Returning to FOR's Roots: A U.S.-Based Strategy for Nonviolent Social Change by Reverend Kristin Gill Stoneking, FOR Executive Director
Local groups as source and sustenance of FOR-USA’s activism stretches back to our origins, when 68 people met in Garden City, New York in November 1915 to “establish a world order based on love.” The focus in the early days was largely domestic: against conscription and militarism, for economic justice and legal protection of conscientious objectors. In the nearly 100 years since, we expanded our outreach to create a presence abroad that included the meaningful work of sponsoring civilian diplomacy delegations to the Middle East and the Soviet Union, and providing protective accompaniment in Latin America. Yet, as FOR embraces the needs and challenges of the twenty-first century, we find the call to return to the work of building and tending to our national network and infrastructure. Throughout 2012, the National Council worked with then-Executive Director Mark Johnson to frame a strategy that could respond to this call. A model that organized activism into regions of the country was
constructed, repurposing staff from a predominately international focus to nonviolent change work that sees transformation in the United States as the highest priority for effectiveness. FOR announced this new organizational model in December 2012 with the hiring of Rev. Lucas Johnson as Southeast & Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator, the first position tuned to the new strategy. At the same time, Mark Johnson announced his forthcoming retirement. The search process that ensued for a successor prioritized capacity in grassroots organizing with diverse and younger populations while at the same time requiring expertise in organizational and financial leadership. I am pleased to be able to continue the work of Mark and the National Council as we transition fully into this new model, deeply committing our national programmatic efforts to strengthen and increase communications with our chapters, local affiliates, religious peace fellowships, and other grassroots-based initiatives. FOR’s theory of social change
understands our work as “a movement that begins at the individual level working locally through active efforts by dedicated, passionate people, many of whom act from spiritual leadings, whose clarity of purpose, vision and success actively moves through communities and structures representing wider and wider circles of peoples until systems are transformed in sustainable ways for the foreseeable future. Our field of intended effective social change is that of structural violence in the United States and propagated by the United States throughout the world.” Grounded in this regional strategy, we will be able to more fully live the tenets of this theory through our leanings and our learnings, through our actions and commitments, through our embrace of a nonviolent way of life that acknowledges first our responsibility to change ourselves as we ask the world to change. (continued on page 2)
Returning to FOR’s Roots (cont.) Our self-identity has always been as a web of deeply committed, passionate individuals. It is a true pleasure and privilege to be with you in our common purpose and work. May our movement grow and may we see signs of transformation. Peace and grace to you,
Executive Director, FOR-USA
Kristin introduces the Regional Coordination strategy to guests during a “Meet & Greet” gathering at FOR’s national headquarters.
Frequently Asked Questions: What will be the priorities of staff in the regional organizing model? Regional staff will focus on reinvigorating or starting new chapters and affiliates; introducing new persons and groups to the FOR network; connecting constituencies through gatherings, social media, and other vehicles; offering trainings in person and through webinars; providing resources to support campaigns and initiatives. The heart of the new mission statement is “to organize, train and grow a diverse movement.” How does this new model further that? FOR staff will give particular attention to communities and persons who are under-represented in the FOR network: specifically younger persons, persons of color, and persons from non-Christian spiritual backgrounds. We hope to repeat the very successful “Fellowship School” hosted at Shadowcliff in the fall of 2013 in which four international students were trained by our diverse network in nonviolent transformation work. Also, we plan to include more interns and campus based work in the new model. How can I get involved? FOR has set the ambitious goal of 10 new or reactivated chapters and 500 new members by our 100th anniversary dinner in New York City in November 2015. If you are not part of a chapter, contact the regional coordinator in your region at http://forusa.org/contact to begin a conversation about connecting with activists and peacemakers in your area or around your interests. Invite others who would be interested in connecting with FOR. Inform us of the work you are doing either through the FOR organizer in your region, or our communications department at communications@forusa.org . Let us know what resources you need to be more effective and productive. Give to FOR, financial gifts are always needed and greatly appreciated www.forusa.org/donate. Pray for FOR or offer hope for FOR’s vision in your meditation practice. Believe in the coming reality of a transformed society and the beloved community.
