Category Archives: North America

USA: Conference to explore effect of early childhood development on world peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Yale University

In partnership with UNICEF and Queens University Belfast, the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC) at the Yale Child Study Center will host an open house conference at the Omni Hotel in New Haven this Thursday, Nov. 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The organizing question for the event will be: “Can early childhood development advance ‘The Culture of Peace?’”


Syrian girl holding up peace sign in a Turkish refugee camp. (© Radek Procyk – dreamstime.com)

“The goal of the ECPC is to shed light on the contribution of the science of early childhood development to creating a path to peace,” said Rima Salah, chair of the ECPC and assistant clinical professor in the Child Study Center. “Working towards a common goal of reducing and preventing violence against children, the unified group that makes up the ECPC recognizes the power of investing in the early years to build peaceful societies.”

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Question related to this article:

What is the best way to teach peace to children?

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At Thursday’s conference, the ECPC will provide an update on its research and advocacy efforts, including how it seeks to advance early childhood development, care, and education by building peace and fostering social cohesion among individuals, groups, communities, and nations. During the event, the ECPC will also officially launch its online platform, a resource that aims to help users build with “blocks of peace” for the children of the world.

Keynote speakers for the program include Pia Rebello Britto, chief and senior adviser of early childhood development at UNICEF; Sherrie Rollins Westin, president of global impact and philanthropy at Sesame Workshop; and H.E. Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace, former under-secretary general and high representative of the United Nations. Presenters from six low- and middle-income countries will also discuss the early childhood development programs they are creating with colleagues at UNICEF and Queen’s University Belfast, Yale, New York University, and Harvard to build social cohesion and peace within their countries.

“The ECPC has brought together a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectored, and multi-dimensional range of experts who have worked in the fields of early childhood development and peace-building initiatives around the globe, that up to this point, have been working in silos,” said Dr. James Leckman, ECPC executive committee member and the Neison Harris Professor in the Child Study Center. “Science says that peace is possible — and the science of early childhood development can facilitate the development of a more peaceful world.”

The ECPC is founded on the idea that the global community must address the root causes of violence and conflict and that families and children can be agents of change for peace. The consortium is building an inclusive movement for peace, social justice, and prevention of violence through using early childhood development strategies that enable the world community to advocate peace, security, and sustainable development. For more information on the ECPC, visit the consortium’s website.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, North America

March For Our Lives wins International Children’s Peace Prize 2018

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Kids Rights

The March for Our Lives initiators, who started the American mass youth movement for safer schools and communities and against gun violence, have won the International Children’s Peace Prize 2018.



Watch a short documentary about March For Our Lives 

Today [20 November], on Universal Children’s Day, David Hogg, Emma González, Jaclyn Corin and Matt Deitsch, received the prize from Archbishop Desmond Tutu during a special ceremony held in Cape Town, South Africa in the presence of distinguished guests and the world press. The International Children’s Peace Prize is an initiative of the international children’s rights organization KidsRights. The young winner’s message each year reaches millions of people worldwide.

During the ceremony, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has been the patron of The International Children’s Peace Prize and KidsRights for more than a decade, said that March For Our Lives is one of the most significant youth-led mass movements in living memory. “The peaceful campaign to demand safe schools and communities and the eradication of gun violence is reminiscent of other great peace movements in history. I am in awe of these children, whose powerful message is amplified by their youthful energy and an unshakable belief that children can, no must, improve their own futures. They are true changemakers who have demonstrated most powerfully that children can move the world.”

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Questions related to this article:

Do you think handguns should be banned?, Why or why not?

Youth initiatives for a culture of peace, How can we ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve?

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March For Our Lives

David, Emma, Jaclyn and Matt co-initiated March For Our Lives alongside more than 20 other students, after their school was the scene of a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida this past February, with 17 fatal casualties. Personally affected by the tragedy, they responded by organizing the March For Our Lives event in the spring of 2018 to demand safer schools and communities and to protest gun violence. Hundreds of thousands participated in the rally and more than 800 sister marches took place that same day across the US and beyond. For David, Emma, Jaclyn and Matt, this was only the beginning. In the summer of 2018 the group took to the road, visiting 80 communities in 24 states leading discussions and advocating for the creation of safer communities.

They lobbied, held town hall rallies, and motivated thousands of young people to register to vote. The March For Our Lives movement has continued to be highly vocal and very successful.

Since its advent, over 25 US states have passed more than 50 pieces of legislation in line with their cause.
 
A call on the international community to halt violence in schools

Marc Dullaert, founder of KidsRights and the International Children’s Peace Prize, said that out of the extremely impressive group of nominees, March For Our Lives was this year’s most deserved winner, if only due to the sheer size of the movement that it inspired in 2018: “March For Our Lives has transformed a local community protest into a truly global youth-led and peaceful protest movement. The initiators have utilized the skills and knowledge of young people to generate positive change, whilst mobilizing millions of their peers, controlling the public narrative on the issues that matter to them, and making people in power listen. This will shape the way in which children’s rights are campaigned in the future.”

During the ceremony today, Mr. Dullaert called upon the international community to halt the surge in school violence witnessed internationally. “Schools must be protected as safe havens for children. KidsRights calls upon the international community to halt this issue and to prevent schools from becoming battlegrounds.”

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, North America,

Hall’s poetry about more than ‘black history’

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Jeff Schwaner in The News Leader

“We all have poetry in us.” This is the first thing Neal Hall wants to be clear about. The renowned African American poet and medical doctor reads from his work at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, in the Carter Center for Worship and Music at Bridgewater College.

While Hall is identified as an African-American poet, the demand for him to accept reading engagements is not limited to Black History Month. Hall has performed poetry readings throughout the United States and internationally in Canada, France, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Morocco, Nepal and India. He participated in Bridgewater College’s 2015 International Poetry Festival last January.


Photo: SUBMITTED / Steve Ladner

The Bridgewater reading is sandwiched between trips to India and Italy, both chock full of readings and public addresses.

In an email interview, Hall responded to questions of how being an African-American contributed to his evolution as a poet.

“What comes with the label of African-American or Black is this institutionalized, generational legacy of a trail of tears we are forced to walk. This trail and our tears make us uniquely sensitive to the suffering and exploitation of all men and women. It qualifies us and challenges us to stand up to be the true standard bearers and guardians of freedom for all,” Hall writes. “My poetry is influenced by and speaks not just to the surface pain of injustice and inhumanity, but digs deep into that pain, into the genteel socio-political-economic- religious constructs used to blur the common lines of cause that is our shared story. This shared story, the poetry reminds us, should unite us in our common struggle to be free.”

When asked if being identified as an African-American poet could be an obstacle to his expression, Hall responded, “If it is an identifier and/or identity, I did not create it to identify me nor to limit me. As such, one has to ask the larger question: Who created it for me and for what reasons?”

Across the work of four books, Hall’s poetic voice is insistent on his readers realizing their own will to be free, but also identifies the oppressor in its various institutional and cultural forms. “When you see that you are not free / you must say and do, to be free,” he writes in one of the poems from his first book. In the poems “White Man Asks Me” (“A white man asked me to / be less than a man so that he could / find a face-saving way out”) and “Dr. Nigga” (“…save my life / without  changing my life / when my white life codes blue”) Hall directly confronts and reveals the structure of racism.

