to war even if inspectors find nothing." (Mirror/UK, 11/21)

The Modesto Peace/Life Center, in cooperation with the Unitarian-Universalists and the Green Party, is organizing a local bus trip to San Francisco for the protest. Meet at the Peace Center, 720 Thirteenth St., in downtown Modesto, at 8:00 a.m. (bus leaves promptly at 8:30 a.m.) and return at approximately 5:30 p.m.

Sign ups for the bus trip may be made by mailing your fare to the Peace Center or to Tracy Herbeck, or by telephoning Michael Napp, 526-9588, 484-0226, or the Center, 529-5750. Payment must accompany reservations: $15 for adults, $10 for students. Some scholarships are available for those not able to pay the full fare.

Each and every person must take action now to prevent this catastrophe.

To endorse the January 18-19 Mass Actions in DC, visit www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/j18/j18endorse.html#endo

Register your opposition to the war at www.VoteNoWar.org

ACTION: For more information, contact www.InternationalANSWER.org; email: answer@actionsf.org; or phonr (San Francisco) 415-821-6545

MLK Commemoration: hear activist, physician, Dr. Mae Jemison 
By JAMES COSTELLO

The Ninth Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration will feature the first woman of color into space, activist, physician, scientist, teacher, Mae Jemison, M.D. on Saturday, January 25, 2003 at the Modesto Junior College gym, 7 p.m., sponsored by the Modesto Peace/Life Center, City of Modesto, King-Kennedy Memorial Center, Modesto Junior College, and Frailing, Rockwell, and Kelly.

Born in Decatur, Alabama and raised in Chicago, she entered Stanford University at sixteen on a scholarship and graduated with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and fulfilled the requirements for an A.B. in African and Afro-American studies. She earned her doctorate in medicine at Cornell University Medical College.

Dr. Jemison served as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut for six years. As the science mission specialist on the STS-47 Spacelab, she conducted experiments in life sciences, material sciences, and was a co-investigator of the Bone Cell Research experiment. Dr. Jemison resigned from NASA in March 1993.

In 1994, Dr. Jemison founded and chairs The Earth We Share (TEWS), an annual international science camp where students from around the world, ages 12 to 16, work together to solve current global dilemmas, like "How Many People Can the Earth Hold" and "Predict the Hot Public Stocks of The Year 2030." The four-week residential program builds critical thinking and problem solving skills through an experiential curriculum. TEWS is a program of the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence. Dr. Jemison also serves as Bayer Corporation's national science literacy advocate.

Dr. Jemison was elected into the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine in 2001. She serves on the Board of Directors for Scholastic, Inc. and Valspar Corporation, and the Texas Governor's State Council for Science and BioTechnology Development. Dr. Jemison has received numerous awards and honors, including induction into the National Women's Hall of Fame; selection as one of the People magazines' 1993 "World's 50 Most Beautiful People"; Johnson Publications Black Achievement Trailblazers Award; the Kilby Science Award; National Medical Association Hall of Fame; selection as a Montgomery Fellow, Dartmouth College; Texas Science Hall of Fame; Rotary Club Chicago's ROTARY/One Award; and a number of honorary doctorates including Princeton University. Dr. Jemison has presented to the UN on the uses of space technology, appeared weekly as the host and technical consultant of the "World of Wonder" series on the Discovery channel in 1994-1995, appeared in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and was the subject of the PBS documentary, The New Explorers. She is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and has an alternative public school in Detroit named after her. In January 1999, she was selected as one of the top seven women leaders in a Presidential Ballot national straw poll conducted by The White House Project.

Dr. Jemison is an A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University, which brings in select individuals to supplement the activities of permanent faculty. Dr. Jemison was a professor of Environmental Studies at Dartmouth College from 1995 - 2002, where she directed the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries. S.E.E.ing the Future (Science, Engineering and Education), an institute project and workshop, is a White Paper that discusses a framework for prioritizing governmental funding of science and engineering research that will be released in 2002. She was the moderator for an IEEE-USA Technical Symposia Space Technologies for Disaster Mitigation and Global Health.

Dr. Jemison founded The Jemison Group, Inc. to focus on the beneficial integration of science and technology into our everyday lives. Company projects have included consulting on the design and implementation of solar thermal electricity generation systems for developing countries and remote areas and the use of satellite-based telecommunications to facilitate health care delivery in West Africa.

