Tag: Deborah Belle

Yemen: Recognizing responsibility

Posted on by kathiemm
Photo by Mary Leno

by Deborah Belle

Saturday’s rally in Brattle Square Plaza, Cambridge, MA, to end the U.S.-Saudi blockade of Yemen, began just as the morning’s rain ended and pedestrians returned to Harvard Square.

Activists held signs and gave out leaflets urging an end to U.S. support for the Saudi blockade.

As the leaflet noted, “Yemen is a Massachusetts war. Raytheon is headquartered here in Massachusetts. It makes the bombs for Saudi Arabia and it makes the jet engines for the planes that drop the bombs. Let’s do all we can to end this connection between Massachusetts and this terrible humanitarian disaster.”

Further information is available at the Raytheon Antiwar Campaign (617-354-2169), and at info@masspeaceaction.org.

Pegean says: “If you’re concerned about the situation in Yemen, let your national and state legislators know.”

Climate action day: The most beautiful day!

Posted on by kathiemm

by Deborah Belle

It was the most beautiful day in the history of the world, or some reasonable facsimile thereof. The sky was the tenderest blue. The sun warmed the skin and created gorgeous deep shadows. Trees kept their green leaves, with only a few branches turned a brilliant red.  It was a wondrous day to be alive and to be on planet Earth.

There was a poignancy to all this beauty as the plaza at Boston’s Government Center filled with thousands of young people and their elders, everyone come to bear witness to the terrible threats facing our beloved planet and the urgent need to act now before we lose it all.

There were adorable children with their homemade signs. A contingent of folks protesting the fracked gas Compressor Station proposed for the South Shore to transport fracked gas to Canada. Folks from the Sunrise Movement helping to register new voters. Others stressing the need to protect our water, our birds, our biodiversity.

And this was only the beginning of only one of the 4,638 climate strike actions taking place today around the country and around the world. Will we act in time? The beauty of the day demanded it.

Note from KMM: Pegean says
“Tho I am just a cat forsooth,
I see the lies. I see the truth.
I want this world of ours to thrive.
Pease help me keep our earth alive.”

Tens of thousands marched. I was there.

Posted on by kathiemm

March for Our Lives, Boston MA, March 24, 2018. Photo by Deborah Belle.

By guest author Deborah Belle

Such a mixture of pain and joy to see so many marching today. Joy in the incredible strength, wisdom, and commitment of the young people leading this social movement along with their equally passionate elders. Pain is the very reason for and topic of the march. Children with signs wondering if they will be next, or pleading, “Don’t shoot!” Teachers who did not sign up to be soldiers and carry guns. Reminders of the young people lost recently in Florida and also the young father killed only days ago in Sacramento, shot 20 times by police officers in his own backyard.

What a crazy dystopia we are forced to inhabit. When will we awaken from this nightmare? Along with the emotion today there was a focus on the future and on the next steps to take. Activists were out registering marchers to vote and reminding us that voting will be our best hope of purging our national political life of the deadly influence of the NRA.

Note from KMM: Please help with the voter registration process.

 

 

100 new peace activists, Part 1

Posted on by kathiemm

By Kathie Malley-Morrison & Anthony J. Marsella

Be not afraid!  You are not alone! There are thousands of advocates and activists across the world who are bringing conscience to the struggle for peace and justice. They are willing to endure the dangers of speaking for peace and justice, wherever human and legal rights are violated by people in power.

In the face of abuses and oppression, we recall the iconic peace and justice leaders of the past, including Mohatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Samuel Gompers, Caesar Chavez, Larry Itliong, Rachel Corrie, Philip & Daniel Berrigan, Glenn Paige, Hedy Epstein, and Malcom X. Peace advocates like these are testimony to the enduring human quest to resist oppression and to claim liberty, even when the cost is life itself.

This is the second list of living peace and justice advocates and activists we have compiled and published to celebrate Reverend Martin Luther King’s enduring contributions to peace and justice.

We are eternally grateful for Rev King’s efforts to free people and nations from the brutal oppressions of governments, nations, societies, organizations, and individuals who support racism, prejudice, violence, and war.

We have chosen to demonstrate our responsibilities and commitment to Rev King by identifying another 100 living peace and social justice leaders and models, starting with 50 new names. You will recognize many of the names, while others have not yet received the  attention they deserve. 

Please help us make the lists grow. The list will include emerging local community activists as well as some who have already attracted media attention. Although our current lists include mostly journalists and academics, we welcome people from other disciplines.  Please use the comment section at the end of this post to nominate a wider range of peace and justice activists.

  1. Abu-Nimr: Mohammad Abu-Nimr 
  2. Adams: Glenn Adams 
  3. Arbuthnot: Felicity Arbuthnot
  4. Arrigo: Jean Marie Arrigo
  5. Arredondo: Patricia Arredondo
  6. Awad: Murbarak Awad
  7. Baez: Joan Baez 
  8. Barber: Reverend William Barber 
  9. Barnat: Ilyad Barnat 
  10. Bassett: Larry Bassett
  11. Belle: Deborah Belle
  12. Bigombe: Betty Oyella Bigombe
  13. Blackmon-Lowery: Lynda Blackmon-Lowery
  14. Blume: Art Blume
  15. Bowen: Kevin Bowen
  16. Bretherton: Diane Bretherton
  17. Bryant: Brandon Bryant
  18. Burghardt: Tom Burghardt
  19. Cacciatori: Joanne Cacciatori
  20. Campos: Pam Campos
  21. Caputi: Ross Caputi
  22. Carruthers: Charlene Carruthers
  23. Chappell: Paul Chappell
  24. Chomsky: Avi Chomsky
  25. Chossudovsky: Michael Chossudovsky
  26. Christie: Daniel Christie
  27. Clark: Ramsey Clark
  28. Connolly: David Connelly
  29. Cox: Lynell Cox
  30. D’Andrea: Michael D’Andrea
  31. Dunbar: Edward Dunbar
  32. Correia: Antone De’Jaun Correia  
  33. Degirmencioglu: Serdar Degirmencioglu
  34. Drake: Thomas A. Drake
  35. Fihn:  Beatrice Fihn
  36. Finklestein: Norman Finklestein
  37. Flowers: Margaret Flowers
  38. Fox: Matthew Fox
  39. Furtado: Michael Furtado
  40. Gagnon: Bruce K. Gagnon
  41. Giffords: Gabrielle Giffords
  42. Gillotti, Michael Gillotti
  43. Goldberg: Whoopi Goldberg
  44. Green: Paula Green
  45. Hall: Mitchell K. Hall
  46. Handwerker: Steven E. Handwerker
  47. Haney: Craig Haney
  48. Hazare: Anna Hazare
  49. Hines: Denise Hines 
  50. Jackson-Lowman: Huberta Jackson-Lowman

This is a somewhat condensed version of a post that appeared today on Transcend Media Services.  Part 2 will appear 2/19/2018 on this blog.