Tag Archives: North America

USA: ‘Sanctuary campus’ protests demand universities protect immigrants

…. HUMAN RIGHTS ….

An article by Sarah Aziza for Waging Nonviolence

In wake of the Trump’s election and the president-elect’s renewed vows to deport 2 to 3 million immigrants, organizers across the country are mobilizing to create “sanctuary spaces” for those threatened by the proposed crackdowns. On Wednesday [November 16], thousands of students staged walk-outs on over 80 campuses nationwide, signalling their commitment to maintain “sanctuary campuses” to protect immigrant students. Demonstrators also presented their school administrations with specific demands, including commitments to refuse campus access to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, continued support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, and the protection of students regardless of documentation status.

sanctuary-campuses
(Facebook/Mazazikh)
(Click on photo to enlarge)

Cosecha organizer Carlos Saavedra was encouraged by the turnout on Wednesday, and says the coming weeks will be crucial for the movement. “The election of Trump has a lot of people angry and fearful, and many — both immigrant and non-immigrant — want to get involved,” he said. “The question for us now is how to channel that energy into an organization that doesn’t back down.”

Saavedra says that while many communities may be affected by the election of Donald Trump, many immigrants, particularly those in the undocumented community, feel “they may be first on the chopping block.” Saavedra worries about his own brother, a DACA “Dreamer,” who may be “one of the first to go” if Trump makes good on his promise to repeal the DACA program.

Cosecha’s long-term goal, says Saavedra, is to change the national narrative surrounding the immigrant community by combating xenophobia and promoting “permanent protection, dignity and respect” for all. The movement is structured horizontally as a network of “activist circles” that each consist of anywhere between 3 and 150 people across the country. Cosecha offers training and action plans for groups, schools and congregations wishing to join their movement, and encourages diversity and daring. “Our movement needs musicians, artists, dancers, creatives, mothers, daughters, workers, street-intellectuals, poets, academics, students,” reads their website. “We encourage risk-taking.”

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Questions related to this article:

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

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Cosecha has already overseen numerous direct actions to both combat anti-immigrant policies and to elevate the visibility of immigrants as a part of the American social fabric. Under the slogan #HechoPorInmigrantes, or “#BuiltByUs,” Cosecha launched a campaign to highlight the role of immigrant labor in the United States.

“We are the pillars of the economy,” Thaís Marques said in a statement released by the movement. “As immigrants, we feel a burning indignation when we listen to politicians, the media and Trump supporters give reasons why we should be deported; why our families should be separated; why our contributions to this country hold no value.”

Cosecha has taken particular aim against Donald Trump’s use of undocumented workers, including his employment of 200 unauthorized workers in the construction of Trump Tower for a wage of $5 a day.

In August, Cosecha members staged a direct action at Trump Tower in Manhattan in August by barricading themselves to the front door in nonviolent protest of Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. The action resulted in several arrests, but the group was back a week later with another act of creative resistance, projecting images of undocumented workers on the gleaming walls of a building directly across the street. In the short film they produced of the action, the workers held signs reading “Sin manos, no hay obra,” or “Without hands, there is no work.”

More recently, Cosecha has worked to raise awareness about the “Buffalo 25,” a group of undocumented workers who — earlier this month — were abruptly rounded up and detained during a restaurant raid in Buffalo, New York. In early November, Members of Cosecha occupied Hillary Clinton’s campaign office in Pittsburgh to draw attention to the 25 detainees, calling on the then-presidential nominee to commit to protecting the rights of the detainees and their families.

Today, Cosecha is working to gather 100,000 signatures for its petition for a targeted boycott. Organizers hope that leveraging consumer power on a mass scale will “break the anti-immigrant consensus that has solidified after Trump’s victory.” Organizer Vera Parra told Hyperallergic “we trust that when the immigrant community uses its economic and labor power to show the broader public what this country would really look like without immigrants, legislation will follow.” Saavedra agreed, saying that while his community is shaken, “there’s also a real sense of resiliency. We’ve been through pain before, and if we can stay serious and organized, we will figure this out.” If done right, Saavedra said, “this could be an opportunity to redefine the country.

HUMAN RIGHTS

The defeat of Hillary Clinton: did it enable us to avoid a Third World War?

.DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

A CPNN review

The election of Trump in the United States is considered as a disaster by those concerned with human rights, and those concerned about the rise of fascism throughout the world, as detailed in other articles. However, for some observers, normally respected for their historical wisdom, it could have been even worse for the world if Clinton had been elected. Had she been elected we risked further confrontation with Russia and perhaps a nuclear war that would destroy the earth.

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For example, this is the perspective of Johan Galtung, the peace researcher who, among other things, predicted the crash of the Soviet empire, and the impending crash of the American empire: “Moreover, any demonstrator who voted for Clinton voted for war; preferring a possible nuclear war with Russia to controversial Trump. Do people with that political profile merit being taken seriously?”

In the United States, the concerns were clearly expressed by the Green Party presidentail candidate Jill Stein, but she was frozen out of the media coverage of the elections:

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Question for this article:

How close have we come to destroying the planet in a nuclear war?

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“It is now Hillary Clinton that wants to start an air war with Russia over Syria by calling for a no fly zone. We have 2000 nuclear missiles on hairtrigger alert. They are saying we are closer to a nuclear war than we have ever been. Under Hillary Clinton, we could slide into nuclear war very quickly from her declared policy in Syria. I sure won’t sleep well at night if Donald Trump is elected, but I sure won’t sleep well at night if Hillary Clinton elected. We have another choice other than these two candidates who are both promoting lethal policies. On the issue of war and nuclear weapons, it is actually Hillary’s policies which are much scarier than Donald Trump who does not want to go to war with Russia.”

As Secretary of State in the first term of Obama, Hillary Clinton was personally responsible for the unprovoked attack and overthrow of the legitimate government of Libya in 2011, and the covert support for forces to overthrow the legitimate government of Syria. And perhaps most dangerous of all, it was the team that she left at the Department of State and the CIA that was ultimately responsible in 2014 for the support for a right-wing regime change in the Ukraine and the subsequent civil war with the pro-Russian region in eastern Ukraine, a direct provocation of Russia.

As described in a pre-election opinion piece in Truth Out: “During Clinton’s service as secretary of state, she promoted regime change in Syria, Libya and Honduras with disastrous results, and presided over the resurgence of the Cold War with Russia. A return to Bill Clinton’s warmongering foreign policies through a Hillary Clinton presidency will likely result in at the very least, increased tensions with Russia, and at the worst, the next World War.”

A long and detailed history of Hillary Clinton’s militaristic approach has been compiled by Stephen Zunes in The Cairo Review of Global Affairs.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

USA: To Counter Trump, Women Are Mobilizing for Massive March on Washington

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Common Dreams (reprinted according to the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License)

In response to the imminent Donald Trump presidency, women’s rights advocates nationwide are mobilizing. Men and women from around the country will descend on Washington, D.C., on January 21, 2017 for a “Women’s March on Washington” that organizers hope will see millions in the street, a day after President-elect Trump’s inauguration.

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(Photo: Women’s March on Washington/Facebook)
(Click on photo to enlarge)

The demonstrators repudiate the sexist, racist, and Islamophobic remarks that were a touchstone of Trump’s presidential campaign.

Various Facebook pages about the march—organizers in each state are creating their own delegation—have all gone viral, a testament to the powerful opposition to a Trump presidency and what that will mean for women, among other marginalized groups. So far, over 83,000 people have signed up to take part.

“We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families—recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country,” the organizers write.

They continue:

The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us—women, immigrants of all statuses, those with diverse religious faiths particularly Muslim, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, the economically impoverished and survivors of sexual assault. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.

In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.

“The Jan. 21 protest takes its name from the 1963 March on Washington, a historic civil rights rally on the [National] Mall where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech,” reports the Washington Post. “The rally will also pay tribute to the 1997 Million Woman March in Philadelphia, in which hundreds of thousands of African American women are reported to have participated.”

Questions for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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

[Editor’s note: Here is the official statement from the facebook page of the march:

On January 21, 2017 we will unite in Washington, DC for the Women’s March on Washington. We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families — recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.

The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us–women, immigrants of all statuses, those with diverse religious faiths particularly Muslim, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, the economically impoverished and survivors of sexual assault. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.

In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.

We support the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities. We call on all defenders of human rights to join us. This march is the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all. HEAR OUR VOICE.

And here are their Guiding Principles:

The Women’s March on Washington is guided by basic principles of human rights with a value on human dignity. We are committed to practicing the following:

➢ Women’s rights are human rights, regardless of a woman’s race, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, sexual identity, gender expression, economic status, age or disability.

