Syria: Some Deeper Perspective

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As the President builds up his case for military strikes on Syria, here are a few informative articles you may want to read, looking at the pitfalls of such an action -- and more peaceful alternatives. Read on for links...

High Level Forum on The Culture of Peace

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This day long event is an opportunity for UN member states, UN system entities, and civil society, all of whom are interested in the ways and means to promote the Culture of Peace. A special focus will be on the implementation of the UN Programme of Action on the Culture of Peace, adopted, unanimously, by the UN General Assembly on 13 September 1999, 14 years ago.

My emotional “reality check” moment this morning… by Matthew Albracht

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This morning I had an emotional "gut punch" reality check moment that really got to me -- and I felt had to write about it. I was listening to a local-based story on NPR's Morning Edition. The segment was about the low graduation rate for at-risk African American males in hard hit parts of the San Francisco Bay Area (my home). About halfway through the story, the reporter rather casually shared that the mentors and students in one school had set up an "altar in their classroom" to honor all their friends who'd been murdered. That was the first heart-wrenching moment. Then the story ended with a statement that really got to me. The reporter shared that in many of these schools the death rate, from homicide, for African American male teenagers was higher than the graduation rate. Here is what I think we need to do...

Growing political recognition that mass incarceration carries tremendous social and economic costs

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Increasingly, politicians, "both liberal and conservative", are realizing that mass incarceration has tremendous costs, both monetary and social. Our communities suffer, our children suffer, our state budgets suffer, and we still aren't safer. We need to focus our attention on healing our communities. Many programs have been shown to proactively prevent crime and dramatically reduce justice system costs.

Summer 2013 Newsletter

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If you haven't been following us on Facebook and Twitter, you may have missed a lot of good information from the peace world. Below are some informative, challenging, and inspiring items related to peace -- from the political to the personal.

Taking Peacebuilding to the Party: CA Democratic Party endorses creation of a U.S. Department of Peacebuliding

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Some very exciting news out of California. Thanks to our CA Peace Alliance organizers and other key supporters, the CA Democratic party recently endorsed legislation to establish a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding and a peacebuilding platform. This is a very meaningful development. CA Democratic party (CDP) only endorses a handful of bills each session -- and it's some of the most comprehensive peacebuilding support in any party platform in the nation. This could be real trend setter.