Recent Events & Reports

The Town Hall Meeting in Raleigh, February 20, brought together 150 peace advocates to send the message for a need to reorder our priorities.  We need to “Bring Our War Dollars Home and Restore Our Communities.“

The keynote speaker was Matthew Hoh, a former Marine and State Dept. official who resigned his post in Afghanistan in protest of US policies.  He encouraged people to advocate for hearings for Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, the recent whistle blower on Afghanistan.  For the NY Times brief and link to the full report see: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/the-whistleblowers-report/

Also view the video interview with PBS Newshour: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/jan-june12/danieldavis_02-17.html

Mr. Hoh also quoted the World Economic Forum, which ranks the US 52^nd in the world for math and science education.  Even if you believe we need a strong military, he said, “you can’t have kids steering air craft carriers who don’t know math and science”.

Hear more from Matthew Hoh on Frank Stacio’s “The State of Things”, airing on WUNC radio Thursday Feb 23, 9:00 and 12:00. Read the rest of this entry »

H K on J (Historic Thousands on Jones Street coalition of 80 organizations) march and rally in Raleigh for a 14-Point People’s Agenda – diverse schools, affordable housing, workplace fairness, voting rights, equal justice and more. Saturday February 11, 9:30 a.m. we gathered at Shaw University (corner of Wilmington & South St.) and marched to the Legislature, 16 W. Jones Street.

Click below to read Betsy’s speech at the 2012 HKonJ …
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Reordering Priorities – Connecting Issues
A Planning Conference for Long-Term Change
October 29th, 2011

Report

Reordering our Society’s Priorities and Connecting our Peace and Justice Issues were the themes of the October 29, 2011, NC Peace Action/AFSC conference in Raleigh.  Fifty attendees representing 8 Congressional districts shared what’s happening around the state on the Move the Money campaign, collaboration with HKonJ, the Occupy movement, and other social/economic justice issues.  People traveled from Charlotte, Asheville, Greensboro, Burlington, Pittsboro, and Chapel Hill, as well as from Durham and Raleigh.  The conference opened with readings from inspirational figures.

Representatives of the Durham Peace Action organizing committee reported on their successful campaign “Bring the War Dollars Home/Fund Our Communities”.  After getting 125 citizens to sign an invitation to elected local leaders, they held a Town Hall Meeting attended by 13 elected officials including Rep. David Price of the 4^th district.  An op-ed was printed in the Durham News section of the News & Observer, and cost of war resolutions have passed the Durham City Council and Durham County Commissioners.
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OCTOBER 13-23
Peace Booth at NC State Fair

The Peace Booth helps fair-goers know there are viable alternatives to the militarism and violence so pervasive in the world. This year’s theme is War is Horrific, Peace is Heroic. Passersby can find friendly conversation, educational hand outs and petitions, as well as activities for kids. Stop and visit the Peace Booth or contact us to find out about volunteering!

NOVEMBER 13-15

Lake Junaluska Peace Conference
“Abundance, Poverty and Peace: Seeking Economic Justice for all God’s Children”

The root and cause of war: the economic system. Keynote speakers will include David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World; George McGovern; Bishop Nkula Ntanda Ntamba, and more. Register by phoning 1 (800) 222-4930 or online at:  http://www.lakejunaluska.com/Peace/

UPDATE! Durham County has already had great success with its flagship Cost of War campaign in the City of Durham. Due to this Durham Town Hall Meeting, in the Fall of 2011:

• The Durham City Council called upon the president and Congress “to bring these war dollars home to meet vital human needs, promote job creation, rebuild our infrastructure, aid municipal and state governments, and develop a new economy based upon renewable, sustainable energy and reduce the federal debt.”  (Read full resolution here.)

• The Durham County Commissioners called “upon the United States Government and President Barack Obama to responsibly end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring our war dollars home”.  (Read full resolution here.)
  
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Join us in Asheville on Wednesday, September 14th 2011 for a presentation on peace and why we are so passionate about it. We will start with a social time at 5:30 and then begin the presentation at 6 PM at Posana’s Restaurant on the corner of Patton and Biltmore, downtown Asheville. The meeting will be over by 7 PM. It is in the back room at the restaurant. Each of us will share who our group is and why we support BRINGING OUR WAR DOLLARS HOME, especially showing the connection of peace with environmental stewardship and why it is necessary that people for justice work together to bring about social, environmental and economic change in our area and the world. Please respond if you can speak a few minutes (less than 5 minutes) about your involvement in International Day of Peace Sept. 21. Please contact Rachael Bliss at 1 (828) 505-9425.

UPDATE! To read the full report and see what wonderful results we have had with the Durham Cost of War Campaign, please see the full report here and also get involved with the next phase of the campaign here.

Original Event Details:

As part of our “Bring the War Dollars Home: Fund our Communities,” show your support of this program by attending  Durham’s Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, September 10th from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM.

Ten years after the 9/11 attacks, the military budget has increased 67% but universities are forced to slash budgets and hike tuition, public servants are laid of, care for sick and elderly is reduced, and environmental protection is threatened.
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NC Peace Action seeks to discover, honor and award young leaders who are working on solving the problems that face our world. We invite nominations of young adults age 18-24 and students age 13-17 who are involved in community service or social justice work that relates to broader problems facing the world as a whole. To complete entry, nominees must write an essay describing their service or active involvement in the community and how it relates to the global community. See guidelines for more details.

Deadline for submission of both the nomination and the essay is October 1. The Grand Prize for each age group is a trip with Witness for Peace to Latin America in 2012. Second prize is a trip to Washington in March to take part in a youth program to learn how to lobby Congress. Click here for forms and details. Direct question to Betsy Crites, 919.381.5969 or director@ncpeaceaction.org

Join us in Asheville on Wednesday, 21st September 2011, from 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM, for the 2nd Annual International Day of Peace! Peacetown Asheville and Local 099 of Veterans for Peace, Mountain Area Interfaith Forum and other allies are increasing their Annual International Day of Peace celebration in 2011 from 1 hour to 3 hours, and from a corner by the infamous Magnolia Tree near Pack Square into Pack Square itself.

The Asheville region joins with hundreds of other communities around the world as they continue to dedicate one day of the year as a day of ceasefire from all conflicts locally and globally. International Day of Peace has been observed since 1921 through the League of Nations, and was later continued by the United Nations, adding the goal of the one day cease-fire in 2002.
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