eNews Spring 2023

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Ongoing Events

  • 1st Saturday Truth Storytelling, 1pm PT/ 4pm ET
  • 2nd and 4th Saturday Hope Story Circles, 9am PT / 12 noon ET 
  • 2nd Tuesday monthly, National Monthly Peacebuilders Podcast, 5pm PT / 8pm ET 
  • 3rd Wednesday monthly, Department of Peacebuilding Campaign call, 5pm PT / 8pm ET 

Look for our weekly Monday email with all the events for the upcoming week, and check the Calendar of Events on the website for connection information for everything!

Check out these updates from The Peace Alliance!

Diane Tate

Setting Intention for Progress

It’s easy to get discouraged by what we see happening in the world. Some choose to protect themselves from the truth of the state of our humanity by turning away. At The Peace Alliance, we choose to continue moving forward with intention, keeping our eyes open to the truth of what is happening because we truly believe we can’t even begin to change it if we refuse to see it.

During the past year we have participated in an ongoing dialogue within our own organization, as well as conversations with folks from outside The Peace Alliance, about the impact we can manifest when we lead with our eyes and hearts open. We can’t change what we refuse to acknowledge- and so real and lasting transformation at a level that directly impacts those suffering the most, has to begin with unpacking our own bias with purposeful focus on cultures and communities whose voices we don’t often hear. Our Board of Directors voted to adopt new Mission, Vision, and Values statements that better reflect our organizational focus on the issues of the times, following in-depth work at the leadership level. I invite you to visit our website to learn more about these important guiding principles.  

Educate, Advocate, and Mobilize!

We continue with our programs that you have come to love, including Hope Story Circles on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month, National Monthly Peacebuilders Podcasts on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, and Truth Storytelling on the 1st Saturday of each month. These programs invite you to expand your community virtually, meeting folks from all over the country (and sometimes individuals from other parts of the world) to share stories about hope, strength, and triumph that can inspire you to take actions toward peace you might not have considered before. We also celebrate you and the 4.2 Million messages you’ve sent to your elected officials at the state and federal level through our advocacy tool, in support of legislation that is important to you, your families, and your communities. Stay tuned to our Legislative Priorities page for links to actions you can take over and over and share with your networks to make your voices heard for change!

The campaign for a US Department of Peacebuilding (H.R. 1111) is hosting Advocacy Days May 8-10th in Washington D.C. to take in-person meetings with staff of our members of congress to lobby for the bill. If you’ve never lobbied for legislation before, you will learn how to advocate for what matters to you with those who represent you at the highest level with a group of amazing volunteers whose passion and dedication are unwavering. If you can’t make it in May, stay tuned for another opportunity in September to join us. 

As we look forward, we continue to develop programming through the lens of our five cornerstones: Cultivating Personal Peace, Community Peacebuilding, Humanizing the Justice System, Practicing Peace in Schools, and Fostering International Peace. You will read offerings from our cornerstone team leads in this eNews highlighting the work being done in their respective focus. One ultimate goal, as we look to the 20th Anniversary of The Peace Alliance in 2024, is a National Conference in DC focused on the healing of a divided country during an election year, the amplification of voices from marginalized communities to learn how peace looks for them, and opportunities for collaboration and mobilization to make this world a more peace-filled place. Stay tuned for those details and let us know if you want to be involved in making this Peace Conference HAPPEN!  

Come be a part of our Alliance; join in the efforts to make substantial and lasting change toward peace. Receive emails to know when opportunities are happening, and become a Peace Partner so we can continue and expand the vision! We can’t do this without YOU!

Diane Tate
Managing Director

 

Anne Creter Headshot

Anne Creter

President Eisenhower’s 1953-1955 Cabinet-Level Secretary of Peace

“As long as there will be Ministries of War or Defense in 170, of 188 nations there will be no peace on Earth.  I suggest that the President of the United States in his speech to the UN General Assembly 2000 will announce that the Pentagon will be suppressed and will be replaced by a United States Ministry of Peace as President Eisenhower did after World War II, a ministry whose incumbent was Harold Stassen, the last living signer of the United Nations Charter and who should be honored for having held this position.  The cold war put an end to it.  Now that the cold war is over the United States can resume and re-establish this ministry. Followed I am sure by many other countries, if not all on Earth.” ~ UN Under Sec-Gen Dr. Robert Muller (Prophet of the UN) in his multi- Volumes of “Ideas & Dreams for a Better World” book (Idea # 3039) 1999.

