New York

The last days of our USA trip we have spend in New York City. We stayed in Mary House in the east side of Manhattan. Two blocks down is Saint Josephs House and, important to us, one block up is where Anthony has his appartment.

Anthony, Ina and Susan

We met Anthony last year in Büchel at the International Camp against the nuclear weapons stationed there, entered the airforcebase and got arrested together. Anthony is a 5th generation New Yorker and has lots of knowledge about the city and its people. He also is one of the friendliest and loving people I have ever met.
He showed us many places in New York, too many to tell you about in this blog. From the offices of the Black Panther to the Stonewall Inn, the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and the hall Lincoln spoke inn before he became president. He took us to a 80 year old vegetarian dinner for breakfast and showed us the best bookstores.

The most moving day was when we went with him to the memorial of the atack on the twin towers. Where the towers stood are now two big waterfall-like fountains with the names of all who died there. And a beautifull dove-like new subway-station that seems a celebration of capitalist victory over the attack because of all the shops inside, which made me both sad and angry. What made it so emotional was Anthonies story of how he felt that the world came together right after the attack and there was so much love and good will to make things better again. And that all this was destroyed three days later when talk started about revenge and starting wars on terrorism.

Other things we did was joining the weekly vigil against the war in Jemen and meeting with the faithfull vigillers that have been doing this for two years now.

We helped serving lunch in St Joseph house,

Chris helped in the kitchen in Mary House,

and we had a nice meeting with Carmen Trotta who is one of the Kingsbay Plowshares.

We listened to a reading of a play in Mary House, climbed the Brooklyn Bridge, saw where the Occupy movement camped and had dinner in a restaurant called Via della Pace and we talked to some of the amazing women running Mary House, Jane, Kathy, Joanne (I probably are forgetting someone, sorry!)and many volunteers too.

Niagara Falls

Dear friends, again we have to apologize for not texting anything - but hey, we are in New York City! We have a blast with with our wonderful friend Anthony Donovan in this great big city!

But for right now here are some pictures from our little outing to the Niagara Falls. Thank you so much to the friends from St. Joseph CW in Rochester, NY for lending us your car!

Soupkitchen - I love that

After a wonderful warm welcome and dinner and talks at St. Joseph Catholic Worker in Rochester, NY we had a good nights sleep and today were able to be part of the soupkitchen in the morning.

During the winter St. Josephhouse opens for a nightshelter every night, taking out matresses for about 20 people and so filling the dining hall for the night.
Then they get up in the morning and prepare for the soupline at lunch - almost every day. Wow!
Now it is summer (well not quite, concerning the weather, it's much colder here than in Kansas City) and the nightshelter is closed.



Today Trudy was the chef and Susan and I were helping with peeling and cutting potatoes to make a wonderful vegetable hash, cutting celery and filling it with peanut butter and preparing lunch bags to give out to the guests for the following day. Then we were asked to help serve the lunch.
St. Josephhouse opens at 9:30am and people come in and have coffee and sweets, are offered a shower if they like and are able to wait inside for. There are two servings of lunch, one starts at 11:15am, the second at 12:00pm. The guests come into the dininghall and sit down, then we said thanks together and then everybody came to the serving table.



During the whole morning Trudy kept on introducing us to tons of people as the European catholic workers and we got a pretty good feeling of the huge network of St. Josephhouse.
Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention that this is the oldest house in the catholic worker tradition. It was started in 1941 and Peter Maurin has slept here! Today it is a vivid community of people some of whome are living in the house and some are living in the neighbourhood.
When closing the nightshelter for the summer they offer some of the rooms to people who can't find housing and they additionally run Dorothy Day House, with renting apartments on a low rent.
Well, there will be more about this house later.

Crossing the line - Part 2

I am thankful for Susan's post about the action in Kansas City. I did take it a bit different, though.
After crossing the line - in a group of amazingly 17 people ! - we were warned by the security of NSC National Security Campus and then again by the police and then we were asked to turn around to be handcuffed. Well I hadn't expected that but I could deal with it well. Then we were lead to some chairs at the side to sit down. Yes, the police actually did provide chairs for us to sit down right behind the purple line. And it was 11 chairs - the amount of people the police were told before that would cross the line. Only it turned out to be even more. Okay, this was a bit ridiculous.

