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Here are postings of some recent events held in the U.S. If you live in the U.S. and you would like to see if your area is active with The Peace Alliance, please click on this link:http://www.thepeacealliance.org/organize/ and click on your state in the U.S. map graphic. You will find contact information for volunteer leaders in your state that would be happy to email you information on what is happening in your state.
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Everyone please catch my BlogTalk Radio Show: White Rose Talks about the
U.S. Department of Peace, 3 - 5pm CST Sundays, and available for download.
Thank You!

Independence Day 2007: Parade in Maryland

The Maryland Department of Peace campaign team participated in the 4th of July parade in Takoma Park, MD, and had a blast! Maryland State Coordinator Ted Nunn reports.

Our participation in the Takoma Park parade was a resounding success! We had 28 participants from around the region, including four supporters from Virginia and seven kids! We handed out sweets along with 1,000 baseball-type cards explaining the legislation and received an enthusiastic response from the Takoma Park crowd.

Be sure to take a minute and enjoy the photos of the event posted (courtesy of Jared Nunn). Click here for photos

Gratitude goes out to all those who made the effort to join the group on the 4th, and special thanks to Julia Simon-Mishel, Joyce Lang and Susan Owen for helping organize the event. Also thanks to MJ and Jerry Park for bringing out the Peace Train, and to Art Miller and The Copy Connection in Silver Spring for the generous donation of printing services for the baseball cards!

Great things can happen when people pull together like this!

Ted Nunn

Source: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/411/449/
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Everyone please catch my BlogTalk Radio Show: White Rose Talks about the
U.S. Department of Peace, 3 - 5pm CST Sundays, and available for download.
Thank You!

Independence Day 2007: Parade in Minnesota
Turning Over Independence Day

I hesitated before gearing up for my hometown Fourth of July parade in Birchwood Village, Minnesota. These days, mixing politics and patriotism can be a bit like putting baking soda in vinegar. You know it’s non-toxic, but it sure can bubble over quick. Birchwood’s parade is mostly about coming back to see the family and red wagons done up in crepe paper. Still, I pulled on the turquoise boots anyway and the suffragette style sash that read Dept. of Peace. Two years ago I’d walked in the parade in this same get-up and noticed more than a few tight-lipped smiles.

The Birchwood Village band has one performance each year. Everyone is welcome -- professionals, school kids, and middle-aged folk who dig their trombones and piccolos out of the attic. The band was well into their half-hour pre-parade practice when I crossed the wide lawn where we assemble. Red, white and blue balloons bobbed beneath the grape arbor waiting to be tied carefully to the handle bars of trikes.

"Where are your birch bark legs? Where’s the pink wig?", I asked my dear friend Anne. Lithe, long-limbed and a life-long resident, Anne has been our majorette for years. This year, though, there’d been some confusion, and she’d thought she wasn’t needed. Plus, she was happy to not have gobs of white paint to wash off. Being a village icon is taxing in unexpected ways!

"They need someone to lead the band. Will you do it MJ?" Endowed with all the modesty of Professor Harold Hill, I popped to the front before another clown could snare the spot. Then, there I was, at the head of the village band, stepping out onto the county road, passing the police cars with whirling lights stopping traffic, wearing my Dept. of Peace sash at the head of the parade!

Boy, was it fun! Department of Peace, yes, yes! All the faces were shiny. It was a beautiful morning. Wrinkled hands, cubby little fists, waved our flag. Patriot and partisan melted together. I remember the one-finger victory signs we peace demonstrators received four years ago. This year, peace was patriotic, again.

Birchwood is on the shore of White Bear Lake. Every year, shortly after Independence Day, depending on the heat, a dense green fog clouds the surface of the water. It looks yucky, but if you’ve been here a few seasons you start to recognize that the lake is turning over. In hydrological alchemy, the bottom becomes the top and the top sinks low. Afterwards, it’s so clear you can see the depths, down even to stuff at the bottom you’ve forgotten got dropped.

Mary Jane LaVigne

Source: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/405/449/
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Everyone please catch my BlogTalk Radio Show: White Rose Talks about the
U.S. Department of Peace, 3 - 5pm CST Sundays, and available for download.
Thank You!

