State of Hope Tour Celebration and Debrief

Please join the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition in a celebration of the completion of the recent State of Hope Tour. We want to share with all of our Atlanta area supporters some of the excitement we experienced as we traveled the state of Georgia with our message about the human and economic cost of the war in Iraq. With the Eyes Wide Open exhibit and the music of Witt Wisebram and others, we made wonderful contacts around the state, got great press coverage, and contributed to the building of a stronger statewide network for peace and justice. We will be showing a slideshow of the tour and some of the press coverage, and discussing what we see as a new model of statewide organizing. Witt will also play a set of his moving music and there will be light refreshments.

When: Thursday December 13, 2007, 7:00pm-9:00pm

Where: Atlanta Friends Meeting
701 W Howard Ave. Decatur, GA 30030 (for directions please see http://atlanta.quaker.org/where.htm)

For more information please contact Tim Franzen at 404-414-5521/ cobbpeace@comcast.net or Christina Repoley 404-561-7903/ crepoley@afsc.org.

Thank You!!!

Special thanks to…..

Witt Wisebram for lending us his amazing talent. Witt’s commitment to our cause is clearly genuine. When he wasn’t playing he was helping us unload the boots, staffing the exhibit, and engaging the public.

Barry Edwards at www.SpinTheWorld.com for providing us with free sound!

American Friends Service Committee for being so awesome! They paid for our van rental fee, and provided the powerful “Eyes Wide Open Exhibit”

School Of the Americas Watch for letting us have Witt play at prime time on Sunday.

The Atlanta chapter of the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition for paying for our table at SOAW.

Koinonia Partners for providing us with housing three nights in a row and being a point of inspiration for countless Georgians.

Cathy Browning for being so supportive. Thanks for scoring us so much press Cath!

Fredando Jackson for taking a week of work to run around the state with us. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Sara Hopkins for taking so many lovely photos.

Everyone that came out and supported us, cheered us on, fed us, housed us, funded us, laughed and cried with us, and disagreed with us. Thanks for putting our minds in a state of hope!

The Econo Lodge on Veterans pkwy for letting us take over their lobby for a few hours.

…..and the HoJo in Statesboro for having Jacuzzi bathtubs in all their $39.95 rooms!!

Tim Franzen
Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition

Christina Repoley
AFSC/Georgia Peace & Justice Coaliton

Day Ten: Columbus 11.18.07

Wow, what an emotion filled finale for us. For those that don’t know the last day of the School of the Americus Watch there’s always a solemn memorial for the victims of SOA graduates. Demonstrators place their religious/spiritual symbols on the fence that blocks the public from entering Fort Benning, where the SOA program resides. Many of the religious symbols bare the name of a specific murder victim. As demonstrators take time to place their symbols on the fences names of the murder victims are read from the stage. I found myself weeping, filled with despair, grief, and hope. If 25,000 people from all over the world can converge on a Sunday in Columbus Ga. To stand in solidarity with foreign murder victims that, for the most part, they’ve never met, then maybe there’s hope. Only 12 congressional votes stand in the way of closing the murderous program for good.

After the procession was over Witt was introduced to the stage. The emcee recognized the “State Of Hope” tour and the crowd cheered. Witt ripped into, “Here’s to the State of Things” and the crowd really responded. It was a great bookend to our tour.

We discovered later that three students from Kennesaw State University were arrested because they refused to give the police their crosses, which each bore the name of children that had been murdered by SOA graduates. The police cited that the crucifixes’ were to large and could be considered a weapon. It’s difficult to comprehend how police would see three college kids carrying crosses on Sunday as a threat. The three students didn’t resist arrest and bonded out after spending five hours in a cell. All three of them have been active in Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition Affiliate groups. We’ve contacted them to reassure them that we would provide them with whatever support they need. See the video of their arrest below.

