Over 1,000 Events To Culminate On International Peace Day
By Aggie Perilli and Jeanine Genauer, www.paceebene.org
September 16th, 2017
Corvallis, OR (September 15, 2017) –Over 1000 marches, actions, events and rallies are poised to take place in all 50 states nationwide as part of Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 16-24. This unprecedented campaign of grassroots activism calls for nonviolent action against racism, war, poverty, and environmental destruction. In its inaugural year of 2014, 230 events took place. In response to the hate speech presently dividing our nation, this year people will join together in more than 1,000 rallies, to spread the word of unity and peace.
“People across the United States and beyond are taking Campaign Nonviolence to the streets to end violence and injustices, and begin peacemaking,” said Dr. Ken Butigan, co-founder of Campaign Nonviolence and professor at DePaul University. “This unified voice calls for concrete policy shifts to build peace, economic justice, and environmental healing—and insists on being heard.”
Campaign Nonviolence is sponsored by Pace e Bene, a non-profit organization committed to building a culture of peace through active nonviolence and shared understanding and partnerships to protect human rights, abolish war as well as nuclear weapons, end poverty, challenge injustice, heal the planet—and meet today’s profound spiritual task: to build a just, peaceful and nonviolent world. To be true to the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , and resolve conflicts nonviolently at home and abroad.
“Americans want a positive vision of hope and peace for our country and the world,” said the Rev. John Dear, co-founder of Campaign Nonviolence, nationally known peace activist, author of 35 books, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee. “During this week of national action, we are mobilizing in local grassroots initiatives to speak out against the culture of violence, greed, and war. We hope to deepen the power of nonviolence, with the vision and tools for nonviolent change that Mohandas Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and many others have activated for personal and global transformation.”
Highlights from a sampling of planned events include:
- Delaware Peace Week will hold over 60 events during the national week of action, from vigils and teach-ins to meetings statewide.
- Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, have declared “Campaign Nonviolence North Carolina Week,” and scheduled events to oppose racism and discrimination, poverty, war, and environmental destruction—and to advancepea
- The Chicago area will host 100 events in support of the environment and a culture of nonviolence.
- To date, 1,000 people are expected to join the Peace Fest in Binns Park in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, Sept. 24, with four bands and speakers, including the Rev. John Dear.
- Marches, prayer services, public vigils, workshops, teach-ins, and rallies will be held nationwide, with major events in Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Clinton, Iowa; Huntington, Indiana; Bangor, Maine; Lansing, Michigan; and Erie, Pennsylvania.
For a list of peacemaking rallies, with states and cities, descriptions, organizations and contact information, please visit: actions.campaignnonviolence.org.
Campaign Nonviolence is sponsored by Pace e Bene, a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization founded in 1989 by the Franciscan Friars of California. The campaign’s coordinators Ken Butigan and Father John Dear teach that nonviolence most effectively characterizes Jesus’ way. “It is a way that combines both the unmistakable rejection of violence, and the power of love and truth in action for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation.”
