solidarity

This column I wrote was published in the East Bay Express on July 9, 2008.

Hurricane Katrina did it for Escenthio. At his high school in Oakland, he was enrolled in a JROTC program and was on his way to joining the military. But one of his teachers invited him to a benefit for the victims of the hurricane. It made Escenthio question his involvement in the class and our country's priorities in general. "Why are we over there killing people in Iraq when there are people in need right here?" he asked.

Soon afterward, he decided to organize a debate at his school around these issues, and invited the JROTC army officers to the table alongside Pablo Paredes, a well-known conscientious objector. The debates created quite a stir — and Escenthio became one of the central youth activists of BayPeace, an Oakland organization doing counter-recruitment work in high schools.

"He's one of the most amazing young activists I've met," said Susan from BayPeace, who recommended that Escenthio join our Youth Arts and Action delegation traveling to Colombia at the end of March. At eighteen, Escenthio had an important voice to bring: a young, African-American man finishing his last year of high school, a spoken-word artist, and counter-recruitment activist. I was quite excited about him joining us: a group of organizers, activists, artists, and young leaders who would travel to Colombia to meet up with two youth-based organizations working on the issues of conscientious objection and how militarism affects young people's lives.