Aimee muses about “retooling” for the long haul and the importance of people who work for change.

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  • Excerpt of Aimee Allison’s chapter in the book Ten Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Army (New Press, 2006)

I desperately wanted out of my small-minded hometown of Antioch, California, and the military recruiter on my high school campus promised me an escape hatch. The family that my white mother and African American father created was based on the belief that the hard work and democratic values of 1960s activists made equality my birthright.

But my day-to-day experience was full of evidence that racism was alive and well. High school classmates would chant the n-word when our team played its biggest rival the next town over. Slurs against gay people were so accepted that teachers used them without thought. And after winning a local Junior Miss competition, a first for a black contestant, I was excluded from the local news and town parade. When I brought my Ivy League college acceptance letter into the career center, a counselor suggested that I got in because of my race. So I rushed to sign up for the Army Reserves, in part because it was the only place I knew of that promised I wouldn’t be judged or limited by my race or gender.

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Craigslist Nonprofit Bootcamp Keynote

Craigslist Nonprofit Bootcamp Keynote

Aimee Allison, Craigslist Foundation Bootcamp Keynote Speech 2007 where she muses about "retooling" for the long haul and the importance of people who work for change. Download this episode (right click and save)

Winter Soldier Coverage Wins Project Censored Award

Winter Soldier Coverage Wins Project Censored Award

I'm so honored to receive a Project Censored Award along with Aaron Glantz for our coverage of Winter Soldier 2008. We'll be in the annual publication and may have some local speaking events in the Fall. Here's part of the letter they sent: Your hosting of the live broadcast “Winter Soldier 2008: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations” on War Comes Home, by KPFA, March 14-16, 2008, ...

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The Book

An activist’s guide to combating military recruitment.
http://myspace.com/armyofnonebook

Uniformed U.S. Army Officers lunch with students in elementary school cafeterias. Army training programs including rifle and pistol instruction replace physical education in middle schools. Like never before, military recruiters are entering the halls of U.S. schools with unchecked access in an attempt to bolster a military in crisis.

However, even as these destructive efforts to militarize youth accelerate, so do the creative and powerful efforts of students, community members, and veterans to challenge them. Today, the counter recruitment movement—from counseling to poetry slams to citywide lobbying efforts—has become one of the most practical ways to tangibly resist U.S. policy that cuts funding for education and social programs while promoting war and occupation. Without enough soldiers, the U.S. cannot sustain its empire.

Army of None exposes the real story behind the military-recruitment complex, and offers guides, tools, and resources for education and action, and people power strategies to win.