For some of his readers this is difficult but necessary: “knowing that you are the cause and then the painful act of changing your behavior which has afforded and enriched you (relatively speaking) generating socio-economic advantages over your brothers and sisters.”

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Question for this article:

How can poetry promote a culture of peace?

Are we making progress against racism?

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Poetry is one way to face such formidable challenges. “We are the only obstacle getting in the way of our deeper expressions. I find my deepest expression in breathing air in and out deeply in the full realization of my connection, brotherhood and common humanity with all that exists. This connection, this brotherhood, our common humanity is seamless. It is the greed of man exploiting our fabricated man-made differences that has created seams in us, to divide us from our oneness. There is nothing complex nor complicated about man’s gluttony.”

Hall earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an M.D. from Michigan State University. He received his surgical subspecialty training in ophthalmology at Harvard University’s Medical School and was in private practice for more than 20 years in Flourtown, Pa.

Hall is the author of four books of poetry, Nigger For Life, Winter’s A’ Coming Still, Appalling Silence and Where Do I Sit, that deal with oppression and exploitation in American society.

The poet’s charismatic reading style has captured international audiences that go far beyond what any label as an African-American poet might mean. I asked him about the connection. “I have learned from my travels that the oppressors, oppression and their methods are the same all over the world and thus those who suffer from them are connected,” Hall wrote. “The oppressed all understand that their oppression is based in large part on gluttony/greed. The need for a source of continuous cheap labor and to rob people of their substance, their lands and resources often under the guise of religion, democracy, freedom, education, tradition, culture and self-serving charity.”

Few poets read in public as often as Hall. And Hall recognized this activity as a watershed moment in his development as a poet. “There in real time with the poetry of your heart and mind flowing from your mouth, you see yourself touching, moving audiences’ hearts and minds to feel and live the poetry you’ve lived and are re-living in the readings before them. There in real time, I learned to live in my poetry as much as my poetry lives in me.”

I asked him how that speaks to the mysterious relationship between writer and poem and reader.

“It is no mystery. What people get from your poetry is not only what you give them, but also the life experiences they bring to your poetry. And the life experience they bring to your poem can illuminate the words and impact far more — or less — in them than in you or your intent.

So when readers respond in a very surprising manner to a poem, does it make him feel differently about the poem?

“No. The poem is my poem and my experience. I can only feel what I bring to it and it to me. On the other hand, I do feel honored and grateful that others bring their different life experiences into play when reading about and connecting with my life experiences through my poetry. We are, as I have said, seamless! Poetry can bear witness to erase the seams man creates in us.”

Hall writes in one of his poems, “We are socialized and emotionalized to see / our plight in black and white.”

No such adhering to stereotype in Hall’s work.

The program is free and open to the public.

 

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global, North America,

Researchers Develop Artificial Photosynthesis System that Generates Both Hydrogen Fuel and Electricity

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Dan McCue from the Renewable Energy Magazine

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), a DOE Energy Innovation Hub, have come up with a new recipe for renewable fuels that could bypass the limitations in current materials: an artificial photosynthesis device called a “hybrid photoelectrochemical and voltaic (HPEV) cell” that turns sunlight and water into not just one, but two types of energy – hydrogen fuel and electricity. The paper describing this work was published on October 29 in Nature Materials.


Illustration: The HPEV cell’s extra back outlet would allow the current to be split into two, so that one part of the current contributes to solar fuels generation, and the rest can be extracted as electrical power. (Credit: Berkeley Lab, JCAP)

Most water-splitting devices are made of a stack of light-absorbing materials. Each layer absorbs different parts or “wavelengths” of the solar spectrum, ranging from less-energetic wavelengths of infrared light to more-energetic wavelengths of visible or ultraviolet light.

When each layer absorbs light it builds an electrical voltage. These individual voltages combine into one voltage large enough to split water into oxygen and hydrogen fuel. But according to Gideon Segev, a postdoctoral researcher at JCAP in Berkeley Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division and the study’s lead author, the problem with this configuration is that even though silicon solar cells can generate electricity very close to their limit, their high-performance potential is compromised when they are part of a water-splitting device.

“It’s like always running a car in first gear,” said Segev. “This is energy that you could harvest, but because silicon isn’t acting at its maximum power point, most of the excited electrons in the silicon have nowhere to go, so they lose their energy before they are utilized to do useful work.”

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Question for this article:

How can we ensure that science contributes to peace and sustainable development?

Are we making progress in renewable energy?

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So Segev and his co-authors – Jeffrey W. Beeman, a JCAP researcher in Berkeley Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division, and former Berkeley Lab and JCAP researchers Jeffery Greenblatt, who now heads the Bay Area-based technology consultancy Emerging Futures LLC, and Ian Sharp, now a professor of experimental semiconductor physics at the Technical University of Munich in Germany – proposed a surprisingly simple solution to a complex problem.

“We thought, ‘What if we just let the electrons out?’” said Segev.

In water-splitting devices, the front surface is usually dedicated to solar fuels production, and the back surface serves as an electrical outlet. To work around the conventional system’s limitations, they added an additional electrical contact to the silicon component’s back surface, resulting in an HPEV device with two contacts in the back instead of just one. The extra back outlet would allow the current to be split into two, so that one part of the current contributes to solar fuels generation, and the rest can be extracted as electrical power.

After running a simulation to predict whether the HPEC would function as designed, they made a prototype to test their theory. “And to our surprise, it worked!” Segev said.

According to their calculations, a conventional solar hydrogen generator based on a combination of bismuth vanadate and silicon will utilize only 6.8 percent of the solar energy striking the cell and store it the form of hydrogen fuel. All the rest is lost.

In contrast, the HPEV cells harvest leftover electrons that do not contribute to fuel generation. These residual electrons are used to generate electrical power, resulting in a dramatic increase in the overall solar energy conversion efficiency. For example, according to the same calculations, the same 6.8 percent of the solar energy can be stored as hydrogen fuel in an HPEV cell made of bismuth vanadate and silicon, and another 13.4 percent of the solar energy can be converted to electricity. This enables a combined efficiency of 20.2 percent, three times better than conventional solar hydrogen cells.

The researchers plan to continue their collaboration so they can look into using the HPEV concept for other applications such as reducing carbon dioxide emissions. “This was truly a group effort where people with a lot of experience were able to contribute,” added Segev. “After a year and a half of working together on a pretty tedious process, it was great to see our experiments finally come together.”

The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis is a DOE Energy Innovation Hub.

The work was supported by the DOE Office of Science.

North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

USA: Marquette University Center for Peacemaking celebrates 10 years

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article by Donna Sarkar for the Marquette Wire

The Center for Peacemaking celebrated its 10-year anniversary Sept. 13 at the Haggerty Museum of Art, marking a decade of exploring the power of nonviolence.


Video of anniversary event

A reception featured speeches from founders of the center as well as members of the board of directors. A $1 million grant was announced during the ceremony to continue development work in the community. 

The Center for Peacemaking was founded in 2008 through the vision of Marquette alumni Terry and Sally Rynne. The center operates several programs for students that support research promoting peace and nonviolence. It is the only such center on a Catholic university campus in the United States, Terry Rynne said. 

Patrick Kennelly, director of the center and a Marquette University alumnus, said the center’s impact is clear. “Peace education has transformed the lives of Marquette students, and Marquette peacemaking initiatives have addressed indignities and communities locally and around the globe,” Kennelly said. 