Independence Day 2007: Parade in California

There were 25 wonderful Peace Alliance supporters in our Sonoma 4th of July parade. We had huge crowds—more people than I’ve ever seen; the paper reported 8,000-10,000. Our group marched with our banner and 18 signs with highlights of the bill. I think we got some good exposure. The group is growing—over 100 on our mailing list since last September. We’re now ready to branch out and have more events to connect with each other and to get the word out about H.R. 808. It was inspiring to march in the parade and we were well received in the community!

Terry Garbarino

Source: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/404/449/
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Everyone please catch my BlogTalk Radio Show: White Rose Talks about the
U.S. Department of Peace, 3 - 5pm CST Sundays, and available for download.
Thank You!

Independence Day 2007: Peace Float in New Hampshire

New Hampshire, being a primary state, has been continually buzzing with Presidential candidates. Because of this and the goodwill of fellow out-of-state Department of Peace advocates, we have been hosting our own “guest workers” program. We have been aided by the expertise of five from Florida, one from Texas, one from Minnesota, and one from History (Mark Twain).

Perhaps their biggest impact has been to interpret our state Dept of Peace campaign logo onto some very day-glow and noticeable, safety green tee shirts that simply cannot be missed by any state representative or national candidate. They have helped us bird-dog and disseminate thousands of Dept of Peace cards.

Our shirts made their impacting debut at the town of Amherst, NH’s annual Fourth of July parade. This is a classic, old village parade with an air of Americana. It is a true red, white and blue affair complete with floats, bands and politicians.

To increase awareness of HR808 and the Department of Peace, we created a nine-foot rendition of our state dove as a float. The dove was created with a chicken wire bodice woven with hundreds of recycled white plastic bags. Her wings were hinged so that she could flap and stir up our hope and determination for Peace as we made our way through town.

She was pulled by human power on a rolling skid to minimize our carbon footprint. We were led by a Peace Train of children (from our coordinator’s Peace camp,) all wearing their hand-decorated box cars. Their waves alone caught the crowd’s attention. They were followed by Mark Twain, who announced his candidacy for president on the podium with the likes of Richardson and Hunter, and a host of side walkers in bright green shirts!

Our walkers carried signs with messages of hope on one side and the Department of Peace and Non-violence HR808 on the other. It was a glorious and visually present day. The float was honored with one of the prized awards of “Most Original.” People, the judges included, were quite struck by it.

Much sharing of information happened following the parade on the Green where we tabled. We mixed it up with the politicians or their representatives and the crowds. We ended our day with a potluck picnic. (That said, we do not yet have the endorsement of either of our Democratic Representatives or our Republican Senators, but we’re working on it!)

Jan Grossman

Source: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/406/449/
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Everyone please catch my BlogTalk Radio Show: White Rose Talks about the
U.S. Department of Peace, 3 - 5pm CST Sundays, and available for download.
Thank You!

China Room Peace Tour 2007

“Why wouldn’t you go on tour for peace? There’s a universal theme in the culture of music – we all agree that organizing peacefully to create something beautiful is a good idea. We’d like to romance the country two ears at a time.” China Room

China Room, a rising indie band on the Los Angeles music scene, is comprised of Joaquin Pastor, Nima Kazerouni, Vince Mazza, Johann Carbajal, and Greg Bramlet. The band first began to work with CounterCulture Productions on a feature film “Omarska” about the Roma (Gypsy) genocide in Bosnia, a tragedy that horrified and affected them deeply. Through CounterCulture, they then learned about something positive and hopeful – the Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace.

For Nima Kazerouni, the need for a Department of Peace is painfully real. “My life has been deeply touched by war,” he says. “My hope is that others’ lives will be touched by peace. I was born into a world where bombs were falling yards away from my parents’ apartment, while warning sirens blared from street corners urging citizens to run for cover. Living in Iran through the early '80s, amidst a bloody domestic revolution and a fully realized war with Iraq, changed the course of my parents’ lives and left an impression on my family that would never fully heal.”

When he is not playing with China Room, Nima is a substitute teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District and is thus well aware of the toll violence takes on parents, children, and faculty and the consequent needs for a U.S. Department of Peace: “We tend to think of violence as a foreign issue, but I've been substitute teaching in inner city schools and have experienced vicious racial prejudice and seen first-hand the effects of gang violence in disturbingly young classrooms. A student was stabbed and killed on campus only months ago. The experience still lives vividly with the students and myself, and leaves a community seeking solutions to ensure this doesn't happen again.”

