Wheels of Justice

Candy Lovett is a 44 year old disabled veteran of the first Persian Gulf War. Lovett joined the Military at the age of 29 as a means to earn college money and better provide for her son, Leon White, who was 9 years old at the time.

Candy spent the better part of her life in the printing/graphic arts business and has a 2 year degree in that field prior to the military. She also became a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant). She worked in Nursing homes. She loved the work so much that she wanted to become a RN (Registered Nurse) working in nursing homes. She went through basic training and AIT (Advanced Individual Training) to become a truck driver. While in AIT, she received a series of shots that caused her to stay in the hospital for 3-4 days with no diagnosis.

Lovett finished AIT and went on to Saudi Arabia in support of Operations Desert Shield/Storm. She spent 6 weeks there till she fell off a 5 ton truck. The 6 weeks she spent over there would forever change her life. Among her tasks were time burying bodies along the infamous “Highway of Death.” When she came back to the States, she became disillusioned with the military, as they sought to discharge her as she was disabled and useless to them. Lovett fought hard and finally received a 60% disability in which a year later she gained full disability status through the Veterans Administration, then returned to her home State of Florida to try and buy a home and settle down with her son.

Candy Lovett had a difficult time adjusting to life back at home; she became despondent and wanted to end her life as she felt it had no meaning. Then she was given the opportunity to return to Iraq with Veteran’s for Peace; it was in Iraq where she found healing and forgiveness for participating in the war. She returned the Florida determined to do whatever she could to help in other peace groups. In 2002 her son passed away with as a result of blood clot in his lungs due to a brain tumor.

Candy Lovett continues to work in the peace community doing what she can to share her story in hopes that it will change one life, one person at a time. She remains involved with the local Veterans for Peace in Gainesville, Florida as well as works as a counselor for the GI Rights Hotline (800-394-9544) and the local hotline in Gainesville, Florida. To tell her story, Lovett wrote the short book, “Gulf War Lab Rat,” and is working on another book in memory of her son. Lovett continues to share her experience and her work through peace community and sharing about those who have helped her feel that her life still serves a higher purpose.

Michael Birmingham of Dublin, Ireland, joins the tour after having spent most of the last 16 months in Iraq. He is a co-founder of the Irish Campaign to End the Sanctions on Iraq, a campaign comprised of Iraqi exiles and Irish anti-sanctions activists. He also co-founded the Irish Anti-war Movement, a broad-based organization opposed to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Birmingham also managed a Dublin-based human rights advocacy service.

Prior to the most recent invasion, Birmingham spent six months in Iraq with Voices in the Wilderness; he volunteered with the United Nations Development Programme in Baghdad and maintained personal contact with the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq and top UN agency officials in the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and World Health Programme. From ground zero in Iraq, Birmingham coordinated delegations to Iraq—European Parliament (thirty elected members of that parliament from 13 countries) and September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, as well as other U.S. and international delegations. After witnessing the first ten days of “Shock and Awe” and seeing the effects of the attacks on civilian sites, including hospitals, Birmingham was deported by Iraqi intelligence services.

From April 2003 until May 2004, Michael Birmingham traveled throughout Occupied Iraq, meeting with a wide spectrum of Iraqi society in Baghdad, Basra, Hilla, Falluja, Nasiriyah, and other locations; he lived in Baghdad’s poor eastern suburbs, and inside and around Sadr City. Birmingham worked for housing rights with people facing eviction; he supported Iraqi families whose loved ones disappeared during and after the war and worked with families of civilian by-standers killed by U.S. soldiers.

Birmingham arrived in Falluja shortly after U.S. soldiers opened fire on unarmed parents protesting the military occupation of their children’s school, an event which saw the death of 18 civilians. This incident, which occurred in the infancy of the U.S occupation, ignited anger in Falluja and HEAVILY influenced the Iraqi general public’s perception of the U.S. military presence in their country. Birmingham was in Sadr City during some of the large-scale fighting between U.S. soldiers and members of the Mehdi Army, and he was in the United Nations building when it was bombed in August 2003.

What was there to witness? The many ways in which the United States military presence deliberately undermined and endangered humanitarian, human rights and other essential non-military work. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, covert military, mercenary, and espionage operations have made it almost impossible for both local and international non-military workers to operate in a way distinguishable from them. This is the face of occupation.