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FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014
Happy Norooz! Happy New Year! Happy Spring! by Leila Zand, FOR Regional Coordinator/Organizer for the Northeast
My grandmother used to tell me, “Shhhh, if you listen carefully you can hear the light steps of the young spring girl in her colorful skirt coming to the door.” I invite you to celebrate the New Year with me, and the rebirth of our beautiful Mother Earth. Open the door and welcome the green spring to your home, and thank her for the beauty she offers. Open the door, dance with her, hold her hands and smell the renewal. But, as my grandmother would also say, “It’s not that easy! Spring is not coming in if you don’t clean your home - both your house and your soul. She is a delicate, elegant beauty who doesn’t know anything but love. Why would she enter a house filled with the dusts of cold winter? Why would she come in to a home that is dark, painful, bitter, angry, and cold?!” Cleaning our homes, our hearts and souls is how Iranians prepare for Nowrooz (Norooz). Norooz which literally means a new day, translated as New Year, is based on articulated astronomical calculations of the moment of equinox. The end of the old year, and the beginning of the new is considered holy. It is a time of deep connection between the creator and her creations; it is a spiritual moment of unity with all diversity. And a most crucial moment in the life of a family, especially with regard to forgiving past failings, healing conflicts, and looking forward to more constructive relations. I invite you, my FOR family, to celebrate reconciliation and rebirth with me. Together we can renew our vows to create a peaceful path toward justice for all. Happy Norooz!
Spring and all its flowers now joyously break their vow of silence. It is time for celebration, not for lying low; You too -- weed out those roots of sadness from your heart. ~ Hafiz
Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! ~ Sitting Bull
FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014
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Passover: A Celebration and Exploration of Liberation by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, FOR Freeman Fellow
The ritual book used for Passover, the haggadah or the telling, starts off with a call: "Let all who are hungry, come eat. Let all who are oppressed come join the Passover celebration!" Since this is the night of telling there is a presumption that the community will hear from 'all those who are oppressed.' Hearing voices of people on the front lines of struggle against systems of violence is the narrative of Passover. Assessing how each of us unconsciously or consciously participates in or resists structures of oppression is key to observing Passover - the oldest and most beloved Jewish holy day. For Jewish people concerned with our collective relationship to the State of Israel, history has transformed the context in which we tell the Jewish liberation story and radically reshaped our questions. For example, the last line of the haggadah, "Next year in Jerusalem!" has caused members of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) to consider this phrase from the perspective of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. From a Palestinian point of view, "Next year in Jerusalem" is experienced as Israel's occupation policies of forced displacement from Jerusalem as new Jewish settlers take over former Palestinian villages and land. The State of Israel's dispossession policies toward Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem encompass land appropriation, discriminatory planning policies, the isolation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, the denial of citizenship to Palestinian East Jerusalem residents, home demolition, settler vandalism and harassment, and the use of Jewish historical claims to take land. This year, as many Jews break the matzah in two, and hide one until the meal is through, we will be contemplating next steps as solidarity partners in the Palestinian freedom struggle. Those of us associated with JVP and the Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence will continue to honor the 2005 call by Palestinian civil society for boycott, divestment and sanctions. Working together, we can transform despair into hope and oppression into liberation. Next year, a liberated Jerusalem. Dayenu.
The oldest Sephardic haggadah featuring the prayer: This is the poor bread our ancestors ate in Mitzrayim. Let all who are oppressed, come and feast with us. Let all who are in need, join the Passover Seder!
