Hey all-
The coalition has been hard at work getting press and getting ready for the protest and rally this weekend. We hope maybe you've seen some of the news--King5 (NBC), KOMO (ABC) are the two most recent stories after our media of the billboard unveil last week and featuring a key voice and partner--Veterans for Peace.
Note: This week--starting Wednesday twice - the Blue Angels are descending on Seattle!🚫
Updates from Last Week!📋
Flyering and postering:
We’ve put up close to 200 posters in South Park, Rainier Beach, Columbia City, Othello, Central district, Capitol hill, the U District, Fremont
We’ve handed out close to 500 flyers
7/22 Billboard Media Launch resulted in coverage from Seattle Times, Kiro 7, King 5, and others
7/26 Protest the Billionaire Bailout Bill with Seattle Against War. We presented on the Campaign to about 80-100 attendees and handed out flyers and posters.
7/26 Tanod Lupa/CISPES “Another Vietnam” at the Beacon Cinema showcased the relationship between US militarism abroad and the ensuing crises of forced migration from those countries.
Feel free to print off flyers and posters and spread the word!
If you haven’t already, please share comments in our survey.
Check out our linktree for future updates: https://linktr.ee/N2BA
Join Us at Any or All of Our Upcoming Actions! 🗓️
Thurs. 7/31 10:00am - Join ILPS at Ruby Chow park in Georgetown to protest the Brunch and Blues Seafair Fundraiser.
Sat. 8/02 10:00am - Protest Seafair in Columbia City on Saturday, August 2nd starting at 10:00am. Meet behind the Columbia City Library.
August and beyond: Tues 8/5 - local primaries and Seattle Night Out + events post Seafair in August and beyond to engage with city leaders--noting the City of Seattle's Special Events Committee meets in August
Background: The Purpose of the Blue Angels🛩️ (slightly shortened update from coalition for word limits here):
“It’s a huge recruitment thing for the Navy”
Chief Petty Officer Matthew Venis
"It's always about the money"
In 1946, Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral, Chester A. Nimitz established the Blue Angels as a propaganda tool to increase navy morale and to increase public interest in naval aviation.
This came at a time when naval aviation was facing a post-war shrink and those in charge of the Army Air Forces (which were formed into the US Air Force in 1947) were making the case that fighter jets needed to be replaced with long range bombers.
In 1972, the Blue Angels began flying at SeaFair at a time when “Boeing plants in Seattle were pumping out the bombers that decimated villages in Vietnam” (CityArts)
In 1974, the program was “reorganized as the United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, with Tony Less as the commanding officer... The mission of the squadron became focused on Navy recruiting.” (Ebsco)
Interesting that this is the year after the US withdrew from Vietnam - seems to be a pattern of pushing recruitment after a war has ended to maintain numbers?
The Navy budget for the Blue Angels is now close to $40 million a year, not including the $67 Million price tag for a F/A-18 Super Hornet.
The investment into the Blue Angels is paying dividends because the 2025 Navy Budget for Naval Aviation is:
$16.2 billion for new aircraft.
Operating Forces budget estimate of $63.419 billion includes funding for 887,000 flying hours, supporting 9 active Navy Carrier Air Wings and 3 Marine Corps Air Wings.
The Department of the Navy's 2025 budget request for the Marine Corps (which has their own naval aviation team that is overseen by the Navy) includes $5.7 billion for aviation readiness.
The Blue Angels Effect: Pipeline to Military Recruitment 🪖
It’s no accident that the Blue Angels are billed as entertainment for the family or that people associate them with a happy childhood. Direct calls to recruitment, particularly aimed intentionally at children, are woven throughout media covering or depicting the Blue Angels, as well as marketing material from the Navy itself:
The official Blue Angels page on the Navy’s website contain instructions and links encouraging students (implicitly high school students) to apply to be in the Navy or Marines...
Recruiters in other cities have gone on record talking directly about the show’s impact on recruitment, especially for children.
There have been many films and television shows made about or featuring the Blue Angels since the 1960’s. The most recent of these features is the G-rated The Blue Angels (2024), which features pilots who “were inspired to join the Navy after seeing the Angels air shows as kids.” (from this review)
Other members of the Armed Forces also attribute their enlistment to the Blue Angels. This story in The Seattle Times (written by a former Navy helicopter pilot) mentions pilot Austin Hulbert who “recalled how inspired he was as a child seeing the Blue Angels and how he hoped to bring that inspiration to others”, as well as the son of a local couple:
“The couple’s only son, Sascha, didn’t become a Blue Angel, but he did become a Navy pilot. Given all the Blue Angels memorabilia in Sascha’s childhood home, it’s no surprise the fanfare rubbed off.”
Feature from Resist US Led War Seattle: What Does US Militarism Mean for the World?
Militarism means more than just war. It’s the systemic use of (and normalizing of) military violence because war is profitable, so people in power have an incentive to make wars inevitable. One of the root causes of war are economic, so we must confront the system itself. With international solidarity from the richest to the poorest countries, and a broad movement of the people, moved by the everyday conditions of the most marginalized, militarism can be defeated!
As Seafair bolsters military recruiting, normalizes weapons of war to children, and creates a culture celebrating the US’s endless wars, Boeing profits every step of the way. Boeing is one of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers by revenue, and produced the most guided bombs and munitions delivered to Israel of any U.S. company from 2021-2023.
The planes featured in Seafair's Boeing Air Show include Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets, used in the Iraq war that led to at least 180,000 Iraqi civilian deaths. The C-17 Globemaster will also fly overhead this weekend, potentially between its pricey missions deporting migrants out of Boeing Field (King County International Airport).
Boeing’s largest customer is the US military, and their products have been used in numerous human rights abuses, aerial bombings, and civilian deaths worldwide from Palestine to the Philippines.
Wars and military interventions inevitably lead to the forced migration of peoples. When these migrant communities come to the US, they are subject to ever intensifying state violence, and now face ICE raids, deportations, and unjust detention, like in the case of Filipino migrant workers at UW.
The Trump administration has been using Boeing C-17 Globemaster military cargo planes to ship migrants to Guantánamo Bay, where over a thousand US troops are deployed to operate a massive prison for 30,000 migrants on occupied Cuban land.
By organizing to expose and isolate war profiteers like Boeing, we can help people fighting for their land and livelihood in the Philippines, Palestine, Sudan, West Papua, and beyond. Let’s de-militarize Seafair to fight for a future free of war and forced migration. Our parks & universities aren’t playgrounds for the war industry!
Protect Migrants, Reject Boeing!
Demilitarize Seafair! Let's end this--Seafair should end their contract with the Blue Angels.