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Publisher’s Message Reflections on Courage and Robin Lloyd
You may not know Robin Lloyd or have ever heard of her. To many of us in the Burlington area, we know her as a mother, a friend, a filmmaker, a publisher, and as a peace activist. You can almost always spot Robin standing among others in front of the post office protesting wars or acts of oppression against civilians or the poor…and in all kinds of weather. In many ways, Robin is just like us. She loves her family; her son, Jess; her cat, Whitey; her friends; good music. And she loves her country. And she really loves springtime. Just like us. Except most of us are not really like her. We are safe and snug in our homes or out among the daffodils and tulips. Robin is in jail. And it’s no party. She has absolutely no privacy. No books. No e-mail. Not even a hairbrush. And she will not be out until July. Like Robin, millions of Americans are horrified by the direction the Bush Administration has taken our country. Many are worried, even fearful of what desperate actions he and his administration might take to bolster more support. Until January 2009, when he is scheduled to be finally out of office, many of us are paralyzed into a kind of numbness, hoping this nightmare of a presidency will somehow fade away. Of course, the truth is that even if George W. Bush fades away, the damage he has done never will. Not for many years to come, no matter who is elected as our next president. Estimates of the cost of the Iraq War to American taxpayers is now at $315 billion by the end of September and the ultimate cost will possibly be near $2 trillion. We feel overwhelmed and frustrated, knowing that besides one more letter to a Congressional representative or check to a candidate running for election this fall, there is not much we can do. But there is something else. I think Robin might say this: “As thousands have already given their lives, and thousands more have lost eyes or limbs or a loved one, do what you can do, whatever it is. March in protest. Write letters. Sign petitions. Just discuss the issue with a neighbor. Maybe you, too, might choose to serve prison time for civil disobedience, a political prisoner like those who said ‘No! Not in our name!’ at the School of the Americas. Whatever you are doing, whatever you can do: Do more.” And, if you’d like to offer Robin words of support, here is her address for the next three months: Robin Lloyd 92572-020  |
Robin
Lloyd, age 67, was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution
in Danbury, Connecticut on April 11, 2006. Lloyd was arrested for “crossing
the line” while protesting at the School of the Americas at Fort
Benning, Georgia where Central American military officers receive training
by the United States military in methods of torture and abuse in order
to maintain, induce, and promote U.S. hegemony in this hemisphere.
Robin was horrified by Abu Ghraib and the Bush Administration’s
refusal to be held accountable. This was the tipping point which motivated
her to take this extreme action.