Syrian Charoset for Passover from Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb Charoset is a symbolic food that has two meanings (like all the symbols). On the one hand, it represents the mortar Israelites were forced to use in Pharaoh's building projects. On the other hand, it represents the fruits of the garden of Eden associated with liberation and delight. This charoset recipe is from the Brooklyn Syrian Jewish household of Stephanie Cohen.
3 pounds dates Water 1/2 cup pomegranate extract (my addition) or sweet wine teaspoon of ground cinnamon (mixed with a pinch of cardamom and all spice) 1 c. finely chopped walnuts (optional)
Put dates in large saucepan with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until dates are very soft (30-45 minutes). Date skins will separate from the flesh of the fruit, and the boiling liquid becomes thick and syrupy. Mash everything up. Add other ingredients. Chill until ready to serve. Eat with matzah and bitter herb. Hag Sameakh, a joyous Passover season to you!
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FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014
Honoring Mother’s Day
On May 11, 2013, in an action organized by Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, Bernie Meyer of Olympia, Washington entered Sub Base Bangor, home of the Trident submarines on the West Coast of the United States, by crossing the line. Carrying a peace flag and reading Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation, Meyer was taken to the ground, arrested, and charged with “trespassing.”
Photo courtesy of Ground Zero
A longtime peace activist dubbed the “American Gandhi” for his portrayal of the legendary Mahatma Gandhi in the United States and India, Bernie Meyer has been working since 1974 to abolish nuclear weapons. He cites Gandhi’s last words as inspiration for his work.
Margaret Bourke-White, journalist for Life magazine, asked Gandhi on the day before he was assassinated on January 30, 1948, “How would you answer the atom bomb with nonviolence?” He replied, “Nonviolence is the only thing the atom bomb cannot destroy. I did not move a muscle when I heard that the atom bomb destroyed Hiroshima. I said, ‘Unless humanity adopts nonviolence and ends the atom bomb, it will be suicide for mankind.’” For Gandhi nonviolence is ahimsa in Hindi which means “unwillingness to do harm.” Meyer purposely risked arrest to draw attention to his cause as he believes that “nuclear weapons and the total nuclear system are directly related to catastrophic climate change” and that “deaths are being caused by nuclear radiation even before a nuclear bomb is detonated.” He chose to honor his deceased mother with this action, saying, “We must do all we can to live as true human beings as a loving part of Mother Earth.” (Bernie Meyer is former vice chair of FOR’s national council. Meyer’s court case was dismissed on December 6, 2013. You can learn more about the American Gandhi at www.oly-wa.us/berniemeyer/ ) Mother's Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or tears! Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have taught them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs." From the bosom of the devastated earth, a voice goes up with our own. It says, "Disarm, Disarm!" The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail & commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesars but of God. In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.
FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014
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CCP Nonviolence Trainings Planned from Coast to Coast "They're still talking about the lunch counter sit-ins," said Creating a Culture of Peace facilitator Doug Horner at a recent CCP board meeting. In November 2013, Horner invited 16 inner-city Cleveland residents to attend a 20hour CCP nonviolence training in Mansfield, Ohio. The viewing of a segment of a civil rights-era nonviolence campaign from the documentary A Force More Powerful had a particularly strong effect on several of the teenagers in the training group. "They saw themselves in those kids." The CCP nonviolence training program, developed a decade ago at FOR by Janet Chisholm, is currently shepherded by a team of nine national board members. The unique attraction of this training, says board member Toni McClendon, is the
"popular education" process of action and reflection that CCP uses in partnership with community-based groups. Toni and the other board members are especially excited about a renewed interest by local groups to hold CCP trainings across the country over the coming months. In the West, Jeremy Lucas and Janet Chisholm are teaming up with the Episcopal Peace Fellowship to plan future trainings in Portland, Oregon and Hawaii. In Minnesota, Dwight Wagenius, T. Michael Rock, Kathleen Remund, Joan Haan, and Katherine Wojtan are facilitating two basic trainings over the summer in the Twin Cities area. Partners for these trainings are the United Church of Christ and the St. Paul Interfaith Network. And in the
East, CCP facilitator Christy Gordon is offering a basic training connected with Pax Christi in Derwood, Maryland, June 6-8. Further details on registering for these trainings can be found on the "calendar of upcoming trainings" on the CCP website: www.creatingacultureofpeace.org . Or, contact Phil Stoltzfus, interim executive director, at 847-790-4CCP or info@creatingacultureofpeace.org . We welcome submissions for the Fall Witness. Send us news, views, events, recipes, self-care & spiritual practices for the vernal equinox, the holiday season, and the winter months. 300 word maximum. Deadline August 1, 2014. Witness@forusa.org
Update on Minnesota FOR Campus Initiative Minnesota FOR is thrilled and grateful to have received a $5,000 grant from the Community of St. Martin to support their Campus Initiative. Initially conceived when MN FOR member Duane Cady was on the FOR National Council in 2001, the Campus Initiative wasn’t launched nationwide as intended due to funding and logistical difficulties. Cady persevered as coordinator of the program and MN FOR was able to appoint its first intern at Hamline University in October 2013. MN FOR board chair, Dave Gagne, applied for the grant, and now MN FOR is seeking interns on the five campuses of the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities. Recruitment of MN FOR interns is underway at Augsburg College, The College of St. Catherine, Hamline University, Macalester College, and the University of St. Thomas. The interns are expected to form student groups to do research, educational events, and negotiations with investment decision makers at each college or university regarding the divestment of stocks that profit from weapons production, labor exploitation, and environmental degradation. Each intern will receive $500 per semester for 8-10 hours of organizing and research per week. Interns will be supervised by cooperating faculty on each campus. For more information, please contact Duane Cady at dcady@hamline.edu.
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FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014
Peace Paradigm Radio: A Project of the Metta Center for Nonviolence Nonviolence is not passive. It is an active force within us that we can cultivate to counter the culture of violence in an increasingly militarized and fear-based society. Peace Researcher Kenneth Boulding refers to nonviolence as an “integrative power” that draws on our courage to be authentic which in turn draws people closer together. Gandhi coined the term sarvodaya to mean “the uplift” or “fulfillment of all” which is at the heart of the shift in paradigms that is the basis of a nonviolent culture. Peace Paradigm Radio explores the power of active nonviolence in a highly educational and enjoyable way. A project of the Metta Center for Nonviolence with the support of KWMR, each show offers a segment with Professor Michael Nagler, cofounder of University of California, Berkeley’s Peace and Conflict Studies Program, sharing stories and analysis on nonviolence in the news. Also on each show, Stephanie Van Hook, Metta Center Director, interviews guests who practice the principles of nonviolence in their effort to create a better world. Other special guest hosts include Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers of PopularResistance.org with a monthly Resistance Report, and former KWMR host of Transition to Peace, Russ Faurbrauc, to talk on the transition to a nonviolent world. On Peace Paradigm Radio, we believe that nonviolence is the key to a livable and prosperous future for generations to come, and through learning more about it, you can transform your life and the world around you. Airs every other Friday at 1:00 pm PST on KWMR Community Radio. You can listen live at www.kwmr.org or access the show’s archives at www.mettacenter.org. Weekend Retreat sponsored by the Metta Center Buddha and the World Crisis: Discovering Compassion in Action When: August 1-3, 2014 Where: the beautiful, serene, and healing Mt. Madonna Center, Watsonville, CA. As the Dalai Lama says, “Compassion is the religion of this age.” We will explore the practical teachings of the Compassionate Buddha, as contained in the Dhammapada (the “Way of the Law”). Instruction in passage meditation and practice will be tailored to participants’ needs and experiences. Opportunities for yoga and hiking will be integrated into our time together. One need not be a practitioner of Buddhism - open to all. For more information: visit www.mettacenter.org or call 707-774-6299.
FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014
“We are constantly being astonished at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt-of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
The Nonviolence Handbook by Michael N. Nagler will be available for purchase in April, 2014. Copies can be obtained directly from the publisher (www.bkconnection.com), at Amazon.com, ordered from your local bookstore, or ordered from the Metta Center for Nonviolence (www.mettacenter.org).
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Take Back the 4th: Speak Truth to Power ~ 2014 Seabeck Conference Western Washington and Oregon FOR have partnered for fifty-six years to conduct one of the largest peace conferences in the Pacific Northwest. This year, activists from a variety of faith traditions from all over the country are invited to the Seabeck Conference Center west of Seattle on July 3 – 6, to explore the theme, Take Back the 4th: Speak Truth to Power, to focus on preserving our Constitutional 4th Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure in the information age. Keynote speakers Peter Phillips (Project Censored), Michael Nagler (Metta Center for Nonviolence), and Rev. Kristin Stoneking (Fellowship of Reconciliation USA) will discuss the theme and other social movements that seek to bring peace and justice to our world. Numerous workshops on issues relevant to our time will be offered, as well as an uplifting music program led by folksinger Tom Rawson that will culminate in a joyful community talent show. Child and teen educational programs will also be provided to ensure learning experiences for all family members. Conference & Registration Information: Contact John Roy Wilson at 541-687-6728/jrw45@comcast.net, or Janet Hawkins at 503-244-7703/janetchawkins@msn.com. Or visit: www.ofor.org, www.forseabeck.org, or www.facebook.com/OregonFOR
Constructing the Beloved Community in Western States by John Lindsay-Poland, FOR Western Regional Coordinator/Organizer
To effect social change using nonviolence is difficult. Like anything challenging, it requires skill and knowledge. FORUSA staff can help local groups to think through strategy, research, effect outreach, make connections in and beyond their communities, and create internal resources needed for the long haul. In California, FOR is co-sponsoring a Kingian Nonviolence workshop in Oakland on April 5-6. Together with East Point Academy, we’ll explore in a packed 16 hours: conflict and how it works, the principles of nonviolence, and how to apply these principles to organizing for social change. This intensive workshop is an opportunity to understand conflict and nonviolence through Rev. Dr. King’s approach and to generate community. To register, go to www.eastpointpeace.org/workshop.html. FOR is also working with local California peace centers, FOR affiliates and chapters to share skills and opportunities and break the isolation that local activists sometimes experience. Nine local peace centers from San Diego to Chico work on diverse issues that include economic and racial justice, climate change, gentrification, police accountability, mass incarceration, training, etc. FOR is facilitating a statewide gathering in Santa Cruz, June 13-14, of peace centers and other FOR groups. Through participation in national initiatives, FOR-USA can make broader connections available to local groups. One of these is the Global Day of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) on April 14 (day before tax day), to educate about and protest the moral and political scandal that our world spends $1.7 trillion a year on the war system. See demilitarize.org. For more information, contact John Lindsay-Poland, 510-282-8983, johnlp@forusa.org.
