An Open Letter to the FBI (3 years too many)

[The following is a poem that I wrote about the on going investigation of the antiwarcommittee and others around the country. Today we mark the three year anniversary of the day our office and several committee members homes were raided by the FBI and we found out that one of our group (a woman who'd been organizing with us for years) was actually a government spy. Our Orwellian nightmare has been going on now for three and enough is enough. This poem is dedicated to all the subpoenaed activists who refuse to testify or cooperate with this witch hunt of an investigation. Their bravery and perseverance is a constant source of inspiration.]


An Open Letter to the FBI

Seriously, fuck you guys.
Fuck you for this history of repression from Fred Hampton to Ernest Hemingway. Hell, they've still got Leonard Peltier, and now they're here, in the midwest, looking for the antiwar and then all the rest.
So fuck you for the 23 peace and solidarity activists (and Carlos Montes) that you've opened you're investigations up against now. I just want to know how many times you have directly interfered with peace and justice in this country, I wanna know how many lives you have disrupted, how many movements you've brought down...

And I wanna talk about it. I want all our stuff back-fuck- I want our old spy back. She did the grunt work around here, and I've never seen my tax dollars so well spent. I wanna talk about your budget, FBI, gone unchecked since 9/11. Twelve years later and you're tailing peace activists just to bill the time, spying on us with drones and tapping everyone's phones? How much money do you make when you are playing the mole? How much when you are raiding a home?

And looking for what? Proof that we disapprove of this government? Well, we haven't been at all shy about that, now have we? We show up. On your Capitol lawns with our signs and our banners and our bullhorns and we SCREAM at your buildings, from behind your police lines, I-I guess I should feel honored to have this much of your attention. Tear gas in my eyes and all. Those plastic zip-tie handcuffs as they round us up like cattle and now the heat is really coming down because it was never a fair battle and the Grand Jury inquisition has already begun. It's some of that good ol'fashion McCarthyism, except now the red tag term is Terrorism. Meanwhile, the real war criminals are   walking free. 
Chelsea Manning goes to prison, Bush gets a library.
Don't even get me started on Obama wants another war before we even ends any. Remember when he said he would end the war? He didn't, did he?

Anyway, fuck them. I came here to talk to you. To ask what the hell we're ganna do now that they're kicking in doors in Dinkytown looking for dissenters. Man, they're taking down posters off the walls calling it evidence to be used against us, and you're next if you don't think so. Anybody left with an opinion.
Anybody here consider themselves outspoken? I am talking to you.

So, here's a quick history lesson in FBI repression:
John Lennon
They tried to deport him (did you know that?) for speaking out against the war. It was right before the republican National Convention of 1972 and Nixon was afraid it was going to cost him reelection, so they tried to kick him out of the country for having a concert--you see? They were afraid of a concert.
Dr. Martin Luther King's home was raided by the FBI (now we're on to something). He received threats and harassment from them for half his Nobel Peace Prize deserving career, and was in the end assassinated. I read that he was under surveillance when it happened, that under cover police watched from across the street as King was shot. But they couldn't kill the dream he started dreaming and we are still coming ready or not
and I do mean ready or not.

So don't forget about the RNC back in '08 cause you know we've got a real movement in this state, and in case you haven't noticed it is going on right now. And hold your breath for the peaceful 23 whose Grand Jury subpoenas are still hanging over all of our heads. Don't be silent! Tell everyone you know about this. Go to stopFBI.net and get involved. Call the president and tell him to call it off, we said end the war AND the witch hunt, restore the first amendment, enough is enough! Free Lynne Stewart and quit threatening the rest of us who work for peace and justice because we will not be silenced. When our civil rights are under attack. What do you do?

Stand up, fight back!

Take Away: a spoken word showcase of Verve grant Recipients

So the final showcase for the Verve grant is this weekend! It's coming up fast and I have a lot of work to do still as far as putting this thing together, but I'm excited about the show. Here's the flyer:

Peace is not won
by the bullet or the gun.
It is not won
by the greatest show of force.
War is not humanitarian.
It is not safe for anyone.
And when the bombs start to explode,
and fear takes over,
and chaos reigns,
you will not feel safer here.
You will still hear the screams
(though they are muted on the TV screens)
you will hear them with your heart's sad ear.
I think the human-animal is as connected as a bee hive.
The shared mind of 7 billion people
can feel it.


WAGE PEACE