Zoe Gunderson, a junior in the College of Communication said she recently started working at the Center for Peacemaking as a communications assistant.  She said she noticed the welcoming atmosphere right away.

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Questions for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

University campus peace centers, What is happening on your campus?

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“The students involved seem to be really dedicated and passionate about nonviolence movements and other related issues, and I’m really glad I joined,” Gunderson said.

The center also works to recruit students and build curriculum for the peace studies major and minor offered in the College of Arts & Sciences.

“Undergraduate time is a place where students can change new things,” Terry said. “It’s our call as Christians to help serve students and the power of nonviolence is just so wonderful. The number of students involved grows exponentially each year.”

During the ceremony, the center recognized its partnership with Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States.  It gives students and faculty access to the agency’s international projects, experts and resources. 

Ellie Lyne, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences and a research assistant on the Park Initiative project, which promotes reducing crime in the Near West Side neighborhoods, said learning about the power of nonviolence is beneficial and the center has taught her how to have tangible impacts on the community.

“I’ve also worked with professors over the summer to research how to solve domestic violence and eviction in Milwaukee, and we are close to reaching some answers,” she said.

Kennelly said he has witnessed graduates of the peace studies program working around the globe using skills of nonviolence learned at Marquette to address indignities and solve dense social issues.

“Our faith calls us to show love to one another and our enemies in times of crisis,” Kennelly said. “That is the mission I hope students (take away).”

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, North America

USA: Update on March For Our Lives

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Exerpts from the websitre of March For Our Lives

This summer, the students of March For Our Lives made stops across America to get young people educated, registered, and motivated to vote. We called it March For Our Lives: Road to Change. We visited over 80 communities in 24 different states in 60 days.

We went to places where the NRA has strongholds — and visited a number of communities that have been affected by gun violence to meet fellow survivors. At each stop, we registered young people to vote and talk about how we can stand up to anyone that is a blockade to gun safety – including the NRA and corrupt leaders.


Map of communities visited this summer. For detailed list, click here.

When people across the country rallied at the March For Our Lives just over 2 months ago, we showed our politicians that we refuse to accept gun violence as an unsolvable issue. Now, we’re turning our energy into action.

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Question related to this article:

Do you think handguns should be banned?, Why or why not?

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Fall Tour dates!

11/3 Tempe, AZ – Vote For Our Lives homecoming block party with free food, games and giveaways, Arizona State University, Fulton Center, starts at 9am

11/4 Orange County, CA – Vote For Our Lives Rally at UC Irvine, free food, special guests, candidates, music & voting, Pacific Ballroom, 311 W Peltason Dr, Irvine, 4-6pm Bus to the Polls, UC Irvine, 2-4pm and 6-8pm – RSVP –

11/4 St. Augustine, FL – Vote For Our Lives tour stop, Plaza De La Constitucion, 23 Orange St., Saint Augustine, FL, 32084, 2pm

11/5 Tallahassee and Gainesville, FL – Message to the Young People of America, Press Conference at the Tallahassee Capitol historic front steps, 400 S Monroe St, Tallahassee, FL 32399, 1pm Vote For Our Lives dorm storm, FAMU and FSU, starting at 1:30pm Vote For Our Lives dorm storm, University of Florida, starting at 5:30pm

11/6 Parkland, FL – Phone Banking, 7am-7pm Vote For Our Lives celebration

For more information about the Road to Change, text CHANGE to 977-79.

[For background, see previous CPNN article on March For Our Lives]

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

2018 “World Beyond War” Toronto Conference Included Workshop on Departments and Infrastructures for Peace

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

Special to CPNN by Anne Creter

I am a long-time advocate within the U.S. “Peace Alliance” Department of Peacebuilding Campaign for the current bill in Congress to establish a cabinet-level Department of Peacebuilding (H.R.1111).  Thus I am thrilled to report my favorite topic of Departments and Infrastructures for Peace (I4P) was featured at this September’s international “World Beyond War” (WBW) conference in a workshop my Canadian Department of Peace counterpart, Dr. Saul Arbess and I co-presented there.  It was a logical collaboration, in that for the last decade Saul and I have worked together promoting governmental I4P within an international organization known as the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace or GAMIP (currently in transition).  


Frame from the conference video: Karen Johnson gives report from workshop on Departments of Peace

The ambitious conference intent, as stated by its planners, was to “explore how to re-design systems to abolish the institution of war by examining existing and potential legal models, modes of governance and frameworks that can be used to curb and abolish war, such as treaties like the Kellogg-Briand Pact, Peoples’ Tribunals, peace tax funds, departments of peace, civil disobedience, the use of universal jurisdiction and the International Criminal Court.”

Our workshop was timely because it meshed with above and also with my UN NGO work whose focus this year has been on “seeking global solutions to global problems”  — per the UN 2030 “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs).  The UN Development Program, which oversees both the SDG’s and I4P, has conducted studies showing evidence that a viable solution to the global problem of “violence” is establishing governmental departments and other I4P worldwide.  This relatively new peacebuilding concept of “governmental I4P” is already operational in countries where violence has been shown to decrease (Journal of Peacebuilding & Development Special I4P Issue, volume 7, Number 3, 2012 ISSN: 1542-3166). 

Thus if I4P are a viable global solution to the global problem of “violence,” then establishing them in governments should be encouraged to provide the (missing) connective tissue links necessary to build the culture of peace.  That this topic was deemed relevant to the WBW’s provocative conference theme of Designing a World Beyond War:  Legalizing Peace was promising.  For it offered a unique international forum for how governmental I4P may be a viable alternative to war providing a “legal” institutional framework for peace that could be the “blueprint” for redesigning a world beyond war.  

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Question related to this article:

How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

Is a U.S. Department of Peace a realistic political goal?

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The conference was held September 21-22 to coincide with the International Day of Peace celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose focus this year was “The Right to Peace.”  It was held outside the U.S. in Toronto, Canada to demonstrate WBW’s belief that for the global peace movement to succeed in redesigning a world beyond war, it must broaden its scope to build one unified coalition in solidarity worldwide with other peace groups.   

Most attendees were Canadian yet other countries were represented, as far away as New Zealand — home of my UN NGO, Peace Through Unity Charitable Trust — which as a founding member of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace has long advocated for a New Zealand “Ministry for a Culture of Peace” and passage of a UN Resolution urging I4P in all member states (see PeaceNow.com).  To quote Gita Brooke, Peace Through Unity founder:  New instruments are in the planning for carrying out the guidelines contained in the UN Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace:  ministries and departments of peace will serve as meeting places for closer, more comprehensive and effective cooperation between peoples and governments; peace academies will teach and help develop communication, peacebuilding and peacemaking skills of individuals and groups within society; and the general public will hold themselves, their governments, as well as the UN, accountable for implementing promises that have been made. 

The U.S. Constitution preamble beautifully articulates the primary purpose of government – which in a nutshell is to ensure humanity’s basic Human Rights (ie. the Right to Peace). Because we live in an ever-escalating global culture of violence, government needs vital help meeting this essential purpose. My advocacy for governmental 14P stems from my conviction that I4P can greatly assist government fulfilling its fundamental “Peace” mandate.  Yet how I4P relate to the compelling WBW idea of “legalizing peace” needs further exploration.  While we only had time to scratch the surface there, our group began a lively interactive dialogue on I4P basics, such as the lack of political will for peace and on how the mere mention of I4P in some countries puts I4P advocates at risk of harm.