For me something else became really ridiculous: As soon as I was handcuffed (for the first time in my life) my nose and my eyes started to itch - but no way of using your fingers to get relief! Oh well, I had to use Susans shoulder ... hahaha.
Then the police made a big deal about searching us for weapons and anything dangerous, turning the pockets of our jeans inside out - really stupid.
Then they took everybodies ID and took photos - I hope I looked nice, haha.
Then we got a ticket and were released one after the other with the same court date for everybody, July 11th 2019.
After going back to the group I felt a bit lonely and then went to Betsy and Brian to get a hug - which they lovingly did.
In the evening back at our place at Cherith Brook I broke down.
Jodie came to see us and it was good to talk to her - thank your Jodie.
I had a really strong headache, I could sense the world around me only through a layer of mist, I was tired and restless at the same time, lay on my bed without sleeping, couldn't move, got up at 9:30 pm to cook dinner ...
Now looking back I can only say that the whole action really did take me in.  There were so many emotions during the day - grief about the dead, tears during the die-in, rage about the system and the officials of sites like this, fear about what might happen to me during the arrest, uncertainty about what to say to the police, anger about not taking the chance to talk to the police about what they are doing and how they could maybe help to change the system, feeling lost in a world like this ...
The next morning I found out through my family back home that I too (like the other Germans) have a letter from Buechel about the action last year (Strafbefehl) - and first I freaked out about this (by now it's solved, thank you Peter). I am not familiar with all this. I am not professional in doing this, I am still new in this "business".
I am not a big thinker, I do actions like this because I FEEL I have to do it - being a mom, a catholic worker, a peace activist. And now I am a nuke aktivist.
But I pay for it.

Well I am okay now and I am writing this being at St. Josephhouse in Rochester, NY, where we again were welcomed so warmly as in every other catholic worker on this trip. I love this family. Thank you all so much!

And I want to say this to the people at Cherith Brook, too! Thanks for being our family, thanks for the great work you are doing. I learned so much when helping with the showers and when holding hands for prayer and during the community dinner and when talking about space and life in the evenings and when cleaning the stove and just by being with you!!

Crossing the line.

Today was the big action day. We went to the National Security Campus where the new nukes for Europe are made, crossed the purple line on the road indicating where the factory terrain starts , got arrested and after an hour or so released again. Thats it.
Kind of a short story really except that the whole thing was very surreel, weird, emotional and amazingly relaxed and wonderfull to us.

Debbie Penniston holding her deceased husbands mask that was used in the radiation therapy he recieved for the braintumor he got after working at the nuclearbomb factory.

Hmm, how can I explain this to you all...
Before the linecrossing we heard speeches from people who had lost their loved ones from illnesses they contracted while building nuclear weapons. And their was a die-inn; the people who joined that first read the name of a victim of the nuke factory and then would lie on the sidewalk. We only heard a few names, maybe twenty or so of the many people who have died, but it was a very impressive and heartbreaking ceremony.

The die-inn in front of the new nuke factory.

After some more speaches the potential linecrossers then gathered at the purple line painted on the road and were stopped, warned and arrested by the police.
That whole line thing is really weird to me though. Its painted on the street, but left and right of this maybe 30 foot long, purple painted line is a nice grassfield without any markings or fence. It is easy to just walk onto the factory terrain without crossing the line. And the street in front and back of the line is both Kansas City property. Two days earlier, when Jane showed us the factory for the first time she drove over it without anyone stopping us (until we started taking pictures of the buildings and were send away). This line is...how can I put this...Have you ever seen a dog that couldnt enter a house because he thinks the glass door is closed when it is actually wide open? He is so used to not being able to enter that he doesnt even dare to try it anymore. That line kindof symbolizes our internalized fears or laws that say we can not do a certain thing, when in reality we most certainly can. If only we believed in our own capacity to love our enemies, we wouldnt have any enemies and we COULD get rid of all weapons, nuclear or otherwise, but somehow we have been taught to fear and mistrust and it paralyzes us into not crossing lines, not shaking hands with strangers or dismanteling bombs. Does that make sense?

Chris, Brian and Susan in front of the nuclear bomb factory.

The goal of todays action was to cross the line so that was what we did. We could have entered the Campus  a 100 feet to the left of the line where there was no line and no police but we choose to cross this damn line and in some way that acknowledges the existence of said line, its power over us and it was very weird and surreel to me.
What enforced those feelings was that after we did EXACTLY what we had told the police what we would do, the police did (almost) EXACTLY what they had told us they would do. The whole happening was an absurd play, a pointless ritual. Well maybe not pointless, it did have meaning to most people present and it was a safe environment for those prepared to be arrested for the first time I guess, but to me it was strange.
Dont get me wrong, I am very happy we came and joined and I feel it was much appriciated that we came all the way from Europe to support the local efforts to stop the bombs from being built. And I have learned so much from the people of Kansas City about their struggles. Very grateful for their hospitality and love and willingness to share their stories. 

The amazingly wonderful people of Cherith Brook CW who came to support and gave us hospitality this week. Thank you!

I hope they wont think I am being too harsh on them, and anything is better than staying silent when attrocities happen around you. But I guess my calling is to do more direct actions. I want to be able to say, as Dan Berrigan did: " Apologies, good friends for the fracture of good order... We could not, so help us God, do otherwise."  Because to do otherwise, to comply with the law makers and war mongers goes against my conscience, my very being and my religion.

Susan handcuffed in custody.

Kansas City

Dear friends, thanks for waiting for an update. It has been busy and I have lots to tell you so this will be a long post. We have finally arrived in Kansas City, the main goal of our journey.
Kansas City is famous for jazz, barbeque and building bombs. Although that last bit may not be well known outside of the USA. 70 Years ago the Kansas City Plant was built on Bannister road, first to built jets and later to built parts for nuclear bombs.

The site of the old plant, partially demolished and extremly toxic.

A few years ago the plant was closed and the work moved to a new site Orwelian named the'National Security Campus'. Here 90 percent of the new nukes, the B61-12, coming to the Netherlands and Germany are being built. We came to Kansas City to protest the new bombs coming to Europe, a rather selfish reason it seems now because I had no idea how much the people working in these factories have suffered to create 'our' bombs.

Jane Stroever of Peace Works Kansas City, whom organise the yearly action against the plant organized a tour for us to both the old and new plant, guided by Maurice Copeland.

Maurice worked at the old plant for 32 years as a supervisor and is now an advocate for the many people who died or got sick from the work there. Heexplained to us that although the factory is labeled as a non-nuclear plant (wich means people have trouble proving they got sick from their work) there are many radioactive materials and other toxic materials used in building weapons. Over the years there have also been leaks and spills and the whole terrain of the old plant is contanimated. Workers have gotten al kinds of cancers and many respitory diseases. The site is being cleaned but not very well. Wind takes toxic dust to nearby neighbourhoods, two creeks nearby carry contanimated water to the Missisippi river, and rumours have it that dirty mud is used to make fertilizer and used on farmland. If you want to know more please read this three article series written by Claire Schaeffer-Duffy.
Next we wento the new plant wich looks sparkly clean and innocent. We drove around the parkinglot a bit until security stopped us because we wernt allowed to take pictures. The guards at first were a bit surly but then a voice came over their intercom (I guess they were listening in) saying: 'Is that Jane Stroevers voice?' It was and their boss then came out of the building and we all had a friendly conversation. Maurice also knew them as he used to work with them. We Europeans were quite bewildered by the whole thing. We werent even sure if we could leave the car at first, because we had heard law enforcement over here dont like it if you get out without being told to.
After that we took some pictures of the sign in front of the 'Campus'.

Jane and Susan at the National Security Campus. To our left you can see the purple line that you are not supposed to cross. Apparently they repaint it every year just for the linecrossing action...

At the entrance of the factory

Enough about that. Let me now tell you a bit about the place and the people we are staying with. We have been giving warm hospitality by the Cherith Brook Catholic Worker in Kansas City ( Cherith Brook is the place where Elijah hid and was fed by ravens as in 1 Kings 17). We sort of knew them because two people, Elisabeth and Josh, who used to live here started a new CW community in Sweden a few years ago called senapskornet.
They have lunch and evening meals with people from the neighbourhood a few times a week and offer showers and clean clothes to those who need it. They also have a big garden with bees , 40 chickens, 4 ducks and a dog.

Mural made by Elisabeth on the side of the house.

Front door of the place where they have meals and showers.

A glimps of the bees.

One of the HUGE rainwater collectors. The water is used for the garden.

Our first evening here they had a movie called 'Backs against the wall: the Howard Thurman Story' showing after dinner about Howard Thurman who inspired Martin Luther King Jr, and other students committed to social justice who would participate in the civil rights movement. He also traveld in Asia and met with Gandhi. I never heard of the man before and was truly inspired by this movie and his story.

We did many other things in the past days, too much to tell you about in this blog but Yesterday was kind of a special day. We were invited for a radio show at KKFI Community Radio Show together with Maurice and Jane and Debbie Penniston, whose husband worked at the nuke-parts plant and died very young from brain-cancer (she is also featured in the NCR article I mentioned before). In the lobby of the radiostation we not only saw a paper for the action we will join on monday but also one about Extinction Rebelion, the climatechange actiongroup that Margriet from the Amsterdam CW and Chris joined in London last year.

In the radiostation. I also liked the black sticker on top, zoom in to see it!

Before and after we went to the house of Brother Louis and Sister Teresa. Brother louis was part of the Holy Family CW for over 30 years until it closed down not long ago. We had a service there with other former Holy Family members and it really did feel like a holy(?) family meeting.

Kitchen in Brother Louis' house.

Well, this blog is becoming way to long so i will end it now. Today is a bit of a quit day, Chris is going to a museum, Ina works on her filmproject and I am writting stuff and relaxing. Tomorrow is the action day. Please pray for good weather and friendly policeman. We will report to you on the action tommorow afternoon, Deo gratias!

Strangers and Guest Catholic Worker

Maloy is only a two hours drive from Des Moines - but it is so much further away (hey, it really is different here)! We are happy to stay with Betsy and Brian in Maloy, a rural village of 25 people in hilly Iowa with beautiful landscape and a lot of animals.

Betsy and Brian moved here more than 30 years ago and since then offer hospitality and do gardening to grow most of their food. Besides a lot of cats, the neighbors dog Bella and a snake every now and then they have three goats with three baby-goats and some chickens (hey Jakob, they have green eggs!). And then there is the big garden! And the food is so good! And the talks are so important!

 

We watched the goat being milked, we had prayer time together, we dug up land, we talked to the neighbour and learned about the old plants of the prairie, we ate vegetable soup with freshly baked corn bread, we heard stories of Dorothy Day and about the Tivoli farm, we petted the cats, we spotted and got rid of poison ivy, we weeded the willows, we gossiped about the folks in the movement, we played with the dog Bella, we took a walk to the graveyard and learned about the history of the village, we went out for dinner to a newly opened place in the next town, we had goat milk in our coffee, we listened to Ina playing the piano, we listened to old stories, we drank wine and beer, we read books and newsletters, we had bible study together, we went to an Amish shop, we made cheese, we baked bread, we talked about religion, politics and our aims and means, we sewed our ripped clothes, we drank a lot of tea, we cleaned the floor of the closet, we did dishes together, we got backrubs from the goats, we discussed problems, we walked to the river, we made filo pie, we got T-Shirts, we listened to music - we had a great time with our friends ... Thank you Betsy and Brian!