So we packed up the van for the last time and began our last trip back home. It’s safe to so that it was a life changing experience for all of us. I hope we strengthened the voice of the progressive voice in our great state. I hope that some in our state will begin to hold our politicians accountable when they claim to support our brothers and sisters in uniform. I hope that we never put our troops in harms way on a foundation of lies, public manipulation, and media cheerleading. I hope we all begin to prepare for a new generation of troubled veterans as they return from a seemingly endless war. I hope that we’re able to spend the kind of money we’ve given this president for his war on more pressing national needs in the future.


Tim Franzen
Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition

Photos by Al Viola
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On Sunday three students who are part of the GPJC network were arrested at SOA Watch for carrying crosses that local police deemed were too large. See the footage of their arrest below.

Day Nine: Columbus 11.17.07

We arrived to Columbus Saturday morning, with thousands of others who had come for the 18th annual School of the Americas Watch vigil. Estimates of the crowd this year are at 25,000! We set up our tables and the Cost of War banners, but decided it would not be possible to set the boots up with everything else that was going on. We spent the day talking to hundreds of people who were interested in the work of AFSC and GPJC. The Cost of War banners were a big hit and we gave out hundreds of Cost of War brochures. Everyone agreed that having a clear breakdown of how much we are spending on one day of the war in Iraq ($720 million!!) and how that money could be spent domestically (for example, 423,529 children with healthcare) is a great resource. We also invited Georgia activists to our meeting later that night.

Due to a misunderstanding when I booked out hotel "suite" we ended up holding our GPJC Statewide Meet and Greet in the lobby area of the Econo Lodge in downtown Columbus. We had about 20 people show up and it was a nice relaxing time to hear about work around the state and for us to give a quick report on the tour. We also made a great connection with a member of the Columbus Peace and Justice Coalition. We look forward to continuing to work together in the future.

Witt played a song to give folks a taste of the tour.

After the meeting was over we were all so tired that we worked on the blog for a while and then called it a night.

Christina Repoley
AFSC/ GPJC

Photo by Al Viola

Day Eight: Macon 11.16.07

We showed up at Joshua Cup in historic downtown Macon around 10am for coffee and pre-game strategizing. I should say that I travel through Macon so often that I was able to redeem my frequent card for a triple vanilla/haze soy latte. As we began to work on the blog Fredando informed us the Oprah was in town for a her “home town” series. I attempted to find her publicists contact info but gave up after a few minutes.

We decided to head to the First Christian Church of Macon, who hosted the national Eyes Wide Open exhibit in 2004, to begin setting up the boots. Once we got there we were greeted by a half dozen local volunteers from the church and the local peace group, MaconPeace. There was a tremendous amount of media outreach done by the church. Within two hours we did several interviews for local TV stations. We had thousands of people drive by the boots, some stopped and took the time to view the memorial and pick up information. We were really excited to connect with several high school aged kids that came out to volunteer. We can’t wait to work with them in the future.

So I had secretly planned to leave the rest of the State of Hope folks to join the MaconPeace folks for their regular weekly street demonstration against the Iraq war. Right before it was time for me to go I told Christina I’d be back in a while. Craig Fluke drove me to Washington st. to join the demonstration. What a great group! Turns out the their site was only a few hundred yards from Oprah’s hotel. With so many cars honking in support of MaconPeace, I wondered if Oprah could hear.

Once back at the church the father of the soldier who’s sister left his picture with his boots at our Savannah stop arrived. We knew he lived in Macon and might show up. He wanted his sons name removed from the exhibit. This was the first time we had received this request and we of course complied with his wishes. It was a bittersweet end to the story that began in Savannah.

We packed up the boots at 6pm and headed into the church. Witt got to play in the church sanctuary! It felt very peaceful. After we left we treated our selves to a delicious warm meal at a local Chinese joint before we drove off into the night toward Americus.