We are grateful to UN Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury for his short video on the conference theme, with mention of how I4P promote the Culture of Peace; also to Congressional sponsor of H.R. 1111 Rep. Barbara Lee for her welcoming letter where she states: “Now is the time to put an end to needless wars and violence and to establish a Department of Peacebuilding in the U.S. and violence prevention infrastructures throughout the globe.”  Visit WBW website to see the Ambassador’s video and Congresswoman’s letter, plus our power point and other valuable conference details at https://worldbeyondwar.org/nowar2018 … and while there, be sure to access your copy of their scholarly publication – A GLOBAL SECURITY SYSTEM:  An Alternative to War.

In conclusion, I learned of other possible frameworks that could redesign a world beyond war which I found hopeful at this time of unprecedented global political upheaval.  They included such compelling models as: Kellogg-Briand Pact (WBW Director David Swanson), Divestment from War Profiteers (Medea Benjamin), Peace Education  Approaches (Tony Jenkins), World Citizenship & Global Rule of Law (David Gallup) to mention a few.  Participating gave the U.S. “Peace Alliance” National Department of Peacebuilding Campaign the opportunity to enlarge an important “peace education” dialogue alongside our Canadian Department of Peace brothers and sisters.  Hopefully it will continue so “Departments and I4P” may appear inside next year’s 2019-2020 edition of A Global Security System!

To continue this conversation, please write with comments or questions to Anne at annecrets@aol.com .

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, North America

USA: Planned Parenthood Strikes Back: Preparing for the Worst in the Wake of Kavanaugh’s Confirmation

. HUMAN RIGHTS .

A blog by Miranda Martin for MS Magazine

Planned Parenthood isn’t waiting to see if the worst has yet to come for Roe v. Wade in the wake of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. Instead, they’re planning to launch a multi-million dollar, nationwide campaign to ensure that abortion remains accessible—even if the landmark decision legalizing it nationwide is overturned.


Photo John Bright / Creative Commons

Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Court  tips the scales against Roe  for the first time since it was decided in 1973; he would likely cast the fifth vote necessary to overturn the decision  and give states the power, once again, to criminalize abortion providers and their patients. Kavanaugh’s record shows that he is hostile to reproductive freedoms. Should Roe be overturned, women in over 20 states across the country could lose access to safe and legal abortion overnight.

According to Planned Parenthood, overturning Roe would leave over 25 million women with access to safe, legal abortion in their own state, including over 4.3 million Latina women and almost 3.5 million Black women of reproductive age.

Planned Parenthood has been preparing for such a moment since President Trump’s election in 2016. Trump ran on a platform of outlawing abortion and talked about “punishing” women who elect to undergo the procedure on the campaign trail; his administration has consistently attacked women’s access to reproductive health care and undermined their bodily autonomy.

“We know that we’ll need an ironclad network of states and providers across the country where abortion will still be legal and accessible,” Planned Parenthood executive vice president Dawn Laguens told the New York Times,  “no matter what happens at the Supreme Court.”

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Questions related to this article:

The post-election fightback for human rights, is it gathering force in the USA?

Abortion: is it a human right?

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The “Care for All” campaign, at face value, is simple: In states where abortion access is at risk, Planned Parenthood will mobilize against legislation that further restricts or outlaws abortion. In states where abortion access will likely remain in place even with Roe, they’ll work to expand access, opening more clinics and hiring more staff in order to keep them open for longer hours in order to accommodate women crossing state lines in pursuit of care. They’ll offer women traveling long distances transportation assistance through a Regional Access Network and push to expand telemedicine abortion access, in place now in 14 states, for those who can’t make the trip. The organization’s efforts will manifest first in states where abortion policies fall short of those in place along both coasts, specifically Illinois.

“In 2018 alone, advocates introduced 869 positive measures expanding reproductive health care—the highest number of policies introduced to advance reproductive rights in a single legislative session ever,” the organization noted in a press release announcing the new multi-pronged effort. “In tandem, advocates and pro-women’s health legislators blocked or delayed 93 percent of the state-level abortion restrictions introduced in the 2018 legislative session. Now, Planned Parenthood Action Fund will kick off the 2019 legislative session by doubling down on this work.”

Abortion access remains at risk even if Roe remains in place as long as a majority of Justices sitting on the Supreme Court are opposed to reproductive freedoms. Rulings in smaller cases on abortion and contraception are now likely to result in outcomes which further inhibit access, allow for obstruction and increase the burdens imposed on women seeking care.

In order to proactively shift cultural perceptions around abortion—and thus provide a buffer against further attacks on women’s reproductive rights—the organization also plans to engage with media more effectively and more often in order to smash stigma and break the silence around what is a safe and common medical procedure with widespread public support. A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that Planned Parenthood is popular even amongst conservative voters: 57 percent  of Trump voters oppose women being restricted from accessing birth control, healthcare and cancer screenings.

In advance of their 2019 campaign kick-off, Planned Parenthood is doing all they can to mobilize pro-choice voters with a 20 million dollar  effort in coalition with other like-minded organizations. In total, they predict that they will engage 2.5 million voters  before the midterm elections on November 6.

“We know this is a winnable fight,” the organization told the New York Times  in a statement. “Each of us deserves the right to control our own bodies, including the right to decide if and when to become a parent.”

HUMAN RIGHTS, North America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

United States and Canada: International Day of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

A survey by CPNN

Here are 233 events for the International Day of Peace located in all the United Staters except Alaska and South Dakota, as well as 12 events in Canada in seven provinces. In order to save space, one event is given in detail for each state and province and internet links are provided for the others.
The events were listed in Google during the week of September 21-28 under the key words “International Day of Peace” and “Journée Internationale de la Paix” or were listed on the following websites:
– Campaign Nonviolence
– International Cities of Peace Facebook
– UN event map for the International Day of Peace.

In addition to the above events, there were several hundred singing events listed on the websites of
– One Day One Choir.
– Montessori schools singing for peace


In Bass River , the International Day of Peace was marked with a ceremony that included large Peace Dove puppets being raised into the air by children from West Colchester Consolidated School. The doves played a part in a story told during the event, called ‘Peace is a Dream Unfolding,’

CANADA

PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued a statement on the International Day of Peace. In conclusion, he said, “As we mark the International Day of Peace, and celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I encourage Canadians to reflect on how we can all stand up for human rights, and build a better country and more peaceful world.”

ALBERTA

EDMONTON: The Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education & Action has organized a program of music, reflections and short talks to celebrate the International Day of Peace. It will take place in the Homeless Memorial Park where the Community Flag Pole has been relocated.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

NANAIMO: Unity Spiritual Education Centre of Nanaimo’s minister is hoping people will pause, ponder and pray at a newly constructed multi-faith labyrinth as part of International Day of Peace celebrations. Rev. Patricia Zogar said this year it will be a two-day event, with a chance to walk the labyrinth at the centre on 2325 East Wellington Rd. on Saturday, Sept. 22. Labyrinths are found in many faith traditions, said Zogar, and it’s essentially a walking meditation and a place to become serene and reconnect.

