Conflict Resolution Network/Caribbean - Hosted by ACRIS

I am currently a student in the Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program at Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, NH.  As you might see from my Areas of Focus, my interests at this time are many and diverse.  My introduction to activism came in 1998, during the run-up to a U.S. bombing campaign in Iraq.  I was a sophomore at the University of Connecticut (UConn) in Storrs, CT, and took a class called Global Militarism and Human Survival.  The course opened my eyes to the injustices being perpetrated around the world in the name of democracy and freedom, and gave me my first real glimpse at environmental issues and a look at the U.S. political/corporate power structure.  I became appalled by the fact that my government, in my name, was advocating bombing a country with so little infrastructure left due to the suffocating U.N. sanctions imposed on it.  I couldn't believe how severely Iraqis were suffering in terms of mortality, nutrition, and health due to sanctions.  It was absolutely disgusting to me.  This revelation about U.S. military intervention abroad gave me pause.  It made me realize that my government was not the "good guy on the international block" it espoused, and pretended, to be.  The more I learned, the more outraged I became.

My activism was enhanced by my involvement with UConnPIRG (Public Interest Research Group).  I was an active member of the campus group for five semesters, during which I learned about hunger and homelessness issues, environmental issues, and clean elections.  The group taught me a lot.  I learned how to run meetings, develop a project plan, and speak persuasively on different issues.

My activism since 2000 has been concerned mostly with the run-up to war in Iraq and the war itself.  I was outraged, once again, seeing my country go to war with a country that posed no visible threat.  And preemptively, too!!!  I became active as a dissenter, going to rallies and marches, both before the war and since it began.  I got to know people who were actively organizing in the movement.  I myself did not do much organizing during this time, but I believe that as I learned more about the war and shared this information with those close to me, I helped to open some minds up to what was happening.  I am thrilled that the movement has come so far, and as I learn more about organizing now, in my courses, I am hopeful for ever more involvement and cooperation among other sectors of the movement aiming for global justice and environmental protection.  It is imperative that we create positive change in the world, and the more I learn about how broad and diverse the movement is, the more excited I get!  Change really is happening!