THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. To all the supporters and volunteers who together made the KNOW Spring Soup Cabaret for Peace a great success!
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Rundown of some local events – we in Kalamazoo are rich with opportunities for action, education, and connection:
-Peace Week
-Banquet for Peace Center
-Michigan United messages
-ISAAC banquet
-WMU Sustainability Summit
-Drone Protest March from Chicago to Battle Creek
-Critical Issues on Youtube
-Africa environmental justice program
-Shift network
-Poetry, politics, tradition in Islam
-KNOW pot lucks
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PEACE WEEK at WMU sponsored by the Peace Center
Every year, the Kalamazoo Peace Center hosts a spring peace week. This year, the Collective has organized and mobilized students around issues of feminism, anti-war movements, anti-militarism, and local environmental degradation.
Please join us this week for events revolving around action, environmentalism, equality, and social justice.
ADMISSION TO ALL EVENTS IS FREE – some have suggested donations and opportunities to support Kalamazoo’s local economy (Hullabazoo) and the Peace Center.
Saturday March 29th
Peace Center and KCAC Benefit Show:
https://www.facebook.com/events/222885791227975/
Sunday March 30th
Peace Vigil – outside of Federal Building
Downtown Kalamazoo, MI
Anti-drones, anti-war
12pm-1pm
Monday March 31st
Talk on Faith and Action
5:30-7:30
First United Methodist Church, Kalamazoo MI
For more information : http://homepages.wmich.edu/~acareywe/wmuclimatechange/activities.html
Tuesday April 1st
LGBTQ Awareness Tabling
Outside the Wesley Foundation of Kalamazoo from 12-4pm
Prisoner Letter Writing Workshop 4-8pm
inside the lounge of the Wesley Foundation
Wednesday April 2nd
Occupation 101 : Film Series
Where do the birds fly?
Final Screening at 7pm in Trimpe Multicultural Center on WMU’s campus
https://www.facebook.com/events/837766396239322/
Thursday April 3rd
Keynote Speaker : Boots Riley from the Coup
7pm The Wesley Foundation of Kalamazoo
***Sponsored by the Western Student Association
https://www.facebook.com/events/249787598526613/
Friday April 4th
Parade and Anti-Drone Demonstration
Meet at 3:30 at the Wesley Foundation
Contact organize@kzoopeacecenter.org for involvement!
4pm-9pm
Art Hop, Downtown Kalamazoo, MI
Saturday April 5th
Hullabazoo : A Celebration of DIY
Local artisan market, DIY workshops, and local music all day from 10am-10pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/579856378770199/
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Peace Center at WMU is a hub for organizing around social, environmental, and economic justice, in the community and on campus. Now they really need our help to maintain their space in the process of the Wesley Foundation moving to a new building.
Saturday, April 12
at 6:00pm
Wesley Foundation
Help us build a new nest!
& learn what we have been up do.
All proceeds go to our Capital Campaign.
$30 a ticket
$50 a couple
Please email organize@kzoopeacecenter.org for tickets. Please order tickets in advance if you can so we know how many folks to cook for!
Silent Auction and Musical Entertainment!
Come and see what we have accomplished over the past year as well as what our plans are for the future. We believe in grassroots fundraising by communities! Thank you in advance for your generous support.
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From Michigan United:
March Justice Assembly
Thurs., March 27th, Dinner @6:30pm, Assembly @7pm
Gymnasium of St. Joseph Catholic Church
930 Lake Street, Kalamazoo MI
Join us for the monthly member Justice Assembly to:
Get action steps and updates on all of the M.U. campaigns
Learn about your opportunity to get on the bus to the National People’s Action (NPA) conference in Washington D.C. this April!
Build money power to get yourself and/or Michigan United members to the NPA conference!
The National People’s Action (NPA) conference on April 26-28 in Washington D.C. is a life-changing opportunity for people who want to build power and make real change. Partcipants join hudnreds of people from across the country to:
Do and help lead hard-hitting, non-violent direct actions focusing on some of the most powerful actors in our country
Connect with the national progressive agenda
Learn about and connect to effective organizing taking place across the country
Meet members and organizers from power organizations across the country
2 Month Count-Down Canvass Day!
Saturday, March 29th, 10am-1pm
Michigan United Office
930 Lake Street, Kalamazoo MI
We have just 2 months left to gather the 350,000 signatures we need to put the minimum wage raise on the ballot! Join us for a supercharged canvass to launch our second month of petitioning and get those numbers!
Join us every Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm-9pm in the M.U. office to phone bank and recruit volunteers for the Raise the Wage campaign.
Join us every Saturday at 10am or 1pm at the M.U. office to train on signature gathering for the Raise the Wage campaign and hit the streets with our teams to gather petition signatures!
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LOVE WILL GUIDE US
2014 ISAAC Banquet at WMU Bernhard Center
Saturday, March 29 5:00 pm seating, 5:30 pm program
Keynote speaker: Elise Bryant, inspirational educator from DC area who brings people together to act collectively for the benefit of the whole
Performer: Havier Hill Roller, award winning singer, actor, and Loy Norrix student
Tickets $40, contact 269-341-4213
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WMU Sustainability Leadership Summit
Thursday, March 27
11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fetzer Center
The WMU Office for Sustainability invites you to attend a series of events in support of Southwest Michigan regional sustainable development. Join us as we facilitate conversation and collaboration among public and private sector sustainability leaders and higher education. Find out what sustainability skills, knowledge and attitudes established and emerging local sustainability champions are looking for from new talent by participating in the Leadership Summit panel discussion.
