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Events & Resources
IWW Solidarity Night, 9/9, 8-11 pm; Democracy Center, 45 Mt. Auburn St, Cambridge MA; suggested donation $10; an evening of musical entertainment to benefit the Starbucks Workers Union, with performers Evan Greer (Riot Folk Collective), Jake & the Infernal Machine, Clara Hendricks, & Bill Bumpus; IWW Starbucks Workers Union, 347 Maujer St #C, Brooklyn NY 11206;
www.iww.org
Salem State Peace Institute, 9/11, 7-9 pm; Forten Hall (4th Floor of library), Salem State University, Salem, MA; watch a film about Gandhi & participate in a discussion led by Krishna Mallick (professor of Peace Studies) & James Hoover (professor of History of India)
The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan after the Taliban, 9/11, 6:30 pm; Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington St (at Milk St), Boston MA; with Sarah Chayes, former NPR correspondent in Afghanistan & later staff in Kandahar of Afghanis for a Civil Society; presentation followed by Q&A moderated by Robin Young of WBUR; wheelchair accessible; sponsored by Ford Hall Forum, 716 Columbus Ave #565; Boston MA 02120; 617/373-5800; www.fordhallforum.org
The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Execution, 9/12, 6:30 pm; Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington St (at Milk St), Boston MA; with Sister Helen Prejean; wheelchair accessible; sponsored by Ford Hall Forum, 716 Columbus Ave #565; Boston MA 02120; 617/373-5800; www.fordhallforum.org
You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train (film & discussion), 9/21, 7 pm; New Art Center, 61 Washington Park, Newtonville MA; $15; This acclaimed film, directed by Deb Ellis & Denis Mueller, looks at the amazing life of the renowned historian, activist, & author Howard Zinn. Following the screening there will be a Question & Answer session with Howard Zinn; tickets available at the door or in advance by calling 617/964-3424.
Pat Farren Memorial Lecture with Marge Piercy, 11/8, 7 pm (6 pm reception); Cambridge Friends Meetinghouse, Cambridge MA; $10-50; to reserve seats, make checks to Peacework/AFSC with “Marge Piercy” in the memo line & send to Peacework, AFSC, 2161 Mass. Ave., Cambridge MA 02140; 617/661-6130; www.peaceworkmagazine.org
Campaigns
September 11th Is a Choice: Choosing the Path of Nonviolence, 9/11-21; September 11, 5th anniversary of the terrible attacks in the US & 100th anniversary of Gandhi’s historic speech calling for nonviolent resistance to injustice, is symbolic of a basic choice that we all must face: Do we respond to deep hurt with a practice of revenge, or do we choose a practice of nonviolence & determination not to give up our inherent humanity? The Seattle Center for Peace offers many resources & ideas for ways to choose & promote practical alternatives to violence: nonviolence pledge cards, wristbands commemorating the pledge, events listings, educational materials, & more; for more information contact Sandy Fox, 206/322-9899; seattlecenterforpeace@yahoo.com; www.seattlecenterforpeace.org
Support Nonviolent Peaceforce: Work a Day for Peace, 9/11; NP, whose civilian unarmed peacekeeping teams are working Sri Lanka & other areas of conflict, offers a program for any group to gather & reflect on September 11 & act positively for change; suggested activities & discussion questions for a 1- to 2-hour gathering are provided, along with a pledge of nonviolence & ways to support NP’s work in the US & abroad; NP, 425 Oak Grove, Minneapolis MN 55403; www.nvpf.org
Software Freedom Day, 9/16; organize your own event to participate in a worldwide celebration of Free & Open Source Software; for ideas & more information, www.softwarefreedomday.org
Keep Space for Peace Week, 10/1-8; international week of protest to stop the militarization of space; for information on events or to get involved, contact the Global Network Against Nuclear Weapons & Power in Space, 207/729-0517; POB 652, Brunswick ME 04011; www.space4peace.org
Peace & Justice for Guam: The US plans to station 8000 more troops on the island of Guam in the weeks after September 11, 2006, as part of its increasing direction of military resources toward Asia; US military bases occupy more than one-third of this nation’s 35 square miles; to support a campaign of protest by leaders of the Chamorro people of Guam, sign an on-line petition at: www.PetitionOnline.com/haleta/petition.html; to learn more, contact The Chamorro Nation, POB 6132, Merizo, Guam 96916
Home from Iraq Now Ballot Question; On 11/7, 139 MA towns will vote whether to approve a referendum calling for the US to end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home; To help with the AFSC/UFJP campaign, contact Paul Shannon: 617/497-5273, pshannon@afsc.org
Opportunities
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law of the Boston Bar Association seeks Office Manager; letter & résumé to LCCR, 294 Washington St #443, Boston MA 02108; www.lawyerscom.org (no phone calls please)
PeaceWriting Annual International Writing Awards; seeking book-length manuscripts about the causes, consequences, & solutions to violence & war, & about the ideas & practices of nonviolent peacemaking & the lives of nonviolent peacemakers; cash prizes for non-fiction, fiction/poetry/play, & children’s literature; deadline 12/1; for guidelines & more information, contact PeaceWriting, 2582 Jimmie Ave, Fayetteville, AR 72703-3420; 501/442-4600; jbennet@uark.edu
World Peace Tour to Bhutan, 2/1326/07; Sacred Himalaya Travel in collaboration with the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism is hosting a trip focused on peace in a culture where kindness & compassion are practiced as a way of life. With a flexible schedule, meet Bhutan’s warm-hearted people, offer blessings for peace, attend a rural festival. For details visit www.iipt.org/worldpeacetravel/index.htm