Tim Franzen
Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition

Photos by Christina Repoley

Day Seven: Americus 11.15.07

We rolled into historic Koinonia Farms around 3am after the long drive from St. Simons Island. It should be noted that Koinonia is not only the birth place for Habitat for Humanity and Jubilee Partners, it’s also the birth place of the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition. Sanders Thornberg, who was our local host/organizer, met us in the morning and we followed him out to the exhibit site. We set up the “Eyes Wide Open” exhibit right across the street from Habitat For Humanity international headquarters located in the middle of downtown Americus. Without a shadow of a doubt we experienced the most hostility there than at any stop we’ve made so far. The ease with which Bush supporters were able to ignore the symbolic boots of our state’s fallen soldiers was shocking and troubling. The Americus Times Reporter showed up and promised a front page story, Christina did a great job during the interview. Later channel 10, the south Georgia NBC affiliate, showed up and interviewed me. The crew spent a long time filming the boots and even asked if Witt would play a song. We were all skeptical about what footage would end up being used.

A man in uniform showed up and began walking amongst the boots. I introduced myself. It was clear that he wasn’t sure how he felt about our presence. He told me that he was going to be sent to Afghanistan in a month and that he was nervous. He told me that most in his unit felt betrayed by George W. Bush. He asked if I would help him find a friend of his who was killed in Iraq. We found the boots with his friend's name on them. I could no longer hold back tears. He took a moment of silence and a few pictures. He thanked us and encouraged us to keep it up. We shook hands and he was on his way.

Later that evening we set up the concert back at Koinonia Farms. We all felt so great being able to have the music in a more friendly environment. Koinonia is such a warm, peaceful place. Christina & I gave a brief talk on our experiences on the road so far. Witt played another fantastic set. As we were making our closing statements Fredando asked to come to the mic for the first time on the tour. He was clearly overwhelmed with the emotion and spirit that surrounded the Koinonia museum. His words brought many to tears.

Later that evening we discovered that Channel 10 made our story their lead story and promoted it all night long. Sanders taped it for us and we watched it together. It was great! They really did the story justice. We also made the front page of the Americus Times Reporter with a good picture! THANKS CHANNEL 10 & THANKS KOINONIA! Click here for a link to footage from the news.

Tim Franzen
Georgia Peace& Justice Coalition

Photos by Christina Repoley and Witt Wisebram

Day Six: St. Simons Island 11.14.07

Arriving in the wee morning hours to Brunswick we crashed on the floor at Cathy Browning's house. Cathy has been an amazing support and advocate for our tour and specifically was responsible for a lot of the great media coverage we have been getting. Thanks Cathy!! Riding into St. Simons Island Tim shared stories of organizing there during the G-8 summit several years ago. Things weren't so dramatic for us, and we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon on the Island. The boots were set up by about 2:00pm and we had many people wander by and look at the exhibit throughout the day. A reporter and photogpraher from the Brunswick News came and did an article which appeared in the paper on Thursday.



Robert and other wonderful members of Glynn Peace brought lots of refreshments (we loved the egg salad, yum!) and we shared a great potluck and listened to music from Larry before the program got started. David Millman and Bill Owens shared their guitar and harmonica skills with us and we all enjoyed singing along to some traditional peace songs like "Where Have All the Flowers Gone."



We heard more from Robert and Cathy about all the amazing work that Glynn Peace is up to, setting the stage for creative and consistent action for peace in the whole state (rock on Glynn Peace!!). We also heard from Monica Benderman about the important work she and Kevin are engaged in to support our troops once they return home, and she reminded us that when the war ends we have to be ready for all those returning who will need a lot of help and support.

This was the sixth night that we on the tour have had the opportunity to hear Witt's set, and every night I fall more in love with his words and music. (I should add here that I am not the only one who feels this way...Witt has developed quite a fan club! At this stop he got interupted mid-set by questions from the audience like "Will you tell us a little more about yourself?"..."Where did you go to school?"...and even "Are you single?")