VANCOUVER

MANITOBA

WINNEPEG PEACE DAYS: Peace Days will feature a screening of the 2016 film She Has a Name and the launch of World Vision’s Power of Her gender equality initiative. Following the film there will be a moderated expert panel with the film’s screenwriter Andrew Kooman, Diane Redsky – Executive Director of Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre Inc., Dr. Bob Chrismas – Staff Sergeant of the Winnipeg Police Service’s Community Support Division, Joy Smith – Joy Smith Foundation; and a representative of Beyond Borders/ECPAT Canada. When: September 11, 2018; 7:00-9:30 PM Where: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 300 Memorial Boulevard, Winnipeg

UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA, WINNEPEG

NOVA SCOTIA

BASS RIVER: International Day of Peace was marked in the Bass River park on September 21, with a ceremony that included large Peace Dove puppets being raised into the air by children from West Colchester Consolidated School. The doves played a part in a story told during the event, called ‘Peace is a Dream Unfolding,’ which tells story of a woman’s journey to find a mystical peace garden she remembers from her childhood. “On this International Day of Peace 2018, we remember it’s 100 years since the end of the First World War,’ said Dr. Karen Ewing, who wrote ‘Peace is a Dream Unfolding.’ “Many of us have family members who fought in this war; ‘the war to end all wars,’ yet today, 100 years later, war continues in many parts of our world.”

HALIFAX

ONTARIO

HAMILTON: Culture of Peace Hamilton invites you to join us in celebrating peace and embracing live-affirming pathways of living that help to build a local and global culture of peace. Join us for a Brown Bag Lunch in the Hamilton City Hall Peace Garden by the Peace Pole @ 1:00 It will be followed by a ceremony from 1:30 to 2:30 which includes:
– Drumming
– Welcome by Culture of Peace member Rev. Cynthia Vermillion-Foster
– Collective Reading of the UN Declaration of the Right of Peoples to Peace
– A Puppet Show directed by Melanie Skein
– Reading of 6 Pathways (by children)
– Moment of Silence
– Singing of Peace Is In Your Hands: an original song created by a Hamiltonian

TORONTO: (See CPNN article about the World BEYOND War annual global conference.)

QUEBEC

MONTREAL The International Day of Peace is an event where the citizens of Plateau Mont-Royal and the surrounding area are invited to come together in a festive and convivial setting to create links between them and their families. to express on the subject of peace. Music, hot dogs and free juice. Fri 21st September 2018. Laurel metro on the square at the exit Laurier.

SASKATHEWAN

SASKATON
Video for the International Day of Peace by the UNESCO Chair at the University of Saskathewan.

* * * * UNITED STATES * * * *

ALABAMA

TUSCALOOSA:Join University Programs for the 34th annual International Day of Peace holiday, or World Peace Day. Come to the Ferguson Student Center and take the “I am a Pathway to Peace” Pledge, painting Peace Rocks, and chalking peaceful messages and images for the Chalk4Peace activity. Register for free at upua.tix.com!

ARKANSAS

ARKANSAS PEACE WEEK: Arkansas Peace Week is a program of events planned in observance of the United Nation’s International Day of Peace in the third week of September. These activities educate and promote peacemaking in our society and raise awareness of organizations working to build a lasting peace in Arkansas. The lessons learned and relationships formed during Arkansas Peace Week create a foundation for continuing a sustainable peace in our society throughout the year. Arkansas Peace Week is conducted by a coalition of local, national and international organizations, faith groups and individuals, with a mission to promote peacemaking and justice. Numerous events are planned throughout our state, featuring education, service, dialogue and outreach activities promoting our mission. Arkansas Peace Week is planned in coordination with the nationwide Campaign Non-Violence Week of Actions.

RESERVOIR ROAD SCHOOL, LITTLE ROCK

ARIZONA

PHOENIX
Join Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest to celebrate International Peace Day at this multi-generation event and create a culture of peace in our community. Come for 30 minutes or for three hours. Families and community members will be able to engage in a variety of stations including:
– Participate in 30-minute Family Yoga sessions
– Engage in Peace Story Telling
– Assemble kindness cards for community members
– Create your own peace story
– Embellish rocks for our peace rock garden

SONORA
KINGMAN
FLAGSTAFF
PHOENIX
TUCSON
SEDONA

CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES, CA: Open house begins 11:30 at Peace Awareness Labyrinth and Gardens , “A Spiritual Oasis in the City”. 12:00 noon observation of the Worldwide Minute of Silence at the Labyrinth. 2:00 CONCERT of music by Merrill Collins, former Composer in Residence of Pathways to Peace. Merrill will perform on grand piano joined by Maksim Velichkin on cello and vocalists Elizabeth Matson and Harrison Crenshaw. Honoring the 70th Anniversary of the UDHR Merrill’s award winning composition Every Man, Woman, and Child will be presented inter-activelywith the attendees.

BUENA PARK
CASTRO VALLEY
ENCINITAS
ENCINO
EUREKA
FORT BRAGG
FREMONT
HAYWARD
LAKE CHABOT
LAZOO
MORRO BAY
NAPA
OAKLAND
OJAI
ORANGE
PACIFICA
PALM SPRINGS
REDDING
REDWOOD CITY
SAN DIEGO,
SAN RAFAEL
SANTA CRUZ
SANTA ANA
STOCKTON
THOUSAND OAKS
UKIAH
WILLITS

COLORADO

DENVER At the Centennial School for Expeditionary Learning there will be an elementary school-wide celebration all week, leading up to the International Day of Peace on Friday. Art projects, books, team-building games and activities will focus on peace.

GRAND JUNCTION

CONNECTICUT

NORWALK: The Career Club at Norwalk Community College will hold an event to address both the dangers to and the possibilities for protecting human security, education and human rights of refugees. They also will explain how refugee resettlement and “vetting” of asylum seekers actually works and has changed in the recent past.

NEW HAVEN
BRANFORD
HARTFORD

DELEWARE

WILMINGTON: Over 100 events are planned for the Campaign Nonviolence, including their 5th annual March for a Culture of Peace. Learn more at http://www.peaceweekdelaware.org. Also working with Pacem In Terris.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

WASHINGTON: Special Pop-up Museum on the history of human rights celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with artwork and exhibits demonstrating the Right to Peace. The event includes a luncheon from 12 pm and a presentation on How Human Rights Education brings about non-violent solutions in the community.

See CPNN article on CAMPAIGN NONVIOLENCE NATIONAL CONVERGENCE

FLORIDA

BOCA RATON, FL: Students in 3-5th grade created pinwheels and placed them around our school, the Coral Sunset Elementary. The entire school dressed in their native colors and countries today. We have over 64 countries represented in the Palm Beach School system. This effort was organized by Mary Cavaioli and Cynthia Gil, art teacher and guidance counselor. We plan to extend this day of peace throughout the year highlighting “peaceful” activities and love of country!!!!

PANAMA CITY
FORT MYERS
MINNEOLA
FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY, BOCA RATON
POMPANO BEACH:
OAKLAND PARK:
PEMBROKE PINES:
JUPITER:
VENICE:
TAMPA:
LAKE MARY:
ORLANDO
PENNEY FARMS
ST.AUGUSTINE

GEORGIA

WOODVILLE: Woodville Thompkins High School celebrated the International Day of Peace with a program planned by Woodville’s International Students of Excellence, a club that includes kids from a vaiety of ethnicities and cultures. It included a moment of silence and a call for togetherness at school, in the community and around the world. “We want everyone to be able to feel free as they do in school,” said Prya Patel, the President of the International Students of Excellence. “We don’t want to exclude anyone, we want to allow everyone in, allow everyone to be unique and represent their own cultures or heritage.” Students also had the opportunity to use a photo booth and share their message of Peace in their social networks using – #PeaceDay

SAVANNAH

HAWAII

HONOLULU: Wednesday, Sept 19, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm … Festival of Resistance at the University of Hawaii-Manoa Campus Center.   There will be a Campaign Nonviolence table.