➢ We practice empathy with the intent to learn about the intersecting identities of each other. We will suspend our first judgement and do our best to lead without ego.

We follow the principles of Kingian nonviolence, which are defined as follows:

Principle 1:

Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is a positive force confronting the forces of injustice and utilizes the righteous indignation and spiritual, emotional, and intellectual capabilities of people as the vital force for change and reconciliation.

Principle 2:

The Beloved Community is the framework for the future. The nonviolent concept is an overall effort to achieve a reconciled world by raising the level of relationships among people to a height where justice prevails and persons attain their full human potential.

Principle 3:

Attack forces of evil, not persons doing evil. The nonviolent approach helps one analyze the fundamental conditions, policies and practices of the conflict rather than reacting to one’s opponents or their personalities.

Principle 4:

Accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve our goal. Self-chosen suffering is redemptive and helps the movement grow in a spiritual as well as a humanitarian dimension. The moral authority of voluntary suffering for a goal communicates the concern to one’s own friends and community as well as to the opponent.

Principle 5:

Avoid internal violence of the spirit as well as external physical violence. The nonviolent attitude permeates all aspects of the campaign. It provides a mirror type reflection of the reality of the condition to one’s opponent and the community at large. Specific activities must be designed to maintain a high level of spirit and morale during a nonviolent campaign.

Principle 6:

The Universe is on the side of justice. Truth is universal and human society and each human being is oriented to the just sense of order of the universe. The fundamental values in all of the world’s great religions include the concept that the moral arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice. For the nonviolent practitioner, nonviolence introduces a new moral context in which nonviolence is both the means and the ends.

North America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Let’s mark Canada’s 150th birthday by establishing a Department of Peace

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article by the Canadian Peace Initiative from Common Ground

Canada has a proud history of peacekeeping. Now, more than ever, we need Canada to take leadership and open the road to peace for the rest of the world. The call is out to establish a Department of Peace on our 150th birthday. We have the opportunity to bring a beacon of light to the fragile state of our planet, racked by war, devastation and fear.

department

This is not a far-fetched idea, but something tangible that the Canadian Peace Initiative has worked on for years. Right now, a unique opportunity is open: You can directly ask Canada to increase its capabilities in peace leadership.

Until November 25, 2016, the House of Commons is hosting the CPI’s e-petition, calling for a federal department of peace. This non-partisan petition is sponsored by MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj. It’s time for Canada to build on our international legacy of making the world less violent and more peaceful. Please support this Parliamentary Petition to create a Ministry of Peace in Canada. To sign the petition, go to http://canadianpeaceinitiative.ca/get-involved/sign-the-petition/

The Canadian Peace Initiative is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization with an aim to increase the capacity for peace-building within the Canadian federal government. Similar departments already exist in three other countries.

Canada has a greater role to play in reducing the mass suffering and death caused by war, terrorism and violence, whether domestically or around the world. Join us in demanding that our government establish a Department of Peace.

There is currently no strategic focus for peace in government, and there has rarely been a greater urgency or a better window of opportunity to consider the creation of a Department of Peace in our country. This is one of the principle aims of the Canadian Peace Initiative. We see that Canada has an important role to play in the prevention of violence and the resolution of conflicts at home and abroad.

The Canadian Peace Initiative is committed to the establishment of a Department of Peace within the Government of Canada. The Department of Peace would work towards building a new architecture of peace by establishing a culture of peace and assertive non-violence in Canada and the world. We are part of a growing international movement.

The mandate of the Minister of Peace would be to reinvigorate Canada’s role as a peacekeeper and peacebuilder as follows:

1. Develop early detection and rapid response processes to deal with emerging conflicts and establish systemic responses to post-conflict demobilization, reconciliation and reconstruction.

2. Lead internationally to abolish nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, to reduce conventional weapon arsenals and to ban the weaponization of space.

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Question related to this article:

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

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3. Implement the UN Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace (1999) to safeguard human rights and enhance the security of persons and their communities.

4. Implement UN Resolution 1325 on the key role played by women in the wide spectrum of peace-building work.

5. Establish a Civilian Peace Service that, with other training organizations, will recruit, train and accredit peace professionals and volunteers to work at home and abroad, as an alternative to armed intervention.

6. Address issues of violence in Canada by promoting non-violent approaches that encourage community involvement and responsibility, such as Restorative Justice, Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR).

