Thurs, Oct. 9 Forum with Ret. Col. Ann Wright

7:00 pm
Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church
9704 Mallard Creek Rd
Charlotte, NC

Ann Wright former US Army Colonel, state department employee and peace activist, grew up in Arkansas and has her master's and law degrees from the University of Arkansas. She also has a master's degree in national security affairs from the U.S. Naval War College. Col. Wright spent thirteen years in the U.S. Army and sixteen additional years in the Army Reserves, retiring as a Colonel.

In 1987, Col. Wright joined the Foreign Service and served as U.S. Deputy Ambassador in Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan, and Mongolia. She received the State Department's Award for Heroism for her actions during the evacuation of 2,500 people from the civil war in Sierra Leone. She was on the first State Department team to go to Afghanistan and helped reopen the embassy there in December, 2001. Her other overseas assignments include Somalia, Kyrgyzstan, Grenada, Micronesia, and Nicaragua. On March 19, 2003, the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Ann Wright cabled a letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell, stating that without the authorization of the UN Security Council, the invasion and occupation of a Muslim, Arab, oil-rich country would be a disaster. Since then, she has been writing and speaking out for peace. She fasted for a month, picketed at Guantanamo, served as a juror on an international impeachment commission, and has been arrested numerous times for peaceful, nonviolent protest of Bush's policies, particularly the war in Iraq. She is the author of Dissent, Voices of Conscience, which chronicles the experiences of those who opposed the war within the military, the state department, and the international community. She lives in Hawaii.

The event is co-sponsored by the Piedmont Unitarian-Universalist Peace Alliance and the Piedmont Unitarian-Universalist Social Justice Committee. There is no admission charge.

Piedmont Unitarian-Universalist Church is located at 9704 Mallard Creek Road. For more information phone Mimi Davis, 704-499-3918, or email davisxyz@hotmail.com