MANY MORE WEAR YOUR CONVICTIONS ON YOUR SLEEVE STORIES

Allison Bryan, TX Hi there. I recently participated in your wear your convictions on your sleeve day, and I am fairly happy about how it turned out. Despite all the fliers I put up around my school, (Blinn College in Bryan, TX,) and trying to spread the word around our high school, I was the only person in town that I saw sporting an armband. But that just made it all the more possible for me to share my convictions with everyone I ran into. I met fellow pro-peace students at my school who were scared to speak up before, (due to our incredibly conservative and right-wing town-Texas A&M University is also here,) and several other people inquired about the band and my own beliefs. Also, thanks to my new acquaintances here at school, we hope to start an anti-war group on campus as soon as possible. The closest group to us at this point in time is in Houston. Thanks so much for the idea and keep up the good work. Kudos to all who participated! Peace, Love and Unity, Allison Dusty Fowlerville, MI hello, my name is dusty, im 16 from Fowlerville, Michigan, i just thought you guy's would like to hear about this, in my town i have a large group of friends with all kinds of people, but there is nothing for us to do and nowhere to go in my town, there is a public park that we hung out at everyday last summer, when one day we were all sitting there when a police officer kicked us out of the public park for loitering, LOITERING IN A PUBLIC PARK!!!! when we refused to leave, the police officer bent my friends arm and threatened to arrest us all, the city council didnt want us there because the park was for parents to bring their kids to, but we have never harmed the children or any other person in anyway, so the next week me and my friends had a protest outside the city hall, we held signs that said public parks for the public, and give us somewhere to go, we had all the passing cars honk their horns to show support, within hours we had the whole town honking as they drove by, the city council then had a meeting with us and other people from my town, we put up a fare and reasonable argument, a lot of parents were on our side, they came to the meeting and helped us a lot, but the very few who were against us made up lies about us saying we sold drugs to kids and bullied them, but we have done no such thing, there were even camera's at the park so therefore we had proof that we weren't ever in the wrong, but they didn't listen to us and we got kicked out, now we have nothing to do, nowhere to go, and they wonder why all of the teenagers in my town do drugs, clearly the higher authority's don't care about the younger generation of Fowlerville Michigan. i hope you guy's get to read this, if so, thanx for listening Tyler Ahles Bishop, CA Hey, I am a 14 year old kid from the small town of bishop, california. I am one of the only kids in my school made mostly up by hicks red necks and all out american jocks. I came across your Dress to Protest and i decided to do it. i also wanted to spread the word. I got on aim screen name, and went to many chat rooms pasting info of the protest, and quotes from your essay about the war. The one that starts out on "We live in trouble times, and every day the drums of war bang louder and louder." I went to all my friends, telling them what i had learned, showing them facts, but it is almost like they are all brain washed. Some even went as far as telling me that maybe i should leave the country. I went to my parents to see what the felt about the war, the same thing i got from them. Well when it finally came around to thursday march 27 and i told my mom i was going to do the protest. She told me that maybe when i start paying taxes, and I learn something about politics then i can say something about the war. I finally convinced her to let me wear the armband after sharing with her my views and telling her some facts i learned from your site. Well the only person that i knew that was also Anti war told me that night that he was backing out. That he was scared of what every one would say. This really brought my confidence down but i still were my band the next day. When walked to my friends, the biggest war junkee Allen asked me if i had another band for him to wear. He told me that me telling him every thing and sharing my facts and your site along with other sites changed his mind on the war. he actually took his show off and cute his sock and put it on his arm. Even though I only got one person to help me out i think I was victorious. I changed the mind of someone with a totally different opinion on the subject. Well walking around the halls turning heads, and telling people about the protest really got kids minds sparked. Even one of my teachers asked me about it. It was my history teacher and i told her well remember in the Vietnam war, when people whore black bands to protest the war, she said yes, well i said this is what that is just white. She got a smile on her face and walked off. All my teachers