We NWTRCC folks always enjoy the good company as we table at the gathering to close the U.S. Army School of Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. Being there is opportunity for more of the relationship building that sustains us for the long haul. The many thousands who stop by each year for literature and informal counseling go away with a personal connection with those who refuse to pay for war.
Clare Hanrahan is a Memphis native and graduate of Southern Methodist University. As a conscientious objector to paying for war, she has been speaking out for decades for peace, human rights and global & environmental justice.
Her home is in Asheville, N.C. where she works as a free-lance writer, author, independent publisher, and public speaker. She cultivates a backyard vegetable and herb garden and is an avid Contra dancer, pedestrian and bicyclist and as an everyday revolution.
She stands with Asheville’s Women in Black and Veterans for Peace in weekly public vigils.
She has served on the National committee of the War Resisters League and is a founder of the WRL Asheville local, and the Asheville Area War Tax Resisters. She is active with the School of America’s Watch and was imprisoned for six months for peaceful protest against torture training. She serves as Communications Chair for the WNC ACLU and is a member of Grandmothers for Peace.
She has published two books based on her prison experiences: “Jailed for Justice: A Woman’s Guide to Federal Prison Camp,” and “Conscience & Consequence: A Prison Memoir,” and a collection of her speeches: “Dissenting Opinions: Public Addresses on Justice, Peace and the Consequences of Dissent.”
With her daughter Jessica she co-founded ASAP Homeless Services, a non-profit family advocacy center and emergency shelter in St. Petersburg, Florida, soon to celebrate its 20th year.
Her commitment is to nonviolent activism for justice and peace and environmental defense in the militarized southeast United States.
Topics
- Living With Less: A Long-term Strategy for Resisting War
- Sustaining for the Long Haul: Living with Integrity in a Militarized Nation
- From Apartheid Memphis to Alderson Federal Prison: My Life of Activism
You can preview text of talks by Clare in Dissenting Opinions.
