Shirley making a peace sign, with other RAFTT members

For the past few days I have posted the statements that Janie Kesselman, David Hartsough, and Jan Hartsough gave in court last Monday before we were sentenced for civil disobedience at Beale.  Today I am posting  Shirley’s article which appears on the Radical Art for These Times (RAFTT) website.  Shirley did not write a statement but she spoke passionately in court, as she explains below:

“The other four had prepared statements, and they spoke eloquently of their histories, drone warfare, and their reasons for being there. I had not written a statement, though I had general ideas floating in my head. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it was something about being a grandmother, my grandchildren being children of the world, just like the children on the drone panels, who have been killed in Yemen and Pakistan. And something about our fragile little planet, and how war does not support its healing.” 

Please take the time to read Shirley’s article, which gives the background on our action at Beale and the whole case.  Plus, it has wonderful pictures.

I am privileged to have spent these months with such wonderful people.  Nonviolent direct action can be a deeply bonding experience, in addition to being a powerful, empowering, and potentially effective form of direct democracy.