7. Support the development of peace education at all levels, including post-secondary peace and conflict studies.

8. Promote the transition from a war-based to a peace-based economy.

9. Establish processes of reconciliation with Canada’s indigenous peoples.
With a growing list of supporters, individuals and groups, our supporters now represent over two million Canadians.

“At the macro level, when the Prime Minister needs advice when making policy or program choices about peace, there is a big vacuum. There is no strategic focus for peace in government.” – Bill Bhaneja, former Senior Policy Advisor, Foreign Affairs & International Trade

“The Canadian Department of Peace Initiative is the right action at the right time… as more and more citizens and politicians recognize and act upon the human right to peace.” – The Honourable Doug Roche, former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament

“A ministry of peace could be a place where peace-building activities could be consolidated and [where we could] develop techniques for reconciliation.” – The Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Canada

“Years hence, when every country has a Ministry of Peace, people will look back and ask, ‘What took us so long?’ After all, we have a ministry for almost everything else: health, education and so on. How odd that, of all things, we have no ministries of peace.” – Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, spiritual leader, Shambhala International

“The idea of establishing a department of peace is beyond overdue. We must strive to become a beacon of hope. We must usher in a new era of conflict resolution. We know how to live harmoniously in our great country. We now need to share this knowledge with the world.” – Senator Mobina Jaffer

“The creation of a Ministry for Peace… is not the final achievement, merely the making of a road to achieve a sustainable order that would allow resolution of human conflicts without violence.” – Dr. Oscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Laureate

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, North America

USA: On Strip Searches and Press Freedom in North Dakota

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article by Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan in Democracy NOW! (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License)

Monday was a cold, windy, autumnal day in North Dakota. We arrived outside the Morton County Courthouse in Mandan to produce a live broadcast of the “Democracy Now!” news hour. Originally, the location was dictated by the schedule imposed upon us by the local authorities; one of us (Amy) had been charged with criminal trespass for Democracy Now!’s reporting on the Dakota Access Pipeline company’s violent attack on Native Americans who were attempting to block the destruction of sacred sites, including ancestral burial grounds, just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

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Pipeline guards unleashed pepper spray and dogs on the land and water defenders. Democracy Now! video showed one of the attack dogs with blood dripping from its nose and mouth. The video went viral, attracting more than 14 million views on Facebook alone. Five days later, North Dakota issued the arrest warrant.

When responding to an arrest warrant, one must surrender to the jail by about 8 a.m. if one hopes to see a judge that day and avoid a night in jail. So we planned to broadcast live from 7-8 a.m., then head to the jail promptly at 8 a.m. to get processed through the jail and fight the trespass charge in court.

To our surprise, as we landed in Bismarck on Friday, we learned that the prosecutor, Ladd Erickson, had dropped the trespass charge, but filed a new one: “riot.” We were stunned. In an email to both the prosecutor and our defense attorney, Tom Dickson, Judge John Grinsteiner wrote, “The new complaints, affidavits, and summons are quite lengthy and I will review those for probable cause on Monday when I get back into the office.” We were told by several lawyers familiar with North Dakota criminal law that judges almost never reject a prosecutor’s complaint. The arraignment was set for 1:30 p.m. local time, Monday.

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Question(s) related to this article:

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

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We spent the weekend reporting on the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, with the threat of the riot charge never far from our minds. The 1,100-mile-long, $3.8 billion pipeline is designed to carry almost 500,000 barrels of crude oil from the fracking oil fields of North Dakota to Illinois, then onward to the Gulf of Mexico. That is why thousands of people have been at the resistance camps where the Dakota Access Pipeline is slated to cross under the Missouri River. If the pipeline leaks there, the fresh-water supply for millions of people downstream will be polluted.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier runs the jail in Mandan and is responsible for how people are processed there. As the protests have mounted during the past six months, Kirchmeier and the local prosecutors have been leveling more and more serious charges against the land and water protectors, with an increasing number of felony charges. More than 140 people have been arrested so far. Those we spoke to told us a shocking detail: When getting booked at the jail, they were all strip searched, forced to “squat and cough” to demonstrate they had nothing hidden in their rectums, then were put in orange jumpsuits. The treatment was the same for Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Dave Archambault, to a pediatrician from the reservation, Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle, to actress Shailene Woodley, star of the films “Divergent” and “Snowden,” among others.

