Final Project Update

It was difficult to discern the direction I wanted to take with this project. I had come to terms with the basic premise of protest. During my military service, it was very explicit that we could not participate in protest. Later I found that we could not participate in military uniform or in an official capacity because of the military's tradition of keeping politics out of the military. I had read and learned about the United State's history with protest. The connection of veterans and their participation in protest was a personal journey that invited me to question why I would repress my opinions on the escalation of force that I'd witness. Confused by beliefs that justified violent means to maintain order and feeling incensed by the blatant violation of human rights. The concept that I chose was "Loyalty Demands Dissent" which is free of bias and does not adhere to any ideas of arbitrary loyalties. It provided me the understanding to view violations of human r...

  I wanted to create a website that documented anti-militarization efforts  with  a  focus on  the   protests   that  occurred in Seattle during the summer of 2020. As a ve teran , my  perspective of  the protest  and the use of military type efforts to subdue the protestors generate some emotional  triggers.  I want ed  to explore the idea ‘Loyalty Demands Dissent’. I read this title off an autobiography of a Thai Buddhist monk and activist named Sulak  Sivaraksa . I  gathered  articles, images and video clips of the protest that occurred in Seattle, WA  and of veterans protesting forceful engagement through military action . I want to create a gallery of quotes from articles or images.  As a veteran, I’d like to demonstrate the internal dialogue that I experience d  as the protests occurred in Seattle. Watching the media and re...

 

Hunt, Andrew E.  The Turning:  a  History of Vietnam Veterans against the War . New York University Press, 2001.     A book written by Andrew Hunt on the history of Vietnam Veterans Against the War organization.  Andrew Hunt describes the anti-vietnam war movement from the perspective of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Descriptions of the Vietnam war by service members provided a narrative contrary to the main stream media. The movement generated by the members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War provided raw information of the personal experiences in Vietnam that led it to become against the war rather than just informing the public. The intent was to use their voices to end the war in Vietnam. This source was useful to my media artifact bring context to the significance of the voices of veterans who support transparency, honesty, and an end to war. The protest over the summer seemed peaceful until the Seattle Police Department and the news media...