and officials were cool with it, but it did spark some shit with those rend necks and Pro war kids. Calling me and hippie and such, i just walked away. I had nothing to say to them. Well thanks for giving me the time for me to show how i felt with every one noticing. Hey lets get another protest going. I now a lot more people that would get involved and it's a great cause. Keep Fighting, Tyler Ahles Nikki Harlow, Essex, England, UK hi, i'm not entirely sure this is the right place to be sending this to but hey, anything's worth a try. This email is really to explain the sort of things going on in England since the outbreak of war. I'm not sure how much about this American press covers but we hear absolutely nothing about the protests in America. Since it was obvious that war was inevitable there were mass protests that were planned during the weeks leading up to war and it was arranged that there would be an act of civil disobedience on the first day of war. This co-incided with many local and national protests in town centres around the country at 12:10pm on the first day. As me and many of my friends at school are against this war and have been from the beginning we agreed that we would walk out of school to attend the demonstration in our town centre. We got a lot of determined kids involved and it all looked promising. There was a large media coverage of kids walking out of school around England, especially in Birmingham and London to protest in the days leading to war. This probably didn't help our case as our head teacher sent a notice around to all classes saying that we could "have a peaceful demonstration on the school field at lunchtime but not outside of school". Luckily for us, this did get a message around to the whole school to meet on the field. So at break time we all march onto the field and me, my friend emily and about fifty other kids from other years manage to get out of the school grounds through a gap in the fence. The head teacher notices and drives around to block it off in his car. Unfortunately the other kids didn't seem as keen on the idea when we told them that we were serious about going to the town centre to protest and went back to school. After trekking to our houses to get our banners and signs we headed up to the town centre where we were greeted by about fifty other people including a few of our teachers who were actually proud of us for standing up for ourselves. We held a reasonably peaceful protest and then headed home. We were told by a friend that while we were at the town centre the police had been called to the school to help control the hundreds of kids who just refused to go to lessons. Unfortunately some of these were people who had no idea or conscience about what is going on and that ruined it a bit but on the whole it was a good response. We were told that we would be suspended but then a chairperson of the school said that she would strongly object to us being punished for our views and all action against us was dropped. I have since been on two town demonstrations and a national protest in London, which was a massive response. I have since been told that it was the single largest anti-war demonstration in London during wartime. Sadly, a lot of the public's opinions have changed since the declaration of war and those who joined us on our marches now oppose us. On our protest march through our town centre on Saturday (29th march) there was a very negative response and people were generally pro-war or apathetic. We have not been able to clear the wearing of armbands in school with our head teachers because of our uniform. Hopefully we will be able to have talks to clear this and get some more info out for the other kids to get involved. We are also setting up a local youth against the war site which should be up and running soon. Keep fighting. love - PEACE - unity Nikki Harlow, Essex, England, UK Alex (Sorry Alex, but we couldn't download your picture!) Thankfully, no school "authorities" got angry with us. Since I finally have your guys' attention (hopefully), I'd like to ask you guys a couple of questions: 1. It is said that a lab for making chemical weaponry was found in Iraq. I just want you guys tell me if this is true and what I should keep on saying for my anti-war propaganda when somebody's like, "DAH, UM, WE NEED TO KILL, UM, INNOCENT PEOPLE IN HOSPITALS BECAUSE, UM WE, DAH, FOUND CHEMICAL WEAPON LABS IN IRAQ, SO LET'S KILL THOSE INFANTS!". 