I asked Chairman Archambault if strip searching was common for low-level misdemeanors. “I wouldn’t know, because that was the first time I ever got arrested,” he replied. Dr. Jumping Eagle remarked, “It made me think about my ancestors, and what they had gone through.” Shailene Woodley told us, “Never did it cross my mind that while trying to protect clean water, trying to ensure a future where our children have access to an element essential for human survival, would I be strip searched. I was just shocked.”

As we prepared to enter the courthouse for the 1:30 p.m. arraignment on Monday, 200 people rallied in support of a free press, demanding the charges be dropped. A row of close to 60 riot police were lined up in a needless display of force in front of a peaceful gathering, threatening to arrest anyone who stepped off the curb. Then word came from our lawyer: The judge had refused to sign off on the riot charge. The case was dismissed, and we marked an important victory for a free press.

The free press should now focus a fierce spotlight on the standoff at Standing Rock—a critical front in the global struggle to combat global warming and fight for climate justice. Indigenous people and their non-native allies are confronting corporate power, backed up by the state with an increasingly militarized police force. Attempts to criminalize nonviolent land and water defenders, humiliate them and arrest journalists should not pave the way for this pipeline.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, North America

Urban leadership in the US for renewable energy

.. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ..

Excerpts from the newsletter and website of Renewable Cities

Following on the heels of the City of Boulder’s September announcement that the community will move to 100% renewable electricity by 2030, Utah’s Park City has just committed to to the same target by 2032.

renewable

From Colorado to Utah to California, from mountain cities to coastal metropolises, the diversity of local governments in pursuit of wind, water, waste, and solar power demonstrates the breadth of the movement for 100% RE [renewable energy] in cities.

That’s not all—with the Los Angeles’ City Council directing staff to develop a plan for 100% renewable energy, the editorial board of North America’s most influential newspaper, The New York Times, has taken notice. Citing climate impacts and the power of cities to move the needle on energy production and consumption, the editorial board says  about LA: “The next step will be to develop a realistic but ambitious timeline for the city to end its dependence on fossil fuels.”

In July of 2016, Renewables Cities together with the Sierra Club, ICLEI USA, and the City of San Francisco Department of the Environment, brought together a group of 20 local governments from around the USA and Canada to learn and share ideas on how to transition to 100% renewable energy.

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Question for this article:

Are we making progress in renewable energy?

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Leading and learning cities—from Denver to Chicago, from Vancouver to Rochester—arrived in San Francisco for the three-day dialogue to hear about a range of new research and tools and to work collaboratively on policy solutions through a facilitated dialogue process. Participants included mayors, councillors and supervisors, energy managers, engineers, planners, sustainability directors, and economic development officers.

Along with these local government leaders, we brought together companies that are implementing 100% renewable energy, including Apple, and that are helping municipalities reach their 100% RE goals, including Google’s Project Sunroof. Groups such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance also participated and showcased their tools and best practices.

We’re proud to release the Outcomes Report from the North American Dialogue on 100% Renewable Energy in Cities and would like to thank the California Clean Energy Fund and Sunpower for supporting this dialogue.

Download the Outcomes Report in web or print versions (PDF). For more information, including resources, presentations, photos, and blog posts, see the dialogue website.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article)

North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Quebec: International Summit of Cooperatives: Discussing the defining role cooperatives and mutuals play in sustainable economic development

.. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ..

Press release from the International Summit of Cooperatives

From October 11 to 13, 2016, top experts and thousands of executives, decision-makers, managers and leaders from the cooperative community and other sectors will be converging on the Quebec City Convention Centre, in Canada, for the third edition of the International Summit of Cooperatives, an initiative of the Desjardins Group and the International Co-operative Alliance.

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This year, the Summit is highlighting “cooperatives’ power to act,” a key instrument for sustainable development. Recognized for its contribution to the betterment of communities, the cooperative model contributes just as much to global prosperity; the 2.6 million cooperatives and mutuals with 1 billion members worldwide generate US$3 trillion annually and some 250 million direct and indirect jobs. The world’s 300 largest cooperatives alone produce combined turnover equal to Canada’s GDP. The vital forces of the cooperative community from 103 countries will therefore create fertile ground for discussions on sustainable growth.

