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LOCAL Announcement :: Children & Education : Civil & Human Rights : Peace

Counter-Recruiting at the Chicago Blues Festival – June 11-13

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Counter-Recruiting at the Chicago Blues Festival – June 11-13
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As part of the summer of resistance Students for Social Justice is calling for leafleting, guerrilla theater and other types of counter-recruitment efforts in an attempt to save lives and bring the gears of the war machine to a grinding halt. Following this email is the full schedule of existing major counter-recruiting events occurring this summer. To get involved, obtain more information and resources, or to let us know about other opportunities not listed on our calendar, please contact s4sj (at) hotmail.com.

From June 10-13 several branches of the U.S. armed forces will descend upon Grant Park and the Chicago Blues Festival in an all out recruiting blitz. In it's relentless quest for global hegemony the United States continues to overextend itself politically, economically and militarily. With more than 330,000 troops deployed overseas in nearly 130 countries, with the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan exacting a heavy toll on these already strained resources, and with several of the armed forces missing their recruiting goals in recent years, the military must continually find ways to replenish it's ever depleting ranks of enlisted personnel. The flip side to this equation is that the U.S. military is becoming more visible, creative and proactive in their efforts to recruit the nation's youth into a life of servitude, exploitation and eventual use as cannon fodder for future wars of aggression.

For the sake of our sisters and brothers everywhere we CANNOT allow that to happen!

Military recruiters, media, government and schools go to great lengths to romanticize war and glorify military hardware such as assault rifles, land mines, tanks, armed helicopters and so-called “smart” targeting systems. War should be recognized for the horror and devastation that it is, not as fun and games, a way out, a means to obtain money for education, or just a job. If the message of these recruiters is in any way received by the youth of our communities as an endorsement of aggression and a celebration of a "might is right" philosophy, then a gross educational failure has occurred on our part as activists, concerned individuals, parents, friends, etc.

Now is the time to speak out. Now is the time to counter the false and misleading propaganda put out by military recruiters in their attempts to PACKAGE, MARKET & SELL the military to the nation's youth. Now is the time to provide our youth with viable alternatives to obtain college funding and job skills training. Now is the time to demonstrate solidarity with the people of the world that are being oppressed, tortured and slaughtered at the hands of the U.S. Armed Forces, not to mention with those who now reside in the U.S. that have witnessed and/or been subjected to these very same atrocities by the U.S. military and the regimes they support. Also keep in mind that there is an increasing likelihood that the U.S. government will reinstate the draft sometime during the course of the next year. It is imperative that we begin talking with people NOW about draft resistance and a good way to begin is by exposing the military for what it is.

GET INVOLVED! EXPOSE THE LIES! MAKE A DIFFERENCE! SAVE LIVES!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Chicago Blues Festival
June 10-13, 2004
Grant Park

As the largest of the city's music festivals, the Chicago Blues Festival draws more than 600,000 people. Exactly where the recruiters intend to set up is unknown at this time but they are likely to be somewhere in the area of Columbus and Jackson. Whatever the case may be you will NOT be able to miss the outrageous and disgusting military recruiting displays. We would like to focus our efforts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (June 11-13). Exact times have yet to be posted but will range in the area of 10am to dark (all music begins at noon). If interested and available to assist with this important effort please email us with the day(s) and time(s) that you are available so that we can coordinate volunteer shifts and maximize our effectiveness and visibility, it would also be helpful if you could provide us with a telephone number in case any last minute changes or problems should arise. Besides volunteers to help leaflet and bring/hold banners and signs we are in desperate need of assistance with flier reproduction so if you have access to free or really cheap photocopying or printing please let us know and we can send you the files. Those people who show up on their own without contacting us should meet at Columbus and Jackson at 10am, for other times you’ll have to look for the recruiters - just know that it’s possible, however unlikely, that you might show up at a time during which we have no volunteers there.

Taste of Chicago
June 25-July 4, 2004
Grant Park
Details TBA

Please email us your availability for this event too as it is only 3 weeks away (include phone number if possible).

Chicago Air & Water Show
August 21-22, 2004
North Avenue Beach
Details TBA

BTW, the Air & Water Show is listed under the “Kids Events” section of the Mayor’s Office for Special Events homepage.
 
 

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