Prisons – Page 2 – Engaging Peace

And the Beat Goes On: 100 Living Peace and Justice Leaders and Models, List 4, Part 3.

Posted on August 18, 2018 by kathiemm

Poster at Rededication ceremony, Peace Abbey, July 29, 2018. Reprinted by permission.

by Kathie Malley-Morrison & Anthony J. Marsella

This fourth list of Living Peace and Justice Leaders continues our efforts to honor the life and work of Reverend Martin Luther-King, Jr.

These are increasingly dangerous times. Peace and social justice activists like those cited in our four lists help us find ways to resist rising fascism, racism, militarization, corruption, greed, disregard for life, and utter contempt for a universal moral code like the Golden Rule.

These leaders and mentors, and thousands of others like them, need followers but, even more than that, they need comrades–not comrades-in-arms but comrades advancing arm-in-arm to work for causes that benefit all of humanity and indeed life on earth. Learn more about these leaders. Support their causes. Do not bow down to tyranny. Resist.

Nyarwaya: Eddy Kalisa Nyarwaya Jr. Executive Secretary of the Rwanda Institute for Conflict Transformation and Peace Building; President of the Alternatives to Violence Program
Orlov: Dmitry Orlov, predicts cultural, financial, commercial, and political collapse in US and elsewhere.
Pauli: Richard Pauli, climate activist
Pepper: William F. Pepper, attorney, investigator of assassinations, represented MLK’s family in a wrongful death lawsuit
Pitt: William Rivers Pitt,Teacher, writer, political activist
Prasad: Surya Nath Prasad, writer, Transcend Media Services, supporter of universal peace education
Prysner: Michael Prysner: S. army veteran, political activist
Priest: Dana Priest,investigative reporter, Washington Post, Top Secret America book
Pulley: Aislinn Pulley, Chicago Black Lives Matter, African American leader
Quam: Lois Quam, activist for health care and the environment.
Reimer: Kevin Reimer, peace psychology professor
Richards: Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood
Richtman: Max Richtman, President/CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare
Schindler: Stefan Schindler, Peace scholar, poetry for peace activist
Seed: John Seed, Saving the Rain Forests
Stevenson: Bryan Stevenson, Slavery Museum
Stone: Oliver Stone, film maker
Sulik: Gayle Sulik, Breast Cancer Founder
Sundarajan: Louise Sundarajan, Indigenous Psychologies
Tatour: Dareen Tatour, Palestinian citizen of Israel charged with inciting violence with her poetry.
Thapa: Lily Thapa, Single Women for Human Rights in Nepal
Theoharis: Liz Theoharis Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
Todhunter: Colin Todhunter, writer, critic of international agribusinesses.
Toon: Brian Toon climate research
Torres-Rivera: Edil Torres Rivera, LatinoX Counseling for Social Justice activist
Townsend: David Townsend, J.D., Attorney, Mediator, Activist
Turbeville: Brandon Turbeville Writer for Activist Post, host of Truth on the Tracks, a weekly news roundup serving as a hub for activists, information, and solutions.
Tverberg: Gail Tverberg, Energy and Peak Oil Analyst
Vitchek: Andre Vitchek, revolutionary, internationalist, and globetrotter fighting Western imperialism
Vilkomerson: Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace
Wagner: Richard Wagner, peace psychology pioneer.
Wallace: Timmon Milne Wallis, Director of Peaceworkers UK.
Ward: Eric K. Ward, long-time civil rights strategist
Wedler: Carey Wedler, Editor, Anti-Media
West: Doe West, Native American scholar, pastor, social justice activist, disability rights advocate.
White: James A. White Jr., Prisoner who started numerous educational programs for prisoners
Wolff: Richard D. Wolff, Author, Marxist economist
Yumbo: Elisvan Greffa Yumbo, Peruvian activist fighting for protection of Amazon waters from oil industry.
Young: Andrew Young civil rights activist, U.S. Representative, Pastor, diplomat, mayor, educator.
Zimoz: Sergey Zimov, climate change activist working to preserve life in the Artic

And remember to vote in November.

Whose Independence Day?

Posted on July 3, 2018July 4, 2018 by kathiemm

by Kathie MM

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass, man of color, social reformer, orator, statesman, and fugitive from slavery in Maryland, had the following to say about the Fourth of July:

“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim.

To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes that would disgrace a nation of savages.”

Douglass’s words continue to ring true for millions of people in the United States today–men, women, and children routinely denied the liberty and justice for all promised to those who came to our shores. Just consider a few examples:

The remnants of the Native American genocides, survivors who continue to see treaties broken, la nds stolen and/or polluted, rights disregarded;

The 2.2 million men and women incarcerated in this country (significantly higher than any other country in the world) and the racial discrimination built into sentencing,

Zero tolerance immigration policies towards men, women, children, and babies, more than tired and poor, fleeing danger and death.

Please, this Fourth of July, think of how we can do it better. Activism in the form of protests, demonstrations, petitions, and relentless shaming and exposure of the perpetrators of social injustice is probably essential; however, we also need to think creatively about combatting the fear and hatred those perpetrators deliberately seek to inflame for their own purposes. Many haters and hurters are reacting to their own anxieties and suffering in ways that help only the power mongers.

Can we create messages of love and brotherhood and sisterhood that can overcome the incentives to hatred and violence?

