Peace & Freedom: 2023 Fall/Winner issue
Published by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section
Published by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section
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Postscript
At the 100 th anniversary of WILPF in 2015, lawyer
Charlotte Dennett and I submitted a resolution to our
highest body proposing the democratization of the UN.
The resolution had been endorsed by Burlington WILPF
and WILPF US.
Endorsement and Support for a UN World
Parliament or Parliamentary Assembly
“We propose an enlarged United Nations: with a World
Parliament, made up of members elected by the people
(similar to the US House of Representatives), that would
balance the General Assembly, which is made up of
representatives appointed by national leaders, including
dictators. This body could have the same rights and
authority as the General Assembly.”
This proposal was summarily dismissed by WILPF International
leadership without a vote. Could it be revived?
when she was a very young activist who awed the political
class with her speeches and along the way became famous for
her armless glasses, an image reproduced in every newspaper
of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The same woman who in
London had been press secretary of the International Women’s
Suffrage Alliance and fomented a pacifist movement to try
and avert World War I….”
In the first few pages of the book, he describes Rosika’s
1929 defense of her right to American citizenship before the
US Supreme Court. Her case, Schwimmer v. the United States,
had reach the court after successive appeals and thirteen previous
decisions in which seven judges had ruled against her.
Ultimately her outspoken statements in court torpedoed
her appeal: “I am an uncompromising pacifist. I am an absolute
atheist. I have no sense of nationalism, only a cosmic
consciousness of belonging to the human family.” She refused
to carry a gun.
Uribe’s book is a sometimes lighthearted chronicle of his
research at the New York Public Library from 2018 to 2021,
interspersed with reminiscences of his youth growing up with
a group of revolutionary women.
Contact Uribe if you would like more details about his
book, or if you have an idea for an English language publisher!
kirmenu@gmail.com.
For more background on Rosika Schwimmer, watch this
YouTube video from the Global Democracy and Justice Lecture
Series.
Notes
1 I got to know Garry when he sought me out in Burlington, VT, on one
of his trips north to see his family. We became friends and he shared his
life story with me.
2 See more at worldservice.org.
No Mow May
Continued from page 14.
modifications can be successful and allay fears of personal
neglect, neighbor complaints, or leaving the impression of no
one at home or the property being abandoned. 2
Get Started Where You Live
There are many helpful resources available at https://beecityusa.org/no-mow-may/,
including FAQs, summaries of published
studies, webinars (such as “No Mow May: Bringing Your
Community on Board”), No Mow Ordinance Examples, and a
No Mow May Affiliate Promo Kit. Each region is different so
learn what works for your habitat.
Our experience taught us that you should start as early
as possible, do your ordinance research ahead of time, and
engage with your city council, health department, mayor’s
office, or other local officials. Be prepared to tell them what
you’re proposing and why, and find various ways to start the
conversation in your community (including your local media).
Bee City USA’s advice is sound: “There are no set rules.
What you choose to do is up to you, and what your local
ordinances allow. Do what you can now, make incremental
changes over time, and learn as you go.”
Notes
1
Blooming Prairie Nursery is a family-owned business in Des Moines that
specializes in growing and installing native Iowa prairie flowers, grasses,
and shrubs.
2
In some situations such as Home Owner Associations (HOAs), members
can offer proposals that may be amenable to the members, such as asking
for a portion of the land to be left unmowed. First Unitarian Church
in Des Moines agreed to post two yard signs in a prominent spot on a
busily travelled route asking the landscaper to mow around that area
during May.
PEACE & FREEDOM FALL/WINTER 2023 | 17