Jesus Mendez-Carbajal -
In the past nine months as Project YANO’s 2013-2014 student intern, I have learned an immense amount of information about U.S. militarism, its far reach, and counter-recruitment. I have been directly impacted on multiple levels. I have grown mentally through the knowledge I have gained and also personally through the interactions and relationships I have built with youth, advisors, teachers, mentors, and Project YANO supporters, volunteers and board members. I have had the pleasure of working with students who look like me, engaging low-income youth of color who have stories and backgrounds similar to my own.
At the time I began the internship, I had accepted and started working as an intern for another local non-profit organization. I am very grateful to both organizations for the opportunities they have provided me and for the personal and professional growth they have facilitated both for me and in me. I am especially grateful for the fact that both were paid internships, which allowed me the freedom to do work that I enjoy, that I am passionate about, and that is not routine -- because, as I experienced first-hand while I worked at Wendy’s, repetitive work is tiresome work.
When I began, I was very excited to intern with YANO but I was also a bit nervous and scared about successfully balancing school, my second internship, and personal life. From YANO, its board members, program coordinator and volunteers, I learned lessons in non-profit organizing, basic mailing operations, and fund appeal letter writing; strengthened my facilitation, time management, and multitasking skills; and acquired an expanded interdisciplinary view of the world.
Prior to applying for the position, I learned about Project YANO and heard about meetings, workshops, and conferences through board members who also happen to be some of my very close friends. They would say things like: “Oh! Project YANO is doing this and doing that,” and “We decided to move forward with this,” and I would think to myself, “Wow, that sounds awesome! I wonder how and if I can join?” I never actually asked, so when the internship opportunity presented itself I gladly applied.
My heart ripped as I listened to Thanh’s plea. I want to do what is best for my kids. I want to support and honor them in making their own informed decisions. But, given the impact of JROTC at our school, I felt very uneasy about the balance of information students like Thanh were receiving about enlistment in the U.S. military. After much discussion with Thanh, I wrote an honest letter, emphasizing his sensitive poetic nature and his commitment to fairness. The Navy eagerly welcomed him.
As Tami and I set up our SOY table at McCallum HS today, who should walk in but two Marine recruiters, who set up their chin-up bar and display right across from us! We have never had a school schedule us on the same day as recruiters except during career fairs, so this was s first! It proved an interesting day.
The other conversation was with a female student who turned the peace wheel and landed on the one in which they are asked to name a peacemaker they know of. She spoke of looking up Tiananmen Square after the recent car bombing there and learning about the 1989 protest there and a woman who was one of the organizers. She couldn't recall the woman's name but said she is now living in New York and working for Chinese women's rights, particularly in regard to the one child policy.
Four different teachers stopped by today to tell us they appreciated us being there. One was a history teacher, who says he tells his students to do the research if they are thinking of enlisting. He said he doesn’t like how the recruiters come in and tell students things that he feels aren’t true. He took a few of our things and came by a few more times during the lunch periods to check us out. Then, an English teacher stopped by to tell us he was teaching Orwell’s “1984” and students didn’t know what “extraordinary rendition” was, so he was filling them in. He also said he plans to teach Eisenhower’s “every gunship ever launched…” speech. He took an “Addicted to War” book and said he would make it available to his class. Also, an art teacher came by and took a few photos of the silkscreened “War is Trauma” poster because he liked it, and a graphic art teacher who is also the faculty sponsor of the student GLBTQ group came by and talked for a while. He has been supportive in the past and has invited Hart to speak to his classes. He told us that what would be really helpful for his students is conflict resolution and group leadership training. I asked what the students’ main concerns were, and he said it mainly boiled down to relationship troubles. He hoped we might have some curriculum. I referred him to HIPP (
I am sorry to say that the Marine recruiters had more business at their table than we did at ours. Today, we especially needed Ben and Hart! The good news is that Hart is back in Austin and hopefully can join us again soon, and we hope that Ben can, too.
Yesterday was Veterans Day, and it is a day that always makes me feel very sad. It makes me wonder if we will always have wars and so much man-made hurt. Seeing the recruiters attracting so many kids (both young men and women) to their chin-up bar was depressing. What experiences, I wondered, were they choosing to keep quiet about? Were they really as gung-ho about the Marines as they were paid to appear?
This year we saw two new faces on the board, Matt Morton and Greg Belisle. We certainly missed the presence of Dilfruz Williams, who brought the spirit of the Gandhian principles of truth, transparency and trust to this decision making body.