HILO
KAHULUI, MAUI
HONOKA‘A

IOWA

CEDAR RAPIDS: On September 21st at 1:30 pm the Sisters of Mercy WMW, Mt. Mercy University and Regis Middle School will extend arms from one peace pole to another with moments of silence and a peace song.

DES MOINES
CEDAR RAPIDS
CORALVILLE
DUBUQUE
FAIRFIELD

IDAHO

BOISE: Peace Vigil. 9/21 11-12:30pm meet at the Borah Post Office

ILLINOIS

WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, MACOMB, IL: We are filling our campus with art on the theme of peace. The student groups will be creating chalk art on the sidewalks around Western Illinois University’s campus.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
CAMPAIGN NONVIOLENCE, CHICAGO
CRESTWOOD, IL:
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOVES PARK
CARBONDALE
ROCK ISLAND
URBANA

INDIANA

NOTRE DAME: Celebrate the International Day of Peace with the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the following events co-sponsored by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies and the Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights. Sept 20: Thania Paffenholz Lecture “Pathways to Inclusive Societies: Opportunities and Challenges for International and Local Peacemaking and Peacebuilding in a Turbulent World” and film screening of “In the Name of Peace” about John Hume’s contribution to peace in Northern Ireland; Sept 21: Panel discussion on The Status of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70

EVANSVILLE
BLOOMINGTON
FORT WAYNE
NEW CASTLE
ANDERSON
INDIANAPOLIS
GOSHEN

KANSAS

HESSTON COLLEGE, HESSTON: The Hesston College Music Department will present “Grant Us Peace,” featuring Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “Dona Nobis Pacem.” Featuring a mass choir of students, community members, and professional orchestra, the concert will take place at Hesston Mennonite Church on Saturday, September 22 at 7 pm. with a peace fair to follow. This capstone event is among four days of events happening on campus to celebrate International Peace Day. Visit hesston.edu/peaceday for a full schedule

WICHITA
CONCORDIA
PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS:

KENTUCKY

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE: Stations will be set-up focusing on the U.N Sustainability and Development Goals. Multiple NGOs, students, and experts will promote various forms of sustainability from clean water to life on earth.

NAZARETH
OWENSBORO

LOUISIANA

NEW ORLEANS: The New Orleans Job Corps hosted a parade down S. Jefferson Davis Parkway and peace festival in Comiskey Park Friday for the 2018 International Day of Peace. It’s the second day in a row that local students have rallied against violent crime in New Orleans. Friday’s event is focused on jobs. “Once a young person sees a light at the end of the tunnel, achieves a certification in medical or culinary or carpentry arts, then they know that they can have a career,” said Randy Savoie, who is the business and community liaison for New Orleans Job Corps. Their self-esteem rises.

MASSACHUSETTS

BOSTON, MA: Massachusetts Peace Action: The free celebration (our ninth annual) will be focused on the United Nations’ theme for this year – “The Right to Peace – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70”. It will be on the Boston Common near the Park Street MBTA station from 2-4 pm. Similar to the 2013 World Council of Churches General Assembly in Busan, we expect to have program elements featuring Human Rights for the Earth, its peoples, the marketplace, and the community. The program will include brief presentations by peacemakers about their work, performances of music, dance, song, and poetry, and activities for children. It will conclude with the reading of a list of recent local victims of violence. We will then walk to the nearby Garden of Peace to pray for peace among stones engraved with the names of local victims of violence.

CAMBRIDGE
SPRINGFIELD

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Question for this article

What has happened this year (2018) for the International Day of Peace?

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MARYLAND

BOONSBORO: U.N. International Day of Peace: Global Feast for Peace AT St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, September 23rd, 2018 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm. International food, entertainment and interfaith understanding. Guest speaker is Tod Rutstein facilitating a conversation on interconnectedness and reflections on oneness. Drum circle.

GAITHERSBURG
SALISBURY

MAINE

FAIRFIELD: At exactly 11 a.m. Wednesday morning, students at the Kennebec Montessori School lined up in a semi-circle holding colorfully decorated handmade pinwheels and prepared to sing the familiar words of the song “Sing Peace Around the World.” In Montessori schools around the world, the tradition of singing “Sing Peace Around the World” is used annually to mark the International Day of Peace. “Peace is a big part of the Montessori curriculum,” said Kennebec Montessori School Principal Rebecca Green. “It’s the foundation for helping children figure out who they are in the world and how to treat others with respect.” Maria Montessori, the founder of the Montessori educational philosophy, was a three-time nominee for the Noble Peace Prize who encouraged teachers to cultivate peace and courtesy in their classrooms in addition to the idea that children learn best from their environment.

BANGOR
PORTLAND

MICHIGAN

STATE CAPITOL, LANSING, MI: “Stand Up for Peace” rally with many speakers, music, information tables. Part of a month long series of events and programs we call PeaceQuest 2018

HOLLAND
EAST GRAND RAPIDS
GRAND RAPIDS
DEARBORN HEIGHTS
VETERANS FOR PEACE, TRAVERSE CITY
CAMPAGIN NONVIOLENCE, TRAVERSE CITY

MINNESOTA

NORTHFIELD: Northfield will celebrate the 16th International Day of Peace with a program from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21 in Carleton’s Great Hall, with emcee Bill McGrath. Opening remarks will be provided by City Councilor Suzie Nakasian and the Human Rights Commission, followed by Carleton student Charlie Kilman’s short film “Who Are You Now.” This year’s celebration will include a focus on indigenous people. Dorothea Hrossowyc will give a presentation about the people that lived in the area before European settlement. Larry Johnson of Veterans for Peace will speak about the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice that ended WWI. Daisy Leonard will read her award-winning peace essay, “Becoming Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable.” Clarita Kell will speak on the commitment to maintaining indigenous traditions and the creation of the Aztec Dancers Group. Carletton students of indigenous studies will also give presentations. Daisy, Coco and Sunny of DCS Academy will speak on the topic of youth as peacemakers. Music will be provided by traditional Irish performers, Bill McGrath and the Justice Choir.

CROOKSTON
DULUTH
SAINT PAUL
WEBSTER

MISSOURI

SPRINGFIELD: Peace Begins With Me: As a culminating event of two weeks of peace education Eugene Field Elementary students will participate in a Peace Walk through the neighborhood. The event will include a moment of silent reflection, singing for peace, poetry reading, cheering for peace and then the walk. At the end students will tie a blue ribbon on our fence symbolizing their wish for a more peaceful world. Students also decorated kindness rocks and will place their rock in our front garden

GRANDVIEW
KANSAS CITY
O’FALLON

MISSISSIPPI

JACKSON: Campaign Nonviolence teaching gradeschool students about nonviolence on the International Day of Peace

MONTANA

MISSOULA: I will be celebrating the International Day of Peace by joining hands across the border with our neighbors in Canada and the First Nation celebrating the goodwill between our nations. – Betsy Mulligan-Dague, Executive Director, The Jeannette Rankin Peace Center

NEBRASKA

WAYNE: In recognition of the enduring pursuit of peace and justice, Wayne State College faculty present a Celebration of International Day of Peace Concert. Dr. Kolbeck performs Eternal Garden: Four Songs for Clarinet and Piano by David Maslanka, a deeply meditative piece filled with creative expression. “This music is about the transformation of suffering,” said Maslanka. “There is not a path to world peace; peace is the path, and it begins inside each person.”