When China Room was set to go out on their first tour, therefore, they wanted it to mean more than just supporting sales of a CD. They wanted to use the power of music and their ability to reach a global community of music lovers both online and face to face to do something good. They were a band venturing out on their first tour, without the power and money of label backing, without a huge tour operation, without big corporate sponsors, without much of anything but a van and their music.

With little time for planning and fundraising, they got together with CounterCulture and realized that any action, no matter how small, can do big things. So, China Room decided to tour in support of the Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace.

CounterCulture’s Brett Michael Pitts put together an ambitious documentary project, his first as a feature length director. Brett was a musician himself and had toured with his band, We Stick Our Hands in the Fire, as well as filming several music videos for bands such as The Shiny Toy Guns and Runon Fragment. He was so committed to the project that he gave up his apartment, put his possessions in storage, and committed to the entire three-week West Coast tour on deferred pay.

China Room, who were completely open to the project, generously allowed him to travel, eat, and sleep with the band, and promised him 24/7 access to every minute of the tour, July 5-24. With everyone working long hours, Peace Tour 2007 became a reality. It was just an indie band going on tour, but they made it something extraordinary.

At a pre-tour send-off at UCLA, China Room spread the word about the Department of Peace, passed out literature, stickers and magnets, and signed up students for the Student Peace Alliance. At the kickoff at the Knitting Factory Hollywood, Tin Panda (the company promoting the event) was so impressed by what China Room were doing and the buzz that was spreading about them that they donated over a hundred free tickets. In a music scene where promoters usually demand that bands “pre-sell” a set number of tickets, that was a really amazing gift.

The Department of Peace information table was well supported by volunteers, like Tory Haslinger (State co-coordinator for the Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley and Santa Barbara areas), JoAnne Gaines (District 36), and Rosaline Roch (Student Peace Alliance). Senator Feinstein's State Deputy director, Guillermo Gonzalez, attended in support, and we answered many questions and passed out lots of literature to the crowd.

The next morning, the band loaded up their van and headed out to dates in San Francisco, Oakland, Roseville, Portland, Seattle, and Anacortes. Sometimes they played to crowds –their Anacortes show was so popular that the bar next door closed down for the night, having lost their customers to the concert. Sometimes they played to only a few people – but they planted seeds of peace wherever they went.

Street Singing for Supper

Without much money, they slept in the van, on the roof of a restaurant, and in a parking lot. They sang for their supper on the street and sold CDs out of their knapsacks to get money for gas and for the peanut butter sandwiches they survived on. They were jammed together in the van for miles on end, and Brett was filming constantly.

And then something extraordinary happened. They heard from people all over the world as this message about the Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace flew out on the wings of music:

Marc Vedo, a high profile DJ in the UK, who plays the celebrity party scene, TV and radio shows, and festivals such as Glastonbury, is using a China Room song in a mix with The Killers and The Arctic Monkeys.
China Room was featured in indie magazines like Unsigned the Magazine, and their story was picked up not only in indie media all over the country but also in Music Industry Today.
They were featured on UCLA radio, the Soupy Gato radio show and podcast.
And they gained over 2,000 new friends for the L.A. Department of Peace Campaign’s MySpace site.
And everywhere that China Room goes, the message of the Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace goes, too! The reaction, particularly by other indie bands inspired by the grassroots activism of Peace Tour 2007, has been so encouraging that Los Angeles volunteers and South Florida volunteers are cooperating to create a model with a website, information, and support so that other bands can do the same.
The documentary “Summer of Seven” is already in post-production, with offers of distribution, so look to hear more from China Room and Brett Michael Pitts and the Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace.

They didn’t have much, but they gave it their all. They are the change and are making a difference. It doesn’t take millions; anyone can do it. You can change the world. You can make the U.S. Department of Peace a reality.

Germaine James
Department of Peace Activist, CA-CD33
Producer/Director, CounterCulture Productions

Source: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/422/449/
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Everyone please catch my BlogTalk Radio Show: White Rose Talks about the
U.S. Department of Peace, 3 - 5pm CST Sundays, and available for download.
Thank You!

Thank you Rossie! The pics are very beautiful. Very nice to see people sticked together for a good thing.
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Thank you Sabine for my beautiful signature !!!

