Peace & Freedom: 2023 Fall/Winner issue

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Branches Find Many Ways to Advocate for PeaceThe DISARM committee co-chairs thankedthe branches and members who attended publicevents in 2023 to commemorate the 1945atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasakiin these locations: Asheville, NC; Burlington, VT;Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Monterey, CA;Palo Alto, CA; Santa Cruz, CA; Sunnyvale, CA;and Valduc, France. They also thanked the manybranch members who handed out the specialOppenheimer trifold flyer to moviegoers duringthe film’s run in theaters over the summer.There’s a new branch in WILPF US: the MiamiMujeres! It was started by high school sophomoreEva Egozi who discovered WILPF after shebecame increasingly interested in understandingpolicy changes and violence in the worldthrough a feminist lens. One of the branch’s firstefforts involved getting in contact with sexualharassment/assault shelters for women andchildren across Florida to deliver packages filledwith necessities for the women and childrenliving in shelters. Eva shared, “As we continueto build our Leadership Committee, we hopeto continue to gain more opportunities to helpbreak barriers and spark material change in theMiami, Florida area.”March 2023 was a busy month for the GreaterPhiladelphia Branch. A small bevvy ofactivists were given a tour of the Lest We ForgetSlavery Museum by the executive director ofthe museum, Gwen Ragsdale. The branch alsopartnered with Korea Peace Now to bring thefilm Crossings to the UPenn campus and Philadelphia.According to Tina Shelton, “it was wellreceived, and we are looking forward to moreopportunities to work together!” And towardthe end of March, the branch donated six books(recipients of the Jane Addams Peace Association’sChildren’s Book Award) to the KensingtonLibrary, in the Free Library of Philadelphiasystem, in honor of Marge Van Cleef.Contemplating WaterDuring the month of August, the Palo AltoBranch’s Friday silent vigils were dedicated tothe Hiroshima/Nagasaki commemoration andcalls for peace in Ukraine. On August 4, thebranch invited members of the Fridays for Future(FFF) environmental action group to stand withthem to “Say No to Nukes.” Vigil participantsunrolled WILPF banners, and others held twosidedsigns to communicate with both directionsof traffic at the busy Palo Alto intersection.Colorful paper peace cranes were hung atstreet-crossing poles. At an information table,pedestrians were free to take small cranes froma basket, to sign a TPNW petition, to take a copyof the ‘End the Whole Nuclear Era” pamphlet,and to join the protest. An intern from independentradio KPFA interviewed several participants.28 | PEACE & FREEDOM FALL/WINTER 2023Maine WILPFers picket with other groupseach Friday in the center of Portland. In recentmonths, they deployed their most active bannersto emphasize how important diplomacy is, giventhe threat of all things nuclear. Branch membersalso thanked Maine’s US Representative ChelliePingree for recently co-sponsoring H.Res 77which calls on President Biden to embrace thegoals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibitionof Nuclear Weapons and to make nucleardisarmament the centerpiece of US nationalsecurity policy. They have asked their other legislatorsto support H.Res.77 and the Norton BillH.R. 2775 (Nuclear Weapons Abolition Bill).The Humboldt County (CA) Branchworked to get an International Day of Peaceproclamation from the City of Arcata, and acouple of branch members – including BrendaPerez, who is a leader of Centro del Pueblo, alocal immigrant rights organization – were on alocal radio station on Monday, September 11.On March 22, 2023, members of the FresnoBranch gathered at the San Joaquin RiverConservancy and contemplated water. LanceCanales, Yokuts, played Native American flutemusic, and Dirk Charley, Dunlap Band of MonoTribe, shared some of his life experiences andtalked about water from an Indigenous perspective.The group also heard from representativesof environmental organizations, such as RachelClark, president of the Fresno Audubon Society,and Anita Lodge from Friends of the Gorge,which has been stalwart in the struggle againstTemperance Flat Dam. Then participants wentout to observe the San Joaquin and returned toshare their impressions in words and pictures.
The Detroit Branch focused the April 20,2023 meeting of their “Kitchen Table Talk andAction” series on “Water for All: The Future ofWater in the Great Lakes Region.” The sessionfeatured Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director ofFLOW (For Love Of Water) and an environmentallawyer with over 20 years of experience,who presented sobering statistics anddescribed recent changes impacting the GreatLakes. WILPF members and friends from eightMichigan cities, as well as Minnesota, listenedattentively and asked many questions. They leftwith a shared determination to contribute tothe preservation of the largest body of freshwater on our planet.Pennsylvania BranchesWelcome Golden RuleFrom May 9-13, 2023, the Greater PhiladelphiaBranch joined with several othergroups to welcome the Golden Rule sailingvessel to Philadelphia as it made its way up theEastern Coast on its “Great Loop” Journey. Awelcoming contingent greeted the crew on May9, including the Northwind Sailing Schoonerescort, fans, and flags. City CouncilmemberMark Squilla presented a Resolution markingthe Golden Rule’s visit to Philadelphia,which included the city’s past support fornuclear abolition. Activities for the crew whilein the Philadelphia area included a potluck atFriends Center with Sally Willowbee (daughterof one of original sailors), a visit to the PeaceCollection at Swarthmore College Library, andon the final day, a walk from IndependenceHall to Penn’s Landing Marina. A dockside singalongwith Buzz Merrick and the Granny PeaceBrigade was held to send off the crew to theirnext stop in New York.On August 4, 2023, a caravan from the PittsburghBranch traveled to Erie, PA, to greetthe Golden Rule, built by Quakers in 1958and restored by Veterans for Peace to share itsmessage that nuclear abolition is possible alongits 1500-mile Great Loop voyage. An enthusiasticgroup from Pittsburgh was joined by abouta dozen locals in welcoming the beautiful shipand crew. Visitors toured the ship, talked to thecrew, and sang anti-nuclear and peace songson the dock. The mayor of Erie sang two songsalong with the group. Members of the groupwho sailed with the crew reported getting manywaves and thumbs up from others in the harbor.PEACE & FREEDOM FALL/WINTER 2023 | 29
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Page 3 and 4: Working in a Fire ZoneBy Darien De
Page 5 and 6: US-DPRK Relations Since 2000United
Page 7 and 8: The Middle East, North Africa, and
Page 9 and 10: In terms of political systems, of t
Page 11 and 12: What Leads to a Sustainable Peace?I
Page 13 and 14: of Armenians by the Turks that kill
Page 15 and 16: DC-Maryland-Virginia Branch Builds
Page 17 and 18: The Fearless FourBy Robin LloydBurl
Page 19 and 20: PostscriptAt the 100 th anniversary
Page 21 and 22: As members of the Domestic Prisoner
Page 23 and 24: a sense of global responsibility an
Page 25 and 26: thought his newspaper Negro World p
Page 27 and 28: In MemoriamYvonne Simmons, a Voice
Page 29: In MemoriamCarol Urner, Tireless Ad

Peace & Freedom: 2023 Fall/Winner issue

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