Michael McPhearson

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Michael McPhearson

Michael T. McPhearson... is a leading "peace' activist.

United for Peace and Justice affiliation

In July 2007 Michael McPhearson representing Veterans for Peace was affiliated to United for Peace and Justice.

In 2005 and Dec 2008 Michael McPhearson, Veterans for Peace was voted onto the Steering Committee for United for Peace and Justice.

Iraq "peace" delegation

The ACLU has posted a letter it sent to the FBI on behalf of McPhearson and various “peace” and Muslim activists suggesting they had been improperly monitored by the FBI. McPhearson, the letter says, had “traveled to Iraq, Italy and Turkey as part of a peace delegation” in 2003 and 2004 and was “detained at the airport.”

Another article on the ACLU website provides additional details, saying that McPhearson traveled to Iraq as a Veterans for Peace delegation member in December 2003, attended an international peace conference in Turkey in January 2004, and attended a peace conference in Bologna, Italy, before returning to the U.S.

Black Radical Congress

McPhearson, participated in the 2008 national convention of the Black Radical Congress.

Married Deborah Jacobs

In 2010 Michael McPhearson married Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. He was working in New Jersey for the National Conference for Community and Justice.

Meeting with Ahmadinejad

More than 100 activists and journalists from a variety of organizations, religious groups and media outlets attended a gathering with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Warwick Hotel here Sept. 21. 2010. The leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran was in the city to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly.

These prominent leaders of grassroots social justice and human rights movements within the U.S. consciously rejected a well-funded campaign to demonize Iran and whip up a pro-war climate. Ahmadinejad’s visit had been preceded by incendiary billboards, ads in buses and newspapers, hostile media coverage and demonstrations against Iran, much of it funded by the CIA-connected U.S. Agency for International Development and private corporations.

After an Iranian-style dinner, the gathering moved to a conference room where representatives from various organizations spoke on the plight of people inside the United States. The displacement of African Americans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the burgeoning prison-industrial complex, conditions facing political prisoners, the crisis in U.S.-Iranian relations and the overall economic crisis dominated the discussion.

Among the individuals and organizations in attendance were Cynthia McKinney, a former U.S. House of Representatives member from Georgia and the Green Party’s presidential candidate in 2008; poet and activist Amiri Baraka; MOVE Minister of Information Ramona Africa; International Action Center co-director Sara Flounders; Ardeshir Ommani and Eleanor Ommani, co-founders of the American-Iranian Friendship Committee; former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; Million Worker March Movement organizer Brenda Stokely; Shafeah M'Balia of Black Workers for Justice; Phil Wilayto of Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality; Larry Holmes of Bail Out the People Movement; Don DeBar of WBAIx.org; Ryme Katkhouda of the People’s Media Center; Michael McPhearson of United for Peace and Justice; and Rev. Graylan Hagler.

After listening for an hour and a half to 22 different speakers, President Ahmadinejad addressed the guests for approximately 45 minutes. He touched on the international struggle for peace and justice, saying that “trying to build peace is the most important and comprehensive struggle that mankind can have.”

He added, “Those who are opposed to justice are a few, a minority.”

Iran Forum

An anti-war forum entitled “Syria & Iran: The Next War?” was held in New York, June 10 at the Solidarity Center. It featured anti-war veterans from the Iranian, Israeli and U.S. militaries, and was organized by United for Peace and Justice, Veterans for Peace and the U.S. Peace Council. The International Action Center hosted the meeting and IAC co-founder Sara Flounders chaired. All the speakers were members of the VFP Iran Working Group.

Michael McPhearson, who is originally from Fayetteville, N.C., was a field artillery officer in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division during the 1991 Gulf War. He is the national coordinator for United For Peace and Justice and a national board member as well as a former executive director of Veterans for Peace. He is a member of Military Families Speak Out, works closely with the Newark, N.J., based People’s Organization for Progress and publishes the mcpearsonreport.org, expressing his views on war and peace, politics, human rights, race and other things.

Communist Party speaker

Speak Progress is the speakers bureau of the Communist Party USA. Listed speakers, as of October 2014, included Michael McPhearson

Michael Mcpherson is National Coordinator for United For Peace and Justice – the nation’s largest peace coalition. He is the interim Executive Director of Veterans for Peace, and still serves on their board of directors.

He resides with his wife in Newark NJ where he works with the People’s Organization for Progress and publishes mcphearsonreport.com.

Michael joined the Army Reserve 1981 as an enlisted soldier at the age of 17. He was a field artillery officer in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division during Desert Shield/Desert Storm, leaving active duty in 1992 as a captain. His son joined the Army and served one tour in Iraq in 2005-2006. In December of 2003 Michael returned to Iraq as part of a peace delegation to examine the state of the occupation firsthand.

Ferguson protest leader

Organizers of protests planned in Ferguson are determined to see that it's peaceful. They will train people to ensure it stays that way, especially as they plan to close in on and "shut down" the town of Clayton on the first business day after the grand jury announcement on the Michael Brown case.

"We, as a community of people, we aren't going to use violent power," remarked organizer Michael McPhearson in a hall meeting of about 100 in St. Louis on Nov. 13. McPhearson is the co-chair of the Don't Shoot Coalition, and addressed the crowd together with Julia Ho, a community organizer with Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment. Meanwhile in Ferguson, a similar meeting was held simultaneously, at Greater St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church.

More than half of the diverse St. Louis crowd was present during the initial protests that took place when Brown was shot Aug. 9 by police officer Darren Wilson, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. They agreed that four areas would likely emerge as hotspots for protest going forward: the Ferguson police station; the area near the QuikTrip that was burned the day after the shooting; the Clayton business district; and Shaw, the neighborhood where VonDerrit Myers Jr. was killed by a St. Louis police officer in October. It was suggested goggles and gasmasks be used to protect activists from mace and teargas.

Underscoring what he felt was the importance behind the continuing actions, McPhearson said, "We're in a struggle that takes a long time to make things happen. In order for it to be a movement, we have to stay in it."

References

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