Thank you Rosie! That is really good thing!
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WALKING TOGETHER TOWARD A DEPARTMENT OF PEACE

"Walk for Peace" Walkathons Attract Supporters Nationwide

[Washington, DC - September 17, 2007] Under weather conditions from threatening rain clouds to clear blue skies, hundreds of citizens across the country participated in a nationwide "Walk for Peace" last Saturday to raise public awareness of the deep need for increased efforts in violence reduction and prevention, and specifically to educate people on proposed legislation to create a cabinet-level U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence. Walks were held in over 23 states. This is the second annual walkathon sponsored by The Peace Alliance, the nonprofit, non-partisan citizen action organization leading the rapidly growing national grassroots campaign to create a U.S. Department of Peace.

"We're not against anything. We're here for solutions," said Rick Gutierrez, director of the Southwest Florida grassroots Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace, who lead a peace walk in Naples, Florida. He believes creating a new federal agency in charge of addressing the root causes of violence is a much-needed tool for both military and nonmilitary organizations. "You need more than a hammer in your toolbox to address violence," he said.

A Department of Peace will focus on violence prevention and reduction, initially acting as a clearing house for existing programs proven effective at addressing all types of violence. "We are not taking full advantage of the hundreds of programs that currently exist that reduce and prevent violence in our country," said Peace Alliance Executive Director Dot Maver.

"Violence is an enormous problem here," she added, noting that, according to the FBI Crime Statistics Report, nearly 1.4 million violent crimes were reported in the United States in 2005. "This number doesn't include unreported crimes," Maver continued. "It's a sobering reminder that violence has become a leading public health issue that costs us billions of dollars every year."

Maver added that a 2004 World Health Organization report found that the United States spends between $300 billion and $500 billion per year on the after-effects of violence, not including war-related costs. "We have to get serious about preventing violence," Maver said. "We can't afford not to."

Domestically, the Department of Peace will research, propose and facilitate practical, field-tested solutions to reduce and prevent violence. It will provide additional and much-needed financial and institutional heft to strengthen and complement our current approach to violence, adding a much-needed focus on prevention through increased funding for local programs that are proven effective at reducing and preventing violence.

Internationally, the Department will advise the President and Congress on the most innovative techniques to establish and promote peace among nations, and will research and analyze the root causes of war to help prevent conflicts from escalating to the point of violence. It will create a Peace Academy, on par with the Military Service Academies, to build a world-class faculty of peacebuilding experts, many of whom currently live in the United States. They will analyze peacebuilding at the highest level, advise other branches of government, and expand the training of civilian and military peacekeepers.

Please visit http://www.thepeacealliance.org for more information on the legislation and the grassroots campaign.

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Source: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/437/1/
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Everyone please catch my BlogTalk Radio Show: White Rose Talks about the
U.S. Department of Peace, 3 - 5pm CST Sundays, and available for download.
Thank You!

“Global Alliance” Midday Workshop at United Nations NGO/DPI Conference in NY

Thursday September 6, 2007

Peace ON Earth Must Also Be, Peace WITH Earth

The Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace was recently featured at the United Nations within the NGO community during this year’s 60th annual DPI/NGO Conference held in New York from September 5-7, 2007. The historic and timely conference theme was “Climate Change: How It Impacts Us All.” Several members of the U.S. delegation, along with a youth delegate from Ghana (left picture: Marianne Perez, Dot Maver, Nina Meyerhof and Sammy Jacobs Abbey) presented a “standing room only” Midday Workshop to an enthusiastic audience. It was entitled: A Solution to the Challenge of Climate Change: Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace.

The Midday Workshops are an integral, enhancing part of the conference where individual NGO’s have the opportunity to share their work on related topics and in the case of this year’s theme, offer solutions. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon made history earlier this year by stating climate change has implications for peace and security. He said governments must provide collaborative responses for global prevention. Because a country’s Secretary or Minister of Peace could offer strategies for non-violent resolution of security-related conflicts arising from environmental concerns (like scarcity of natural resources or global warming), this was a perfect opportunity for the Global Alliance to present a workshop at the United Nations about our exciting, rapidly evolving global movement to create infrastructure for peace.

