If Nettie can do it, so can all of us!

Many a Wednesday afternoon, as 5:00p.m. creeps around, I think of all the things I'd like to be doing like go home & eat dinner or go to the grocery store or go curl up with a book - and then I think about Nettie. 86 year old Nettie.

Nettie catches the bus from North Berkeley to downtown Oakland – almost every Wednesday evening.

Sometimes she gets on the wrong bus or she gets off at the wrong bus stop and we see her walking down the street in her pink jacket, heading towards the recruiting station where we are vigiling.

Sometimes she goes too far on the bus and has to catch another bus back to the recruiting station. Sometimes we see her peering through the window of the bus, looking out for us, as the bus rolls by. Then several minutes later, we see her & her pink jacket strolling up the street towards us as we vigil.

Or sometimes, she's standing in her pink jacket, in front of the recruiting station, waiting for us to arive.

This is Nettie. Some might know her from the lovely phone messages she leaves on people’s machines. Nettie comes into the office maybe once a month, maybe twice a month, and calls the rest of us to invite us to come to a meeting, or urge us to join her at an action. She’ll leave the details on your voice mail & then say “and I’m also a raging granny – I have 8 grandchildren”.

Tomorrow, Wednesday Jan 4th, we will vigil at 5:15-6:15p.m. in front of the Oakland Recruiting Stations, 2116 Broadway; and then we will come back to the office for a CodePINK birthday party for Nettie! And our first of the month Wednesday meeting!

You’re invited to help celebrate Nettie’s birthday and her amazing activist work in CodePINK. Bring something from your heart, if you want, to thank Nettie – she is one of our amazon foremothers, as she says, she has been an activist since she was 13 yrs. old!

Bannering Sequel

Ever been to Times Square, New Year’s Eve, the silver ball dropping with the accompanying revelry? This has nothing on the commuter reception of our bannering blitz this morning! Folks took one look at our signs: Women say ENOUGH! BASTA! 2006: We END war – and they were hooting and tooting and howling it up all the way down the freeway!

People were waving in their cars, hanging out their windows and thru their sun roof tops. A motorcycle cop rolled by & said “end the war” over the loud speaker! Tractor Trailer 18 wheeler truck drivers beeped the whole time they were in our vision. It seemed like at least half of the cars passing blew their horns and the other half gave us the peace sign. An ambulance drove by sounding it’s alarm! Cars & trucks flashed their lights as well.

The Channel 5 news van was also there this morning, parked in back of us, waiting for us to set up. They backed down the freeway to get in front of us and then slowly drove by, filming we hope! They will especially come back & film when we get more and more folks out to banner!

None of us could possibly be depressed or discouraged with a start to the New Year like this!

In fact, we were so inspired this morning by this enthusiastic response that rivals Time Square Jan 1st at midnite that we are going to attempt to banner 7:30a.m. EVERY week/work day for at least the first 2 weeks in January.

A POWERFUL New Year:2006: We END war! Peace, Sam

Bannering university ave overpass pedestrian walk

beginning the new year right