From the Editor's Desk

In this issue of Peacework, a letter from US churches to the global ecumenical community confesses that US Americans of faith "have not raised a prophetic voice loud enough and persistent enough" to call our own nation to account for its militarism, its rapacity, or its shortsighted destruction of the earth's resources. Such statements from our religious leaders have been rare, and the discourse of religious conviction has, in our country, been dominated by blaring voices of injustice and hypocrisy. It is important that those of us with a different message unite our voices to be heard. Where we have been cautious, we must be bold. Where we have been hampered by our fear of seeming more theologically certain than we are, we must honor the compassion that is at the core of all faith, and act.

Surely, Tom Fox's was a prophetic voice, and its silence is ringing in our ears. The losses and the wounds are as real as the powerful changes we seek to create. Tom had no illusions about the danger he faced, and stated clearly before he left for Iraq that he rejected violent retribution on his behalf, no matter what might happen. This profound statement of faith has been joined by those of his family and the Christian Peacemaker Teams organization, and by his now-released comrades. It is when people speak honestly from their own direct experiences that hearts and minds are changed.

Steve Gibson tells us about a 241-mile walk last month to raise awareness, especially among Latinos, about the war and its consequences for young people. Each of the leaders of this walk made the decision to share publicly their personal stories of loss, suffering, and transformation. In Darlene Huntress's exciting story of the culmination of a 28-year struggle to protect the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people in her state, the decision to share personal experiences of discrimination was a key strategy. Laura Partridge sees a need for those who have been ensnared in the inhumane and racist workings of the US criminal justice system to overcome their shame and trauma and share their stories with their neighbors.

On the third anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, a myriad of creative, nonviolent actions took place around the world. We look forward this month to a massive march and rally in New York City on April 29, and offer you Bill Weinberg's consideration of tensions between two coalitions that have been at the forefront of recent anti-war organizing in the US. Meanwhile, immigrant rights demonstrations have been awe-inspiring, and signs of a re-emerging grassroots pro-choice movement are emerging. June Rostan pays homage to Anne Braden, a southern anti-racist organizer and a hero to many, and we offer some of her keen insights in her own words.

In some areas, ordinary poor people are so isolated from the world, by geography or by the cynical disregard of their own governments, that they have had to learn for themselves how to make life-saving connections. Three such places we hear from are the mountains of Kashmir, the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, and the US prison system. Beena Sarwar describes how the earthquake-stricken villages of Pakistan were forgotten by the world, but also describes the creative means by which South Asians both on the scene and throughout the diaspora have contrived to keep the news flowing out of the region and much-needed aid flowing in. Paul Reineke reports on a fragile truce that is reducing armed violence in a cluster of Haitian neighborhoods, with only the merest promise by police and UN "peacekeepers" not to disrupt the effort. Meanwhile, the powerful general who rules Pakistan and Haiti's soft-spoken president-elect must each factor the omnipresent US power-brokers into every decision.

Who imprisons us? What frees us? Susannah Sheffer shares the stark, beautiful story of Joe Correia's victory, not over cancer or his life sentence, but over silence.