210 speakers, including the top five distinguished economic thinkers

While growth is marked by profound changes, five leading experts will share their insights on the new global socioeconomic and geopolitical realities. Joseph Stiglitz, professor at Columbia University in the City of New York and winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Jeremy Rifkin, American prospective essayist, Robert Reich, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and prominent opinion leader, Mark Kramer, founder and managing director of the FSG consulting firm in Boston, and Navi Radjou, eminent innovation and leadership advisor based in California, will discuss the major issues of the 21st century and the business models most conducive to global prosperity. More than 200 internationally renowned speakers will address the specific challenges faced by cooperatives and mutuals, and will propose concrete solutions to strengthen their role as the vector for social and economic change.

Four main themes, hundreds of topics

Summit communications will focus on four main themes, which will guide the various forums, conferences, round tables, workshops and sectoral meetings.

Acknowledging global socioeconomic and geopolitical trends and challenges will take stock of the global situation by tackling topics, such as growing inequalities, weakening real economies, the employment crisis, innovation and the emergence of the collaborative economy.

Increasing the capacity to act will discuss ways of mastering new business realities, such as the innovation culture, work in the digital era, the use of Big Data, access to capital, talent management and commitment to the community.

Expanding economic power will enable cooperative enterprises to come together and discuss business opportunities and challenges specific to their industry.

Cooperatives in action will be an opportunity to take part in the largest brainstorming session on the Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN. Various workshops will give participants a chance to propose ideas to address the challenges associated with food security, employment crisis, access to health care and social services, poverty and financial inclusion, climate change and sustainable development.

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Click here for a French version of this article or here for a Spanish version.

Question for this article:

What is the relation between the movement of coooperatives and the movement for a culture of peace?

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64 inspiring scientific projects

On October 10 and 11, members of the scientific community from diverse backgrounds will be presenting their findings and thoughts on the power of action and the impacts of cooperatives and mutuals. These 64 research projects will be discussed by professionals from the cooperative community. This formula, linking research and practice, will provide for a dynamic and practical delivery of the authors’ work.

14 insightful studies

The Summit also offers an exceptional opportunity for participants to access exclusive information targeted specifically at cooperatives and mutuals. The results of the most recent studies on the situation of cooperatives around the world and on the most effective practices will be presented during sectoral meetings and conferences by leading experts.

More than 50 specialized activities

Alongside regular programming, the Rendez-vous give members of cooperatives, mutuals, cooperative associations and local organizations an opportunity to attend working, information or training sessions, typically by invitation. In addition to these meetings, there are also three pre-Summit activities that bring together select organizations for discussions of hot topics, namely improved efficiency and visibility of cooperatives, international development, and reconstruction after a natural disaster. Some of the 30 or so events will be open to all Summit participants.

A program for young leaders aged 20 to 35

To keep the power of cooperatives going strong, the Summit also focusses on succession. As part of the Young Leaders Program, young cooperators from around the world aged 20 to 35 will have an opportunity to meet with top executives from the cooperative community and representatives of international organizations, such as the UN and WHO, in order to learn about best practices that guide cooperatives and mutuals. These meetings, combined with the many conferences and discussions, will familiarize them with the essential role that cooperatives and mutuals play in implementing sustainable economic development strategies.

For further information on Summit activities and to register, visit: www.intlsummit.coop.

About the International Summit of Cooperatives

The International Summit of Cooperatives is the world’s leading event for business development in the cooperative and mutual community. It offers managers, decision-makers and leaders of cooperative and mutual enterprises of all size and in all sectors, as well as anyone in the world of business, a unique venue for reflection, discussion, cooperation and training on major trends, as well as on current and future economic and financial issues. By demonstrating that the cooperative business model is one answer to the major socioeconomic issues of our times, the Summit aims to promote and foster the development of cooperative enterprises in all countries. The event attracts more than 2,500 participants from 103 countries.

Marie-Josée Gauvin, International Summit of Cooperatives
+ 1 514-845-8222, ext. 222 – media@intlsummit.coop

Jan Schiettecatte, International Co-operative Alliance
+ 32 2 743 10 30 Mobile: + 32 478 84 51 30 – schiettecatte@ica.coop

(Thank you to the Good News Agency for sending us this article.)

North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Canada: Hamilton celebrates the 24th annual Gandhi Peace Festival

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

By Dr. Khursheed Ahmed, Editor, Living Gandhi Today

It rained all night and everyone was anxious that Gandhi Peace Festival would be rained out. But, the gods of rain were kind and while it was cloudy all day, the rain held off for Mahatma Gandhi’s 147th birthday in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. This was the 24th year that over 250 people gathered at Hamilton City Hall despite cool autumn weather to celebrate this popular peace event. The theme this year was “Refugees and Sarvodaya – Opening Our Hearts and Homes”.

