A teenage Clare Hanrahan marched through Memphis as part of a silent procession after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. there in 1968.

That march began Hanrahan's life of activism, primarily in support of peace and social justice. Hanrahan described her life as an activist and her beliefs as a guest lecturer April 29 in an English Composition and Research class at Tusculum College. The class, taught by Elizabeth Gordon, assistant professor of English, has been studying activism.

Hanrahan has acted on her concern about the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the U.S. Army School of the Americas, which has been a controversial training school for primarily Latin American military, law enforcement, and civilian officials. Protesters have called for the close of the school in response to human rights abuses in Central American countries by individuals trained at the school.

She was released in January from Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia after serving a six-month sentence for misdemeanor trespass on the grounds of the Army base at Ft. Benning, Ga, where the school is located. Organized peaceful protests take place annually at the base, and Hanrahan is one of more than 70 people who have been imprisoned as a result walking across the line marking the parameters of the base during the protests.

Describing herself as non-political growing up in Memphis, Hanrahan said she was "deeply moved by the courage of ordinary men, women, and children who took part in the Civil Rights movement under the threat of violence." Learning about Dr. King's beliefs of non-violent civil disobedience, Hanrahan said she took heart in the Christian value of peacemaking, noting Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount of "blessed be the peacemakers."

After becoming a volunteer with the USO (United Service Organization), Hanrahan said she met veterans of the Vietnam War. "I became a convinced pacifist after I saw what war did to young men of my generation," she said. "I am convinced that all wars are a crime against humanity and the earth."

In 1981, Hanrahan became a conscientious objector to paying for war, and lives intentionally with less income as a means of war tax resistance. When asked what a country should do if attacked, Hanrahan said that diplomatic efforts should be increased to solve the conflict rather than a military response. "We need to work at doubling our efforts at diplomacy," she said. "We need to look at what are the seeds of war. Why are they angry?"

People need to be trained in mediation and peaceful ways to solve conflict, she said.

Hanrahan said she finds more political activism in regions where there are several sources of information, but with corporate ownership of many mainstream media outlets, a variety of informational sources cannot be found in some areas. "Where there is a lot of information, people respond differently,"" she said. "Information is critical."

When asked what people can do if they are concerned about an issue but are not in a position to actively participate in a protest, Hanrahan responded that individuals should write their Congressmen and ask questions of government officials.