NORTH CAROLINA

WARRENTON,NC: This is a walking vigil for Peace Day. Come stay as long as you can. Music, poems, prayers, singing celebration. Free for all ages. Posters for display. Pinwheels and peace pins for all. Bring your lunch, lawn chairs and enjoy our new park. Frisby disc golf and other games. Rain or shine…

SANFORD, NC:
CHARLOTTE
COLOMBIA
RALEIGH

NORTH DAKOTA

FARGO: Campaign Nonviolence making a presentation on the meaning of Peace Day and on our Peace Pole to classrooms K – 5th grade at Nativity Catholic School in Fargo. Each group will then visit our Peace Pole, speak the words inscribed on our pole – “May peace prevail on earth”, in English, Spanish, Lakota and Arabic. Our students will give suggestions on how they can be peacemakers at school, at home, and in their activities. We will also link hands around the pole and pray for peace for the entire world, with special emphasis on the children who can’t be in school throughout the world.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

PETERBOROUGH: The Mariposa Museum and World Culture Center is thrilled to continue the community tradition of welcoming Tibetan Buddhist monks to the Monadnock Region by bringing the Sacred Arts of Tibet Tour from Gaden Shartse Monastery in South India to Peterborough September 15-22! The monks’ visit will include a lecture commemorating the International Day of Peace on Friday, September 21 at 7pm. The topic of the lecture will be Climate Change and the Six Delusions.

NEW JERSEY

LEONIA, NJ: Leonia United Methodist Church observance of UN International Day of Peace. Live jazz music, speeches, songs, prayers, candle-lighting, children’s activities, community tables

KINNELON, NJ:
HOPATCONG LAKE
WESTFIELD
LAURENCEVILLE
OAKLAND
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP

NEW MEXICO

ALBUQUERQUE: We are planning two trainings (nonviolence and anti racism) plus a human peace sign, then a party with music, root beer floats and mural making, and a brief talk about the UN declaration on human rights and honoring the treaties the US has signed. We also will be asking the city of Albuquerque to declare sept 21 international day of peace.

ALBUQUERQUE PEACE DAY
ALBUQUERQUE PEACE CHOIR
SANTA FE
PLACITAS

NEVADA

LAS VEGAS: Weekly Peace Vigil Sept 20 from 9 to 10 am at the federal building (333 S Las Vegas Blvd).

NEW YORK

TIMES SQUARE, NEW YORK CITY: SEPTEMBER 21, 2018, 12:11 PM www.peacedayparty.org, live tv broadcast worldwide, creation of the largest human peace sign on Times Square, entertainment, art, proclamations, celebrities, premiere movie on major billboard, Woodstock Forever: Peace, Love & Hope, footage from 20th Anniversary in 1989 with Richie Havens and more.

BUFFALO, NY, USA:
ROCHESTER
LYNBROOK
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY
CITY PARKS, NEW YORK CITY
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK CITY
FOLEY SQUARE, NEW YORK CITY/a>
WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK, NEW YORK CITY
EAST HAMPTON

OHIO

DAYTON: The Salem Avenue Peace Corridor and First Baptist Church Dayton are sponsoring this International Day of Peace celebration on September 27, 2018 from 4:00 – 7:00 pm. We will be walking from First Baptist Church (4:00 pm), to the Salem Garden and making stops along the way to recognize & celebrate symbols of peace along the Salem Avenue Peace Corridor (see map). We will be ending our event at the Gem City Market Block Party! You can walk, bike or drive along this path to peace!

DAYTON INTERNATIONAL CITY OF PEACE
CAMPAIGN NONVIOLENCE, DAYTON
TOLEDO
MILLER FERRY
ASHTABULA
HUBER HEIGHTS
CINCINNATI
TIFFIN

OKLAHOMA

OKLAHOMA CITY: UNA-OKC’s 2018 International Day of Peace Celebration. we at UNA-OKC, believe in the the power of food as tool of peace. Peace begins with individual action and we believe nothing starts a conversation better than a good meal. We believe in the power of food in cultivating community knowledge and power that builds foundations, friendships, collaborations, and connections.With all of this in mind, we hope you can join us for a community culture potluck.

OREGON

ASHLAND: On September 21, 2018, the International Day of Peace, the World Peace Flame was lit in the Thalden Pavilion, Sustainability Center on the Southern Oregon University (SOU) campus. A delegation from the World Peace Flame Foundation came to Ashland for the lighting ceremony, together with our State and City dignitaries. This symbol of peace, unity, freedom and celebration aims to inspire people everywhere that the individual plays a crucial role in creating peace at every level. From a few feet to less than a mile from the World Peace Flame Monument reside Walker Elementary School, Ashland Middle School, Ashland High School, and Southern Oregon University. The World Peace Flame will provide hope and inspiration to our future leaders, and light the hearts of all who visit it.

GRESHAM
PORTLAND
TUALATIN
SHERWOOD
PACIFIC UNIVERSITY
HIGHLAND
BEAVERTON
NEWBERG

PENNSYLVANIA

PHILADELPHIA Full house for our Peace Day Philly Benefit Concert with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Friends and Immigrant/Former Refugee special guests. A wonderful concert with proceeds benefiting refugee resettlement services provided by HIAS PA.

LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE, ANNVILLE
KEMBLESVILLE
PITTSBURGH
COLLEGEVILLE, PA:
PHOENIXVILLE, PA:
Williamsport, PA

RHODE ISLAND

UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND, KINGSTON URI students joined the world in the spirit of peace on Thursday as the campus celebrated the UN’s International Day of Peace. Thousands wore blue peace bands that read, “Think Peace – Live Peace,” put on peace stickers and pins, and saw the world through peace-sign sunglasses. They enjoyed hula hooping for peace, while others created life-sized peace bubbles, and students hungry for peace devoured Orange Leaf’s delicious Yogurt for peace. See our Facebook photos! The candlelight vigil included a circle of friends who honored all victims of violence by reading universal peace messages, meditating, and singing together. Afterwards, the Dance for Peace featured amazing dancers who rocked, shook and twirled for peace, involving all of us in learning how do break dancing, African dancing, Nepal dancing, and capoiera. It was an international experience of various world dances that filled our evening with fun and excitement. Thanks to all dancers who participated!

PROVIDENCE
WESTERLY MIDDLE SCHOOL, WESTERLY
WESTERLY AND PAWCATUCK

SOUTH CAROLINA

COLUMBIA: Join us for Peace Day at the Statehouse, a festival style event in celebration of the International Day of Peace featuring live music from Jahson & the Natty Vibez, the Columbia Community Drum Circle, Kevin McKinney, the Dances of Universal Peace, spoken word with Mama G, activities for all ages, and an organization fair of groups working for peace, justice and the environment. 3+ Hours of Peace, Love & Music. SATURDAY Sept 22nd 11AM-2:30PM

TENNESSEE

KNOXVILLE: At Nature’s Way Montessori School, we will dedicate another plaque for our Peace Pole. On this one, Let Peace Prevail on Earth will be written in the Cherokee Language to honor the native inhabitants of East Tennessee. We will hang banners with Let Peace Prevail on Earth in all the languages spoken in the homes of our families. We will have poems read, interpretive dance, and all 160 of us at Nature’s Way Montessori School will sing the song, Sing Peace Around the World.

