NOTE: This story is the second in a two-part series following the Nuclear Age Peace foundation’s Community Peace Leaders Program, which was launched in January 2008. The initial story can be found at independent.com/napf.
Once a month, on a grassy bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara, rows of tombstones appear, transforming the postcard-perfect view into a considerably more somber one. These markers jut from the same spot where then-presidential candidate Barack Obama stood in September 2007 and spoke to a crowd of 3,000 about hope and the end of war, and they represent the American teenagers who have died in the armed conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every month, the number of gravestones grows.
The man responsible for setting up this memorial is Gilbert Robledo, a war veteran and retired SBCC teacher and counselor. His aim is simple: to raise awareness of the cost of war, and to work for peace. On the third Friday of each month when SBCC is in session, you’ll find Robledo sitting at a table near the teen memorial, speaking to passersby, and answering questions. Many of his visitors are students 18 and 19 years old-the same age as the young men and women whose lives those gravestones represent-and many are eager to stop and talk. “It has been very effective,” Robledo said of the memorial. “We’re making war more personal to them.”
Robledo is a member of Veterans for Peace and an active supporter of the Iraq Moratorium. He’s also one of 18 men and women who have volunteered, during the past year, to serve as community peace leaders in Santa Barbara. It was just last July when Robledo read an article in The Independent about the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Peace Leaders Program, and saw another opportunity to work for peace. Since then, he has been speaking to various community groups, both in English and in Spanish, about the importance of nuclear disarmament. Beside him when he tables at SBCC and with him at every talk he gives is a petition calling for the next president of the United States to make nuclear disarmament an urgent priority. The petition briefly explains the rationale for doing so, and makes a series of specific requests, including a plea to halt all research and development of new nuclear weapons, and a call to ratify a comprehensive test ban treaty. For most people Robledo speaks to, signing on to the appeal is a no-brainer.
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization based in Santa Barbara and dedicated to a world free of nuclear weapons. It’s been around for nearly 30 years, but the Peace Leaders Program, and the presidential appeal, are both new initiatives introduced by Steven Crandell, hired just last year as the foundation’s director of development and public affairs. At well over six feet tall, and a sharp dresser with a megawatt smile, Crandell comes across as a man with a mission, and the charisma to make it happen. But underneath his crisp enthusiasm is a kind of soulfulness; when it comes to this cause, at least, Crandell seems to be a mixture of humility and ambition.
In early 2008, Crandell set out his goals: 30 Santa Barbara peace leaders by the end of the year, and one million signatures for the presidential appeal. To date, there are 18 peace leaders, and approximately 25,000 signatures on the petition. Crandell is unapologetically optimistic. “I have an orchardist’s point of view,” he explained over a latte at Coffee Cat. “I’m raising trees that will bear fruit.” He’s also working alongside his volunteers; a few months ago, he began collecting signatures during his lunch hour, standing on the pier, outside Lazy Acres, or at Trader Joe’s, and speaking to passersby about nonproliferation. Crandell acknowledges that it’s an uncomfortable issue for most people. Nuclear weapons, when deployed, lead to death and destruction on a massive scale-not something most people want to think about when they’re picking up groceries. But he’s heartened at the responses he’s had from many Santa Barbarans, as is Sherry Melchiore, one of the Peace Leaders Program’s first volunteers.
Melchiore is a retired psychologist and a member of the Rotary Club. “Peace is my middle name,” she likes to say. Like Robledo, Melchiore has integrated this work into her life, keeping the petition in her car so it’s always handy. “Every social event I go to, when I go to church, or the chiropractor, I take it with me,” she explained. “I even had a wonderful response from my car repair guy; he signed it and said, ‘Do you have another one? I know some people who would sign that.’ He filled up a whole sheet for me.”
It’s stories like this one that Crandell points to as successes for the program-to him, they mean the grassroots campaign is working, even if its spread is slower than he had initially hoped. In the aftermath of Barack Obama’s successful bid for the presidency, Crandell points to campaign methods that inspire him and serve as models for the program’s future, from the infiltration of social networking sites to the neighbor-to-neighbor approach. He’s careful to explain that his admiration of the Obama campaign is nonpartisan. “It was the best campaign for a mile, strip away the politics,” he said. “One of the things we liked is that it tended to say, ‘You matter, you can volunteer, and your work will create change and make a real difference.’”
That message is exactly the message Crandell hopes to convey to all Santa Barbarans committed to a peaceful community and a peaceful world. In his mind, Santa Barbara is the staging ground for the development of what he calls “a peace community,” and the ultimate goal is for our city to serve as a model for communities around the world. In late January, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation will deliver its petition to President Obama, but for Crandell, that’s just the beginning. “I’m very pleased,” he said of the program’s first year. “It was a complete experiment, and we’ve had a great start.”