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Everyone gathered around Gandhi’s statue to garland and reflect
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Gandhi Peace Festival is jointly sponsored by India-Canada Society of Hamilton and McMaster University Faculty of Humanities and Centre for Peace Studies.

This year’s theme reflected the growing refugee crisis in many parts of the world and the high toll it has taken on millions of people. Dr. Chandrima Chakraborty, an Associate Professor in Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University was the Master of Ceremonies. She warmly welcomed the audience and thanked the Gandhi Peace Festival Organizing Committee for their hard work, and also thanked the many volunteers, donors and supporters for making this event possible.

Joanna Frketich of the local newspaper, The Hamilton Spectator covered
the event with a very succinct article published on Monday, October 3rd, which nicely summed up the event. She wrote:

‘Canada can do better’ for refugees says peace festival speaker

The federal government was urged at Hamilton’s Gandhi Peace Festival to make a number of key improvements to how it deals with refugees. Better mental health support for traumatized refugees and funds to fight racism are badly needed, said Nora Melara-Lopez, social worker and co-ordinator of the emergency support committee for refugees at the North Hamilton Community Health Centre. Her keynote address Saturday to about 250 attending the 24th annual festival at City Hall urged the government to do more to help refugees work in their field after they arrive. She said increased funding for loans is needed while unfair charges need to be removed. She said delays in family reunification have to be reduced and backlogs cleared for those facing long waits for decisions both here and abroad. “I think Canada can do better,” she said. It’s significant at a time when more than 31,000 Syrian refuges have arrived in Canada, including more than 1,000 in Hamilton.

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Question for this article:


What is the message to us today from Mahatma Gandhi?

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Mayor Fred Eisenberger said bringing Syrian refugees to Canada “is the right thing to do.” He called the ongoing refugee crisis “a tragedy for our humankind.” He talked about the importance of peace and generosity during his address “notwithstanding things happening across the border.” He referenced the American presidential election as bringing out a lot of “racism, hatred and misogyny.” “In Canada we represent something different,” he said.

The youth community service award was given at the festival to Rahma Ahmed Abdi, who was born in Ethiopia but grew up in a refugee camp in Eretria. She came to Hamilton in 2009 at the age of 12. She now supports more than 20 students a week in the Empowerment Squared Homework Circle Program and is credited with more than tripling its enrolment. “I want to show that peace can come out of someone who has experienced extreme violence as a child,” she said.

The adult community service award went to Leo Johnson who was born in Liberia and spent his teen years and early adulthood in refugee camps before coming to Canada in 2006. He has since founded a successful not-for-profit organization called Empowerment Squared that helps refugees, immigrants and underprivileged communities. He has twice represented Hamilton at the Canadian Council for Refugees’ International Conference.

In addition to the speeches and awards, the Festival featured music, poetry and dances to warm up the spirits. The Colombian Refugee Association dazzled the audience with 20 dancers in traditional colourful costumes with lively music. This was followed by the popular Hamilton musician Kojo “Easy” Damptey, an Afro-Soul music producer, song writer, composer and poet, born and raised in Accra, Ghana. Three animated Hamilton Youth Poets also entertained the audience with their poetry. The last presentation after the Peace March was a beautiful performance of an Indian classical dance by Lamia Syed, who is well-known in Hamilton and has performed in previous festivals.

A number of groups providing services to refugees in Hamilton set up information tables. Darshana Limbachia, an avid Gandhi admirer, brought her impressive collection of books and photographs on Gandhi to display.

The cultural program was followed by people gathering around and garlanding the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on City Hall grounds. Leo Johnson, this year’s Community Service Award winner recounted the plight of refugees and the struggles they must go through because the international community tries to bring “peace” by bombing their cities and homes. He said “nobody would want to leave their homes if there was true peace”.

The peace march through downtown streets warmed the bodies and souls. There were many students and families that joined the traditional route, singing songs and chanting peace slogans. The walk also built up an appetite for a hot vegetarian lunch that awaited them, catered by India Village Restaurant and paid by donations from several long-time Gandhi Festival supporters.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, North America

Ashland, Oregon (USA): November’s elections for peace?

. .DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION. .

