Women's Events

WOMEN
“Women and War”
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Augsburg College
East Commons, Christiansen Center
Hosted by Anne Pederson Women’s Resource Center

THE LOTTERY - 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
"What's your birthdate? What's your Lottery number?"
Should you drop out of school, today? Quit your job?
Find out when you must report for your Draft physical.
Learn, "What happened to you in the war?" True stories
written by war veterans.
You're in the "virtual draft," right now. With a click of a mouse you'll be drafted. How will you feel and respond?

Performed by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre

9:00 a.m. “Women and Military Leadership” and at
5.30 p.m. “My personal journey”
Colonel (Ret.) Ann Wright, US Army

Ann Wright is one of several high-ranking State Department officials who resigned in protest of the Iraq war. Her resignation letter to the State Department, detailing her opposition to the administration's policies in Iraq can be found at: Resignation Letter

Ms. Wright was one of the many high ranking officials critical of the Iraq war interviewed in the MoveOn / Robert Greenwald Film “Uncovered: The War On Iraq .” Film

Ann Wright resigned from the U.S. Foreign Service on March 19, 2003, while serving as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Mongolia . She resigned due to her disagreement with the Bush administration's decision to go to war in Iraq without the authorization of the UN Security Council, the lack of effort in resolving the Israel-Palestinian situation, the lack of policy on North Korea and unnecessary curtailment of civil liberties in the United States .

Ms. Wright joined the Foreign Service in 1987 and served as Deputy Chief of Mission of US Embassies in Sierra Leone , Micronesia and briefly in Afghanistan . She received the State Department's Award for Heroism for her actions during the evacuation of 2500 persons from the civil war in Sierra Leone , the largest evacuation since the evacuation of Saigon in 1974.

Ms. Wright was on the first State Department team to go to Kabul , Afghanistan . She helped reopen the US Embassy in Kabul in December, 2001 and worked in Afghanistan for five months, serving in the last month as Deputy Chief of Mission (Deputy Ambassador).

Before entering the Foreign Service, she served in the Army and has a combined regular Army/Army Reserve service time of 29 years. Colonel Wright is airborne qualified.

Ms. Wright has Master's and Law Degrees from the University of Arkansas and a Master's Degree in National Security Affairs from the US Naval War College, Newport , Rhode Island. Ms. Wright lives in Honolulu , Hawaii . She writes on current US foreign policy and speaks to university classes and civic groups in the United States and internationally.

11 a.m. - “Who will speak for the victims?”
Elizabeth de la Vega, Former federal prosecutor in MN & CA.
Author, “United States vs. George Bush, et. al.”

Elizabeth de la Vega is the author of U.S. VS. Bush. She is a native of Needham, Massachusetts, who has migrated west through Michigan and Minnesota and now lives in northern California.

A federal prosecutor for twenty-one years, she was an assistant U.S. attorney in Minneapolis, as well as a member of the Organized Crime Strike Force and Branch Chief in San Jose. Since her retirement in 2004, Ms. de la Vega has been a regular contributor to TomDispatch. Her articles have also appeared in, The Nation, the Los Angeles Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Salon, and Mother Jones.

12 noon - "Equality: A military promise fulfilled?"
Chante Wolf, Veterans for Peace

Chante Wolf served in the United States Air Force from 1980 to 1992. She deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operations Desert Shield/Storm from January, 1991 through March, 1991. Her training was in Air Traffic Control and Top Secret Telecommunications, Cryptographic Security. She joined Veterans for Peace in 1996, but did not get activly involved until after 9-11. Chante has dedicated her life to Veterans for Peace issues, including the restoration of the U.S. Constitution.

Chante speaks about women in the military, women in war and combat, and war itself. She also talks about current affairs, the administration's preemptive first strike strategy, and nuclear buildup with the potential for destroying all life on the planet. Chante has a B.A. degree in Interdisciplinary Social Science: Anthropology and Women's Studies, and is a multi-award winning (including the National Geographic) published photographer and published writer.

2 p.m. - "Why we had to form Women Against Military Madness"
Mary Beaudoin, Women Against Military Madness - WAMM

Mary Beaudoin became WAMM's director on August 1, 2004. She was an active WAMM volunteer before becoming a staff member and has been a dedicated member of the WAMM Iraq Committee and the Twin Cities Peace Campaign (formerly Twin Cities Campaign to Lift Sanctions), working to lift the sanctions, stop the war, and end the U.S. occupation of Iraq. She has been a regular participant in the peace vigil on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge, has been active in Merriam Park Neighbors, and has participated in a number of coalitions.

For several years prior to her involvement with WAMM, Mary was a committed activist and citizen lobbyist on a variety of anti-war, peace, social justice, and environmental issues such as opposing nuclear waste storage on or near Native American land. She also served on the Policy Board of Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, D.C., educating and lobbying on peace initiatives in domestic and foreign policy and advocating for the diversion of resources from military spending to social needs.

Mary was first introduced to the horrors of war as a young woman when she witnessed some of the training of new recruits at the base where her husband was stationed during the Vietnam War. She became active in the local peace movement through the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers during the first Gulf War. She has a deep conviction that nonviolent resistance is “a force more powerful” and that war is never the answer to international conflict.

Mary has a 23-year-old daughter, Ty Camille, who is currently teaching at a public elementary school in South Central Los Angeles. Mary holds a B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota and has a background in communications. She was a staff writer for the Star Tribune for eleven years, promoting news features, advertising, and community relations. She has also worked as a freelance writer and editor, served as communications director for the International Wolf Center for a period of time, and was an organizer for Peace Action on the Wellstone for Senate Campaign.

4 p.m. - "Why Women's Voices are Unique: Passing the Torch"
Moderator: Karen Clark, MN State Representative

Karen Clark from her earliest years has been a ceaseless champion of justice for the poor, immigrant communities and society's marginalized. She continues to be a leader in and mainstay of the peacemaking community. From the Vietnam era to the present, Rep. Clark has participated in and supported anti-war actions and the practices of nonviolence.

She worked as public health nurse, VISTA nurse-organizer and OB-GYN Nurse Practitioner. She has served as Adjunct Faculty at: Department of Human Relations, St. Cloud State University, the University of Minnesota’s Women’s Studies Department, Macalester College Women’s Studies Department, and College of St. Catherine's Graduate School of Holistic Health. She is an AFSCME Member. Rep Clark holds a B.S., nursing, College of St. Teresa, and received an M.P.A., from Harvard University.

First elected in 1980, she is presently serving her 14th term in office. Rep. Clark represents an inner city district in South Minneapolis, the lowest income Legislative District in Minnesota, and consistently receives 75-85% of the vote from her constituents. In 2004 she received 88%, the highest vote margin in the state. Rep. Clark is a frequent speaker on her innovative and "cutting edge" legislation to local, national, and international audiences. She is known among her colleagues for her coalition-building skills and her persistent community-based advocacy on behalf of her inner-city constituents and of low-income and minority-status Minnesotans throughout the state. Rep. Clark is the longest-serving openly Lesbian State Legislator in the U.S.

ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!

The military Selective Service Draft has been activated!

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