 November 2004
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Sara Burke, Managing Editor Sam Diener, Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Remembering Peggy
Schirmer, From Craig Simpson and the Fall 2004 newsletter of Concerned Educators Allied for a Safe Environment, 55 Frost St., Cambridge MA 02140; 617/661-8347; info@peaceeducators.org Peggy Schirmer, lifelong advocate for justice and co-founder of Concerned Educators Allied for a Safe Environment, died on August 8, 2004. She is missed by educators and justice advocates around the world. In 1979, as the Nuclear Freeze movement was growing in the US, Peggy organized a workshop at the annual conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, called "Nuclear Weapons, Our Legacy to Our Children?" Sixteen teachers found each other at this workshop, and formed CEASE. Soon CEASE became a national network committed to generating a strong voice among early childhood educators continuing to protest the development of nuclear weapons which threaten our world and the children we strive to protect. As membership grew the mission became focused on a broad view of "safety" as articulated by Peggy and others. Safety for children is a global issue. It goes beyond the classroom and the playground to include: safety from nuclear weapons, safety from pollution, safety from war and weapons in our neighborhoods, and safety from economic and social injustice. The CEASE newsletter began in 1980 and was edited and mailed from Peggy's kitchen table for the next 20 years. An annual CEASE Seminar has been offered at the NAEYC Conference since the one Peggy led. Peggy's whole life was one of dedication to a better world. She was often seen demonstrating against war toys at Boston's Downtown Crossing shopping area. She was active with the Cambridge Peace Commission and helped introduce Peace Kits to the Cambridge Public Schools. She worked against apartheid and US racism, and helped develop curricula that respected native peoples. Her children remember that throughout their childhood they participated in protests with their mother against segregation, for hot school lunches, and against the Vietnam War. Whether protesting war toys and media violence or nuclear weapons and both the US-led wars in Iraq, Peggy did not waste time on anger. She got active and persevered. Her model of educator-activist will serve us well as we confront the continuing conflicts in our world and our nation. Anti-Nuclear Organizing Resources Mayors for Peace Emergency Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons: Gaining momentum worldwide, this Japan-based group holds that it is the mission of local authorities to contribute to the abolition of nuclear weapons. For more information visit www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp Japan Council Against A&H Bombs has worked since 1955 for the prevention of nuclear war, elimination of nuclear weapons, and relief and solidarity with A&H bomb victims in Japan and around the world. This group will be bringing thousands of Japanese citizens to New York in May of 2005 for the massive demonstration at the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference. The group is circulating an international "Abolition Now!" petition for presentation to the UN during the conference. There are many good resources on their web page at www.10pala.or.jp United for Peace & Justice Disarmament Campaign is coordinating much of the organizing for the May 1, 2005 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference. Good background information and help getting involved in the demonstration at www.unitedforpeace.org Reaching Critical Will, a project of the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, coordinates lobbying efforts at the United Nations and monitors the positions and policies of various governments: www.reachingcriticalwill.org Peace and Economic Security Archive of the American Friends Service Committee includes papers and speeches on nuclear disarmament, hibakusha, and more: http://webarchive.afsc.org/newengland/nepeace.htm Natural Resources Defense Council, 40 West 20th St., New York NY 10017; www.nrdc.org; one excellentpaper published by this group is "Faking Nuclear Restraint: The Bush Administration's Secret Plan for Strengthening US Nuclear Forces," an analysis of the Administration's 2002 Nuclear Posture Review. Friends Committee on National Legislationis a Quaker-based lobbying group which offers many useful resources and links on its site: www.fcnl.org Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 6042 S. Kimbark Ave. NW, Washington DC 20036; www.bullatomsci.org Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, POB 652, Bruswick ME 04011; www.space4peace.org Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, PMB 121, 1187 Coast Village Rd. #1, Santa Barbara CA 93108; www.wagingpeace.org Union of Concerned Scientists, 2 Brattle Sq., Cambridge MA 02238; www.ucsusa.org 
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