Can we follow the example of Kristin Mink, the brave young woman who spoke truth to power when the opportunity presented itself? If more seekers after peace, social justice, and preservation of a viable earth followed her example, perhaps next year’s Fourth of July would be an independence day for more of our nation’s people, and our planet would have a greater chance to survive.

P.S. No, I don’t think the power mongers, the racists, the hate purveyors, the despoilers of the environment, the enemies of peace and social justice are entitled to relaxing meals with their buddies and secret service agents in public places.

Please let me know what you think about this.

Alicia Garza: Follow her to justice

Posted on February 17, 2018March 3, 2018 by kathiemm

by Kathie MM

In celebration of Black History Month, this post honors Alicia Garza (included in EP’s second list of 100 peace and justice advocates), a model of the characteristics that define peace activists.

Nonviolence: Alicia’s main goal is the elimination of violence, particularly the forms of structural violence that are the source of most other forms of violence. She notes, for example, “The fact that we have half-a-million black immigrants living in this country, living in the shadows, who are undocumented, is a product of state violence. The fact that black queer and trans folk… are being targeted for various forms of harassment, violence, and in some cases, elimination, is state violence.”

Inspiration: Following the acquittal of George Zimmerman on murder charges for killing Trayvon Martin, Alicia declared a truth that had never occurred to many colorless people: “Black Lives Matter.” The movement that grew out of that declaration has inspired activists around the world to confront a wide range of social problems.

Tolerating struggle: Alicia has devoted herself to the movement tirelessly. “If I’m clear about anything today…[it] is that we are really in for an uphill battle…This country in particular is having a very, very difficult time with addressing the root causes of the problems that we face and until we actually get to that point, unfortunately I do believe we’re going to have a lot more chaos and confusion.”

Empathy and compassion: Alicia tells us: “[to several deadly police shootings] is one of complete dismay and disgust. My prayers go out to their families and loved ones, who are having to watch the death of their loved one over and over again on multiple news stations.” Her deeds prove her words.

Integrity: “Her activism reflects organizational strategies and visions that connect emerging social movements without diminishing the specificity of the structural violence facing Black lives.”

Courage: It takes courage to combat racism in a racist society—especially perhaps for a woman of color—and courage to declare oneself gay, and to be openly committed to a trans partner. Alicia has done all these things.

Purpose-driven life: “That really is our work – to make sure that the movement is everywhere … in hospitals and healthcare, in schools, in our workplaces, in our churches,” she says. “That’s what’s going to really accelerate the pace of the change that we seek.”

Refusing the Order to March, Part 2

Posted on September 5, 2017September 4, 2017 by kathiemm

“REFUSE THE ORDER TO LAUNCH” demonstration at the Natick Army Base on Sunday, August 27.

By Lewis Randa

The protest march from Natick Center to the Natick Army Base last Sunday, August 27, was important for reasons that extend beyond making a public statement against a potential nuclear strike against North Korea.

For our young college intern, Maddie Walters, who worked to organize the action, it was an opportunity, following two horrific years of recovery from a near death accident in high school that left her with a serious brain injury, to take a stand both literally and figuratively.

Maddie’s recovery has been miraculous — and her one-mile protest walk from Natick center to the army base was a poignant testimony, not only of her fear of nuclear war but a spirited demonstration of her physical recovery and the resilience of the human body and the human mind. Maddie’s impact on others is profound; her contribution to peace is enormous. We wish her well as she enters her freshman year at Lasell College in Newton.

I wish to thank the activists who read Peace Chain statements about the horrors of nuclear war, and extend my debt of gratitude to the members of the Common Street Spiritual Center and the First Congregational Church, without whom the action would not have attracted long-time activists from the area and several individuals who are new at taking such actions for peace.

The Natick Board of Selectmen that authorized the march did so trusting that an action organized and led by the Peace Abbey would be nonviolent and peaceful and would be conducted according to agreed-upon standards of conduct on town property.

Mass Peace Action provided the NO WAR banner and many marchers brought homemade signs that personally expressed their concern and outrage. For those who were part of the demonstration, it was impressive to witness the professional, measured, and thoughtful response from both the Natick Police officers and the Federal police stationed at the Natick Army base.

I am grateful to report that such was the case both at the Natick Jail and at the Framingham District Court.

FYI: Following my arrest, I declined bail, preferring to spend the night in jail in prayerful reflection while rereading the book “I REFUSE” by J.K. Osborne. (I first read this powerful memoir of a Vietnam war resister during a fast which led to my discharge from the army as a conscientious objector in 1971.)

Monday morning I was transported to Framingham/Natick District Court where my wife Meg and peace movement attorney Greg Barison awaited my arrival. The Judge reduced my fine from $510. to $100 and dismissed the case. In the words of attorney Barison: “No gesture for non-violence, however small, no stand for peace, however modest, goes for naught.”

Please join us at Noon on October 24th, United Nations Day at the Pacifist Memorial in Sherborn, MA, as we honor Retired Major Harold Hering who was discharged from his military career for asking the question: “Are there checks and balances on the President when ordering a nuclear strike?”

That was in 1973 and Richard Nixon was president. Decades later, we find ourselves at the gates of the military installation in Natick asking the same question. It’s 2017 this time, and Donald Trump is president. Some things never change.

Pray as though everything depends on God. Resist as though God depends on us for everything.