ACTION: Join us for this free yearly event in remembering Martin Luther King and hear Dr. Jemison's inspirational message. For information, call 577-5355.

Links:
Biography of Dr. Jemison at NASA
Profile of Dr. Jemison at TopBlacks.com
For kids: Read about Dr. Jemison at StarChild

NAACP Modesto/Stanislaus opens website

The Modesto/Stanislaus Chapter of the NAACP is pleased to announce the availability of a website to provide information about the organization and Modesto-area events.

Book Review: Find Where the Wind Blows by Dr. Mae Jemison (Scholastic Press 2001) 
By MYRTLE OSNER

Dr. Mae Jemison's autobiography Find Where the Wind Blows reveals a sassy feminist, a woman who is always testing the limits. Though it is a children's book, it has much to inspire us all.

Most well known as the first African American woman astronaut, the book says relatively little about that career, emphasizing instead how she met challenges in growing up.

As a junior in high school she worked on a science project on sickle cell anemia at Chicago's Cook County Hospital for which she won first place. Graduating at age 16, she went on to Stanford University on a scholarship. She had already decided to major in biomedical engineering.

Professors gave her a hard time. She says, "At sixteen, I did not know that professors' sexism and racism could be so great as to be threatened by my presence." What saved her were her friends, her love of fun and dancing. "I found ways to let the wind blow around me and then open my wings and soar in its currents." The wind is a metaphor which permeates her story.

Summers were spent traveling, especially in Africa and later in the Peace Corps between years in medical school.

Mae Jemison's wisdom was honed in the Middle East, where she witnessed ideas from many religions. "I began to understand the complexity of the politics and I also saw faith. I felt the wind gathering energy and I understood that until we humans acknowledge how intertwined we are with one another, there will be endless suffering."

We could all take a lesson from that statement.

ACTION: Hear Dr. Mae Jemison in person at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration, Modesto Jr. College, Saturday, January 25, 2003, 7:00 p.m. Co-sponsored by Peace/Life Center, King Kennedy Center, City of Modesto Neighborhoods and Recreation Dept., MJC, the Modesto Bee, Frailing, Rockwell and Kelly, others.

Derek Henkle to relate quest for freedom from harassment
By TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL

Twenty-one year old Derek Henkle, who recently won a $451,000 settlement against the Reno Nevada School District for failure to protect him while he was a student, will keynote the GLSEN Modesto Safe Schools Summit 2003 Saturday, January 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Modesto Junior College, 435 College Avenue, Modesto.

Henkle's story punctuates the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network mission, which "strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation."

His is the first case to obtain a federal ruling stating the illegality of any attempts to silence LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) students from discussing their sexual orientation; that trying to bar students from such discussions is a violation of first amendment rights; and that "schools have an inviolable responsibility to assure the educational rights of all students regardless of their sexual identities."

The summit will involve educators, school administrators, attorneys, law enforcement officers, gay/lesbian youth, parents of gay/lesbian students, and gay parents.

Numerous conference breakout sessions will include:

• An orientation to the legal and ethical responsibilities of schools regarding GLBT youth.

• One school district’s plans for communicating those responsibilities to all district personnel.

• An analysis of the effects of anti-gay discrimination in our nation’s schools.

• Methods and strategies teachers can employ to end anti-gay harassment in their classrooms.

• An overview of programs that address respect and responsibility in school sports.

• A panel of school site police officers sharing their perspectives on school related hate crimes.

• An introduction to basic terms and concepts concerning sexual orientation and identity.

• A discussion of Gay Straight Alliances as powerful tools for fostering dignity and respect.

• A panel of GLBT high school youth who will tell their stories.

• A dialogue with gay/lesbian parents about special educational issues regarding their own children.

• The personal perspectives of parents with school age gay or lesbian children.

ACTION: All persons, regardless of sexual orientation or occupation , who are committed to working together to breakdown the barriers of fear and prejudice that have prevented school personnel from assuring the safety of gay students despite policies already in place to prevent harassment, exclusion from activities, blatant name calling, and physical abuse of any student, are invited to attend and help make a difference in the lives of gay youth. Registration is $25 including lunch, $20 for GLSEN members, and $10 for students (who are encouraged to ask for scholarships). Deadline for registration is Saturday, January 18, 2003. Send payment to GLSEN Modesto, PO Box 579102, Modesto, CA 95355. For information call (209) 527-0776, ext. 2.