FOR launches "Color of War" tour April 26, 2004 The Fellowship of Reconciliation, the nation's oldest interfaith peace and social justice organization, is launching a national speakers' tour this month that will address the impact of the U.S. war machine on Third World communities within the United States and globally. As hostilities in Iraq show no sign of letting up, there is talk of sending tens of thousands more troops – and even of reinstating conscription. As the Vietnam experience demonstrates, the draft disproportionately impacts poor and Third World youth, who are less likely to find ways of evading it. But according to Ibrahim Ramey, coordinator of FOR's disarmament program and "Color of War" organizer, war and the system that supports it are already adversely affecting communities of color, even without the draft. "The tour will address the effects of the war system on health, education, economic well-being, environmental justice and the prevalence of violence," Ramey said. "It will also look at the disproportionate burden that war places on poor and Third World people." The "Color of War Tour" begins April 29 with a panel of speakers at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. Presenters include author, activist and lecturer Professor A.S. Mahdi Ibn-Ziyad, who is director of the Africana Islamic Institute of Camden; Rosita Johnson of the Philadelphia Area Black Radical Congress; and Oskar Castro, the director of the youth and militarism program at the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia. FOR's Ramey will serve as program moderator.  Ms. Johnson and Mr. Castro, who both work extensively with young people and youth-related issues, will present information on the escalation of military recruitment of poor and Third World youth, and the likely impact on them should the draft be reinstated. Color of War speakers will also address the connection between current levels of military spending and the structural "disinvestment" in housing, health care, education and job formation that have negatively impacted poor and Third World communities throughout the country. Professor Ziyad, a long time activist and leader in Camden, noted that "communities like Camden need to develop a dialogue that tells the real truth about why our schools and housing and health care systems are broken, while the Pentagon can afford to sweep up our young men and women in a $100 billion war in Iraq that kills thousands of Iraqis, sends our young people home in coffins, and has no positive impact on any of our lives". The Color of War tour is planning future events in Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Chicago, Westchester County, New York, and other locations in the United States. Contact: Jennifer Hyman, Communications Coordinator, (845)358-4601. communications@forusa.org Ibrahim Ramey, Disarmament Coordinator. (845)358-4601 disarm@forusa.org   ©2004 Fellowship of Reconciliation