WINCHESTER
MEMPHIS

TEXAS

AUSTIN: Nonviolent Austin will be tabling in front of the 3101 Guadalupe Wheatsville Food Co-op 2-6 Friday afternoon, September 21st, and at the 4001 S. Lamar Wheatsville 2-6 Saturday afternoon, September 22nd. We will have a Campaign Nonviolence banner across the front of our table and will hand out Campaign Nonviolence brochures and free “Nonviolent Futures Command” bumper stickers in four models: “Love Your Enemies and Pray for Them”; “Do As You Would Be Done To”; “Respect the Disrespected”; and “Learn From the Mahatma and Dr. King.”

TYLER
KATY
BELTON
HOUSTON
CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS HIGH SCHOOL, HOUSTON
WESLACO
EL PASO
SAN ANTONIO
SPRING

UTAH

SALT LAKE CITY: Pinwheel art display created by elementary students.

VIRGINIA

CHARLOTTESVILLE On the International Day of Peace, 9/21/18, we will gather with many others from our community to begin to address those questions in an interactive program. The title for our program is “Growing the Circles of Trust and Care”. From childhood through adulthood each of us lives within our circles of trust and care. We will explore those circles in Trust Circle discussions as we look for pathways to a nonviolent society. We ask everyone longing for peace with justice, everyone searching for a path to a nonviolent society to join us. Our program will take place at The Haven, 112 W. Market St., Charlottesville and will begin at 7:00 PM.”

ROANOKE/SALEM
WISE
ALEXANDRIA
RICE
DALE CITY
BLUEFIELD
LYNCHBURG

VERMONT

RUPERT Planning a 4 hour training in nonviolence for youth, plus eight other Vermont area events!

WINOOSKI
COLCHESTER
RUTLAND

WASHINGTON

BELLINGHAM: 9/21 at 6pm. Village Books and the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center present “Violent Pasts, Peaceful Futures,” the 15th annual International Day of Peace celebration in Bellingham.

SPOKANE
BELLEVUE
OLYMPIA

WISCONSIN

MILWAUKEE PEACE CENTER: World Peace Day at the Milwaukee Peace Center: Live-stream of World Beyond War 2018 Toronto Conference and discussion with the Greater Milwaukee Area United Nations Association on the effect of war on human rights.

MILWAUKEE 14 TODAY
MILWAUKEE END THE WARS COALITION
RIPON
STEVENS POINT
ELM GROVE
GREEN BAY
MADISON
STEVENS POINT

WEST VIRGINA

CHARLESTON: Students of the Charleston Job Corps Center and Capital High School students will be walking from Daniel Boone Park and walk to the Capital Building in celebration of Peace. Anyone in the community is welcome to attend!
UPPER NEW RIVER

WYOMING

CASPER: International Day of Peace & Autumn equinox Celebration. John May will again debut his new album All In riverside on the fall equinox with Casper Mountain on the horizon. Casper kids and young adults will share their thoughts on peace in between sets. And, some of the instructors from Yoga on The Labyrinth will lead a candle lit labyrinth walk as the sun sets on the river.

In addition to the above events, One Day One Choir lists participating choirs for the International Day of Peace in over 100 cities and towns in the United States and Canada.

And the map of Montessori schools singing for peace on the International Day of Peace includes several hundred schools in 48 states of the United States including ANCHORAGE and JUNEAU in Alaska and 6 provinces of Canada.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, North America

Jackson Browne honored in New Haven with Promoting Enduring Peace’s Gandhi Award

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Mark Zaretsky from the New Haven Register

Musician Jackson Browne  was honored Friday night for a lifetime of activism by Promoting Enduring Peace, accepting the Gandhi Award, which previously went to Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Linus Pauling and Cesar Chavez, among others.


Jackson Browne, scene from video of Gandhi Peace Award by Mark Zaretsky

Browne was the first performing artist to receive the award. Roosevelt was the first winner, back in 1960. Promoting Enduring Peace is based in New Haven.

“I’m happy to be here to accept this tremendous honor,” Browne told the crowd in the Lyman Center for the Performing Arts at Southern Connecticut State University. He added that he knew of a number of musicians he considered more deserving of the honor, but that so many of his heroes had received it in the past that he couldn’t say no.

He said that “with all in the world that needs fixing, I’ve always been drawn to those who try,” and that, as an musician who is also an activist, “my part of this has been to help bring people together. Music is good for that.”

Meanwhile, “my education has been advanced by the contact with all those committed activists, working on all those fronts,” he said.

Browne’s acceptance speech was political at times, with him saying, “the United States must rejoin the world and put the planet first.” He also suggested it’s time to move toward “enduring peace” rather than “enduring war,” saying that the U.S. hasn’t really been at peace since before World War II.

Browne was introduced by environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said Browne “walks the walk” — right down to having a windmill on his farm in California.

“He understands that the environment is intertwined with democracy,” Kennedy said.

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Question for this article:

What place does music have in the peace movement?

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Browne did not perform for this gig — although he said he was a horrible speechwriter and would have preferred to sing.

That honor went to Ben Grosscup and Luci Murphy of the People’s Music Network, described as “a group of people who follow in Jackson’s footprints” in terms of using music to promote activism.
“We are so happy to be part of this event, honoring Jackson” for the work he has done, said Grosscup, the group’s executive director.

The award, named after Indian anti-imperialist and nonviolence advocate Mohandas Gandhi, comes with a $5,000 cash prize as well as a medallion forged from metals salvaged from the control systems of U.S. nuclear missiles.

Promoting Enduring Peace President Paul Hodel said Browne employs “an essential idea of Gandhi’s actions … satyagraha,” or “holding onto peace.”

Other speakers included SCSU President Joe Bertolino, city Director of Arts, Culture & Tourism Andrew Wolf — who read a proclamation from Mayor Toni Harp declaring it “Jackson Browne Day” in New Haven — Frida Berrigan, Chris George of Iris, PEP Administrator Stanley Heller and PEP’s James C. Van Pelt.

“Like so many of you — and so many people around the world — we were raised on the words of Jackson Browne,” said Wolf.

In its news release announcing Browne’s choice for the award, Promoting Enduring Peace cited Browne’s songs that have “directly challenged imperialist foreign policy, environmental short-sightedness and corporate greed.”

Browne, in response to the Three Mile Island nuclear plant malfunction in 1979, co-founded Musicians United for Safe Energy, MUSE. The group had a series of benefit concerts in New York City that year and a movie of those shows, “No Nukes,” followed.

In the late 1970s, Browne also joined the protests and occupation at the Seabrook nuclear plant site in New Hampshire. Browne also was active in the Central America solidarity movement, co-organizing shows in Nicaragua, Cuba and elsewhere.

He is a member of the group Ocean Elders who more recently has focused on the environmental crisis in the seas, where plastics threaten wildlife.

Browne last December released the song “The Dreamer” about the new deportation threat under the Trump administration for those who had been protected temporarily under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

“The measure of a good song is that it doesn’t need explaining,” Browne said.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, North America