Anne L. Barstow and Tom F. Driver

Anne: Retired Professor of History, State University of New York at Old Westbury. Presbyterian Elder. Author of various articles and four books, including War's Dirty Secret: Rape, Prostitution, and Other Crimes Against Women (2000).

Tom: The Paul J. Tillich Professor of Theology and Culture Emeritus, Union Theological Seminary in New York. Ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. Author of various articles and six books, including Liberating Rites: Understanding the Transformative Power of Ritual (1997).

Email Anne at annebarstow@peoplepc.com

Email Tom at tfd3@columbia.edu

Activism

Anne and Tom became interested in peace and justice in Latin America in the 1980s. Upon retirement in the early 1990s, they became almost full time activists At first they volunteered with Witness for Peace (WFP), an ecumenical, faith-and-conscience-based organization committed to nonviolent accompaniment and correcting the injustices of U. S. policies toward Latin American. Anne and Tom joined or led many delegations to Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Haiti, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Colombia. Anne served two terms as Chairperson of the National Board of WFP. Tom organized and chaired its Task Force on Haiti and is now on the Steering Committee of the WFP MidAtlantic Region.

The couple's work these days is mostly done through the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship (PPF). On its behalf, Tom edited a special issue of the journal Church and Society (Nov.-Dec., 2005) called Re-Thinking War, Re-Thinking Peace, and Making Peace, to which Anne contributed the article, "Preparing to Resist the Next War: A Summons to the Church."

Anne is Director of PPF's Colombia programs and founder of the Accompaniment Program, in which volunteers spend at least a month in violence-ridden Colombia. Ranging in age from 23 to 73, they lend presence and encouragement to Presbyterian church leaders there who are under threat of assassination, arbitrary arrest, or disappearance because of their advocacy of justice for Colombia's 4 million displaced persons.

Together, Tom and Anne have made two documentary films: Colombia: The Next Vietnam? (2001) and Colombians Speak out About Violence and U.S. Policy (2003).
Anne has been arrested 4 times for acts of civil disobedience during protests against nuclear arms, covert actions of the CIA, and the notorious School of the Americas at Fort Benning, . Tom's similar acts on different occasions have led to one arrest.

Tom and Anne received the Andrew Mellon Award from the Witherspoon Society in 2006, for accompanying the people of Nicaragua, Haiti, and Colombia.

Anne, with Milton Mejia, received the Peaceseeker Award for 2006 of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship for creating the Colombia Accompaniment Program.

Tom and Anne are both experienced preachers and educators who bring a wealth of knowledge and insight to their presentations.

Offered Speaking Programs

Joint presentations:

"Colombia Accompaniment: The Call, the Program, and the Nonviolent Mission of Jesus"

"Understanding Colombia's Violence." After screening the 32-minute film, Colombians Speak out About Violence and U.S. Policy, we lead the audience in a discussion of the United States' responsibility for much of the violence, plus the work that churches both there and here are doing to make things better.

Anne:

"Standing for Non-Violence, Becoming an Activist: A Mid-Life Change."

"The Church, War, and Militarism: How the church is called to oppose war on principle and not just when it's too late"

Tom:

"Re-Thinking War and Peace: War is Not What it Was, and Peace is Not What We Think."

"The War on Terror: Is There a Christian Alternative?"