Pieces

Events

My Name is Rachel Corrie

, 10/15-11/19; Play based on the diaries, letters, and emails of Rachel Corrie, the 23 year-old US activist killed nonviolently defending a Palestinian home from an Israeli military bulldozer; the play was previously pulled, under pressure, from a different NY theater; Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane, NYC, NY

Pat Farren Memorial Lecture with Marge Piercy, 11/8, 7pm (6pm 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

Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence; 11/16, 7pm; authors Sonali Kolhatkar & James Ingalls, co-directors of the Afghan Women’s Mission, draw from declassified government documents and on-the-ground interviews with Afghan activists, journalists, lawyers, refugees, and students to boldly critique the exploitation of Afghan women used to justify war by both conservatives and liberals; wheelchair accessible; Center for New Words, 7 Temple Street, Cambridge, MA, 617/876.5310, www.centerfornewwords.org

Buy Nothing Day; 11/23 US, 11/25 outside North America; protest capitalist consumerism; http://adbusters.org

Campaigns

Protest Homophobic Ballot Initiatives; sign the petition and help the organizers in AZ, CO, ID, SC, SD, TN, VA, & WI, www.phonehome2006.org

Prisoners for Peace Day, 2006; 12/1/2006, Focus in 2006: Russia; on 1 December, put aside at least one hour and write at least four cards to prisoners; Get your peace group or class or meeting place to organise a card-writing session; Set up a table in your town center, perform a bit of street theatre, War Resisters International; www.wri-irg.org/co/01dec.htm

Release Jailed Gays and Lesbians in Cameroon; the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared on October 11, 2006 that the detention of 11 men in Cameroon on the basis of their presumed sexual orientation constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; at least four other men and four other women are also in jail under similar charges; to help protest, contact International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, gknox@geoffreyknox.com, 212/229-0540, www.iglhrc.org, the International Commission of Jurists, www.icj.org, or Alternatives/Cameroun, alternatives.cameroun@gmail.com

Stop the Siege of the Gaza Strip Petition Campaign, the Israeli military’s siege is causing a humanitarian disaster; www.petitiononline.com/4Gaza

No Name Calling Week; January 22-26, 2007, No sticks, no stones, no dissing; an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds and providing schools with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities; updates@nonamecallingweek.org, www.nonamecallingweek.org

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

Civil Rights Internships; high school, college, and graduate students engage in summer-long anti-racist work; contact Paul Marcus, Community Change Inc., 14 Beacon Street, Room 605, Boston, MA 02108, pmarcus@communitychangeinc.org, 617/523-0555, www.communitychangeinc.org

Soulforce Equality Ride 2007: 60 students riding two buses traveling across the country to campuses which ban lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students; confronting bigotry through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance; The 2006 ride participants protested at 19 colleges in 51 days; application deadline 12/1; www.equalityride.com

Managing Editor, Rethinking Schools Magazine; award-winning national education quarterly journal focusing on issues of social justice and education; Newspaper or magazine experience, including writing, editing, & desktop publishing skills, are necessary; women & people of color are encouraged to apply; preference given to applicants willing to work in Milwaukee; send resume & sample to Personnel Committee, rsmike@execpc.com, Rethinking Schools, 1001 E. Keefe Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53212, www.rethinkingschools.org

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, 2/13-2/26/07; 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

Creating Change 2006, 11/8-12; Kansas City, MO; an organizing conference for the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender community; 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

Building Today’s Eco-Peace Village; 11/10, noon-5 pm, Third annual conference, $15 adults, $10 students, U. Maine Peace Studies, Hutchinson Center, Belfast, ME, ellen_woodhead@umit.maine.edu, 207/581-2609

Engaging Nonviolence: Skill Building for the Beloved Community; 11/10-12/2006; workshop explores the power of creative, spiritually grounded nonviolence principles and practices for the purpose of personal and social transformation; http://paceebene.org

Envisioning Peace: Practical Strategies Conference; 11/11, 9 am - 4 pm; The New England Peace Studies Association invites high school and college students and faculty to share practical, effective, nonviolent, community-based strategies that honor the importance of inner peace while creating the environment for peace in our communities and world; Contact Dot Walsh, 508/655-2143, Peace Abbey, Sherborn, MA, www.peaceabbey.org

World Social Forum 2007; 1/20-25/2007, Nairobi, Kenya; Another World is Possible; http://wsf2007.org

Encounter in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, Colombia, 2/19-25/2007, International Solidarity Alternatives and the Challenge of Paramilitarization; mark the second anniversary of the massacre of the eight community members, For info about the community, see http://cdpsanjose.org & www.forusa.org/programs/colombia/colombiaprogram.html; For info on the Encounter, Chicagoans for a Peaceful Colombia, POB 409012, Chicago, IL 60640-9012, 773/764-6773, www.chicagoans.net

US Social Forum, 6/27-7/1/2007; Atlanta, Georgia; 20,000 participants are expected to convene to build a broader national movement for social justice around the world; Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide, 9 Gammon Ave., SW, Atlanta,GA 30315, 404/622-0602, alovelace@ussocialforum.org, www.ussf2007

Resources

Revolutionary Sheroes Womyn 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 to “Myers Center/Simmons” & send to Myers Center, Simmons College, 300 The Fenway, Boston MA 02115; 617/521-2171; www.sheroescalendar.org

Becoming Fire: Spiritual Writing from Rising Generations; edited by Alexander Levering Kern. Kern serves on the staff and adjunct faculty at Andover Newton Theological School, where he directs the Faith Youth Institute; Becoming Fire is an anthology of spiritual writing from Generations X and Y and their mentors; the collection includes essays, fiction, poems, and sermons from both emerging writers and established, award-winning authors; a resource for ministers, educators, young adults, and readers of contemporary literature.; www.ants.edu/about/publications

Six Hundred Thousand Estimated Killed in Iraq Post Invasion; Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Lancet article by Gilbert Burnham, Riyadh Lafta, Shannon Doocy, Les Roberts; Between May and July, 2006, a national cross-sectional survey of mortality in Iraq, based on 50 randomly selected clusters from 16 Governorates, with every cluster consisting of 40 households; The 1,849 households containing 12,801 individuals reported 629 deaths during the observation period. Pre-invasion mortality rates were 5.5 per 1000 people per year (95% CI 4.3–7.1), compared with 13.3 per 1000 people per year (10.9–16.1) in the 40 months post-invasion. As of July, 2006, there have been 654,965 (392,979–942,636) excess Iraqi deaths as a consequence of the war, which corresponds to 2.5% of the population in the study area; www.thelancet.com

Syracuse Cultural Workers Annual Peace Calendar 2007; full color, 14x22 on your wall, featuring people’s history annotations, holidays for many faiths, $12.95, teacher’s guide sold separately, www.syrculturalworkers.com

New Resources from Haymarket Books; Friendly Fire: The Remarkable Story of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq, Rescued by an Italian Secret Service Agent, and Shot by U.S. Forces by Giuliana Sgrena, foreword by Amy Goodman; A Small Piece of Ground, by Elizabeth Laird, a young adult novel about a Palestinian boy; conversation between Arundathi Roy and Eduardo Galeano on DVD, Voices from a People’s History of the US on DVD; Haymarket Books, POB 180165, Chicago, IL 60618, 773/583-7884, www.haymarketbooks.org

Resources for Peace Educators; Peace curricula including meditations, songs, and conflict resolution lessons; teaching about world events; Dialogue about Friends and Flags; Friends Council on Education, www.friendscouncil.org

Service Without Guns; by Donald J. Eberly and Reuven Gal, Lulu Press, 2006, $5 download, $13.70 pb, $25 hb; a transnational examination of national youth service as an alternative to militarism, www.lulu.com

Where is the Rage?; two song anti-war CD from Vietnam Veteran and Veterans for Peace member Pat Scanlon; For distribution, 30 cds for $100, Organizations, buy 1000 for $1200.; Listen to song on Peacework website or at www.patscanlon.com, 34 Washington Ave., Andover, MA 01810, patscanlonmusic@yahoo.com

Olive Branch Olive Oil: Support Palestinian farmers by purchasing fairly-traded olive oil that comes from the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees in the West Bank. This delicious, extra-virgin, first cold-pressed oil is produced without pesticides or sprays. For more info, email us at: palestinebostonoliveoil@yahoo.com

Execution alerts and News Listserve, from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty; In the US: 115 people in 25 states have been released after years on death row due to actual innocence; 95% of those on death row could not afford an attorney; while white men and women and persons of color are victims of violent crime in almost equal numbers, over 80% of those executed had white victims; it costs almost three times more to execute someone than to keep them in prison for life; 1717 K St. NW, #510, WDC, 20036, www.ncadp.

* Unfortunately, in the print edition, we mis-titled the collection as "Revolutionary Heroes Women Warriors," making two mistakes in as many words. We reget making this error.