Peace Activism: From the Mundane to the Memorable
Maggie Astor, 17
New Jersey
My peace activism began with a petition I never sent. It was January 2003, and I was on a mission to stop the impending war. I typed up a petition with 100 lines and set about convincing my 8th grade classmates to sign. They dutifully complied – with names such as Daffy Duck and Hugh Jass. I was beside myself with anger. "Don't sign with fake names!" I screeched. "This is serious–I'm sending this to the president!"
I naively believed my little petition would stop the war. My views seemed so indisputable that I couldn't imagine how anyone could disagree. I thought President Bush would read my letter and say, "Well, I hadn't thought of it that way," and cancel the invasion.
But I never sent the petition. The first bombs fell on Baghdad on March 20, 2003, and I threw the petition in the trash and gave up. The war had begun. I thought there was nothing I could do anymore.
Enter New Jersey Peace Action (NJPA), an anti–war organization based in Bloomfield, New Jersey. I started volunteering there in January 2005 to fulfill my school's community service requirement. I figured I would do my 30 hours and leave, but somehow 30 hours turned to 50 and then to 100, and the idea of leaving never occurred to me again.
I started with the "boring" jobs, like making copies and stuffing envelopes, and learned quickly that activism is not very active at all. It's about mailings and e-mails and phone calls to build support, slowly and tediously. And when it comes to mailings, unless you're working for a huge organization, you don't have machines to help you out. You collate*, staple, fold, stuff, seal, stamp and address everything by hand, even if it's a 5,000-piece mailing. Your eyes start to hurt, your hands cramp up, and you just want to chuck the entire table out the window. But when the envelopes are all bundled up and in the mail, it's the greatest feeling in the world. I loved it – finally, I didn't feel helpless.
I've been at NJPA two years now, and I get to do the fun stuff along with the mundane*. I've clocked 500 volunteer hours to date, and have been named Volunteer of the Year. I've spoken at events in Newark and Maplewood, New Jersey, and met Vietnam War whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, '60's student activism leader Tom Hayden, and U.S. Representatives John Conyers and Lynn Woolsey.
In July 2006, I went to Detroit for the Peace Action National Congress, and met student activists from across the country. We talked about strategies and the progress of our organizations. More importantly, we had time to just stretch out on the grass and talk. It was incredible to meet people my age who thought the same way I did-quite a change from the political apathy* of many of my classmates.
Shortly before I left for Detroit, I was named NJPA's Counter–Recruitment Coordinator. I am now in charge of spearheading initiatives to fight excessive military recruitment. In particular, I have been working on fighting the recruitment clause of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
Under NCLB, public schools are required to release students' personal information to military recruiters, or risk losing federal funding. Families have the right to opt out, but very few know they can, or even that their information is being released in the first place. In 2004, a group of students in my hometown of Montclair, New Jersey, formed a group called OYE OYE (Open Your Eyes, Open Your Eyes), and lobbied the high school and the Montclair Board of Education to send opt-out forms to every student. The first year this policy was in place, over 90 percent of Montclair High School families opted out!
I wasn't involved in that campaign, but it set the stage for what I'm doing now. Last year, NJPA and OYE OYE requested a hearing with the New Jersey State Board of Education to ask that Montclair's opt-out policy be extended statewide. The Board refused to even consider the issue. In November 2006, I launched a postcard campaign to Governor Jon Corzine, asking him to pressure the board to act. We have collected nearly 200 signed postcards so far, and hope to reach 1,000. (If you live in New Jersey, and would like to sign a postcard or hand them out to your friends, we can send you copies, just e-mail me at crcoordinator@gmail.com, or call the NJPA office at 973-744-3263.)
We've also joined with the People's Organization for Progress to distribute counter–recruitment literature to students in Plainfield, New Jersey. The response has not been as enthusiastic as Montclair, because Plainfield is a lower income town and teens may feel the military is an attractive option–but we're not giving up. We've designed literature specifically targeted at lower-income students, such as lists of viable alternatives to the military. I'm hoping that soon we can launch similar campaigns in other towns.
I've always had a social conscience and a desire to make a difference, but I never thought I would end up enjoying this so much. I can only work four hours a week during the school year, but in May I'll be able to do more. My school has a program called "senior option," where in the spring, seniors can get an internship or work in the community instead of attending classes. I'm planning to do my senior option at NJPA, which means I'll be in the office every day–and there is nowhere I'd rather spend my time. If it hadn't been for that 30-hour community service requirement, I never would have gotten started at NJPA, but now I can't imagine ever leaving.
*Collate: to gather or arrange in a proper sequence.
*Mundane: boring, everyday tasks.
*Apathy: lack of feeling, emotion, or care for things happening in the world.
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Are you a teen activist or do you know any teen activists? Contact
Teen Voices and share your story.
New Jersey Peace Action (NJPA) is a grassroots organization that lobbies, educates, promotes, and organizes anti-war programs and initiatives in the community. For more info, contact director@
njpeaceaction.org or
973-744-3263.
People's Organization for Progress (P.O.P.) is a Newark, New Jersey organization that speaks out about issues of poverty, racism, unemployment, education, housing, drugs, crime and community deterioration. POP is also working on a statewide campaign against police brutality and racial violence. Contact
973-643-7711 for more info.
Past Activists
of the Month
November 2005:
Stephanie Nyombaire
December 2005:
Kaley Rosinski
January 2006:
Kyla Carpenter & Erika Chase
March 2006:
Shelby Knox
April 2006:
Cisnell Baez & Ashley Cotton
May 2006:
Makalay Tarawally
June 2006:
Becky Marks
July 2006:
Geneva Johnson
August 2006:
Rachel Powell
September 2006:
Liz Funk
October 2006:
May Lan Dong
November 2006:
Karoline Evin McMullen
December 2006:
Maggie Astor
January 2007:
E. Jane Handel
February 2007:
Ana Slavin
March 2007:
Shaina Patel
April 2007:
Amity Paye
May 2007:
Evelyn Eng-Nol
June 2007:
Ava Lowery
July 2007:
Chela Élan Counts
August 2007:
Alexandra Pates
September 2007:
Alexandra Abend
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