Michael Birmingham has given interviews to CNN, BBC, ABC, Al Jazeera, and other major U.S. and international news networks; he is a frequent contributor to alternative media covering the Iraq war and occupation, including Democracy Now. As a result of his extensive experience and immersion in much of Iraq under occupation, Birmingham has strongly criticized the biggest failure of the outside world regarding Iraq: throughout nearly two years of incessant discussion, the outside world has yet to truly to listen to the voices of the oppressed in Iraq.

In his own words: “An inability to dialogue, to work effectively in solidarity, to value truth, to face fear with courage, and to keep focus on serious destruction of human life (when distracted by petty arguments with those near us) characterize some of the serious problems that have inhibited the effectiveness of the outside world’s response to the war on the Iraqi people.”

Michael Birmingham returns to Iraq November 2004 after a month with the Wheels of Justice.

Art and Peggy Gish are career peace, civil rights and human rights activists who embody the motto of their primary affiliation, Christian Peacemaker Teams: “Getting in the way” Since the American civil rights movement and on, organic farmers Art and Peggy Gish have been getting in the way of injustice and violence from here to Hebron to Baghdad.

Peggy was in Iraq as peace advocate and witness before, during and following the recent invasion of Iraq; she has spent 11 of the last 16 months on the ground in Iraq. She returned to the United States March 2004.

Art is a graduate of Manchester College and Bethany Theological Seminary. He is the author of The New Left and Christian Radicalism (Eerdmans, 1970), Beyond the Rat Race (Herald Press. 1972), Living in Christian Community (Herald Press, 1979), and Hebron Journal: Stories of Nonviolent Peacemaking (Herald Press, 2001). Art Gish has been part of Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron since 1995, getting in the way of Israeli military and settler violence against Palestinian civilians.

Mike Oxley returns to the Wheels of Justice as a bus driver. There is also a Mike Oxley in congress, but that is a different Mike Oxley. You can visit with our Mike Oxley when we get there; you can visit the other Mike Oxley at oxley.house.gov/.

Eileen Hanson, 29, is a member of the Winona (Minnesota) Catholic Worker community, which offers food, shelter and friendship to anyone in need; she and her community are also involved in small-scale sustainability, having started an organic vegetable garden this year. Hanson works with adults with developmental disabilities and has been active in organizing and resistance to militarism and nuclearism, particularly at STRATCOM, US Strategic Nuclear Command at Offutt AFB outside Omaha, NE. She is joining the Wheels of Justice tour as a way to do something concrete to resist this nation’s drive toward empire and help bring the reality of war and occupation to people across this country. Eileen joins the tour as road manager.

Kristi Schaefer, from Olympia, Washington, traveled throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip last fall, assisting Palestinian farmers with the annual Olive Harvest; the presence of international peace activists during the olive harvest is particularly risky as Israeli threats of attack and sabotage from Israeli settlers against olive farmers escalates. Schaefer also spent time documenting human rights abuses by the Israeli Military during this period. While in Gaza, she did support and nonviolence in Rafah. Kristi joins the tour not only as an eyewitness to occupation but as road manager.

Angela Bukowy has traveled to the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gaza several times to work with the International Solidarity Movement. She has accompanied ambulances, stayed in homes threatened with demolition, challenged checkpoints, removed roadblocks and participated in many non-violent demonstrations. In addition to completing training to certify as a paramedic in New York City, she is currently assisiting in the production of a film that focuses on the impact of the wall being constructed in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Ken Hannaford-Ricardi, a 57-year-old husband and father of two, is a member of Voices in the Wilderness and Worcester’s Catholic Worker community. Having traveled to Iraq twice in ‘98 and once in 2000, Ken has spent considerable amounts of time in Iraq among ordinary civilians. In his home state, Ken has committed numerous acts of civil resistance in confronting Raytheon, manufacturer of the Patriot Missile and a top war profiteer.

Ricardi has recently been working with Voices in the Wilderness on civil and legal actions involving thousands of dollars in fines imposed against VitW for travel and transfer of medicines and small amounts relief aid to Iraqi civilians for the last decade. The Department of Treasury and the Office of Foreign Assets Control continue to impose these fines and have yet to collect. Ken has worked with others at VitW to resist these fines and take legal action against them. Voices in the Wilderness continues to refuse payment of these fines, believing, “we do not need a license to perform the works of mercy.”

Gabriel Ash was born in Romania and grew up in Israel but lives in the United States and works for Palestinian Human RIghts. He is not only an unabashed “opssimist” but also an activist, history teacher, and the Middle East Editor of YellowTimes.org’s News. His articles on the Middle East have been translated and published in many languages.