4•1•1
The next Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Community Peace Leaders meeting will be held at 1622 Anacapa Street on Tuesday, January 20, at 6:30 p.m. Those interested in attending should call 965-3443. To learn more and to sign the presidential appeal, visit wagingpeace.org.
Comments
What these fools don't seem to understand or acknowledge is that you have to disarm both sides, not just the United States. Throughout the course of history, weakness has invited aggression, and the aggressors have always won. Evil will always exist and the greed that goes with it cannot be eradicated by disarming yourself. Laying down our arms will not bring peace. It is quite the opposite. Being strong is the only thing that will be respected.
If you believe in this philosophy, try walking through East L.A. unarmed on someone else's gang turf with some expensive jewelry on display. Do you think they will see you as "friendly" because you are unarmed and want to be friends and leave you alone? Or will they see you as a weak fool and want to take you for everything you've got?
These Nuclear Age Peace Fools have some pretty good education and credentials for being so stupid. What they need is a street education.
AShaw (anonymous profile)
December 24, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation supports a verifiable, phased and internationally agreed plan to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons. We believe unilateral disarmament is not safe. We do not support it.
You can see our seven-point proposal to the next President here:
http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/actio...
By the way, the mutual laying down arms does bring peace. It is part of the definition of a just peace.
If you have any doubts, just look at our world today -- lots of countries, including our own, using military force as they seek control of others.
Have we created peace these last 8 years with our invasions?
Violence usually begets more violence.
We need to do things differently. Why not start now?
scrandell (anonymous profile)
December 24, 2008 at 10:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The United States does not use the military to seek control of others. I think you have just offended everyone in the armed services with that statement.
AShaw (anonymous profile)
December 24, 2008 at 6:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What you are suggesting is legally binding commitments and treatys. One problem. Your premise is tha tthe law will stop aggression. Outlaws don't obey laws. Dishonorable evil people don't honor agreements. Ask Neville Chamberlain who tried to "wage peace" with Hitler.
AShaw (anonymous profile)
December 24, 2008 at 7:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If we were to learn from history, we would know what has worked and what has not. . "Speak softly and carry a big stick". "Peace through Strength".
AShaw (anonymous profile)
December 24, 2008 at 7:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We are at the mercy of individual internal prosperity. Get rid of a stable middle class in any society and that country is a problem. I'm more worried about India and Pakistan going at it that the two superpowers.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
December 25, 2008 at 3:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes, AShaw the U.S. DOES NOT use its military to "control" others. Like all imperialistic powers that have come before us, we use our military the old fashion way -- to bully, steal and generally run roughshod over other nations with commodities (from oil to bananas) that we wish to take or purchase at as low a cost as possible. Its why we've toppled elected presidents, removed despots and also installed and supported despots. Think Exxon, Occidental, Halliburton, United Fruit, Dole, etc.
Thanks to George W. Bush, the most despised human on the planet and the best, most obvious political puppet yet from the Republican Party, the entire world can see quite clearly how arrogant, brutish and without morals we are and how phony our claims of spreading democracy really have become. Thankfully, with our self-inflicted destruction of our own economy by an unelected retarded president, our foolish reign may be coming to a swift and ignominious end.
emptynewsroom (anonymous profile)
December 26, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes - I have often wondered where all that oil is that we went to Iraq to "steal". We could sure use it. Last I heard, they felt we should pay them $80 per barrel.
AShaw (anonymous profile)
December 26, 2008 at 11:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Now that I think about it, I did not know we were using our military and starting wars to steal bananas either! That's empty news to me! I want my share - here I've been paying Albertsons for bananas like a fool. As a citizen of the evil empire of the Untied States of America I have a right to free bananas!
AShaw (anonymous profile)
December 26, 2008 at 12:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Here is what we will be paying for the oil we "stole":
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Iraq_ba...
AShaw (anonymous profile)
December 26, 2008 at 12:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Iraq backs OPEC plan to raise oil prices? Makes that 2 trillion dollar war even more of a lemon. We got a 2-fer, Iran gets Iraq for free and the country we "freed" gets to charge us more for oil. Good move. American standards have slipped over the years. Expecting and demanding SMART leadership is not "hating" on the US.
Camm67 (anonymous profile)
December 26, 2008 at 3:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You got it Camm - don't blame the leadership - blame the whiny libs like emptyheaded newsroom above who would scream bloody murder if we dared take any reparation for freeing them from a murderous thug dictator....
AShaw (anonymous profile)
December 26, 2008 at 3:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Waging Peace? Hardly. This whole piece is barbaric, a waste of human thought and time. War will not end by trying to eliminate weapons. I do not see the relationship between simply eliminating one weapon and peace. Ok, so you get rid of Nuclear Weapons so people can then go around beating each other to death with clubs. Human, why continue to waste time?
War can only be eliminated by peace.
War will soon become unacceptable as peace confronts War face-to-face.
Gather up all the people in your group and march into a war zone, no weapons.