We were especially excited that there was a local group of high school students who saw a flier about the event in a coffee shop and came to check us out. We exchanged contact info and Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition plans to find ways to work on events with them in the future.



On our way out of town we took a basket of little green army men adorned with stickers saying "Bring Them Home" and contact info for Glynn Peace. We strategically distributed them at a gas station and drug store, and even got a few through the drive-through window at Starbucks.



Tim, our champion driver, got us safely to Americus, arriving to Koinonia Partners, after dropping Fredando off at his mom's house, around 3am...

Christina Repoley
American Friends Service Committee/ Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition

Photos by Sara Hopkins

Day Five: Savannah 11.13.07

We had time to kill once we got to Savannah so we drove out to Tybee Island to meet with the world famous Chito Lapena for lunch. After filling our empty stomachs with homemade food from our hosts the night before we decided to head to the beach for much needed leisure time. Once at the beach we frolicked and strategized about our Savannah show. There was a lot of excitement because we got a front page story in the Savannah Morning News and Christina had done an interview the was aired on NPR that morning in Savannah and Atlanta.

Once we got to our venue in Savannah, The Sentient Bean, we were immediately asked by local affiliates for ABC & FOX news for interviews. We of course made sure that the boots were in the background. Later, after we got everything set up the local affiliate for NBC showed up to interview us. Click here for footage of one of Tim's interviews.

There were a lot of powerful reactions from those who came to see the boots. We had one young woman, who heard about the exhibit while listening to a local country station, show up with a photograph of her brother. She took time to walk amongst the boots until she found the pair with her brother's name. She placed the picture of her brother next to his boots, saying that she wanted to make sure that he stood out while we did this tour. We had a veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq spend time with us. He described his experience in Iraq and encouraged us to continue our work to bring the troops home. He said he admired our convictions. Click here for footage of setting up boots in Savannah.

Witt played a 40 minute set to the back drop of Sara’s photography on a huge screen courtesy of Chito’s projector. After the show we headed over to the Metro coffee shop to enjoy the much hyped vegan peanut butter soy shakes, Mmmmmm. Chito surprised us by paying for our treats before we pushed off into the night toward our next stop……St. Simons Island!

Tim Franzen
Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition

Photos by Sara Hopkins

Day Four: Statesboro 11.12.07

We left Athens around 9:30pm on Saturday and drove all the way to Statesboro, and spent the night in a lovely Howard Johnson. Ask Tim or Witt about the jacuzzi bubble bath and the juice boxes…

The next day, which was Veterans Day, we arrived at Georgia Southern University around 11am to set up. It was a perfect spot in the middle of campus at the Rotunda, just outside the Russell Union. We got to meet Jonathan Harwell and several others who helped bring us to Statesboro. Around noon I had a telephone interview with a reporter from Georgia Public Radio who wanted to cover the tour. If anyone has heard this please let us know! It supposedly aired on Atlanta and Savannah stations.



We probably had a couple thousand students pass by, look at the boots, stop and engage with us throughout the day. We met some great campus activists who were set up nearby with information about Darfur. Most people were welcoming and interested in our material. Some had friends or family that they identified among the boots. We did have one encounter with a marine who walked by, unplugged the mic while Tim was talking, yelled something and then ran off. Tim and Fredando managed to get him to turn around and engage with them in some dialouge. It was tense but in the end they ended up shaking hands. An example of nonviolent direct communication--not backing down but really engaging someone in a conversation about the issues.



We especially enjoyed meeting Rosemarie Stallworth-Clark, an educator for peace who also worked hard to bring us to Georgia Southern.

It was great to be on campus on such a beautiful day interacting with so many interesting people. We learned that there are many progressive people in Statesboro working for peace and justice and we look forward to more collaboration in the future. And a special thanks to Jonathan and Lori for the hospitality!

