| Featured Artwork: This artwork was sent in by a longtime friend of the Peace Center, who saw this shared on twitter and thought the sentiment expressed was perfectly fitting for this time. Anja Rožen, a 13 y/o student from Slovenia’s poster was chosen among youth submissions from all over the world. She won the international contest Plakat MIRU – (aka: Grand Prize Winner of the 2021-22 Lions Clubs International Peace Poster Contest). |
| Hello Peace Community! March has been a FULL month to say the least. In the midst of keeping up with the escalating conflict in Ukraine – we have been doing major behind the scenes work here at the Center as we work to continue to serve this area as a local and active voice for peace action. We have a new high school volunteer from Las Lomas who reached out to us earlier this month and we are extremely excited to work with him and continue to build a relationship with local students. At the beginning of March – we also launched our Art and Writing Contest and added a new prompt encouraging students to share their visions for cultivating a culture of peace. The Center is intent on bringing together generations of activists throughout Contra Costa to mobilize and take effective action around PEACE. We must not forget – even through the overwhelming culture of propaganda & nonstop war-mongering – that we are firmly dedicated to principles of peace. We must think critically and continue to educate ourselves outside of the context of the mainstream media. As a part of our weekly Activist Alerts – we will continue to provide relevant articles and perspectives sourced by the Peace Center’s Advocacy Committee and Board. We hope these articles provide context and a more critical framing of what is going on globally. In these times of uncertainty and stress – we should look to the youth artwork featured at the beginning of this posting for the important reminder that “we are all connected to our planet and to each other…” Now is not the time for division but for unity. We must be able to come together as peace activists and engage in critical dialogue that centers us around peace. In solidarity, Andrew Kodama |
| Recommended Reading: “Hedges: On Being Disappeared” by Chris Hedges, Scheerpost https://scheerpost.com/2022/03/28/hedges-on-being-disappeared/ “The entire archive of six years of my show On Contact has been removed by YouTube” “Poll: Majority of Americans Fear Nuclear War” by Julia Conley, Consortium News https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/28/poll-majority-of-americans-fear-nuclear-war/ “Nearly three-quarters of polled respondents thought the Russian invasion of Ukraine has increased the likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used anywhere in the world” “Greenwald: Biden’s Reckless Words Underscore the Dangers of the U.S.’s Use of Ukraine As a War Proxy” by Glenn Greenwald / Substack / ScheerPost / https://scheerpost.com/2022/03/25/greenwald-bidens-reckless-words-underscore-the-dangers-of-the-u-s-s-use-of-ukraine-as-a-war-proxy/ |
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| CODEPINK Congress, Tuesday, April 5th (5 PM, PST) Co-sponsored by CODEPINK & Massachusetts Peace Action “As Russia’s assault on Ukraine takes a huge civilian toll, peace activists in the United States are calling on the Biden administration to articulate compromises the U.S. and NATO will support to end this crisis. Our guests will discuss options for peace that include neutrality for Ukraine, humanitarian aid for refugees, an international security agreement, status of the secessionist regions in the Donbas, Russian reparations for Ukraine and an off-ramp for lifting sanctions on Russia. How do we reach a peace settlement before further escalation? The stakes are high for all of us.– Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, and of the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute. She writes and speaks widely across the U.S. and throughout the world on Middle East issues including Palestine-Israel, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, and on US wars and foreign policy. She is a co-founder of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights and the Iraq-era anti-war coalition United for Peace and Justice. Joseph Gerson is president of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, vice-president of the International Peace Bureau, and a board member of MAPA. He long served the American Friends Service Committee as director of the Peace and Economic Security Program. Joseph Gerson is also the author of the book, “Empire and the Bomb: How the U.S. Uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate the World.” |
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| graphic by Eric J. Garcia |
| “Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using their experiences and lifting voices. They work to inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Their network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide, whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars” Veterans for Peace |
 DIABLO VALLEY COLLEGE – SOCIAL JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SPEAKER SERIES The Social Justice Program at Diablo Valley College, which started in 2018, hosts a variety of social justice speakers and topics to help elevate attention to social justice issues. Please view the flyers below for some of their upcoming events + visit their website for more information! https://www.dvc.edu/academics/departments/social-science/social-justice/index.html |