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FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014
Peace Takes Courage: Counter-Recruitment in Austin, Texas by Susana Pimiento Chamorro, FOR Southwest Regional Coordinator/Organizer and Western Hemispheric Liaison
“Peace Takes Courage” was the central theme of Sustainable Options for Youth’s (SOY) counter-recruitment table at Reagan High School, in northeast Austin this January. The SOY table was directly opposite the marine’s recruitment table at the career fair. Both tables had chin-up bars. SOY gave everyone a prize: a Cesar Chavez stencil t-shirt, a book entitled Addicted to War, or FOR’s Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story comic book. Co-founded by longtime activist and FOR member, Vera Shirley (19212008), Sustainable Options for Youth is a group of students, teachers, activists, veterans, and parents that do direct outreach to offer an alternative to military recruitment at public high schools in Austin, Texas. SOY uses art and interactive games to educate about active nonviolence. They have a wheel of fortune with pictures of legends like Gandhi and Rosa Parks, and modern day activists like local hip hop singer Gidon; they offer printed materials to tell the truths not told by military recruiters. SOY volunteers talk about the high incidence of sexual assault in the military Susana volunteering with SOY and the lack of accountability for sexual predators, and the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that affects veterans. Hart Viges, an Iraq Veteran for Peace and SOY volunteer, asked the students surrounding the table at Reagan HS, “Do you like fireworks?” The youth listened with wide eyes as Hart continued, “Well, think twice about enlisting, because you won't like fireworks after you’ve been to war.” At the career fair, SOY also took a “penny poll” regarding federal spending. The youth were given a stack of 10 pennies to vote among 5 categories. The results in order of importance: 1st Education, 2nd Environment, 3rd Health Care, 4th Humanitarian Aid, and, lastly, the Military. So, if Reagan HS students had the chance to decide how our tax money would be spent, we might live in a more sustainable world.
Birth of a New FOR Chapter
The North Texas Fellowship of Reconciliation was founded at the Interfaith Peace Chapel on the campus of the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, Texas on January 25, 2014. Organizer and editor, Reverend Jeff Hood, tells about the chapter’s inception.
On the 30th of December 2006, I collapsed to the floor of my room in tears. I was a few weeks away from beginning my first semester at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. I was supposed to believe that God brings about absolute vengeance and retribution...yet there I was on the ground crying. I had never known Saddam Hussein, but I did believe he was a murdering genocidal dictator.
FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014
So as the world cheered his execution, why was I crying? I guess I was crying because I was just bold enough to believe that when Jesus declared that I should love my enemies...he also meant Saddam Hussein. This was the moment I began to believe that violence has no place in the life of the follower of Jesus. Since that moment, my commitment to love and reconciliation instead of violence has only deepened.
The North Texas Fellowship of Reconciliation draws persons together from different faith backgrounds who have come to the conclusion that violence is spiritually incompatible with love and peace. We are all painfully aware of the cost of violence and we are simply no longer willing to wage it. For us, love is truth and we are committed to it. To read blogs and essays about a nonviolent approach to contemporary social justice issues: northtexasfor.com
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FOR Chicago is continuing nearly a decade of work with DePaul University Student Service Learners and the PAX 200 Class. This spring the students will table for the I Will NOT Kill campaign in the Student Center, and attend the Chicago Chapter monthly meetings. Our chapter and the students will also participate in Pace e Bene’s Campaign Nonviolence. Our work with DePaul students is an excellent example of how to cultivate young people into new members of local FOR chapters and is work that can be replicated in countless universities and colleges across the nation. From left to right: Rev. Sam Smith (Chicago FOR Chapter Chair), Sarah Kramer (DePaul University Service Learner), Meghan Mae McLaughlin Trimm (Chicago FOR Chapter Intern), Rauthany Iy and Yeon Noo Bae (DePaul University Service Learners). Two other DePaul University Service Learners, Fatima A Jacome and Blake Truitt, were not present for this photo.
The Future Is NOW is an exciting intergenerational summit sponsored by taking place August 15-17 near the Twin Cities. The core organizers of the summit invite you to help us realize
The Future is Now. Most of us are members of front line communities struggling for racial, economic and environmental justice. We are young and passionate about putting a plug in the school to prison pipeline, ending policies of deportation, mass incarceration, and the militarization of police. We are building the future we want to see now. Help us take the next step by supporting The Here's what you can do: 1) Learn more at www.blazingforward.org
Future Is NOW Summit.