2. What's with the flag on the new website? Turn it upside down guys! You guys kick ass! P.S. Thanx, Justin, for signing my RANCID sticker! Sean Martin Tempe, AZ sup? my name is sean. i live in tempe arizona, i dont mind protesting (in fact i enjoy debating), but wearing an armband is going to lead many close-minded individuals that the punks who wear this armbands are nazis. esp since one of those fascist bastards goes to my school already, and in the gilbert area, some skinhead/white supremacist gangs have emerged. i know that the armbands represent something different. yes, i will try to talk to people about the symbolism of the patch, and how it differs from those worn by some skins, some people just arent going to get it. i cant count how many times i am called a nazi from my anti-swastika patch (i dunno how you can miss the big red slash through the swastika, i mean seriously, when you see a "no parking" sign, do you think "hey ill park there!?) some people see something, and dont care to give a second glance, and give a quick close-minded judgment. im worried that some people might do this, and create hostility to those who choose to protest. i may not get a response in time, but i was curious if there was another way to carry this out (i still plan on wearing the arm band though, i got some old socks). i know in the GSA (gay-straight alliance) club at my school (im the VP), we are having a day of silence, for those who cannot speak/silenced. i agree that this may not be as powerful, seeing punks seem to be a small population at schools in some areas. but maybe something else might work. i felt i had to voice my concern for safety and stability of peace at schools, there are some very close minded people in the world, some arent close minded, and may not be educated enough also. i would appreciate a response even if the date of protest has passed. -education=tolerance=peace, SA Martin Felix Johnson I'm not sure if this is the right e-mail address to send this to, but in any case i think that anti-flag should start a huge "Educate the World" campaign. The problem is that protesting is near useless at this point. Bush will not back down (because he is thick headed and) because %60 of the country still backs the war. Another huge problem is that at least half of protesters are out there for the hell of it. If asked why they are against the war they will say "'cause." You should start a big internet (and more if possible) campaign to get the protesters educated on the matter of this silly war. Then, once the people already on our side are educated, we get each one of them to go and change the mind of one person (through peaceful-educational means) who is either for the war or undecided. Then the tides will turn and we will have %60 against the war. Then we pick up on the protesting and Bush will be forced to drop this ridiculous war. And if that doesn't work, then we start protesting all the companies that support Bush, he is nothing without money. But that is only after we educate the world. Education is the key. Peace --Felix Johnson Blake "Krash" LeBlanc Houston, TX The United States government, my government, is committed to folly. It is an arrogant Machine bent on creating chaos in the effort to mold order on its terms. Misinformation, lies and propaganda are the Machine's methods of communication. It is not a representative government. It is a forceful government. Be free to speak to a deaf Government; be free to speak to powerless representatives. Be restless, be frustrated, be angry, and be prepared. It is only getting uglier; the death toll is rising Be liberated from limb, be liberated from family and be liberated from life. This Machine is alive and hungry and will consume those who do not fight for freedom. This is what I spoke when protesting on the "Wear Your Convictions On Your Sleeve day"...I was the only person out of my 4000 student school to protest what I feel and will stand by my convictions...as Anti-Flag said it best...."Together we can win this country back" Signed, Blake "Krash" LeBlanc University of Houston - Downtown peace, respect and understanding Jeremy Gurvitch Maryland hey just wanted to let you know im in a private Jewish school in the suburbs of western Maryland and about 4 of 5 of us had a successful protest with the white arm bands, and not only did we not have to show the administration the student bill of rights our principal supported our peaceful protest, and just letting you know we will keep on working till this unjust genocide organized by our monarch is complete peace, love, empathy Jeremy Gurvitch (singer and bassist of pfi Philosophy For Idiots) Bobby Vizcarra & Jesse Young Ok it started like this. on thursday the day before the protest i printed out some flyers to like a hundred kids. and within a half hour i got called down to the office by ALL three principals at this fucked up school in a messed up town in Clio Michigan. well we were greeted by the big bad three in my school they held up the flyer and the lead stud said explain then i replied read it. He said whoever wore them would get suspended. so we just went back to class. a majority said this was bullshit. The next day i woke up ready to go i put a plain white armband on. me and a few friends of mine walked and got grabbed by the cop at our school . we got suspended for 3 days. we were really mad so went to talk to our social studies teacher mrs reed and she was mad about it too so we called resources and then mrs reed called people and lawyers and we defended free speech and won Hell Yes Peace,Love,Unity Ben Cote Simsbury, Connecticut