[evp_embed_video url="http://ncstn.org/content/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/NCSTN-Advocacy-Video-6-1.mp4"]In 2020, students in Dr. Belinda Walzer’s course Introduction to Writing Across the Curriculum in the English Department at Appalachian State University took on an unusual assignment. They put together a short video explaining North Carolina’s role in the CIA rendition-and-torture program that was a key part of the U.S. “war on terror” launched shortly after the devastating events of September 11, 2001.
The video team included Vanessa Nowak, Daisy Alvarez-Lopez, Asheley Holloman, and Luke Robinson. “We chose this topic because it hit really close to home,” Vanessa said. “All of us had probably driven by the site at some point in our lives and had no idea what was happening there. We felt that it was important to spread the word about this, as North Carolinians and to do our part for a grassroots effort.”
The video encourages viewers to sign a petition to NC Governor Roy Cooper and NC Attorney General Roy Cooper to investigate the state’s role in hosting “torture taxis.” These were the jet aircraft stationed in Smithfield and Kinston that masqueraded as civilian planes, and were used to fly Muslim people snatched overseas to CIA black sites where secret detention and torture were routine. Although at least 49 people are known to have been kidnapped using these planes and terribly mistreated, there has never been any official acknowledgement or redress in their cases.
The students hope that their advocacy video will motivate people of all ages, including young people, to look back critically at the torture conducted during the “war on terror” and how it has damaged the moral standing and reputation of our state. They want the public to know they can act to make a difference.