# Event Details

- **Event Name**: Veterans Town Hall: Education Not Militarization
- **Event Start and End Date**: Thu, 10 Aug, 2017 at 07:00 pm
- **Event Description**: Veterans Speak Out - A Chicago Veterans’ Town Hall
Keynote: Reverend Lennox Yearwood  
Rory Fanning, Natasha Erskine, Eric Garcia, Tayyib Rashid

Communities across the country and around the world are in crisis. Violence, homelessness, unemployment, inadequate education and healthcare, environmental destruction and state violence are destroying families and people across the globe. Clearly governments and the 1% have decided to sacrifice people for the sake of power and profits. We must stand together in solidarity and take action to save ourselves, our communities and our planet.
 
Veterans For Peace invites Chicago military veterans and the greater Chicago community to a Veterans’ Town Hall to discuss the role of veterans in addressing challenges facing communities in Chicago. We will discuss how increased militarization and inadequate education impact immigration, violence, sexism, the environment, policing and the social and psychological well being of our neighborhoods. What can we do as veterans to make a difference and help build a just and peaceful local and global community?

L.ennox Yearwood, Jr. is a minister and community activist who is also an influential member of political hip hop. Yearwood currently serves as President of the Hip Hop Caucus, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that empowers young people to participate in elections, policymaking and service projects.[1] Yearwood has led or been involved in a number of high-profile campaigns to engage young voters, as well as working on human rights issues in the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina.

Yearwood served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve as an officer and chaplain. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of the District of Columbia in 1998 and received a M.Div. degree from Howard University in May 2002. Yearwood was the Student Government President at both schools and was issued an honorary doctorate from Saint Paul University in May 2011. Yearwood is the president and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, founded September 11, 2004, on the premise that the hip hop generation is uniquely qualified to address human-rights for the 21st century.

After four years and two tours in Europe, Eric J. Garcia ended his Air Force enlistment. Immediately following he used his GI bill to earn his bachelors degree of Fine Arts and a minor in Chicano studies at the University of New Mexico. He continued his education and earned his master of Fine Arts degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Garcia is a teaching artist at the National Museum of Mexican Art here is Chicago and a internationally published political cartoonist.

Natasha Erskine honorably served on active duty U.S. Air Force assigned to eight bases in Kansas, Nebraska, Virginia and Florida and Turkey, Norway, Germany, Kuwait, United Kingdom. Her final assignment was HQ Air Force Special Operations Command in Ft Walton Beach, Florida. She acted as Command CV-22 Osprey Weapon System Support Manager managing joint spares acquisition for 50 multi-mission vertical-lift CV-22 aircraft valued at $4.4B. She advised AFSOC’s commanding general on logistical support and potential process gaps affecting total mission capable (MICAP) rates. Natasha executed a wide-latitude of responsibilities to ensure mission-ready aircraft availability, liaising with Defense Logistics Agency, Naval Supply Command, Joint Program Office, Air Education and Training Command, two Special Operation Wings, two Special Operations Groups and in support of various special ops deployment missions globally. She retired from active duty on February 1, 2016.

Natasha immediately began grassroots organizing; canvassing during political campaigns in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. A leader and organizer with Reclaim Chicago and The People’s Lobby; Natasha is determined to see a Chicago, Illinois and nation that works for all of its citizens.

A proud mother to her daughter Arie; a well-rounded, amazing young lady. An incoming freshman, she’ll attend one of Chicago’s Selective Enrollment High Schools. A swim, track & field and music enthusiast; Arie is excited to be on the respective school team.

Tayyib Rashid, the Muslim Marine, is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps  and a member of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Muslims who believe in the Messiah, Mirza Gulam Ahmad of Qadian, India.  Tayyib served in the Marines for five years active duty from January 1997 to January 2002. He was born in Peshawar, Pakistan and immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 10 years old.
After successfully completing a 5 year active duty enlistment, Tayyib returned back to the Chicagoland area and completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering & Technology from Devry University in Addison, IL.  He completed his MBA at the University of Illinois in May of 2010 and currently works as a Human Resources executive in the area of Talent Management and Leadership Development. 

As a Muslim, he is extremely passionate about Servant Leadership.  He aims to help others learn and develop personally and professionally with the aim of promoting organizational peace & security, trust, respect, passion for winning, integrity, excellence and service to others.  His desire to make the world a better place for all people drives everything he does as an HR professional and as a Muslim. 
Tayyib strives to build bridges between all Americans regardless of faith, race or background.  He speaks regularly on issues related to Islam, America and terrorism. You can find him engaging the public on social media, in local coffee shops, in churches, synagogues and mosques, or perhaps even standing on a street corner handing out flyers to fellow Chicagoans as they walk by.  He is married with 3 children and lives in the Northern Suburbs of Chicago. You can find him on Twitter @MuslimMarine or on Facebook via the MuslimMarine facebook page.

Rory Fanning walked across the United States for the Pat Tillman Foundation in 2008-2009, following two deployments to Afghanistan with the 2nd Army Ranger Battalion. He is a housing and antiwar activist living in Chicago, Illinois. He is also the author of Worth Fighting For: An Army Ranger's Journey Out of the Military and Across America (Haymarket Books, 2014). Follow him on Twitter @RTFanning.

Rory's writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Nation, Mother Jones, Salon, Common Dreams, TomDispatch, Socialist Worker and many other outlets.

The Town Hall is in conjunction with Veterans For Peace Annual Convention: "Education Not Militarization!".  Check out the full schedule of events at www.veteransforpeace.org

Be sure to check out the 1st Annual Power to Peace Festival also in Chicago that weekend!
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/chicago/veterans-town-hall-education-not-militarization/1512690828792339
- **Event Categories**: Art, Dance, Entertainment, Sports, fine-arts, Festivals, Workshops, literary-art
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 0

## Ticket Details


## Event venue details

- **city**: Chicago
- **state**: IL
- **country**: United States
- **location**: First United Methodist Church of Chicago
- **lat**: 41.8831
- **long**: -87.6306
- **full address**: First United Methodist Church of Chicago, 77 W Washington St, Chicago, United States

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: Veterans Town Hall: Education Not Militarization
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/banners/c8e7566cccb661354302526230354ebd

## FAQs

- **Q**: When and where is Veterans Town Hall: Education Not Militarization being held?
  - **A:** Veterans Town Hall: Education Not Militarization takes place on Thu, 10 Aug, 2017 at 07:00 pm to Thu, 10 Aug, 2017 at 07:00 pm at First United Methodist Church of Chicago, 77 W Washington St, Chicago, United States.

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