AFSC - Kansas City, Missouri
KC AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts - September 11, 2008
Educate Yourself. Share your knowledge. Take Action!
For information about the American Friends Service Committee,
contact us at 816 931-5256 or afsckc@afsc.org
--------------------------------------------------
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it...
Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate....
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
--------------------------------------------------
Dear Peacemakers,
On September 11, 2008, it is a good day to remember: To remember that the victims of 9-11and their family members did not deserve the violence which was perpetrated against them; Likewise it is a good time to remember that the victims of the “collateral” damage in the Iraq war and occupation, including the 1.2 million + killed in Iraq and the 4 million internal and external refugees, do not deserve the violence which has been perpetrated against them.
9-ll is a good day to remember that violence is our enemy. Poverty, hunger, disease, greed and all human suffering are kinds of violence. 9-11 is a good day to recommit ourselves to work to end all forms of violence and work for justice and peace. Thanks for your work for this peaceful future!
Also please contact Cong. Cleaver’s office. Surprisingly Cong. Cleaver is one of the cosponsors of H. Con. Res. 362! The bill is a request from Congress to Pres. Bush to implement a land, air, and sea blockade and a ban on the international travel of all Iranian officials, including diplomats. It asks the president to do something which, to be effective, would require the use of force, make diplomacy impossible, and be construed by Iran and the international community as an act of war! Contact Cong. Cleaver’s office at (816) 842-4545 or 202 225-4535 and ask him to withdraw his support of the resolution and work to change (More information below.)
Contact us to volunteer.
--------------------------------------------------
Help Create the
“Get a Clue America!” Game
Below is the draft spinner
for the “Get a Clue America!” game. We would
like your help creating questions to ask
players. We have created five question
categories: Human Security; International
Relations, Rule of Law, Energy &
Environment, and Budget & Economy.
Questions and answers need to be true / false or A or B answers. Here are some sample questions (Do you know the answers?):
Cars, buses, and trucks are responsible for how many pounds of cancer causing air pollution each year?
A) Between 1 and 5 Billion pounds; or
B) Between 10 and 14 Billion pounds
Last week’s question:
As of 1rst June 2008, 106 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. States which have not supported the establishment of the International Criminal Court include:
A) China, Russia and the US (Correct Answer)
B) Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, and Nigeria
Email suggested questions to me (with answers please) at iharritt@afsc.org . Mike and I have been working on this and think we will need about 10 questions in each category. We will also have bonus questions and “Living the Dream” questions (these will be about things the person does in his or her life to make the world more secure, sustainable and just (e.g. Have you volunteered for a service project in the last 6 months? Have you contacted your elected official? Recycled? Etc.). Your help and creativity will be much appreciated!
Upcoming vigils and demonstrations at which we need your help:
Email me at iharritt@afsc.org if you can help at one or more of these events!
Volunteer to help with one of the following projects.
You can help bring an end to the Iraq war and create a better world.
Contact us at iharritt@afsc.org or call 816 931-5256
* Help educate the public. Sign up to be on call to leaflet, table, hold Cost of War banners or vigil at community events (concerts, festivals, markets). We will contact you when we plan an action. Your signing up will make it easier to turn out enough volunteers to hold a successful action.
* Sign up to be on call to participate in performances of the “Your Tax Dollars for Sale Street Theater.” – Roles do not require great acting skills – enthusiasm helps We will contact you when we plan an action. Signing up will make it easier to turn out enough volunteers to hold a successful action.
* Volunteer to help research war profiteers in the KC metro. We want to identify a corporation profiting from the war and hold demonstrations to draw the public’s attention to the forces which fuel the war machine. –Would require internet searching.
* Volunteer to be a listener in a project to meet with civic, business and other community leaders to discuss with them how the war and war spending impacts their areas of interest. We want to motivate community leaders to recognize the disastrous impact of the war on our community and to speak out.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Peace and Justice Activities
Click on link or scroll down for more information about the peace and justice activity
Peace and Justice Teach-ins will be on a break. For up to date information go to: http://peaceandjusticecoffeehouse.blogspot.com/
September 18, 6:30pm, Nuclear Weapons, Policy and People, Kansas City Public Central Library, 14 West 10th St., KCMO
September. 20th and 21st, Saturday and Sunday, 10:00am to 5:00pm and Noon to 6pm, UN Plaza Art Fair, On the grounds of All Souls Unitarian 4501 Walnut St., KCMO 64111
September 21, Sunday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Independence Peace Vigil on United Nations Peace Day - “Hope for Peace.” rain or shine at United Nations Peace Plaza, Lexington and Walnut, Independence, MO
September 21,Sunday, 3 – 5 p.m., International Day of Peace, First Central Church of the Brethren, 103 North 13th St., Kansas City, KS 66102 Please RSVP: Paul Cesare, Peace Coordinator – E-mail at: paulcharlescesare@hotmail.com or call: 913-384-6685
September 19-25, 2008 Kansas International Film Festival at Glenwood Arts, 9575 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, KS 66212, (913) 642-4404 . More information below.
