Black Lives > Your Guns, And Other Signs Of The Times #DisarmPolice

Yup, Maine Legislature, that's you they're talking about. Image courtesy of LumenARRT!

As reported by NewsCenter Maine in Augusta last night:

"Maine itself has a lot of trouble with passing laws that make guns safe," said Anita Clearfield, a member of LumenARRT!

"The legislators are afraid to do that.

You can see by their ratings with the NRA who's got an A plus rating, to know who's voted."

Most of the 400 or so who gathered with my family in Waterville yesterday were students, teachers or those who love them. You could guess who the writing teachers were.

My sister Hope proudly copied her math-ish sign from one in Washington DC before we headed to our local march. Here she is with Mindy Bergeron-Lawrence, local reproductive rights activist.

Photo: Roger Leisner, Maine Paparazzi

My husband, Mark Roman, a former NRA member who turned against the gun lobby as they became increasingly belligerent and dangerous, created a sign targeting what he sees as a big part of the problem:

Some other notable signs of the times in central Maine:

The problem is, until you solve this problem, we've still got a big problem:

Maine's capitol lit up by LumenARRT! last night

Yesterday in Waterville I listened to a teacher of the year, a principal, and a former student who's now a teacher, bear witness to how frightened kids are today, and how traumatic it is to have lockdowns, lockouts, and shooter drills in school.

Oh, and the biggest roar from yesterday's crowd ? When a speaker said:

Arming teachers is a very bad idea. 

(Music teacher Shannon Thurston also got a big response when she noted that school budgets don't even have adequate funding for tissues.)

I was gratified to hear reference to the mammoth violence budget of the Pentagon as part of the problem, despite the fact that the event was a thinly veiled Democratic Party get-out-the-vote effort. 

I also appreciated a minister who noted  my sign referencing the latest egregious killing by police of an unarmed black man, father of two Stephon Clark.

Powerful moment. Stephon Clark's brother comes face to face with police officers at the protest downtown. "20 times," he says to each of them #StephonClark pic.twitter.com/vSe4S3JhFr

— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) March 24, 2018

That reminds me of the best article I read yesterday: An Incomplete List of Things Black People Should Avoid Doing So They Won't Be Killed by Police by Michael Herriot in The Root. It's bitterly funny in style but is also a catalog of the many, many men and women gunned down by police who have no business carrying guns.

I lived in Tokyo for four years. Shortly after I arrived there, I saw a drunk man screaming in the face of a stoic police officer as I walked through a park near my apartment. Some impressive de-escalation skills were on display. I kept expecting the cop to clock the guy but it never happened.

There was no danger that the cop would shoot the aggressive man, because police in Tokyo were armed with bicycles and flashlights, not guns.


I may have been the only one in Waterville yesterday with a sign calling to disarm police, but then it was a very white crowd. Many people agree with me that armed police are part of the problem -- not part of the solution.

neither of these statistics are ok. this post is not to say one of these is more traumatic than the other but to put things into perspective and draw attention to the overall misuse of guns and power in this country. #MarchForOurLives #DisarmPolice pic.twitter.com/xeeUYNhHZ7

— Solidarity Cville (@SolidCville) March 25, 2018

Pentagon Drones Kill Civilians in Afghanistan As Protesters Arrested At Beale Air Force Base

Drone protesters Sharon, Chris, Toby, Shirley, Barry, and Cathy.  All but Barry crossed onto the base.

My sister activist Toby Blome connected the dots in an email this morning:

On Tuesday, Sept. 27, the very day that activists were at Beale Air Force Base protesting endless wars and illegal drone killing, a U.S. Drone attack killed 13 civilians and wounded 14 others in Afghanistan.   

Initially the Pentagon claimed that most of those killed were "suspected militants," but a day later they are admitting to most or all being civilians.  (story here)  Who will be next?

Toby pointed me to an account of the arrests and the rationale for being arrested by Sharon Delgado on her blog post "Campaign Nonviolence Action at Beale" which I repost here:

This morning I was arrested with four other women at Beale Air Force Base after crossing onto base property.   We were taken by military bus to a building on base, given citations, and released.  We may be given an arraignment date and we may go to trial, although in recent months all charges for peace activists have been dismissed. 

We were wearing blue scarves and we had #enough written on our hands because we took this action in solidarity the Afghan Peace Volunteers and their blog Our Journey to Smile.  Afghan Peace Volunteers is a group of young people working for peace in Afghanistan.   I became aware of them when peace activist Kathy Kelly came with us to Beale a couple of years ago.  Our blue scarves and the #enough banners and words written on our hands are a response to their invitation “Join us to say #enough.” 

Before we were arrested, each of us explained what we have had enough of.  I explained that I have had enough of drone warfare.  (Beale is the home of the Global Hawk Drone, a surveillance drone that identifies targets for armed Predator and Reaper drones.)  I have also had enough of the U.S. Air Force Vision for 2020, which is geared toward “full spectrum dominance” for the purpose of “protecting U.S. interests and investments” as “the globalization of the world economy… continues, with a widening between “haves” and “have-nots.” 

 I have had enough of the U.S. military enforcing a global order that is enriching the already wealthy, protecting the privileged, exploiting those who are vulnerable, causing massive suffering, and destroying this beautiful earth.  #Enough war. #Enough “accidental” (or incidental) killing of children.  #Enough suffering.  #Enough extrajudicial killing.  #Enough. 

We also took this action in coordination with the Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions.  Over 700 separate Campaign Nonviolence Actions have taken place in recent days. 

If you want to know more about drones or past demonstrations and trials related to Beale, seemy past blogs on drones.   Follow my blog by clicking the “Follow Sharon Delgado” button at the right or by “liking” the Shaking the Gates of Hell Facebook page.  

I note that yesterday Congress overrode Obama's veto of what's being called the "Sue the Saudis" bill that allowing families of those who died on 9/11 to seek relief in the courts. Obama presumably vetoed it because Saudi Arabia is a key ally of the U.S., a country to whom billions of weapons are shipped regularly. Similar to our other good buddy in the region, Israel, Saudi Arabia has a horrendous record of human rights violations. 

From RT's report on the veto: 

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has argued that allowing JASTA to become law could lead to US being sued in foreign courts and subjected to an “intrusive discovery process.”

Can I get an Amen?


Perhaps some good will come of the "Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism" law. Perhaps a court case will involve some authentic disclosure of facts surrounding the fire bombing of the World Trade Center in 2001. 

Perhaps it will also set a precedent for victims of state-sponsored terrorism and their families to sue the governments responsible -- including their own.