In September 2022, World BEYOND War will be holding a weekly discussion each of four weeks of I Refuse to Kill: My Path to Nonviolent Action in the ’60s
with the author Francesco Da Vinci as part of a small group WBW book
club limited to a group of 18 participants. Francesco will send each
participant a signed hardback. We'll let you know which parts of the
book will be discussed each week along with the Zoom details to access
the discussions.
SIGN UP HERE.
When: For one hour on four Thursdays, September 1,
8, 15, 22, 2022. The time is 28:00 UTC (similar to GMT), 8 am in
Honolulu, 11 am in Los Angeles, 1 pm in Mexico City, 2 pm in New York, 7
pm in London, 9 pm in Moscow, etc.
Where: Zoom (details to be shared upon registration)
This is a small group series with limited space of up to 18 people.
Sign up to reserve your spot and allow for enough time to receive the
book. We look forward to reading and discussing this important book with
you!
REGISTER HERE.
Francesco with Cesar Chavez.
About the Book:
Threatened with a 5-year prison term, Francesco Da Vinci
struggles with his Virginia draft board to be recognized as a sincere
conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. Because of his controversial
stand as a CO and activist, Da Vinci experiences intense intolerance,
which spills over to his family and fiancée.
While
his CO case is on appeal, Da Vinci forms a peace group in San Diego
called Nonviolent Action. The peace group becomes a national movement,
and its campaign to help end the war reaches the halls of Congress with
the help of Sen. George McGovern.
You might ask, why now for a ‘60s memoir? The issues raised in I Refuse to Kill are
today’s top issues - social justice, police brutality, government
surveillance, persecution of nonviolent activists, and war versus the
nonviolent resolution of conflict.
The
contributions of COs and sixties activists have been largely omitted
from our history or flagrantly distorted for political reasons. I Refuse to Kill sets the record straight.
SAVE YOUR SPOT NOW.
Reviews:
"Francesco Da Vinci's I Refuse to Kill will inspire and move
you deeply. This amazing true story confirms that one person, acting
with courage and conviction, can successfully oppose war and help change
a part of history." - Peter Yarrow, Peter, Paul & Mary
"If
there is a saving grace in the sordid record of atrocities in
Indochina, it is in the conscientious refusal of young men to serve in a
criminal war. Francesco Da Vinci's pioneering role in this courageous
course is an inspiration for all of us." - Noam Chomsky, Historian
"Francesco
Da Vinci's story is the testament of a brave activist risking his own
freedom to ensure the humanity and dignity of others. May this book
embolden people to oppose war and violence, and muster the courage to
test new alternatives. - Joyce Ajlouny, General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee
"It
is time that the people of this country are more offended by war and
more encouraging of peace and conscientious objection. Da Vinci's
eye-opening book is an important step toward that end." - Ed Asner, Actor
"Mr.
Da Vinci's story of resistance, in which he risked everything for his
moral convictions, could not be more timely as the US continues to be
mired in numerous, seemingly endless, and equally senseless wars of
choice." - Daniel Kovalik, author of No More War
"As a veteran of the Iraq War, I wish I had summoned up the same courage Francesco Da Vinci showed in opposing the Vietnam war. I
Refuse To Kill is more than a memoir; it is a guide book on how to
stand by our convictions for peace no matter what the odds."- Garett Reppenhagen Executive Director - Veterans For Peace
"Francesco
Da Vinci has written a book which should be read by all people who
populate the Department of 'Defense' and all in the military-industrial
complex." - Helen Caldicott, Physician
GET IN ON THIS BOOK CLUB: CLICK HERE.
From a Review by David Swanson:
The book is based on journals the author kept from 1960
to 1971, with a big focus on his attempt to gain recognition as a
conscientious objector. The book is a personal memoir overlapping the
big events of the ’60s, the peace rallies, the elections, the
assassinations. In that regard it’s like an enormous pile of other
books. But this one rises above in informing and entertaining, and it
grows more and more engaging as you read through it.
That its lessons are badly needed today is highlighted, I think, by
the opening scene in which the author and a friend yell down from a
hotel window at President Kennedy’s inauguration parade and Kennedy
smiles up and waves to them. It occurred to me that nowadays — and only
in small part because of what later happened to Kennedy — those young
men might have gotten themselves shot or at least “detained.” I was also
struck by how much the later murder of Bobby Kennedy mattered, by the
fact that who won an election to the White House could actually
determine U.S. foreign policy in a major way — which perhaps explains
why people back then risked their lives to vote (as well as why many now
yawn thrrough each successive “most important election of our
lifetime”).
On the other hand, John Kennedy had tanks and a missile in his parade
— things nowadays deemed too crass for anyone but Donald Trump. There’s
been progress as well as regression since the 1960s, but the powerful
message of the book is the value of taking a principled stand and doing
everything one can, and being satisfied with what comes as a result of
that.
Da Vinci faced pushback against his stand as a conscientious objector
from his family, girlfriend, friends, teachers, lawyers, the draft
board, a college that expelled him, and the FBI, among others. But he
took the stand he thought would do the most good, and he did what else
he could to try to end the war on Southeast Asia. As in almost every
such story of rebellion against norms, Da Vinci had been exposed to more
than one country. In particular, he had seen the opposition to the war
in Europe. And, as in almost every such story, he’d had models and
influencers, and for some reason chose to follow those models while most
people around him did not.
Eventually, Da Vinci was organizing peace actions like asking an
aircraft carrier not to go to Vietnam (and organizing a city-wide vote
on the question in San Diego):
Da Vinci worked with many veterans of the war he was trying to
conscientiously object to. One of them told him, as he records the
conversation: “When I signed up, I bought the bunk that we were in ‘Nam
to fight the Commies. But after I was in, I figured we weren’t really
protecting Saigon, we were settin’ it up so we could control it and grab
stuff like oil and tin along the way. The brass and the government were
using us big time. It made me super bitter. Any little thing could make
me wanna freak out. I felt like I was heading for a nervous breakdown.
Yet, I was one of two guys on my ship in charge of a nuclear
key, which shows you how bad the Navy’s judgment was! . . . They pick
two guys to wear keys that can activate the nukes. I wore it around my
neck day and night. Out of spite, I tried to talk the other guy carrying
a key to help me launch. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to
sabotage the Navy. Pretty sick, I know. That’s when I told ’em they’d
better find someone else.”
If you’re keeping a list of known near misses with nuclear weapons,
add one. And consider that the suicide rate in the U.S. military is
probably higher now than it was then.
REGISTER.
World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war.
Donate to support our people-powered movement for peace.
Opt-in to mobile updates. Manage email preferences. Privacy policy.
Should giant war-profiteering corporations decide what emails you don't want to read? We don't think so either. So, please stop our emails from going into "junk" or "spam" by "white listing," marking as "safe," or filtering to "never send to spam."
World BEYOND War | 513 E Main St #1484 | Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA
World BEYOND War | 450, 4-2 Donald Street | Winnipeg, MB R3L 0K5 Canada
