By THERESA HOGUE
Corvallis Gazette-Times | Posted: Sunday, December 24, 2006 12:00 am
In a small yellow cottage in south Corvallis covered with peace signs, Michele Darr and the youngest four of her six children live with her partner, Ben Hipp. Life can be chaotic with three children under the age of 3, and with family and friends always coming and going.
It's hard for Darr to find a quiet corner or a peaceful moment.
Darr, 37, is a stay-at-home mother who homeschools Tala, 11, and cares for Phoenix, 2, and twins Willow and Grace, 1. But to Darr, being a mother also means helping shape a safer world for their future.
Since early September, Darr has been arrested twice for nonviolent civil disobedience after attempting to persuade U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith to sign a "Declaration for Peace" in connection with ending U.S. involvement in Iraq. Her third arrest, on Dec. 12, could mean possible jail time. But she said she was willing to take that risk.
On the eve of the first Gulf War, Darr was living in Kuwait with her then-husband, a civil engineer. From June through October 1990, the couple watched the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq unfold.
"Our job, everything, went completely out the window," when Iraq invaded in August. "It completely changed our lives."
At first, they hoped to stay, but when it became clear that the United States was going to get involved, it became too dangerous for them to remain. Although they only lived in Kuwait for a few months during the occupation, Darr said her perspective on world politics changed.
"Everyone was really frightened, including the Iraqis that were sent there to occupy the country. Everyone I came across was in a state of shock, not knowing what to think, not knowing what was going to happen next," Darr said. "Everyone was in the grip of this paralyzing fear.
"That really drove home to me just how ordinary people are affected by war and aggression and how the people sent into these situations in a military capacity are every bit as much of a victim as the civilians. They're not in any way wanting to be part of it either."
It took more than a decade, she said, before Darr processed everything she'd experienced in Kuwait. After Sept. 11, her concerns were galvanized into action.
"It really lit a fire under me," she said. The impending invasion of Iraq spurred Darr to take action, and she began to participate in peace protests.
Two days before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Darr began a 24-hour vigil on the steps of the state Capitol that lasted for three months. When it became apparent that the war was going to continue, she looked for other ways to bring an end to the conflict.
"Here we are now in a war that has gone on longer than World War II," she said.
"What they (her children) see me doing is as important as what they don't see me doing. If I'm not using my voice and efforts in the cause of the common good, how can I expect them to take initiative when the need arises?" Darr said. "I don't want them to ever think oppression and genocide are acceptable, or that war is a way to solve problems."
On Sept. 21, Darr and eight others were arrested at Sen. Smith's office in Portland, after attempting to speak with Smith's aide. The group, part of Civil Resist Portland, wants Smith to sign the Declaration of Peace, which calls for a swift withdrawal of troops from Iraq, among other things. (Oregon's other U.S. senator, Democrat Ron Wyden, voted against the use of military force in Iraq, though he hasn't signed the declaration.)
After staging a sit-in, the protest group was arrested, cited for trespassing, and quickly released. Because the protesters had gone through non-violence training, and it wasn't their intent to cause a confrontation, the arrest was peaceful.
A few days later, on Sept. 26, Darr and fellow protester Peg Morton were arrested in Eugene at the Federal Building, during a second attempt to get Smith to sign the declaration, which he declined to do.
Darr returned to Smith's Portland office Dec. 12, on the 60th anniversary of the Nuremberg Principles, which were created during the Nazi trials and outline the definition of war crimes. Many peace activists argue that the current Iraq war is illegal based on these principles.
Some other peace activists who'd planned to join Darr decided against taking action after Smith became one of the few Republican senators to speak out publicly against the Iraq War. For some peace activists, Smith's stance was both a surprise and a delight.
While Darr said she wants to thank Smith for speaking out, she wants to make sure he takes immediate action, and refuses to further fund the war effort, as well as demand an immediate withdrawal of troops.
"It's very appropriate to make him pledge for concrete action," Darr said, because every day the war continues, more Americans and Iraqis die.
Darr did not make an appointment to meet with Smith, because she said the last time they did so, they were met with security at the bottom of the escalator and never gained access to Smith's office.
Although he was on a flight from Washington, D.C., when they arrived, Darr said she wanted a statement from Smith's aide on the senator's plans for taking action in Iraq, and when that was not forthcoming, she and a handful of other protesters decided to stay in the office until Smith arrived.
Leah Bolger, a Corvallis resident and founder of Corvallis Veterans for Peace, joined Darr at Smith's office for a time. Although Bolger supports Darr's commitment to peace and her previous actions, and has been arrested herself during non-violent protest, she said she did not choose to wait and get arrested during the Dec. 12 event.
"I didn't see what it was going to accomplish," she said. "I didn't see getting arrested would have any productive value."
Darr disagreed.
"We're losing 10 troops a day," Darr said. "I wouldn't want to be one of those mothers."
Eventually, Darr and several other protesters in the office were arrested and escorted to jail, where they spent six hours being processed, and then released. This time, since she has violated a no-trespassing order, Darr may get jail time. She and her partner have discussed the possibility, and are prepared for it.
"I have a wonderful support network, wonderful community support," she said. "My partner's really very supportive and feels it's important that it be done, and that ordinary people start taking extraordinary steps."
Her previous actions have led to fines, which Darr refuses to pay, as she said she is not guilty and does not want her money to go toward a government fighting an illegal war. For this reason, she also does not pay taxes.
Instead of paying her fines, she has made in-kind donations to humanitarian organizations, and plans on showing the receipts to a judge. It is unlikely her donations will be accepted as a substitute, she conceded.
Bolger said Darr's activism provides a good example to her children.
"She's teaching them a valuable lesson," Bolger said, "about taking a stand when necessary."
Darr isn't sure what the consequences of her most recent arrest will be until she goes before a judge in January, but she's ready for whatever takes place.
"I'm not accepting legal representation," she said. "I represented myself in both cases, in solidarity with prisoners at Guantanamo, who aren't even allowed to see the charges against them, let alone to have any kind of adequate legal counsel. The least I can do is navigate the system myself."