I was stunned when the above Robert Muller quote randomly popped up last year in my Google search for a peace quote. I knew of Dr. Muller’s many profound quotes, yet never had heard this one with its astounding gem – that the U.S. actually HAD a functioning cabinet-level Disarmament Specialist or “Secretary for Peace” in its history!  Who knew? Yet I could not confirm its veracity, as nothing came up in Google attempts to verify it. Until recently when I was compelled to dig deeper, trusting there had to be more to this revolutionary claim that the wise Dr Muller had made.

I was prompted by the Robert Muller Birth Centenary Celebration jointly organized by the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (Ambassador Chowdhury & Dot Maver), the University for Peace in Costa Rica (founded by Dr. Muller) and UN NGO Pathways to Peace. 

The program was to open with a set of “100 Golden Sayings of Robert Muller.” And for the above gem to be included, its Secretary of Peace assertion had to be substantiated.   I consulted the New York Times archives and was flabbergasted to discover (among other fascinating confirmations,) that a 1990 book existed – entitled Eisenhower:  Turning the World Toward Peace by Harold Stassen, the man who had been Eisenhower’s Secretary of Peace. When just one copy of this rare book was available on Amazon and it arrived on my doorstep the very next day, I was elated! For it fell open to Chapter 19 titled “Secretary of Peace” — thus substantiating Dr. Muller’s quote so it could be included in his Centenary Celebration for all to know.  Turns out Dr. Muller knew this because he had worked with Stassen when the UN was founded. 

We learned that after World War 2, when Eisenhower became President, he called on his trusted war buddy Harold Stassen to work in his Cabinet on disarmament to mitigate what was unleashed by the dropping of the Atomic bomb. This fact is a significant talking point for us now because it adds political credibility to our mission to establish a Department of Peacebuilding. Plus knowing that the internationally famous U.S. WW2 hero “Ike” had actually created such a position makes it a global talking point as well. This fact also benefits our sister-organization, the Global Alliance for Ministries & Infrastructures for Peace (gamip.org) in its advocacy for creating governmental departments, ministries and other “infrastructures for peace” worldwide.  Bless Dr. Robert Muller for enabling us to uncover this long-buried, powerful historical fact that will enhance our critical “infrastructures for peace” work at this inflection point in history.   

Anne Creter
Fostering International Peacebuilding team lead

 

J Thompson

Community Peacebuilding Cornerstone (CPC)

2022 Accomplishments included revitalizing the Community Peacebuilding Cornerstone to focus on amplifying the voices of marginalized communities working towards peace. A number of new partnerships developed through the CPC that expanded The Peace Alliance’s (TPA) engagement with and support of communities most impacted by all forms of violence in the United States. The CPC was able to accomplish this through the following activities:

  • Launch of Bring the Peace Movement (BtP) a national call to action to transform trauma-inducing moments of violence into a healing-abled movement, amplifying local communities working to bring the peace through partnership, programming and policy advocacy. The goal for BtP is to convene events in cities with high rates of gun violence and amplify the voices of the experts working to reduce violence in their communities. There were a number of events in 2022:
    • BtP_LA, Hip Hop 4 Peace TownHall: Peace in the Streets partnered with the Peace Alliance to launch The Bring the Peace Movement convening Hip Hop artists, community stakeholders, elected officials, and peace advocates to create a plan and take action to lessen the impact of violence: a public health crisis plaguing the hip hop community.
      • 467 (new database supporters) signatures for DOP petition- at least 138 of those from the event itself
      • Collaborated with 17 orgs who had not heard of TPA before this event
      • Introduction of TPA and our work to an entirely new community of people 
    • BtP_Oakland, Stop Killing our Kids- Peace Caravan to City Hall in Oakland, CA. 
      • “Towners” are creating their Blueprint for Peace, building a coordinated effort to bring the peace and advocate for funding/technical assistance from the existing Department of Violence Prevention budget to address DVP MANDATES through a municipal Department of Peacebuilding.
    • BtP Peace Officers Memorial Day, #PeaceOfficersORPoliceOfficers? – social media campaign for the week of May 15th
      • In partnership with We Can’t Breathe, Inc. launched a social media campaign capitalizing on May 15 observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day. The purpose of the campaign focuses on building healthier relationships to address tensions between police officers and communities by advocating for a Peace Officer approach. #PeaceOfficersORPoliceOfficers? (building on the model of the 2015 SM trend The Dress) to ignite the conversation and offer the solutions: #PeaceOfficers #WeWantPeaceOfficers #WeNeedPeaceOfficers #BeAPeaceOfficer #BlueWallofPeace #BlueCode4Peace #BlueShield4Peace.
    • BtP_Philadelphia Roots Cookout, Saturday & Sunday 6/4-5/22 convening a panel discussion on the use of technology in violence prevention
    • BtP_New York 
  • BtP aims to get 1,111,000 signatures for the Department of Peace Bill.
  • Partnered with We Can’t Breathe, Inc. to launch the Healing Justice Village (HJV), a women-led initiative for healing after state violence.
    • HJV members shared their stories during the National Monthly Peacebuilders call in July as part of 11 days of Action to inform the larger peacebuilding community about the impact of state violence and the need for legislation that would transform the systems perpetuating the violence. 
    • TPA supported an HJV member with advocacy, developing a petition that received over 2000 signatures in two days on TPA’s platform.   
  • Partnered with Florida Restorative Justice Association (FRJA) on the #Peace2thePolls Campaign Election Day Democracy Vigil to present on Restoring Relationship with our Government 
  • Supported TPA leadership on funding opportunities and organizational development, helping to communicate how the work of TPA is framed in terms of programming impact
    • Community Impact grant – not funded
    • Ben & Jerry’s grant – not funded
  • Connected TPA w/ diverse speakers bringing new insights to peacebuilding 