Christina Repoley
American Friends Service Committee/ Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition

Addendum to Statesboro
It should be noted that we experienced some of the best Southern hospitality any of us have every experienced Monday evening. Julie and Jonathan Harwell fixed us an amazing vegan spread--roasted potatoes, Carrots, onions, chilli, hopin’ Johns, and tabuli.

After dinner came mouth watering vegan chocolate cake and apple crisp. Witt, Fredando, and I couldn’t stop smiling as we ate the apple crisp. It was like eating sunshine, yum!

Our hosts had candles burning in every room, multiple soap selections, and a phenomenal breakfast spread. Of course they saw us off with a mountain of food to take on the road.

BIG PROPS TO STATESBORO!!!

Tim Franzen
Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition

Photos by Sara Hopkins

Day Three: Athens 11.11.07

Our time in Athens was interesting to say the least. We arrived on Saturday night--game night for UGA (what were we thinking??). We drove around in a state of shock at the sheer drunken debauchery, and pondered what our country would be like if people cared as much about ending the war as they do about football. We had some down time in Athens that we spent visiting with friends, getting some work done, and eating a delicious breakfast at The Grit.





We set up on campus at the University of Georgia in the Student Learning Center. Turnout was low but we did catch a lot of students as they passed through the rotunda space where the boots were set up. Eventually we realized that there were tons of students just upstairs from us at the coffee shop. In an act of guerilla activism, Tim and Witt temporarily took over the coffee shop, made a pitch for our exhibit, Witt played "Here's to the State of Things," some students were shocked, others excited at this out of the ordinary occurance, and then they made a quick getaway to escape campus security taking further action. We will hopefully have a video clip of this up soon!



Special thanks to Xavier for all of his work putting the event together and for hosting us and to members of the Athens Friends Meeting for their help with set up and break down.

Christina Repoley
American Friends Service Committee/ Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition

Photos by Sara Hopkins

Day Two: Sautee 11.10.07

Witt Wisebram, Christina Repoley, Dottie Foster, Tim Franzen, Fredando Jackson

We rolled into Sautee around 11am on Saturday November 10. This area is absolutely beautiful! Our venue couldn’t have been better. We were at the Sautee-Nacooche Community Center which is nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. Our visit coincided with a community fundraiser for the Latin American outreach program.
There were all kinds of great Fair Trade garments and tapestries from Latin America for sale. Witt & I purchased some pretty sweet rainbow colored friendship bracelets. Witt played a 30 minute set, then I played DJ to a Latin American Dance troupe. Christina added her lovely vocal styling’s to Witt’s first song. Fredando held down the table and did a great job raising $$$.


Andrew Steel, 6, of Sautee, Ga.

Again there were several emotional responses to the “Eyes Wide Open” exhibit. One man just happen to see the boots as he was driving by. He stopped, walked through the boots, began to weep, and as he was leaving he saluted us.


Cynthia Green, of Gainsville, Ga.

We were invited to stop by the Sweetwater Coffee house after we broke everything down. They treated us to free Fair Trade coffee and vegan cookies, yum! Right when we walked in they were playing a CD they bought at the event from us. What a cool stop!!


Tim Franzen
Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition

Photos by Sara Hopkins

Day One: Marietta 11.09.07

Marietta was our kick off for the whole tour and we couldn’t of been more happy with the turnout and the positive response. We estimated about 200 people that stopped by to see the exhibits and hear music. There were countless folks that just happened upon us due to the very public location. Contra Verse played a very energetic set that lasted about 30 minutes, everybody loved them! Witt brought his A-game and his posse of loyal fans. I’m told he sold several fistfulls of CDs.

Several Iraq war veterans showed up. They thanked us for what we were doing and encouraged us to continue. The “Eyes Wide Open" exhibit provoked a lot of strong emotion from those who took the time to walk amongst the boots. Several people were brought to tears.

We want to give a BIG thanks to Cool Beans Coffee Roasting Company(31 Mill st., Marietta 30060) for hosting us. The staff was great!!



Photos by Sara Hopkins