September 22nd, Monday, 6:30pm, KC Iraq Task Force Planning Meeting. We will work on public education and advocacy actions: utilizing engaging displays, street theater, games and more; work on media event to unveil a KS and MO Veteran Suicide Epidemic Exhibit, organize dialogue sessions on war and the economy and other activities to promote peace and end the Iraq war. Come to the AFSC office, 4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO for information call 816 931-5256.
October 8, Wednesday, 7:00-9:00 pm, The Media and War: Bring the Truth Home Now! The program will feature showing of the video, Independent Media in a Time of War and a panel discussion at UMKC, Haag Hall, Rm. 312, 52nd and Rockhill Rd., KCMO,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EVERY Sunday: Iraq Peace Vigil, 4pm, JC Nichols Fountain, 47th & Main, Streets, Kansas City, MO http://www.kciraqtaskforce.org/
EVERY Tuesday, JOIN THIS Peace Demonstration Every Tuesday between 5PM - 6 PM in the median strip on the south corner of the intersection at 63rd & Ward Parkway, Kansas City, Mo. For more information email '63rd Street Patriots' at schwartzkatz@sbcglobal.net
Every Wednesday, 5:00pm, Iraq Anti-War Protest, College and Quivira, Overland Park, KS (NW corner). Send a message to Sen. Pat Robert that it’s time to end the war!
1st Wednesday of each month, Prayers for World Peace and Group Blessings at 3741 Walnut St - Kansas City, MO (Note new address). Interested persons can call 816-256-4164 for more details.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Cost of War Bumper Sticker are available from KC AFSC office. Contact us for information – 816 931-5256 or iharritt@afsc.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Independence Peace Vigil on UN Peace Day
“Hope for Peace”
Sunday, September 21, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
United Nations Peace Plaza
Lexington and Walnut, Independence, MO
All are invited to join with people around the world in celebrating the United Nations International Day of Peace on Sunday, September 21 with a peace vigil from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the United Nations Peace Plaza at Lexington and Walnut just off the Independence Square. This event is free and will take place rain or shine.
A prayer for peace will be offered and a new peace candle will be lit at the top of every hour. There will be music throughout the vigil. Speakers will include:
- 8:30 a.m. Jay Sjerven, President of Greater Kansas City United Nations Association
- 9:30 a.m. Jim Everett, Greater Kansas City United Nations Association
- 10:30 a.m. Dr. Shaheen Ahmed, Crescent Peace Society
- 11:30 a.m. Ira Harritt, American Friends Service Committee
- 12:30 p.m. Andrew Bolton, Apostle and Peace and Justice Ministries Coordinator for Community of Christ
- 2:30 p.m. Jim Hannah, Truman Heartland Habitat for Humanity
- 3:30 p.m. Lewis Diuguid, Vice President and columnist at The Kansas City Star
From 1 to 1:30 p.m. all are welcome to join the Daily Prayer for Peace in the Community of Christ Temple, where a public prayer service is offered each day at 1 p.m. On Peace Day, every participant will light a candle during this worship.
Two American Friends Service Committee exhibits that raise awareness about the human and economic costs of war will be on site. “Eye’s Wide Open” features the boots of soldiers, each with the name of a soldier from Missouri or Kansas who died in the Iraq war. “Cost of War” is a series of banners contrasting actual dollars spent on war with what that funding could have provided for other needs.
In the United Nations Secretary-General's message regarding the International Day of Peace (www.un.org/events/peaceday/2007/sgmessage.shtml) he asks everyone, wherever they are, to observe a minute of silence at noon.
According to http://internationaldayofpeace.org/ the International Day of Peace, also called Peace Day, “provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982. …By creating the International Day of Peace, the UN devoted itself to worldwide peace and encouraged all of mankind to work in cooperation for this goal.”
Join with others in Independence, Missouri, on September 21 to send a signal of our universal desire for peace.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, Sept. 20th, 10 to 5
Sunday, Sept. 21st, 12 to 6
The UN Plaza Art Fair
On the grounds of All Souls Unitarian
Universalist Church (One block East of Main St.)
4501 Walnut St., KCMO 64111
“Over 85 local artists selling a wide variety of exciting and affordable artwork”
A benefit for PeaceWorks, KC http://www.peaceworkskc.org/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008 Kansas International Film Festival
At Glenwood Arts, 9575 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, KS 66212, (913) 642-4404
Entire Schedule - http://www.kansasfilm.com/pdfs/2008kiffshowtimes.pdf
Peace, Justice and Human Rights
Explore the issues and the injustices that have captured hearts and minds.