The workshop was created by Anne Creter, MSW, LSW who, because of various NGO affiliations at the United Nations headquarters in New York, was able to obtain the necessary workshop sponsor plus 5 co-sponsorships to be considered for presentation. The International Public Policy Institute was sponsor, co-sponsored by the National Service Conference of American Ethical Union, The Ribbon International, Operation Peace Through Unity, Association of World Citizen’s and the NGO Committee on UN Sports for Peace. There were even five additional co-sponsors (Children of the Earth, Aquarian Age Community, UN Values Caucus, Brahma Kamaris World Spiritual Organization and the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns). All these gracious sponsorships are much appreciated!

Anne Creter also was moderator, opening by making the sometimes dubious connection between climate change and peace as depicted in the Earth Charter. She mentioned the 5 handouts which included: Global Alliance flyer (www.mfp-dop.org); a small piece relating Climate Change to Departments / Ministries of Peace; a scholarly article entitled “Climate Change and Peace” written by Canadian Department of Peace Spokesperson and Chair of the Global Alliance Dr. Saul Arbess; plus information on the NGO project to obtain a UN General Assembly Resolution encouraging departments/ministries of peace within member states, including the New Zealand draft which has gotten much acclaim there. Also included was a relevant Quaker Earthcare Witness brochure about how Peace witness and Eco-witness are two sides of the same coin.

The distinguished panelists were … the brilliant Marianne Perez, MA (Youth Working Group of the Global Alliance and Youth Liaison of the U.S. Delegation) who delighted everyone with her “orange” exercise demonstrating conflict resolution … the ever-inspiring Dorothy J. Maver, Ph.D (Global Alliance Steering Committee and Director of the Peace Alliance) who passionately advocated for governmental structures to support a culture of peace …and the sparkling Nina Meyerhof, Ed.D (Children of the Earth President and U.S Global Alliance Delegate) who uplifted everyone with her remarkable work teaching peace to children around the world. Aaron Voldman (Youth Working Group of the Global Alliance and Youth Liaison of U.S. Delegation) was unable to be there at the last minute due to a back-to-college conflict. In his place was the dynamic Sammy Jacobs Abbey who movingly shared his personal Global Alliance challenges and joys as part of the youth peace movement in his country of Ghana. The panel perfectly fulfilled conference urgings to have young presenters, particularly from other countries.

The piece-de-resistance was special participant Chelsea-Anne Phillips (below picture – left) a youth delegate from New Zealand who represented one of the workshop NGO co-sponsors, Operation Peace Through Unity. She brought with her the draft UN New Zealand resolution calling for departments and ministries of peace (mentioned previously) which she presented to the group. It was wonderful that she could meet in person with Dorothy Prunhuber (below picture – right) of The Ribbons International, (another workshop co-sponsor) who has been instrumental in planning the UN “Department/Ministry of Peace Resolution” project within the NGO community. This vital connection turned out to be just one of many significant global networking “partnership for peace” opportunities that resulted from the workshop.

A significant outcome of the Conference was the “Conference Declaration: Climate Change Threats – An NGO Framework for Action” document to which all NGO’s were invited to provide input. Special cards were handed out soliciting “comments” in 25 words or less. Out of the 2,700 participants from all over the world, 60 people filled one of these cards out. A committee pored over them all and put together the Declaration which was read and voted on by all NGO’s present in the closing session.

Of the 60 cards submitted, one read like this: “Obtain a Resolution in the United Nations General Assembly encouraging Departments and Ministries of Peace as (a) missing pillar in making peace WITH, thus ON earth.” Unfortunately, such specific language did not make the final cut included in the Declaration. Yet in a generic sense, it was addressed by the many references throughout the document of the need for governments to take responsibility for solutions to climate change before it is too late.

The good news is that, like having a Midday Workshop listed in the official UN program booklet, this was yet another opportunity for NGO officials to hear about the Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace – which is still relatively unknown within some NGO circles. Yet now because of this workshop, the Global Alliance is certainly more well-established and understood at the UN, which indeed strengthens the foundation for eventually obtaining the much desired UN Resolution!!

MAY PEACE PREVAIL ON EARTH

Source: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/440/1/
_________________

Everyone please catch my BlogTalk Radio Show: White Rose Talks about the
U.S. Department of Peace, 3 - 5pm CST Sundays, and available for download.
Thank You!

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