Springs activists plan battle of T-shirts at DNC

Supporters of the Colorado Springs nonprofit Alterni-Tee will voice anti-war and pro-immigration views with their chests instead of their mouths at the Democratic National Convention in Denver - and encourage other protesters to do the same.

Alterni-Tee, which has designed and produced T-shirts touting political, moral and environmental messages since Vietnam War demonstrations, is packing hundreds of T-shirts to sell for $15 a pop at the DNC, which begins Monday.

Toting oversized backpacks stuffed with T-shirts, Alterni-Tee volunteers will roam the protest areas outside the convention, where thousands of people aligned with various causes are expected to throng downtown Denver.

Among the offerings: a shirt designed for the DNC featuring a red peace sign and the words of the late pacifist, anarchist and author Ammon Hennacy, "I'm not disturbing the peace, I'm disturbing the war."

"There are so many accusations about protesters being the problem at the DNC. We're there to speak out, but we're not disturbing the peace - it's U.S. policy that's disturbing the peace - and we're looking to disturb the war," said Mary Lynn Sheetz, a graphic artist who created and runs Alterni-Tee with business partner Donna Johnson, a local psychologist.

Perturbed that Sen. Barack Obama, who is scheduled to accept the Democratic nomination at the convention, is "softening on the idea of ending the war and stopping the violence," Sheetz said her nonprofit has linked forces with one of the larger organized coalitions of nonviolent groups, the Alliance for Real Democracy, to get its messages across.

Alterni-Tee will peddle some of its other 32 designs, including "Todos Somos Inmigrantes" (We're All Immigrants), a peace dove with a "War No More" slogan and "Weapons of Mass Destruction," which pinpoints nuclear arsenals on a map of the U.S. and declares, "We Found Them - They're Closer to Home Than You Think!"

Sheetz and Johnson said they learned more than three decades ago that sayings on T-shirts speak louder than words in public and are more likely to initiate conversation.

The approach works, Johnson said.

"It's more personal than a bumper sticker because you have a real person standing there in the line at the grocery store or post office," Johnson said.

Knowing nothing about screen printing, the pair started making T-shirts on a dining room table in the 1970s. The first shirt was a peace dove with the phrase, "A Time Too Late for Protest Comes - No Nukes Now."

Over the years, they've created more than 100 designs, and now get input on new designs from about 15 local peace activists. Sayings take stances on war and peace, and also address specific concerns, such as a defeated proposal to bring gambling to Manitou Springs and Colorado's Amendment 2, which would have limited gay rights and was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Conservative Colorado Springs is admittedly not Alterni-Tee's biggest market, Sheetz said. The nonprofit organization, which donates all proceeds - several thousand dollars a year - to organizations that benefit the causes the T-shirts promote, sells nationally to catalogs and other distributors.

Shirley Tung, a proponent of refugee rights with the Phoenix-based Latin American Committee, is one of Alterni-Tee's largest distributors.

"They sell exceptionally well," said Tung, who sells the T-shirts at annual conventions of major Christian denominations and largescale protests. "They're politically correct and speak to the issues without being offensive."

Some messages are more subtle than others, Sheetz said, and often get worn to the gym or work, such as Gandhi's quote, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Others, Johnson said, "really pack a punch," such as "The Death Penalty makes killers of us all."

"It enables you to take a stand," Johnson said, "and you have to be willing to wear it."

To order: 475-7121
• For more information: www.alterni-tee.com