PROJECTS

past meetings: Women Resisting Militarism and Creating a Culture of Life

San Francisco Bay Area, September 11-15, 2007

Context for the meeting in San Francisco

The 7th meeting was hosted by Women for Genuine Security, PANA Institute Civil Liberty and Faith Project. It brought together local grassroots organizations American Friends Service Committee, babae San Francisco, Filipino American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity, Gabriela Network, Korean Americans Agaist War and Neoliberalism, Women of Color Resource Center, Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, Greenaction, Bay Area Boricuas, and others, to dialogue with organizations from IWNAM.  Many of the U.S. grassroots organizers recognize themselves as being diasporic descendants of countries in the network.  The dialogue and activities shed light on the history of militarism in the Bay Area, and social and economic conditions that causes military recruitment in the U.S. 

Suzuyo Takazato, Co-chair of Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence, comments: “Military
security does not guarantee everyday security for many people in the world or for the planet. We have to
change that.”  As a result of the 2007 gathering, a group of women from the WGS connection created the newsletter (RE)Collections. 

meeting highlights

• Community Conversations hosted by Bay Area groups, Sept. 11— 14, 2007

  Internationally recognized women activists will share their experiences, strategies and projects to transform local communities and cultures affected by U.S. militarism. Local groups will talk about organizing across borders to transform U.S. policy and create a culture of justice and peace.

• Tuesday Sept. 11, Voices from Philippines at FIlipino Community Center, hosted by babae, FACES, Gabnet.
• Wednesday Sept. 12, Voices from Hawaii and Puerto Rico at La Peña Cultural Center, hosted by Bay Area Boricuas and others
• Thursday Sept. 13, Voices from South Korea at Pacific School For Religion Chapel, hosted by KAWAN, KAUP and PANA Institute
  
• Friday Sept. 14, Voices from Okinawa and Guam at American Friends Service Committee, hosted by Famoksaiyan, Friends of Okinawa
  

• “Hidden in Plain Sight”, Tuesday September 11, 2007
A women’s procession to various Bay Area sites to expose, mourn, and protest the true costs of militarism in the Bay Area, and its impact across the Asia-Pacific.


• Discussions among international participants and local activists, Sept. 12-13, 2007
Themes included:

• Military violence against women, migration, and trafficking
• Women’s health, military contamination and environmental clean-up
• Resisting military expansion and restructuring
• Resisting & healing from impacts of militarism (economic, social, cultural)
  

• With These Voices: The Art and Expression of Women in Resistance – An artistic extravaganza that demonstrated the use of art as a tool in building a culture of resistance. 

Download Press Releases and Fact Sheets from the 2007 Meeting that contains description of Community Conversations, dialogues of women across the network nations about their histories and effects of militarism in their communities.