Editor's Blog

September 2009

Dear Peacework Readers,

With sadness, we write to inform you that Peacework Magazine will end publication with its September 2009 issue. As you know, we have tried various measures to keep the magazine going, but in today’s economy our beloved print publication is simply not sustainable.

Peacework has evolved continuously over the 37 years since its beginnings in the anti-draft and war tax resistance movements. Pat Farren, its first editor, used to call Peacework a trade journal for the peace movement, so it makes sense that the magazine has changed to meet the changing needs of its readers. Yet at its core, Peacework has always had the same few goals in mind: to share stories of people taking effective action against violence and injustice; to be a space for dialogue about the meaning and tactics of our work as activists; to connect, to speak out, to lift up.

The peace and justice communities that created Peacework are still thriving, and are still hungry for accurate, peace-based information and powerful images of people taking action for our world. The desire to provide these tools is also, joyfully, an ineradicable fact. As Peacework is laid down, we hope and trust that “empowerment journalism” will sprout up in many new places, as it always has, on and off the Internet. Staff and volunteers are working now to archive Peacework’s full collection online, and to support plans for a new, web-based resource to continue the magazine’s legacy -- look for more information on both projects in the coming months, at www.Peaceworkmagazine.org.

If you are a subscriber, we are offering replacement subscriptions to two wonderful sister periodicals: WIN Magazine, published by the War Resisters League, and Fellowship Magazine, published by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Each is published with less frequency than Peacework, so by accepting both, you will receive approximately the same number of magazines that you would have received had your Peacework subscription been completed.

You’ll hear from WIN and Fellowship soon. If you choose not to receive one or the other, let us know by September 24 (email Sara Burke at sburke@afsc.org) and we’ll make sure to remove your name from our mailing list. Both magazines share Peacework’s commitment to make subscriptions available to prisoners. Unfortunately, we can not offer refunds for unfulfilled Peacework subscriptions.

To celebrate Peacework’s 37 years in print, please join us if you can at Peacework’s tenth annual Pat Farren Lecture on September 23, an evening with author James Carroll. Giving the introduction will be our dear friend Greg Williams, who has, over the years, been a help and advisor to all four of Peacework’s editors. For details, call 617-661-6130 or visit www. Peaceworkmagazine.org.

A portion of the proceeds from the evening will fund a seed project to explore a possible Peacework blogging platform, an online center for nonviolent dialogue, to be housed at www. Peaceworkmagazine.org. Please visit the site to contribute your talents, your voice, and your ideas. Together, we can create a space for organizers to share news, strategies, challenges, and inspiration. Email pwork@igc.org or call Sam Diener at 617-661-6130 to let us know how you would like to be involved in creating this new resource, and so we can keep you in the loop about further developments.

This year’s Pat Farren Lecture will also support the important ongoing work of the American Friends Service Committee in New England during a difficult period of organization-wide budget cuts. Many communities in which AFSC has a longstanding presence are feeling the loss of programs keenly, and staff and volunteers are working hard to maintain connections and preparing to rebuild as soon as possible. Please keep your support for AFSC strong.

While hundreds of different people have been involved in creating Peacework over the years, the community that we are a part of has remained constant — the magazine has always been a group effort, even though the group is never exactly the same twice. Whether you are a reader, a writer, or a volunteer, you have been part of this project. Thank you for all you have done to support Peacework as an independent, pacifist, cross-issue, many-voiced, loving conversation all these years. Thank you for all you will continue to do to help our movements, and our world, keep on keepin’ on.

Peace,

Sara Burke and Sam Diener, Co-Editors