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   Cindy Sheehan will speak for peace in Ashland on May 21st

Gold Star mother Cindy Sheehan, who became an internationally acclaimed voice against the war in Iraq after her son Casey was killed there, will make two appearances in Ashland on Thursday, May 21st.  The public is welcome at both of the following appearances:

A Conversation with Cindy Sheehan.   Where is the energy for world peace among young people? Envisioning the future of the peace movement in 2010 and beyond.

Thursday, May 21, 6 to 7 pm, Peace House, 543 S. Mountain Av., Ashland.

Local peace workers are cordially invited to join Cindy Sheehan for an informal gathering to explore, "Where is the energy for world peace among young people? Envisioning the future of the peace movement in 2010 and beyond."  The discussion is free and open to the public. Young people (under 40) are particularly encouraged to attend.  We will pass the hat to help with Cindy's travel expenses. Thanks in advance for your generosity.  For more info: 482-9625.

Cindy Sheehan - Myth America - 10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution!

7:30 pm, Thursday, May 21, Bloomsbury Books, 290 East Main St., Ashland.  Cindy will give a talk and book-signing.  Cindy is a founding member of Gold Star Families for Peace which was formed in response to the death of her son while serving in Iraq.  She became active in the anti-war movement and led a high-profile protest outside President Bush's Texas ranch in the summer of 2005. In the past election she ran against Nancy Pelosi, for Pelosi's seat in Congress.

About Cindy Sheehan (adapted from Wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Sheehan)

Born in Inglewood, California in 1957, Cindy Sheehan graduated with honors from Cerritos College and later studied history at UCLA. She worked as a youth minister at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Vacaville for eight years, and also coordinated an after-school program for at-risk students at a Vacaville middle school. In 1977 she married Patrick Sheehan and the couple had four children, including Casey Sheehan, who was later killed in action in Iraq. 

After her son's death Sheehan became active in the anti-war  movement after her son's death in 2004. Sheehan and other military families met with Pres. Bush in June 2004 at Ft. Lewis, WA, months after her son's death.

During the Presidential Inauguration in January 2005, Sheehan traveled to Washington, DC, to speak at the opening of  the "Eyes Wide Open: the Human Cost of War" traveling exhibition created by the American Friends Service Committee that displays pairs of combat boots to represent every U.S. military casualty. There she met others who lost family members in Iraq, and together they planned to create an organization for similar families. Sheehan wrote about the experience in a commentary article.  She was also a featured speaker when the exhibition opened in San Diego in March 2005 and traveled with the exhibition to other locations. "Behind these boots is one broken-hearted family," she stated as she donated her son Casey's boots to travel with "Eyes Wide Open" when it stopped in San Francisco later that month.

Sheehan was one of the nine founding members of Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization created in January 2005 that seeks to end the US occupation of Iraq and provides support for families of soldiers killed in Iraq. As of August 2005, at least 63 other relatives of fallen soldiers were listed as members.

Sheehan attracted international attention in early August 2005, when she traveled to President Bush's  outside Crawford, Texas, demanding a second meeting with the President.  She told members of  Veterans for Peace, "And the other thing I want him to tell me is 'just what was the noble cause Casey died for?' Was it freedom and democracy? Bullshit! He died for oil. He died to make your friends richer. He died to expand American imperialism in the Middle East." She also vowed not to pay her federal income tax for 2004 because that was the year her son was killed.

On August 6, 2005, Sheehan created a makeshift camp in a ditch by the side of the road about three miles from President Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, Texas and announced her intention to stay (sleeping in a pup tent at night) until she was granted a face-to-face meeting with the President. Sheehan started her protest the day the President started a planned five-week vacation. A few days later, the media began referring to Sheehan's camp as Camp Casey. She spent the next four weeks in Crawford (except for five days spent in California see her elderly mother, who had suffered a stroke. On some days as many as 1500 supporters visited Camp Casey, including members of Congress, as well as several notable actors, singers, and civil rights activists.

Gold Star Families for Peace, of which Sheehan is a founding member, released a TV commercial featuring Sheehan, broadcast on Crawford andWaco cable channels near Bush's ranch. The group conducted a walk to a police station just outside Pres. Bush's Crawford ranch and delivered a bundle of oversized letters written by them to First Lady Laura Bush, appealing to her as a mother for support towards their movement.

In late August, Sheehan stated that she would continue to campaign against the Iraq war even if granted a meeting with Pres. Bush. She also announced the Bring Them Home Now Tour, to depart on September 1 and arrive in Washington, DC, on September 24 for three days of demonstrations. On the third day, Sheehan and about 370 other anti-war activists were arrested for demonstrating on the White House sidewalk.

Sheehan's activism has continued and in 2008 she ran for Congress against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the Democratic primary.  One of seven candidates in the race, she came in second to Pelosi, garnering more than 46,000 votes.