An article by Jeff Golden in Ashland Daily Tidings

As you might have heard, there’s an election campaign underway right now. Tens of thousands of them, actually, many for offices that might impact our daily lives over the next few years as much or more than President Clinton or President Trump will. This is the first full election since the launch of the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission about a year ago, and it has some of us working with ACPC curious: What would an election that embodies a culture of peace look like?

Ashland

It’s a tough puzzle, because elections are anything but win-win activities. Their defining purpose is to yield a winning and, generally, one or more losing candidates — not exactly an ideal set-up for creative solutions that meet some of everyone’s needs, which is part of what a culture of peace is all about.

It’s not hard to imagine a campaign more thoughtful, respectful and tolerant than what we’re used to seeing; this year it’s really not hard. But reworking a process that’s driven by an imperative to beat the other guy into a ritual of peace — that’s a tough stretch.

Let’s take a small step. We won’t try to transform the mood and tone of this year’s presidential election, careening along as it is with a kind of darkly manic energy. What makes more sense is to start at home.

This November’s ballot will include an Ashland mayor’s race with four candidates and a total of seven candidates for three city council seats. The ACPC has invited all of them to a candidates forum from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, in Wesley Hall at First United Methodist Church, 175 N. Main Street.

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Questions for this article:

How can culture of peace be developed at the municipal level?

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Like other forums, this forum is intended to help you get to know the candidates before you mark your ballot. Unlike other forums, this one will consciously explore how the competitive dynamic of political campaigns can fit within a culture of peace, the culture into which we eventually want to fit all civic aspects of our community.

We’re aiming to make this forum one of the most encouraging and upbeat civic events Ashland’s ever had, and when you’re creating an energetically different model, it’s hard to know exactly how to pull that off. It calls for the creativity of more than just a few organizers. It calls to all of us with an affectionate concern for our city, an interest in elections, and a deep, if not wholly clear, knowing that politics can line up with our highest values much more closely than what we’re witnessing.

So we want your help. We plan to ask the candidates the very best questions you’re willing to send us. “Best,” for our purposes, are questions that (1) generate respect among opponents and a genuine curiosity about what those with different views are thinking, and (2) shed light on what candidates would work on as mayor or councilors to advance a culture of peace in Ashland.

Will you give all this a few minutes’ thought and see what comes up? What would you ask the people who want to govern Ashland in order to discover how committed they are to a culture of peace in our community and to learn what they see themselves doing with their authority if they win?

We’d like you to send one or more questions to ashlandcpc@gmail.com by Wednesday, Sept. 28. Please include your name and indicate whether we can mention your name if we use your question(s).

Whether or not you contribute questions, we’d like you to join us from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, in Wesley Hall at First United Methodist Church, to engage with the mayoral and council candidates on their visions for our community and how a culture of peace might fit into them. When it comes to changing the tone and quality of our political life, we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, North America

Vancouver, Canada: Michael Ableman’s Street Farm celebrates the transformation of asphalt into market gardens.

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A book review from BC Book Look (abbreviated)

The Sole Food Street Farms initiative in Vancouver has been described by its innovators as North America’s largest urban farm project, boasting an annual yield of 50,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables from five paved sites, 4.5 acres in total, employing 75 people from 2009.

vegetables

It all happens amid the asphalt and squalor of the Lower Track of Canada’s most expensive city (the urban area near Main and Hastings is not called the Downtown Eastside anymore).

Dr. Gabor Maté calls it “a great antidote to pessimism.”

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson says, “It’s an ingenious use of space that has been vacant or otherwise discarded.”

During the program’s seventh growing season, co-founder and director Michael Ableman has published Street Farm: Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the Urban Frontier (Chelsea Green Publishing $33.20) to celebrate an initiative that he says operates on a scale unprecedented in North America.

A book launch with high profile chefs at Main & Terminal will be held on October 6, emceed by Fred Lee. Entry is $175 per person.

According to publicity materials, Sole Food pays $300,000 in annual wages to employees including 25 individuals dealing with drug addiction and mental illness.

“If you stretch your concept of what a family is, move beyond the stereotype of Mom, Dad and the kids,” said Ableman, “and you could say that the Sole Food farms and the community of farmers and eaters that rely on us are just that—a family. And for many of our staff, this family may be the only one they have ever had.”

All crops are grown in soilfilled growing boxes. It is claimed the overall yield for this growing system is 15 to 25 times higher than conventional “open field” growing systems. . .

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Question for this article:
North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT