Saturday, April 30, 2005

Meeting Notes for People for Peace, Justice, and Healing

People for Peace, Justice and Healing met Saturday, April 30, 2005, at Associated Ministries. Present were Rob, Laura, Vivi, Sol, Mark, Sallie S., Sheila, and Kyle.

AGENDA:

CONVERSATION CAFE:
Question for Tuesday, May 3: What have been your most memorable and surprising travel experiences in America?

STUDY OF MIXED-RACE, MULTI-ETHNIC, AND MULTICULTURAL HOUSEHOLDS' EXPERIENCE: Sallie
Sallie has been contacted by Serin D. Houston, a UW grad student seeking mixed-race, mixed-ethnic, and multicultural household members in the Tacoma/Lakewood area willing to be the subject of one-hour interviews for a study of how their daily habits and routines are influenced by race and ethnicity. Anonymity will be maintained. If interested call Serin Houston at 206-632-7772.

MAKE-A-SPLASH ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTS IN TACOMA. Sallie
The Make-a-Splash environmental grant program is accepting Splash grant applications; they must be postmarked by May 16, 2005. "City of Tacoma Environmental Services awards up$50,000 a year in environmental grants to help educate residents and protect and restore our surface water resources. Grants may be up to $2,500 and are open to anyone considering a project within Tacoma city limits. Projects may be educational and should focus on preventing pollution and protecting or restoring clean water." More information at Tacoma's Environmental Services web site.

PEACE CAMP UPDATE: Sallie
Tentative decision has been reached to have a 5-day camp at Camp Seymour, near Key Center, in the last week of August 2006, for kids entering grades 6, 7, or 8, and to extend it to faith traditions beyond the Abrahamic faith traditions.

WWFOR REPORT: Vivi & Mark
Vivi and Mark reported on the Western Washington FOR spring assembly in Seattle on Apr. 23. Cecile Andrews gave an opening talk, using George Lakoff's ideas on framing as her point of departure but ranging far afield. Summary of Cecile Andrews's talk: 'Lakoff's ideas were conducive not to manipulation but to reflection on knowing values, thinking things through, and knowing how to communicate. "Democracy begins in conversation," John Dewey is supposed to have said toward the end of his life when asked to summarize what he had learned in all his years of study and activism. Study circles are an important vehicle for democratic conversation. Sweden uses them systematically. Amitai Etzione says that policy change comes through a national conversation. The first question is: Who are we talking to? Consider how the right has effectively framed taxes with the notion of "tax relief," thus casting them in a negative light. Paul Ray classes people as cultural creatives (progressives, basically), fundamentalists, and mainstream, and divides the mainstream into three groups: enthusiastic competitors, cynical acceptors, and dissatisfied seekers of something else. Lakoff says progressives have relied on giving people facts, but this approach has limits. To talk to the group of the undecided, we have to get over the idea of our intellectual superiority. We need to stop mocking people who are not bright, and we need to learn to be fun, and to be welcoming. There are techniques of personal broadcasting we can use, e.g. grocery-line activism. One person uses cell-phone pseudo-conversations on buses to propagate ideas.'

Mark & Ted Nation of UFPPC participated in afternoon workshop called "Beyond Oil," and spoke about UFPPC's study circle earlier this year on peak oil.

DIGGING DEEPER V: UFPPC STUDY CIRCLE ON THE CORPORATION: Mark
Beginning Monday, May 16, at 7:00 p.m. at the Mandolin Cafe and continuing for several weeks, UFPPC's book discussion series "Digging Deeper" will conduct a study circle on the corporation. -- Five books are available for borrowing or purchase: The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, by Joel Bakan (Free Press, 2004); Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy, by Ted Nace (Berret-Koehler, 2001); Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry, by P.W. Singer (Cornell University Press, 2003); Creating the Corporate Soul: The Rise of Public Relations and Corporate Imagery in American Big Business, by Roland Marchand (University of California Press, 1998); and Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins (Back Bay Books, 2000). To obtain copies of these books, call (253-756-7519) or e-mail (jensenmk@plu.edu) Mark Jensen. There is no charge for participation. A flyer is available for printing and distribution at the link below. -- Prior to beginning this study circle, Digging Deeper invites readers to join in discussions of two recent best-sellers: On May 2 at 7:00 p.m., there will be a discussion of Jim Wallis's God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005), and on May 9 at 7:00 p.m., there will be a discussion of Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Viking, 2004). God's Politics and Collapse are widely available in libraries and bookstores. http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2683/2/

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Charlie King, folk singer and social activist, and Len Wallace, accordionist extraordinaire, will appear with the band "Hot Cargo" (including Longshore Troubador Vance Lelli in a benefit concert at St. Leo Church, 710 S. 13th St. (corner of Yakima & S. 13th), Tacoma, on Saturday, May 7, at 7:15 p.m. Proceeds will be used to fund a Pierce County Organizer staff position for Jobs With Justice. The year 2005 is the 100th anniversary of the Industrial Workers of the World. Through songs, readings, and visual images, this performance captues the spirit, the tactics, and the history of the IWW ("Wobblies"), arguably the most creative, visionary, and musical movement in American labor history. "The stories we sing . . . honor struggles for justice, hope for a better world, a history not found in books," say Charlie King and Len Wallace, who use accordian, guitar, sweet harmonies, and incendiary lyrics. Their enjoyment of each other's humor and musical energy is infectious. "We like music to help audiences to see both the big picture -- our fighting history -- and the small victories of the human spirit that keep us all going. Singing for and with an audience beats a lecture . . . any day and makes us, at least for one night, a family." Sponsored by Tacoma Catholic Worker, St. Leo Social Justice Commission, and Jobs With Justice. For information call 253-627-2857.

TOM RAWSON APPEARANCE: Tom Rawson, folksinger and storyteller ("He has a banjo and he's not afraid to use it!"), will be participating at the 1:00 p.m. service of Hillside Community Church on Mothers' Day, Sunday, May 8, will be held at the Center for Spiritual Living (206 North "J" St).

ALL-DAY CONFERENCE ON PEAK OIL. Featuring Michael T. Klare, the author of Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum (Metropolitan Books, 2004) and sponsored by Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, the "Beyond Oil: Challenges and Opportunities for Peace, Jobs, Justice, and Sustainability" conference will be held at Seattle Unity Church (200 Eighth Ave. N., Seattle) on Saturday, May 14, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. From the WPSR web site: "Beyond Oil: Challenges and Opportunities for Peace, Jobs, Justice and Sustainability. Saturday, May 14, 10 AM to 4 PM. Seattle Unity Church, 200 Eighth Ave N. An all-day conference, with keynoter Michael Klare. With 5% of the world's population, the United States consumes about 25% of all the oil produced worldwide. This unquenchable thirst for oil is out of step with the realities of the new millennium, and yet growing economies such as India and China are beginning to mimic US consumption patterns. The competition over resources is getting fierce, and Americans are witnessing every day how our dependence on Middle East oil has become a real security liability. Meanwhile, burning fossil fuels is worsening global climate change. Clearly it is in everyone's best interest to build a sustainable economy and move beyond oil peacefully, with social justice and respect for the earth. With a goal of bringing labor, environmental, and peace and justice groups together to work on this crosscutting issue, the May 14 "Beyond Oil" conference is a first step toward exploring common ground to forge solutions. The conference will be 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Seattle Unity Church, 200 Eighth Ave. North, in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood. The agenda includes Michael Klare's keynote and substantial discussion time in the morning, and two sets of interactive workshops in the afternoon, focusing on action and solutions -- from individual lifestyles to political advocacy to building alliances. -- Michael T. Klare is the Five College Professor of Peace and World Security Studies (a joint appointment at Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst). Klare is author of Resource Wars and Blood and Oil, and defense correspondent for The Nation. -- The cost of the conference is $17.00 at pre-registration, $20 at the door, which includes morning coffee/tea and lunch. No one will be turned away. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged, and will be available on this page after April 14th. For more information, or to receive the registration form in the mail, please contact: Ellen Finkelstein, WWFOR, 206 789-5565 or wwfor@connectexpress.com, or Martin Fleck, WPSR, 206 547-2630 or wpsr@wpsr.org. Sponsors of the conference include: American Friends Service Committee; Labor Education and Research Center of the Evergreen State College; Rainforest Action Network; Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War (SNOW); Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility; and Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation.

On July 1-4, 2005, at Seabeck on Hood canal, WA, the Fellowship of Reconciliation will hold its annual regional conference on the theme of nonviolent resistance. More than 200 people from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and beyond will gather for talks, workshops, fun and fellowship. Twenty-one workshops will be held, as well as a keynote addresses by Rabia Terri Harris, co-founder of the national organization Muslim Peace Fellowship, and the Rev. Rich Lang, of Trinity methodist Church in Seattle. FOR is a 90-year-old international pacifist organization. For more information, call 206-789-5565 or visit www.scn.org/wwfor/seabeck2005.html

Respectfully submitted,
Mark