Ron Faust of PeaceWorks-KC begins his poem thus: I am what I am Stricken by a pang in the leg Halted in my march to a higher calling Tired by people who can’t get along I rest in the journey to remember John Lewis
Online, observe 75th anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings and seek to ‘be peace’
PeaceWorks-KC’s annual Hiroshima/Nagasaki remembrance will be held this year online on Sunday, Aug. 9, at 7pm. We’ll have speakers, video, and art. We invite you to make a “ribbon,” part of The Ribbon International, from fabric you fold to about 1 yard x ½ yard and decorate to answer this question: What can I not bear to think of as lost forever in a nuclear war, or any war or environmental disaster?
Campaign Nonviolence Conference Aug. 6-8 requires preregistration
The Campaign Nonviolence Conference Aug. 6-8—online—marks the 75th anniversary of the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Among speakers at the meeting's free kickoff Aug. 6 is Ira Helfand, MD, a leader of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.
PeaceWorks leaders speak up for monitoring KCK police
“We, as citizens of Kansas City, Kansas, have no trust in the KCK police department,” Christopher Overfelt testified July 13 at a budget hearing for the Unified Government of Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County. Overfelt and three others from the PeaceWorks Board, speaking at the hearing, called for independent oversight of police. And by July 16, the Unified Government commissioners passed a budget including a new watchdog over the police.
Register and Vote
August 4 is primary election day in Kansas and Missouri. The deadline to register to vote in this primary is July 8 in Missouri and July 14 in Kansas. If you haven't already registered, please do so. If you are already registered, encourage your friends, relatives, neighbors, and enemies to register if they haven't already. … Continue reading Register and Vote
Use funds from war economy for health care and education for all, says vet
“We need to work to stop funding systems of brutality and violence, and begin to fund systems of love that support everyone in our communities,” said Chris Overfelt in his talk on the June 20 online program sponsored by the Poor People’s Campaign and the Institute for Policy Studies.
Rosemarie Woods, we miss you!
Rosemarie Woods, a member of the PeaceWorks-KC Board of Directors in 2014, died May 24 at age 71. Farewell, friend! Highly political, Rosemarie was a long-time Democrat who resonated with the Green Party. She wrote a play for Women’s Equality Week several years ago, tracing women’s demand for the right to vote.
Targeted by police and community
White people have no idea of the threat that police are to Black people. During the 7 years we have lived in our house, my husband has been stopped by two police for raking our front yard and asked, “Do the owners know you’re here?”
Everyday Racism
I'm writing this because my wife posted some instances of Racism she has seen me go through since we have been together in this house on the Southside of St. Louis. Those are just a couple of the things I told her about, because the other things were everyday Racism that just bounce off of me. I don’t want to have her living in fear that one day I might not come home.
Christopher Overfelt, of Vets for Peace, calls for health care for all
Christopher Overfelt shared his VA health care story during the rally “Human Care, Not Warfare” May 25. Saying his care has been “top-notch,” Overfelt charged, “To think that we have the capability to provide this level of care to all Americans, but lack only the political will to make it happen, is a travesty.”