As We Forgive
Directed by Laura Waters Hinson
Could you forgive a person who murdered your family? This is the question faced by the subjects of this documentary about Rosaria and Chantal — two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. View the lives of four neighbors once caught in opposite tides of a genocidal bloodbath, and their extraordinary journey from death to life through forgiveness. Visit http://www.asweforgivemovie.com/.
Children of Armageddon
Directed by Fabienne Lips-Dumas
In the face of a potential nuclear renaissance, this passionate and deeply moving account explores the legacy of nuclear arms in Japan, the Marshall Islands, French Polynesia, New Zealand, and around the world. This documentary features Noam Chomsky, Hans Blix, Judge C.G. Weeramantry, Arjun Makhijani and Douglas Roche. Visit http://www.redletterfilms.com/.
Greensboro: Closer to the Truth
Directed by Adam Zucker
A documentary chronicling the participants in the Greensboro Massacre, a 1979 attack in which the Ku Klux Klan killed five Communists in broad daylight — and no one was convicted. Klansmen and former Communists then converge in the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission to be held in the U.S. in 2004-2006. Visit http://www.greensborothemovie.com/.
Original Intent: The Battle for America
Directed by Anthony Sherin
“Original intent” is the judicial philosophy promoted by President Bush and Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Thomas. Is Originalism a cover for the far right to impose conservative values or is it the only fair and ideologically neutral way for judges and justices to interpret the U.S. Constitution? Featuring Alan Dershowitz, Robert Bork and Nina Totenberg.
Women of Tibet: A Quiet Revolution
Directed by Rosemary Rawcliffe
In 1959 thousands of unarmed Tibetan women took to the streets of Lhasa to oppose the violent Chinese occupation of their country. For the first time on film, three generations of Tibetan women and His Holiness the Dalai Lama recount one of the great movements of nonviolent resistance in modern history. Visit http://www.frameofmindfilms.com/.
Shall we gather at the River” is scheduled for a screening at the Kansas International Film Festival on September 23. This film documents the environmental scandal which has been called “mini chernobyls” by the Worldwathc Institute. One leading expert said, “if terrorists did this, we would be up in arms, but when it is a fortune 500 company, it is just ‘business as usual’.” You can check out the film summary and see the trailer at shallwegatherattheriver.com. For more information, please feel free to email me at donmccork@mac.com or call me at 805-882-2129 or 805-252-7291(cell). Thank you for your interest.
La Verdad? is a film of chance and accident. It is an intriguing and sad story that looks at the colliding politics and personal circumstances that created “Agent Octavio”, the spy name for Cuban journalist and aristocrat Néstor Baguer. As an elder statesman of journalism in Cuba, Baguer was set up to found the dissident press and acted as its leader until the political crackdown of 2003 in which he handed over and testified against his colleagues. Santa Barbara film professor Cristina Venegas has put me in contact with Kansas University theatre and film associate professor, Tamara Falicov, who is looking to hold a question and answer session after the film screening.
Meanwhile, for more information you can visit www.laverdadfilm.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
News and Action Alerts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Urge Your Representative to Oppose War with Iran
More than 240 representatives in Congress are on record supporting a U.S. partial land, sea, and air blockade of Iran. (through their support of H.CON.RES.362 )
A blockade, even a partial one, is an act of war.
Surprisingly Cong. Cleaver is one of the cosponsors of H. Con. Res. 362! He mistakenly believes the resolution would help “prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability through economic, political, and diplomatic means.”
However the bill could easily be construed as a request from Congress to implement a land, air, and sea blockade and a ban on the international travel of all Iranian officials, including diplomats.
Congressman Cleaver doesn’t seem to recognize that the bill asks the president to do something which, to be effective, would require the use of force, make diplomacy impossible, and be construed by Iran and the international community at large as an act of war.
Contact Cong. Cleaver’s office at (816) 842-4545 or 202 225-4535
The U.S. government's policy toward Iran is already primarily based on threats and sanctions rather than direct, unconditional diplomatic negotiations. This resolution's inflammatory approach continues that trend and seems designed to push Iran to develop a nuclear weapon deterrent, undermining international efforts to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
Peaceful prevention of deadly conflict between the U.S. and Iran is possible, but you will have to encourage your representative to stop the next war now. Please contact your congressperson today.
Find out more
FCNL sent a letter to representatives opposing this bill.
See talking points about this legislation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We need your support to keep our life affirming peacemaking work alive.
Contribute. Volunteer. Spread the word!
Contact us and mail your tax deductible contribution to:
American Friends Service Committee
4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO 64110
(816) 931-5256
The information and events described in AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts are intended to educate and assist members of our community in becoming active in working for a more just and peaceful world. Inclusion of a listing does not necessarily imply that AFSC KC agrees with all points of view that will be represented at the event.
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian service.
Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice