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and Academia by Nisha Anand
Through clouds of dust I have sifted through files dating back to the beginning of the War Resisters League. Between sneezes and trips outside for a breath of what passes for fresh air here in New York City, I have found some amazing things. I am fascinated by the rich history of the organization I am now proud to represent. When I delve into that past (in a surgical mask to protect my airways from the dust in the old files of pamphlets and pictures), I think of the campaigns, programs, activities and people who have come before me, and I am deeply inspired to carry on that tradition. War Resisters League has managed to stay together and present a vibrant voice for change throughout the years, and I am excited and humbled to be a part of this organization during the current resurgence in activism that we are experiencing around the world. But it’s safe to say that those discoveries did not come as a surprise. I had been scouting War Resisters League for some time. It is difficult to find a good starting point for this story, so I think it may be best to just start at the beginning. Grab a cup of Fair Trade coffee or herbal tea, put your feet up, and prepare to be transported back in time to the early 1990s, when a young Indian girl attending a Catholic high school in Atlanta, GA, was about to discover the world of activism. My first recollection of critical thinking involves feminism. When some of my conservative school community took offense at my unshaven legs, my principal decreed, “Nisha, shave your legs.” I badgered and cajoled my friends and classmates to organize behind me. Many women students refused to shave their legs, and the principal’s order was quietly forgotten. During that time I began to hear of WRL and utilized their organizer’s manual. However, serious planning for my takeover of this organization did not begin until my senior year at American University. I will now attempt to recreate the period of time between high school and my final year of graduate school in one sentence: I studied Gandhi and Sharp and got arrested. Okay, that’s an oversimplification. I realized that the world of academia and the world of activism weren’t connecting in any meaningful way. In college, I was immersed in a world of research and writing. Classes like “Conflict, Culture and Peace,” “Nonviolence” and “Gender and Conflict” began to shape my ideas and to help me in my activism. Yet there was a problem: Many of the civil disobedience campaigns I participated in seemed random and ineffective because they weren’t thoroughly grounded in good theory. Likewise, many of my professors—who had the theories—seemed far removed from the real-world activism that was taking place. To create an atmosphere in which those separate aspects of my life (and perhaps of other people’s lives) could communicate and learn from one another, I envisioned and coordinated the National Conference on Civil Disobedience in 1997. The conference was so successful we made it an annual event. The second year, Joanne Sheehan and Chris Ney of War Resisters League, an organization that has been managing the same academia vs. activism debate so well for the past thousand years or so, held a nonviolence training and a workshop on nonviolent campaigning. Their workshops were so well received that when I began assembling presenters for the next year, I couldn’t imagine a conference without them. The third annual conference came. I was on the brink of receiving my Master’s degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution and being thrust into the real world. A job at War Resisters League seemed right up my alley—it seemed my entire past was pointing me to the League. In addition, my Master’s thesis focused on gender and nonviolence; it had to be more than coincidence that WRL has a task force on feminism and nonviolence. So when Joanne and Chris came down to DC in January, I started dropping not-so-subtle hints. “I’m going to be looking for a job soon, if you know of any openings let me know,” was my constant refrain around them. I guess the moral of this story is that sometimes pestering and scheming work, as I am now WRL’s full-time Field Organizer. I didn’t conduct my academic studies and conference coordinating in isolation from the real world, as all too many of our greatest authors and professors did. I supplemented my studies with plenty of healthy, revolutionary activism. As a college freshman I started an animal rights group on campus and joined the Free Burma Coalition. Last summer I lived in Thailand teaching nonviolence and conflict resolution on the Thai-Burma border. The summer before that I went to Burma and got arrested and sentenced to five years of hard labor (I was subsequently deported) for passing out solidarity leaflets commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the military’s massacre of more than 10,000 nonviolent activists. As a field organizer for the Free Burma Coalition, I spoke around the country and campaigned for its various programs. Last year, I also taught conflict resolution in a DC public school and worked on the February 28 demonstration for Mumia and the Mobilization for Global Justice’s April 16 protests against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. I believe history is critical to the present, so I’ve dwelt on my story to give you an idea of what brings me here and what I hope to bring to WRL. Getting back to the dusty old files, a “What is the WRL” brochure from the 1960s says, “The League is no stronger than its membership.” My whole experience leads me to believe in that time-tested statement. Unfortunately, the evolution of the WRL local network has come from an idea in the ’50s to a necessity in the ’70s to an aside in the ’90s. I have spent my first few weeks talking to people at locals around the country, and I know there are many active members of War Resisters League ready and waiting to grow into a connected, committed and effective network again. I view myself and my new position as a facilitator for this process. I like to think of myself as the members’ staff member. We have exceptional members doing amazing things, and I am confident that with a full-time activist dedicated to supporting those networks and making them stronger, our nonviolent message of radical direct action will be heard. Right now I am working in the office every day from nine to five, but I expect the field organizer will also spend a good deal of time out in the field. Being new to an organization with such history can be a bit intimidating, so if you want to tell me your ideas for local organizing, plan a trip, tell me about your personal involvement in WRL, chat or check on me and my dust allergies, please call. Nisha Anand joined the WRL National Office staff as Field Organizer in May. |
WRL Programs • WRL Literature • WRL Actions • WRL Employment • About WRL
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February 1999, WRL’s National Committee passed a proposal to fund a temporary
field organizer to study the needs of our local groups and local organizers and
recommend ways to serve the locals better. This spring WRL hired Nisha Anand to
fill that position, now funded through mid-November of this year. Nisha’s investigations,
the organization’s funds and staffing needs will determine the future of the position.
Here she reflects on her vision, perceptions and hopes for the job.