United States Social Forum

By Sam Diener, Peacework Co-Editor, and Dwight Harriman

On Friday June 29, Ethan Vessely-Flad and I co-facilitated a workshop in Writing for Peace and Justice, with seemingly enthusiastic participation by over 20 people. At the end, I invited participants to send me their reflections or their contributions for this blog. The next day, I saw one of the participants, Dwight Harriman, and he asked me to post this.

What If?

What If? For just one way, all the guns of the world fell silent, no
bombs fell, no missiles launched, no bullets were fired? Below the fold...

By Sam Diener, Peacework Co-Editor

At the opening ceremony on Wednesday June 27, 2007, the speaker I looked most forward to hearing was C. T. Vivian, the legendary civil rights activist and brilliant nonviolent strategist.

Some of what he said was marvelous, including a challenge to us to work for fundamental, revolutionary social change – to reclaim liberty, reestablish voting rights, and focus on the long-haul work of ending poverty in the US and around the world. He said, “The thing about being a revolutionary is that you can’t be happy in a world in which people are oppressed. You can’t stand it. You have to do something.”

Yet, Vivian’s legacy of heroism can not render his remarks immune to critique. Below the fold...