Peace will prevail, one war at a time.
kennbeal (anonymous profile)
December 26, 2008 at 6:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Thanks to George W. Bush, the most despised human on the planet and the best, most obvious political puppet yet from the Republican Party, the entire world can see quite clearly how arrogant, brutish and without morals we are and how phony our claims of spreading democracy really have become. Thankfully, with our self-inflicted destruction of our own economy by an unelected retarded president, our foolish reign may be coming to a swift and ignominious end."
-emptynewsroom-
Emptynewsroom: I agree with much of what you say about the U.S. running roughshod and being out of control but since you and I don't agree with this policy, you don't have to use the term "we", since I can almost bet my life that you didn't vote for him either.
My main point of contention is that like almost every Bush opponent I've encountered in print, and in person, you don't go far enough: You also need to acknowledge that the Democrats have been tremendous enablers in our imperialistic policy.
As an aside: What we are seeing play out is human nature on a grand scale. The U.S. happens to be the biggest, strongest kid on the playground whose parents own the factory where the other kids' parents work. Whoever has power, individually or collectively, will generally abuse it. As such, let's not dismiss that the U.S. has accomplished some great things, and that those accomplishments are not the result of the U.S. governments fouled-up foreign policy, but that its foreign policy is the result of this country being drunk on the power it has acquired.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
December 26, 2008 at 8:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Here's a question: If we disarm then who will be the world's police force?
Seems like regardless of how "evil" & "arrogant" the U.S. seems, the world keeps crying out to the U.S. to be there for them.
While we're @ it, let's not forget that we're also the world's grocery store & drugstore.
If we disarm, it'll be kind of hard to be a policeman, especially when you have to go into some pretty tough neighborhoods to quell the violence :) henry
hank (anonymous profile)
December 27, 2008 at 10:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hank, so far I've agreed with 100% of your comments but this one has me wondering the following: Isn't much of the help we give foreign governments done to quell insurrections of those protesting for basic rights? It's only a question, and I know I may be wrong.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
December 28, 2008 at 2:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Bill, I see where you're coming from & wrong or right, a good question is always that.
The help I was referring to was in the form of food & medical aid to 3rd world nations under UN directives.
I know too well of the "other" aid the U.S. supplies. But then again, so did the former USSR & currently Iran w/ offers of Sahab-8 I/MRBM missiles to Cuba & Venezuela. Heck. we could even go into France's "contributions" to Iraq's post-Gulf War "Food for Oil" program. We ALL know where that $$$ went.
We ain't special, just accountable, something MANY other countries doing the same things ain't :) henry
hank (anonymous profile)
December 28, 2008 at 5:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Don't forget deployment of Military and humanitarian aid during for earthquakes, tsunamis etc. - purely humanitarian - no particular motive (such as quelling insurrections) other than P.R. - but if that is the motive it doesn't seem to work too well. We are just taken for granted and hated anyway. Who will the world turn to during these disasters when we are weakened and gone?
AShaw (anonymous profile)
December 29, 2008 at 6:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
AShaw: Like many flag wavers unwilling to dig deeper than beyond the top news stories on Fox and NewsMax, you really would benefit from injecting some reality into your world view. Why not crack open a book or The Economist or watch BBC World News once in a while to gain some perspective of your nation's role in the world? It will make you a better informed voter and a citizen with critical thinking skills, I promise.
Start here with an excellent book written by a former Marine about U.S. involvement in Central America. Its not all negative about what this country does, so you'll be able to stomach it and it will open your tightly closed eyes: http://www.amazon.com/Banana-Wars-Mil...
emptynewsroom (anonymous profile)
December 29, 2008 at 7:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Actually I've rarely watch Fox News as I don't have cable, when I have seen it at the gym it just looks like the same news as any other channel, a little too heavy on the entertainment side. Nor have I ever looked at NewsMax, but I love your bigoted presumptuousness. For every propaganda book or news source you want to dig up I can find one to refute it. Problem is you're a minority brainwashed whacko lib and not worth my time ...Just go live in another country and we will both be happier ....send me a post card and let me know which country you think is better and more honorable.
AShaw (anonymous profile)
December 30, 2008 at 2:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
AShaw: Ah, the old Rightie canard -- "If you disagree with me you must move to another land! Begone, your intellectual curiosity and questioning of authority annoys and confounds me". Wouldn't it be great if everyone were just like Mr. AShaw! (Read his Indy profile and see if you don't laugh out loud.)
The post card you so desperately want to recieve from all the progressives you insist must move to another country is being mailed to you from the rotunda of the Capitol Building and it reads simply: This nation is turning away from idiotic right wing crapola spouted by the uniformed and those conned by "conservative" thinking. The result is that the progressive ideals that generally work so well in most other industrilized nations may yet save America.
emptynewsroom (anonymous profile)
January 5, 2009 at 12:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)