WWFOR Spring Assembly 2026: Confronting Militarism at Home and Abroad:

A recording is available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0OJyMKkbQg
This article was written by David Lambert for Pacific Call, edited by Cindy Cole and John M Repp
Extra resources: https://wwfor.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ResourcesWWFOR2026SA.pdf

The theme of this year’s Spring Assembly was: “Confronting Militarism At Home and Abroad”. The kickoff presenters were: Karl Riecken, DO, MA speaking on “Conscientious Objection at the Intersectionality of Medicine and War”; Oonaugh Foster-Bill who spoke on “Intuitive Activism/ Maintaining Perspective in Chaos”; and James Janko whose talk was entitled “Opposing Militarism by Addressing Climate Change and Honoring the Earth.”
Dr. Karl Riecken made a comparison between the Nazi regime and the current U.S. military. He spoke about the physician’s role in the military and the struggles he experienced while in the service as a physician and his ongoing study about the irony of helping soldiers get better so they could be ready to kill others in combat. He learned his conscience would not allow him to continue as a practicing physician in the military.

Oonaugh Foster-Bill’s presentation dealt with her experience about the healing qualities of community singing and singing circles. She told of initially becoming aware of the powerful effects of music in 2020 on a trip to Minnesota and her experience with Doreen Day, an indigenous organizer. Oonaugh has been increasingly involved with this mode of healing and last year was involved in a “Fierce Nonviolence Pilgrimage” in Washington State. She reports these singing circles can be healing agents at the individual, community, and world levels. Oonaugh has organized weekly community singing outside the Traditions Cafe in Olympia, at the Tacoma Detention Center, and she has helped lead “Nuclear Reality” workshops to educate the public. She is a member of the Olympia singing resistance circle. She is planning and organizing a singing circle at Ground Zero this August.

James Janko’s presentation was on climate change and militarism. He pointed out numerous statistics about the horrendous waste of fossil fuels used by the U.S. military. For example: the U.S. military spends about $481 billion per year guarding the world’s oil supply with a large cluster of its 800 bases in the world, particularly, those around the Persian Gulf. Another case: U.S. bombing of Iran in one day costs about $1Billion, which could provide daily food stamps for 41 million people and daily Medicaid benefits for the 61 million people, who may lose their coverage because of the Trump administration. Janko mentioned the book, Not Too Late, by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young-Lutunatabua, which tells of many victories in the climate change struggle. He then gave a quote from Native American Leonard Peltier (a shortened version): “I don’t know how to save the world. I only know that without compassion and respect for all the Earth and its inhabitants, none of us will survive.” And he mentioned a poem, “Remember”, by Native American poet Jo Harjo.

There was a 20 minute small group discussion where event participants were able to share their perspective on what they had experienced thus far in the Spring Assembly.

Three poems by poet and WWFOR member Larry Kerschner, were read, one by David Lambert and two by Jean Gant De La Strada.

This was followed with Bruce Pruitt-Hamm introducing three current MYPF (Mike Yarrow Peace Fellowship) interns studying nonviolence.
Adesoye Taino presented her social justice project on “Equity In Healthcare.” She shared her experience as a researcher, particularly exploring discrepancies in healthcare and wondering if black women are dying at greater rates than others. (Black women die at three times the rate of white women in maternal care.) There was some evidence that black women were not staying in the hospital as long as white women. Adesoye told of her “gap” year in Germany, following her high school graduation, as part of a youth exchange program, spending time in the Bundestag or German Congress, and now looking forward to attending Rutgers University this fall.

Arum Jung from South Carolina, presented her before and after survey on Human Rights Education (particularly looking at values, empathy, and awareness) which was given to high school youth from 14-18. She explored these student’s understanding of human rights and how their perspective might change once they completed a structured HR Education survey. She found that their understanding and depth was greater following the survey at the end of the research program. Arum will begin her university studies at Cornell this Fall.

Sneha Nandkeolyar shared her research with young folks, especially with girl’s experiences in business classes. She felt a need to assist and empower them in this area. She shared how she thinks this can be done on the website that she has developed, and is still developing. It is intended for teachers to learn how to create a classroom for K-5 age kids, including a toolkit and workshops. Sneha has started an Instagram account and is planning to work with parents to implement this equity program in their home.

Dr. Edwin Carlos, Ph.D., and professor of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership within the Department of School Psychology at Seattle University, was an MYPF intern in 2015-2016. He gave an informative presentation on U.S. military’s historical involvement in the Philippines and the active push by many to cut aid
and get the U.S. military of that country. He mentioned the Bayan USA movement to get the U.S. military out of that country, displaying a slide announcing the “Get Out of Philippines! U.S. Out of Everywhere!” He reported
that the U.S. has supplied over $1 Billion since 2015 in military equipment to the Philippines. Edwin also mentioned the U.S. military involvement violates the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines and its national sovereignty.