Hey, My Name is Ben Cote and I live in Connecticut today at school I had my white arm band and my Anti-Flag mobilize shirt on and during 5th period I got called down to the principals office and she told me to change my shirt and take off the arm band and stop passing armbands out! So I yelled at her and we got into this whole argument about what's appropriate for school and she said that it was offending to other students and I mentioned that NIKE was offending to me and so was the American flag. So after a while I threatened to contact the ACLU and she immediately backed down and said to not do that and she'll let me wear wut I want as long as it doesn't have any swears on it! So thank all of you guys at A-F Records and Anti-Flag for having me have some kind of back up for my clothing! Ben Cote Simsbury Connecticut May Peace Prevail On Earth. A Mystery Lady from Cape May, NJ Dear Anti-Flag, I understand that you may never see this but what the hell. Me and my best and most likely only friend were in the store just getting some snakes. He was warring one of your tee-shirts and this man screamed at us that we a couple of teenagers from cape may, new jersey should be shoot for treason because we have the nerve to listen to anti-American music. We told him that your songs are of peace and that just because the words are sang different that it dose not take the meaning away. Then he went on to say that peace and Mexicans (which i have no clue were he got that from) would lead to the death of America. Then he got into his SUV that was covered in American flags and drove off. What i am asking is do you see the irony. Me and my Friend get messed with a lot because we refuse achole and drugs because we prefer to live life instead of just exist. Your music helps us stay straight believe or not. Of chorus my mom thinks young girls should not hang out with punk rock boys and listen to music that has a "bad" influence on me. I wonder if she would rather me listen to Brittany and Justine sing about nothing while i am at a k egger. Anyway living rules and so do you. THANX for being there and thanx for being honest and know what is going on. Pleas don't ever sell out. You mean so much to your loyal fans who love you and you are the essence of real punk. Sarah Lomita, Cali Hey I hope I'm sending this to the right place but anyways, I just wanted to say what a great success the 28th was! On the 26th, I read the WEAR YOUR CONVICTIONS ON YOUR SLEEVE DAY article and I thought that was a pretty cool idea and I told some friends about it, but they had no concern for the war so they didn't really care. On the 27th, I saw a few of them holding flyers that some kids had passed out telling them all about it. I didn't think that there would be that great of a turn out but sure enough when I came to school that morning I saw at least 5 random people walking down the halls with there white armbands on. Throughout the day I saw more and more people with them and we got hardly any harassment for it. I got called a hippie by a few people but its all good. It was really cool to see that my whole school wasn't full of self-centered, ignorant people like I thought it was and that they actually cared about stuff that goes on in the word. It wasn't just punks, but everyone participated. I just wanted to say thanx to whoever passed out those flyers at Narbonne (our school) and a special thanks to Anti-Flag, u guys are awesome! Karli Boston, MA Hi my name is Karl(15 yrs.) and i live in a suburb right out of Boston. Me and two other friends both participated in the protest. We did sort of alter it though. I had explained to my friends that thursday before the actual protest day that i was doing this as a silent protest against the war and they both were interested. One of my friends actually went as far as to have an upside down american flag. I have to admit my school is very narrow-minded. We got alot of different comments but it all worked out at the end because now i have spoken my mind with a minimum amount of words. I got into an arguement with a pro war student but due to my facts and his "iraqis suck" argument i considered it a victory for myself. Actually someone tried to rip the armband off my arm. I still didnt really care i wore it all day getting mixed reactions from my peers, mostly negative. I just wanted to say this was a great experience and i was proud to show my disgust for this war or any war. I am actually wearing the arm band everyday now to show i am a supporter for peace and equality. And Just to Show Not All Teachers Suck I realize you won't be able to respond personally, but i wanted to thank you guys for the quality protest music you put out. My students were wearing AF tee-shirts & i eventually asked about them & eventually i traded them a Rage Against the Machine album for an AF (New Kind of Army) and just am entirely impressed. Great musicanship and exactly the kind of lyrics i wish more kids were hearing. thanks, mikel weisser bullhead city, az 8th grade social studies teacher back