2) Spread the word by liking us on FACEBOOK. Facebook.com/2014FIN 3) Share your involvement through Twitter - #FutureIsNow #FINchat 4) Help young people to attend by contributing $175 to sponsor one person 5) Create a fundraising & education party through your local FOR chapter or RPF for The Future Is NOW. One of the core organizers can help you put together a local event. 6) To apply: www.blazingforward.org For more information contact shauenp@forusa.org or lgottlieb@forusa.org
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FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014
Veterans FOR Emergency Food Card Assistance Project by Jim Murphy, FOR National Council member and founder of Vets FOR
Veterans Fellowship of Reconciliation has launched a new project to provide short-term food relief to veterans living on the edge. We are donating $50 food gift cards from Greenstar (a large food co-op in Ithaca, NY) and Wegmans Supermarket to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam vets. Local veterans and allies are matching the donations from Greenstar and Wegmans. The 1st Unitarian Society of Ithaca (FUSIT) is the hub for this project. Any veteran that is interested can contact us to arrange a meeting in which we will verify their experience and provide a first card. At the initial meeting we will offer assistance and advice with regard to utilizing Veterans Affairs (VA) services, as well as provide initial transportation and accompaniment, if desired. We feel the Food Card Project is another way to unite veterans and community. War is a moral injury as well as a psychological, neurological or physical injury, and “Coming Home” is never simple. There were hundreds of thousands of Vietnam Veterans that died by 1980. We can't let this happen again. Since the VA is overwhelmed with the needs of the veterans of the U.S. wars of the past 12 years, we hope to share this model project. Any national FOR chapters interested in our blueprint, please contact us at ivetsfor@gmail.com or by phone at 607-319-0980.
Pete Seeger ~ ¡Presente! by S. Hope Altkin, FOR Peace House Host and Events Coordinator
It is impossible for me to imagine that Pete Seeger is ‘no longer with us.’ Shortly after his passing on January 27th, a friend said to me, “He was, is, and will be...” I have pondered this since. One day, after having volunteered with the Clearwater and the Beacon Sloop Club Photo courtesy of Doug Nobiletti for many years, Pete mentioned to me how difficult the mail and the files were becoming - it was all just getting to be too much. I offered to help. So it came to be, the gift of knowing Pete while working with and for him at the home he shared with Toshi, his wife and partner of over 60 years, continuing to organize and catalogue the enormous volume of correspondence, literature and material that found its way to their doors. It was not an easy task, and I often found myself in amazement at how Toshi had done it all and so much more! Pete was easy to know and the kindest spirit I have ever known. He had the gift of story and no work day was complete without several. It was a sure thing that, if asked a question about where he would like this or that, a story would follow. Sometimes I would have to ‘take myself off the clock’ as one story flowed into another.
Photo courtesy of Len Tsou
Everything that Pete did was with exquisite attention to detail and care… from chopping firewood, building a fire, considering a question, or penning a song. The gifts of shared meals, visitors, conversation, reflections on the world past, present and future... I will forever be grateful.
So, yes, it’s difficult to contemplate a world without Pete and Toshi Seeger; and, fortunately, because of all that they did and all they gave to us, we don’t have to. FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014
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Rev. Kristin Gill Stoneking, FOR Executive Director and Ed McManus, Centennial Committee Chair are pleased to introduce The Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Donzaleigh Abernathy
2015 Honorary Centennial Committee
Mrs. Juanita Jones Abernathy
Taylor Branch
Joan Baez
Dr. Helen Caldicott
Liliane K. Baxter
Joan Chittister, OSB
Medea Benjamin
Pat Clark
Daniel Berrigan
Dr. Dorothy Cotton
Julian Bond
The Rev. John Dear
Jonathan Demme
Daniel Ellsberg
Adolfo Perez Esquivel
Mike Farrell
Arun Gandhi
George Houser
The Rev. James Lawson
The Hon. John Lewis
Hildegard Goss-Mayr
Sr. Helen Prejean
Thich Nhat Hanh
Pete Seeger (deceased)
Dr. Vincent Harding
Martin Sheen
Plans are underway for FOR-USA’s 100th Anniversary Celebration. How will your beloved community celebrate? Please share with us: centennial@forusa.org.
Samina Faheem Sundas