2023 Visions & Goals

  • Continue to partner with community organizations on BtP events/convenings
  • Partner w/ We Can’t Breathe, Inc. to mobilize youth leadership & civic engagement to reduce violence 
  • Expand TPA content to include stories from marginalized communities in the US (Cultures of Peace?) in a fishbowl format discussing: 
    • How does X community define peace?  
    • Are there distinctions specific to peace for X community? 
    • What are some ways that visions of X community peace are embodied currently? 
    • What is the work that needs to be done to get to the most full and vivid picture of peace for X community?
  • Followed by reactions and responses from non-marginalized community members and a culminating convening to discuss solutions to obstacles and barriers to achieve peace 
  • Increase awareness about and advocate for legislative priorities in local communities that align with peacebuilding
    • NYC – Grieving Families Act asking for legislation that would expand compensable damages in wrongful death actions
    • National – The Peoples CDC asking for a continuation of Covid related precautions for the most impacted communities
    • National – Justice in Policing Act asking for police accountability

We hope you will join us in 2023 to keep the conversations growing!

JoHanna (J) Thompson
Community Peacebuilding team lead

 

Nancy Merritt

Department of Peacebuilding Campaign Report

During 2022, the Department of Peacebuilding Campaign focused on advancing legislation to establish a cabinet-level Department of Peacebuilding (DoP/ HR 1111) and other peace-related initiatives while embodying a culture of peace. We celebrated the 11th year of the existence of the National DoP Committee. 

In 2023, the DoP Campaign continues to seek cosponsors of the DoP Act of 2023 and is working in other ways to advance DoP 2023 and a culture of peace.  

We are in Washington DC from May 8 – 10, 2023 to meet with Congressional offices regarding the DoP and other peacebuilding-related legislation. We need your help to AMPLIFY our message. Contact as many Congressional offices on this list as possible. 

And remember to advocate for a DoP during the month of Mother’s Day celebration as that significant day started as a call for a day of peace/armistice by Julia Ward Howe.

Listed below is a small sampling of what the DoP Campaign accomplished in 2022 and continuing into 2023. For more, see Department of Peacebuilding – 2022 Report.

ADVOCACY FOR A DEPARTMENT OF PEACEBUILDING

  • Celebrated cyclical events, including Season for Nonviolence, Mother’s Day “Peace Wants a Piece of the Pie” Action, Fall International Day of Peace/ Advocacy Days and Holidays 4 Peace through advocacy, announcements and education
  • Made hundreds of connections with members of Congress to cosponsor the Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2021, including Zoom and hybrid Zoom/ in-person meetings with Congressional offices, monthly “11 Minutes/ 11 Calls for HR 1111,” emails and in-District personal requests and hand-delivered thank you holiday cards to all DoP 2021 cosponsors in their DC offices
  • Worked with the office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee on language and introduction of the DoP Act of 2023
  • Made hundreds of contacts with members of Congress to sign on as original or early cosponsors of the DoP Act of 2023
  • Made hundreds of contacts with members of Congress during Season for Nonviolence (1/30-4/4/23) and are continuing contacts throughout 2023

ADVOCACY FOR “CONDITIONS OF PEACE” ISSUES

  • Sent e-blasts/advocated for many “conditions of peace” issues which are connected to a DoP including: voting rights; Season for Nonviolence; the African American History Act; a Truth, Healing and Transformation Commission; domestic violence prevention/ the Violence Against Women Act; supporting the Equal Rights Amendment; making war and nuclear weapons obsolete; Earth Day and working for earth peace; establishing a truth and healing commission on Indian boarding school policies; gun violence prevention; teacher appreciation; remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki; International Day of Peace/ ending racism; building a nation at peace with itself; reclaiming Armistice Day (11/11); and more

CONNECTIONS, RESOURCES, PRESENTATIONS & TRAININGS

  • connected with numerous domestic and international peacebuilding organizations
  • increased the DoP organization and individual endorser list 
  • published articles in a Peace Through Unity UN NGO publication, KOSMOS Journal and The Jefferson City Tribune (MO. newspaper)
  • supported a YouTube series called Imagining a United States Dept of Peacebuilding: 
  • conducted numerous advocacy trainings and other events 
  • organized or participated in events such as an interview with Congresswoman Barbara Lee in conjunction with a showing of the award-winning documentary about her life, Speaking Truth to Power; coordinated Hip Hop 4 Peace presentations relating to DoP and gun violence prevention with Rep. Barbara Lee (CA) and Rep. Maxine Waters (CA); presented at the San Diego Youth Peace Conference
  • organized or participated in many other Peace Alliance or DoP events 

“Peace is every step.” -Thich Nhat Hahn

Nancy Merritt
Department of Peacebuilding team lead

 

Kathy Kidd

Programs to Feed and Inspire the Soul

The Peace Alliance Program Committee provided a National Peacebuilder Podcast every month in 2022 featuring scholars, authors and leaders in a variety of peacebuilding fields to educate and inform on personal peace, community peacebuilding, practicing peace in schools, humanizing the justice systems, and international peacebuilding. Our monthly National Peacebuilder Calls have been ongoing for 15+ years.

2022’s monthly podcasts featured speakers and topics such as: 

We featured a Multicultural Book Club to increase cultural knowledge and instill cultural humility to support personal peace, community peacebuilding and cultural competence. We read and discussed books such as An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz; Toward Cultural Intelligence by Dr. Vernon Garfield; and Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward. 

We provided Empathy Circles January through October with topics such as: 

  • Healing the political divide 
  • How do you define peace and what disturbs your peace 
  • What are your successes and challenges in creating peace in your life and community 
  • What are your successes and challenges in depolarizing dialogues

The Peace Alliance provided a special 14-hour #Peace2thePolls Election Day Vigil on November 8th, offering an open zoom for the full length of the voting day to foster connectivity across the time zones. We featured a dozen speakers addressing topics such as: 

  • the importance of voting
  • what is the work that will continue no matter who wins the elections
  • practicing self-care 
  • personal peace practices
  • restorative justice practices 
  • depolarizing dialogues
  • sharing experiences of voting throughout the day
  • fighting voting apathy in our youth 

Also provided were specialized topics such as Paws for Peace with author Patty LaTaille, practitioner of using therapy animals in restorative justice circles; music to uplift and inspire connection with Cecilia St. King, Inner Peace Troubadour; and special interviews with candidate Tamika Gadsden, running for Mayor of Charleston, SC and Marianne Williamson on the pursuit of peace in our nation.

Tuesday Teambuilding and Feedback on the Fifth virtual calls happened throughout the year to provide space for volunteers to provide feedback and ideas for improving programs, learning more about volunteer opportunities, and providing a forum for volunteers to share their successes and challenges.

The Grassroots Network Committee was founded in January 2022 producing special programs for alumni volunteers, staff, and current volunteers. The committee is currently creating processes and materials to support increasing our volunteer network.

In 2023, we continue to offer our monthly National Peacebuilder Podcasts and are co-hosting monthly Empathy Circles with other peacebuilding organizations. We began ‘Peace Movement News and Events’ in our weekly emails to highlight and amplify the work of other peacebuilding organizations. We are undergoing organization development and are looking to offer more programs tailored to specific interests our network has in the areas of Personal Peacebuilding, Community Peacebuilding, Humanizing Justice Systems, Fostering International Peace, and Practicing Peace in Schools. Other programs will be offered as interests develop. We want to be responsive and relevant to our network by moving and shifting as issues shift. We want alive and responsive programs that meet the issues of our time.

Kathy Kidd
National Field Coordinator 

About The Peace Alliance

Mission:
Educate, advocate, and mobilize people into action to transform systems and public policy
toward a culture of peace.

Vision:
We cultivate peacebuilding to create a world where everyone and everything thrives.

Who We Are:
We are an alliance of organizers and advocates taking the work of peacebuilding from the margins of society into the center of national discourse and policy priorities. 
We champion a comprehensive, collaborative approach to peace and peacebuilding.

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