Why should we ground the F-35 fighter jet & abolish war?

media release: Public Talks during the 20th Midwest Catholic Worker Faith & Resistance Gathering

These talks are part of a weekend of preparation for a direct action Monday, March 27.  Stay tuned for more details as we know them on how you can participate in that action.  https://www.safeskiescleanwaterwi.org/save-the-date-march-24-27-catholic-worker-faith-resistance-gathering-no-f-35s/

Friday, March 24, Film, 7:00 pm – Madison Veterans for Peace present the new documentary Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA took Hollywood (1 hr 28 min).  Bradley Geyer of Madison Veterans for Peace, Chapter 25, will lead discussion at intermission and following the film.  Location:  Madison Christian Community, 7118 Old Sauk Road, Madison.

Saturday, March 25, Panel Discussion–1:30 - 3:00 pm, Madison Christian Community, 7118 Old Sauk Road, Madison

Moderator, Rebecca Kemble, Former Alder, Water Protector, Activist

Kathy Kelly, Board President, World BEYOND War

Vicki Berenson, Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin

Steven Klafka, Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin

Sunday, March 26, Panel Discussion–1:30 - 2:30 pm, St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Parish, 602 Everglade Drive, Madison  

Danaka Katovich, National Co-Director, CODEPINK Women for Peace, and Facilitator, CODEPINK International Ground the F-35 coalition 

Brian Terrell, Strangers & Guests Catholic Worker & Nevada Desert Experience

Monday, March 27 – Resistance actions to ground the F-35 fighter jet and abolish war

We need you and your friends and relations on Monday!

Several nonviolent resistance actions will happen Monday morning.  Affinity groups will prepare and plan the details during the weekend of March 24 – 26.  If you can commit to nonviolence, please show up to any or all of these listed times and places, to support and witness.

5:30 am Gather at Truax – Wisconsin Air National Guard Base, 3200 Pierstorff St.

6:00 am   Nonviolent resistance action begins.  Sunrise is at 6:49 am.

7:15 am       Gather at Truax – 3200 Pierstorff St.

7:30 am The war abolition walk begins.  We will walk at a moderate pace to downtown Madison (4.8 miles).   When we arrive at 10:30 am, we will join nonviolent resistance actions downtown.

9:00 am Gather at OM Village, 304 N Third St.  The war abolition walk will make a rest stop and people can also join the walk here.  OM Village is an intentional community of activists living in tiny houses, the first of now three sites managed by the collective Occupy Madison, Inc.

10:30 am     Gather at St John’s Lutheran Church,  322 E Washington Ave.  Choose between several nonviolent resistance actions downtown likely to include vigils with music, visits to elected officials, and bannering.

More on the speakers:

Kathy Kelly is a peace activist, author, and board president of World BEYOND War. Kathy’s activism and writing are focused on Afghanistan, Yemen, Gaza, and domestic protests against US drone policy. In the past thirty-five years her activism has led to her arrests at home and abroad. She lived in war zones, notably remaining in combat zones during the early days of both US–Iraq wars.

Danaka Katovich is National Co-Director, CODEPINK Women for Peace, and Facilitator of CODEPINK International Ground the F-35 coalition.  https://www.codepink.org/danaka_katovich

Brian Terrell, Strangers & Guests Catholic Worker,  Nevada Desert Experience. With his resistance experience at the nuclear sharing bases in Europe, most of them set to receive F-35s soon, Brian speaks to the international efforts of Catholic Workers. 

Vicki Berenson brings a lifelong dedication to anti-violence and social justice to her organizing work with Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin, opposing the siting of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Jets at Truax Field, Madison, WI. A Quaker, she is a board member of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, and Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice.

Steve Klafka, a professional environmental engineer in Madison, works to address local noise problems, including the county airport, lobbying for better protection for citizens. He joined Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin and informs residents and public representatives of anticipated impacts of basing F-35s at Truax Field. He currently assists with legal challenges filed by Safe Skies.

To be part of the whole weekend of events:

The focus of the weekend gathering is preparing for a resistance direct action that we will do on Monday, March 27.  Want to be part of that?  Please rsvp here and plan to be with us on Saturday and Sunday afternoon especially.  During those times, we’ll listen to speakers, do nonviolence training, and form affinity groups to plan and act together.  We hope that many Madison-area activists will participate.  It will be a chance for us to support and learn from seasoned anti-militarism movement leaders who will be coming here from all over the US.  We’ll send a detailed weekend schedule to people who rsvp.