Paul Chan is an artist and director of National Philistine, an online aesthetic think tank. Chan is a 2003 Rockefeller Foundation new media arts fellow. He is represented in New York City by the Greene Naftali Gallery. His video work is distributed by Video Data Bank and his new media work can be seen at nationalphilistine.com

Chan spent one month (Dec 2002-Jan 2003) in Baghdad as a member of the Iraq Peace Team, a project of Voices in the Wilderness, a Nobel Peace prize nominated group working to end the sanctions against Iraq. The goals of IPT are to rally support for resisting the war (and now occupation) on Iraq and publicize the effects of the ongoing US assault on Iraqi civilians.

Audrey Stewart is a Catholic Worker from Ithaca NY. She traveled to Palestine in April 2002 with a small group working to intervene during an Israeli army invasion of the West Bank. She has also been active with efforts to stop the sanctions/war against Iraq, Close the US Army School of the Americas/Whisc, and other efforts locally and nationally to bring justice to our community and world. She is also the mother of a nine month old.

Gabriel Stewart-GuidoGabriel Stewart-Guido is a founding member of Babies Anarchist Revolutionary Front (BARF) which works to create a better world for babies and families everywhere. BARF is committed to standing up in resistance to militarism, poverty, racism, corporate domination, and anything else that hurts babies, kids, and their communities. As part of this work, Gabe has marched in DC against the occupation of Iraq, in Miami against the FTAA, and in Georgia against the SOA. He has also been part of many local demonstrations for justice and peace.

AGE: 44 FROM: LOUISVILLE, KY —organizer / screenplay writer

Douglas Johnson attended college at the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY) where he received a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature. After working for the Postal Service for 13 years, he left to join a world-wide organization called Landmark Education, where he received extensive training in sales and public speaking. He is currently between jobs, writing a screenplay, and is very active with the Louisville Committee to Stop the War Against Iraq, a group that has organized peace rallies, forums, candlelight vigils and teach-ins to help stop the war against Iraq and end the sanctions. Doug spent most of the recent war in Iraq and most of the fall on the Wheels of Justice tour.

Brian Avery left the music program at UNC-Greensboro to become a full-time musician, playing percussion in rock bands for two years. In 1999, his study of organic farming led him to an organic farm in the West Bank; a year living at Chicago’s Stone Soup housing cooperative and his move to New Mexico brought him closer to being a full-time activist. Through his work with the Arab-Jewish Peace Alliance in Albuquerque, Avery met members of Christian Peacemaker Teams and the International Solidarity Movement and felt compelled to go to Palestine with the ISM. While in the West Bank, Avery worked with local schools to organize games and sports for children and helped people go through Israeli checkpoints, especially the elderly, pregnant women and others with medical conditions. He also delivered food and medicine to Israeli-occupied homes of Palestinian families when Israeli solders would not permit these families to go out and get these supplies. In April 2003, in the Palestinian town of Jenin, Brian Avery was shot in the face by a burst of heavy machine gun fire from and Israeli armored personnel carrier (APC). He was wearing a fluorescent red vest with a reflective white cross on its back and front. Several reconstructive surgeries later, Avery returned to the United States to continue his work as a witness to occupation. His injuries have not slowed his pace.

Active musician, volunteer and co-founder of Veterans for Peace chapter 101 in San Jose, CA, Dennis was born and raised on the streets of San Francisco, Berkeley, and San Jose. He graduated cum lade as a Dean’s Scholar from San Jose State University with a BA in political science. Before college, Dennis was a US Army drill sergeant and Airborne medic, in addition to earning an Active Duty Nomination to United States Military Academy at West Point and graduating Nuclear Biological Chemical School at Ft. Benning in Georgia. Kyne, the award-winning author of We Can Transcend The Existing Boundaries, recently released a new album, Support the Truth, and addressed the Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg, Germany October 2003.

“My hometown San Jose was home to Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the ‘68 Black Power Olympians who raised their black gloved fists in the air. San Jose was one of the first cities in America to have a Gay Pride Parade. I went in the Army to be a medic; I was trained to conserve the fighting strength and ensure the health and welfare of my troops. I realized that wasn’t what they wanted me to do when they basically used me as a guinea pig during a war… I came to accept that this military, which embodies many social viruses, was not doing anything to protect the citizenry from these social viruses. So I decided to tell the truth.”