Over the weekend of November 4-6, two dozen youth and their adult allies gathered near Chapel Hill, North Carolina for the Southeast Not Your Soldier Camp. While the youth learned about lies recruiters tell, alternatives to military service, and how to use art, nonviolent direct action and organizing skills to help keep the military out of their communities, their adult allies were busy discussing local counter recruitment strategies and learning organizing skills.
The youth made plans to continue their counter recruitment work by participating in the national Not Your Soldier Day of Action. In several schools in the triangle area of North Carolina, students will hold a day of silence to educate their peers about the problems and deceptions in military recruitment, and to protest the presence of military recruiters on their campuses.
Local media from WUNC radio aired a piece on the camp (wunc.org) on Monday, November 7th.
Local Sponsors and participating organizations in the event included: North Carolina for Peace and Justice, Hip Hop Against Racist War, Spirit House, El Centro Hispanos JLA group, North Carolina Lambda Youth Network (NCLYN).