The Sustainability Leadership Summit events include:
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Panel Discussion
12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Buffet luncheon
1:30 to 3:20 p.m., Poster/Networking Session
3:30 to 5 p.m., Keynote address presented by David F. Hales
In addition to the panel, the event will include a luncheon, a poster / tabling session to facilitate networking and deeper conversation, and a keynote by David Hales. Hales is a former Michigan DNR Director, president emeritus of the College of the Atlantic, and current president of Second Nature, the signatory organization for the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (commitment signed by college presidents to make their campuses neutral by a specified date).
All events are FREE and open to the public.
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Peace House Update (news@peacehousekzoo.org)
Dear Friends,
Last March, local news outlets reported that the Michigan Air National Guard base in Battle Creek would be given a new mission- the remote control of Reaper Drones flying surveillance and attack missions abroad- by the end of 2013. There have been no further updates from news media since that time.
We at Peace House have been deeply concerned about this development. Drone surveillance and warfare kills innocent people, subverts the rule of law, and makes a mockery of the transparency we must expect of a democratic government. A couple of weeks ago, we were overjoyed to receive a call from the folks at Voices for Creative Nonviolence in Chicago, asking if we would participate in and help plan a walk from Boeing headquarters, downtown Chicago (departing June 3), to the Michigan Air Guard Base in Battle Creek (arriving June 16).
“When in doubt, March!'” was a mantra of the civil rights movement. This 163-mile walk, a powerful witness to a vision of peace with justice, will provide us with the opportunity to build solidarity with one another, reach out to citizens along the way, and clearly communicate to the military apparatus: the people want peace!
We cannot do this alone. We are looking for people to participate to whatever degree their circumstances allow. In June, we need people to walk- two hours, two days, or 163 miles. Leading up to that date, we are looking for people to share in the organizational work. We have a lot of strategizing, networking, planning, and communicating ahead of us. This is the first round of email communications on this matter. Please take a moment to respond to us, telling us if and how you might like to participate. We will be in touch with you again soon.
Yours in the hope of a more peaceful world,
Jerry Berrigan, Molly Mechtenberg, Jen and Mike DeWaele
Peace House
START: Boeing Headquarters
June Destination Miles
3 83rd & Bond – Chicago 12.5
4 Gary Metro Station 16
5 Indiana Dunes Train Station 15.5
6 Long Beach, IN 15
7 Sawyer, MI (John’s Cabin) 15.5
8 Shoreham, MI 15
9 Coloma, MI 15
10 Lawrence, MI 13.5
11 Maple Grove Cemetery 13.5
12 Peace House, Kalamazoo 13.5
13 Hill Brady & Sand – Battle Creek15.5
14 Battle Creek MI ANGB 2.5
Total 163
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Critical Issues/Alternative Views on youtube: Faith in Action on Climate Change
Also Sundays at 8:00 pm on Charter cable 95
Tuesdays at 9:00 pm on Charter cable 97
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One Struggle, Many Fronts: US-Africa Environmental Justice Tour
Mr. Mithika Mwenda
Pan African Climate Justice Alliance
Ms. Emem Okon
Kebetkach Resource & Development Ctr.
Annual Whitney Young Jr. Scholars Awards Program
Wednesday March 26, 2014
7:00 p.m.
Sponsored by
School of Social Work
4010 CHHS
Reception Follows
Mithika Mwenda from the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA). Mwenda, based in Nairobi, is one of the most prominent representatives of African civil society in the UN climate negotiations process.
Emem Okon from the Kebetkache Women’s Resource and Development Center. Okon organizes women to resist Chevron’s and ExxonMobil’s pollution and abuses in the Niger Delta region. She is a strong voice for corporate accountability, climate justice, and women’s participation in political decision-making.
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A suggestion from Pat Lynn to check out and connect with
the Shift Network,
which “empowers a global movement of people who are creating an evolutionary shift of consciousness that in turn leads to a more enlightened society, one built on principles of peace, sustainability, health, and prosperity.”
http://theshiftnetwork.com/main
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On Thursday, March 27 at 6 p.m., the Comparative Religion Department is hosting a talk by Nathan Tabor, doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at Austin. The talk is entitled:
Ethical Publics and Urdu Poetics in Muslim North India
When Muslims recite poetry together, literature takes on a markedly social function. During the 18th century, Persian language speakers in Iran and India formed literary networks by reciting verse at commemorative gatherings for poets and saints. Urdu language speakers in South Asia maintain this tradition today by using literary gatherings to broadcast populist religious ideals, shared irony, and political satire, constituting a public arena where politics and aesthetics come together in verse.
The talk will take place at the Multicultural Center, Adrian Trimpe Hall, 1081 Knollwood Ave. This event is free and open to the public. Parking is free to all in lots #39, #62, #93 and #100— normal parking restrictions will be suspended in these lots from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on event evenings. Light refreshments will be provided. This event is part of the “Islam in Global Perspective Speaker Series.” For more information please visit: http://www.wmich.edu/religion/islam-speaker-series-overview. For any questions, please contact Alisa Perkins, alisa.perkins@wmich.edu.
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Do you love good food and conversation? KNOW invites you to our pot lucks!
They are now held every 4th Thursday at 5pm at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Kalamazoo. Park and enter in the rear of the building and the meals are held in the 3rd floor. We are inviting groups and individuals from Kalamazoo’s vibrant peace and justice community to make brief presentations. It’s a nice way for folks to find out what’s going on and share ideas in a friendly, relaxed environment. Try it you’ll like it!