Gatherings
¡La Lucha Continua! Centro Presente invites you to participate in a week of national action, 9/7; Washington, DC; tell Congress to stop the separation of families & the deportations; for information or to reserve a seat on the Centro Presente bus from Boston, contact CP, 54 Essex St #2, Cambridge MA 02139; 617/497-9080
A Retreat for the Isolated Activist, 9/21-28; Ferdinand, IN; A retreat for peace & justice activists within the Christian community who have felt separated from the mainstream in these past few years of national division & conflict; with Margaret Silf (Sacred Spaces & Inner Compass); participants may come for either or both three-day sessions, 9/21-24, “Companions of Christ: The Art of Detachment & Ways of Living True” or, 9/24-28, “Coming Home to Our True Selves: The Search for Security, the Power of Fear, & the Possibility of Authentic Freedom.” For more information visit www.broadwayumc.org/publications/retreatbrochure3.pdf
Common Ground Country Fair, 9/22-24; Maine Organic Farmers & Growers Association Fairgrounds, Unity ME; a celebration of rural & healthy living; sponsored by MOFGA,
207/568-4142; www.mofga.org
Protest the Christening of the USS Samson Aegis Destroyer, 9/16, 9 am; Bath Iron Works, Washington St, Bath ME; contact Jack Bussell, Veterans for Peace, 207/772-1442; jafabussell@gwi.net
Declaration of Peace March, 9/30, 1 pm; Concord, NH; New Hampshire’s peace & faith communities will join together to protest the war in Iraq & demand action to bring peace, demonstrating locally as other activists converge in Washington, DC & around the country; contact New Hampshire Peace Action, 603/746-4235; www.nhpeaceaction.org
Not In Our Town National Gathering, 10/6-8; Bloomington IL; NIOT is a media & grassroots organizing project that encourages community response to hate violence; NIOT, c/o The Working Group, POB 70232, Oakland CA 94612-0232; 510/268-9675; www.theworkinggroup.org/gathering
Promoting & Practicing Peace in Perilous Times: A Gandhian Conference on Nonviolence, 10/13-14; Memphis TN; with keynotes by Arun Gandhi, Helen Prejean, Frida Berrigan, Victor La Cerva, & Roz Nichols; M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, 139 Oakdale St, Memphis TN 38112; 301/452-2824;
www.gandhiconference.org
Second International Conference on Islamic Feminism, 11/3-5; Barcelona, Spain; with Ziba Mir Hosseini, Ayesha Imam, Shaheen Sardar Ali, & many other presenters; to learn more or to register (deadline 10/20) visit www.feminismeislamic.org
Creating Change 2006, 11/8-12; Kansas City, MO; an organizing conference for the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender community; with Matt Forman, Oscar De La O, Marjorie Hill, Rinku Sen., & Olga Vives; workshops, seminars, & a National Religious Leadership Roundtable; sponsored by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, 1325 Massachusetts Ave NW #600, Washington DC 20005; 202/393-5177; www.thetaskforce.org
Resources
Revolutionary Heroes Women Warriors 2007 Wall Calendar; $15 +$3 she (bulk discounts available); a unique 13-month calendar honors daily rebels, radicals, & revolutionaries of different times & contexts; each day features a brief biographical sketch & image of a historic woman change agent such as Lillian Madeira Nagoya, South African apartheid resister; Anna Louise Strong, radical pacifist American journalist; Yamada Wake, Japanese journalist & activist, & hundreds more; proceeds benefit the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry & Human Rights; make checks payable to “Myers Center/Simmons” & send to Myers Center, Simmons College, 300 The Fenway, Boston MA 02115-5898; 617/521-2171;
www.sheroescalendar.org
Fellowship of Reconciliation seeks to replace violence, war, racism, & economic injustice with nonviolence, peace, & justice; FOR’s Task Force on Latin America & the Caribbean works for the demilitarization of US policy in Latin America & maintains a team of human rights international observers in Colombia who have increased the security of courageous Colombian communities engaged in nonviolent resistance. FOR, POB 271, Nyack NY 10960; 845/358-4601; www.forusa.org
New England No Nukes Resources; t-shirts with beautiful sunflower design, Stop Vermont Yankee buttons, bumper stickers, nuclear impact maps of the region: Citizens Awareness Network, POB 83, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370; 802/787-4276; www.nukebusters.org
Exile: Conversations with Pramoedya Ananta Toer – Interviews with André Vitchek & Rossie Indira, edited by Nagesh Rao; $16 pb; 180 pp; The first ever book-length interview with an artist who gave expression to a revolutionary vision of Indonesian cultural identity & was exiled for 10 years in the Buru island internment camp; also new from Haymarket Books, Independent Politics: The Green Party Strategy Debate, edited by Howie Hawkins; Haymarket Books, POB 180165, Chicago IL 60618; 773/583-7884
The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves & the World, by Donald Rothberg; $16 pb; 272 pp; for anyone who has wondered how to manage a meaningful balance between spiritual practice & social justice; Beacon Press, 25 Beacon St, Boston MA 02108-2892;
617/742-2110; www.beacon.org
After the Guns Have Stopped: Searching for Reconciliation in Burundi, by Theoneste Bizimana & Anna Sandidge; A report from the African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams; Hear from 18 individuals & their response to the violence — not the cries of those in the midst of conflict, but the mature thoughts of people who, more than a decade after the violence began, are healing; FPT, African Great Lakes Initiative, 1001 Park Ave, St. Louis MO 63104; www.aglionline.org
