Calendar Volunteer Opportunities Workshops and Presentations Library Links Contact ICPJ
This year the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice will celebrate "American Peace and Justice Heroes" in the Ann Arbor 4th of July Parade. We will meet at 9 a.m. at the parade staging area, which goes from the corner of Jefferson and Thompson to William and State. Our participant number if FF. Wear your favorite peace and Justice T-shirt! For more information contact Chuck Warpehoski at 734-663-1870 or chuck@icpj.net
On Wednesday, fax, call, and/or email your Representative in Congress and ask him/her to cosponsor the Rachel Corrie Resolution (House Concurrent Resolution 111).
Rachel Corrie was a 23 year-old American college student who was killed by an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer while trying to prevent nonviolently the demolition of a Palestinian house in the Gaza Strip on March 16.
Rachel was a constituent of Rep. Brian Baird [WA-3], who introduced a resolution in the House calling on the United States "to undertake a full, fair, and expeditious investigation into the death of Rachel Corrie." (full text below.)
This resolution calls for a U.S. investigation which is necessary to determine the circumstances of her death and ensure that this type of incident does not happen again. The resolution is not "anti-Israel." On the contrary, this resolution strengthens the U.S.-Israel relationship by encouraging the two countries to work together to ensure the protection of the lives of American citizens engaged in human rights and humanitarian work.
For more details, sample letters, talking points, and more, please visit:
< http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=83>
Art Fair is coming! Art Fair is coming!
Art Fair starts in just two weeks, and once again ICPJ will have a booth. That means we will need volunteers for two-hour shifts at the booth from July 16 to 19. Working the Art Fair booth is a great chance to meet friends, sell peace and justice merchandise, and talk to people about the important work that ICPJ does.
There is still time to volunteer! To sign up for a slot, or to find out more, contact Chuck at 734-332-8623 or chuck@icpj.net.
Break the Cycle of Poverty. Join 20 cyclists from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development as they stop in Ann Arbor on their cross-country bicycle tour to raise money and awareness to break the cycle of poverty in the U.S. You can hear them speak about poverty in the U.S., on Friday, June 18 evening at 7pm in the St. Francis of Assisi School Gym, or you can join them as they ride into or out of town. Contact: Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, grace@icpj.net 734.663.1870
A full events calendar is available at http://www.icpj.net/calendar.htm
Friday, July 4-- Alternative 4th of July Picnic, 2-6 p.m., West Park Band Shell, 7th Ave. by Miller in Ann Arbor. Hullabaloo! is Playing, Open Mic for Spoken Word & Announcements! Rice, beans, lemonade & water provided. Additional vegetarian food welcome. FREE!! But accepting non-perishable food (esp. high protein stuff like peanut butter, beans & tuna) & unopened personal care items for SOS Crisis Center in Ypsilanti. Sponsored by the Alternative 4th of July Picnic Committee. Contact Abby at 734-669-8028 or dearabby888@yahoo.com for more information.
Wednesday, July 9--Come Together for Peace Planning Meeting. 1:30 p.m., ICPJ Offices, 730 Tappan, Ann Arbor. Details: 734-663-1870, grace@icpj.net
Wednesday, July 9--"Arabic and Jewish Family Memories." Storytellers Badria Jazairi and Laura Pershin Raynor share memories of growing up in Jewish and Arabic households. 7-8:30 p.m., Ann Arbor District Library, 353 Fifth St., Details: 734-327-4560.
Friday, July 11 to Sunday, July 13--"Building Unity During Urgent Times" Independent Progressive Politics Network National Summit. Throughout the country thousands of organizations are organizing for peace, economic and racial justice, democracy, a clean and sustainable environment and other human rights and social needs. What should the independent progressive movement do in 2004 both electorally and non-electorally? How do we address racism, sexism and other negative isms while effectively linking working-class and progressive-minded people across lines of gender, age, culture and lifestyle? How do we bring forward the leadership of young people and grassroots people? University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Details:: IPPN, www.ippn.org, 973-338-5398 (tel.), 973-338-2210 (fax), indpol@igc.org.
Tuesday, July 15--"Give Us Hope: AIDS Benefit Concert Tour" Church World Service hosts the Sinikithemba HIV+ Choir of South Africa at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, 18700 James Couzens Hwy, Detroit, 7:00 p.m.. No tickets, free will offering for AIDS ministries. Ann Arbor area carpool meets at ICPJ parking lot, 730 Tappan (at Hill) at 5:30 p.m. Details: 734-663-1870, grace@icpj.net
Thursday, July 17--CROP Walk Planning Meeting. 7:00 p.m., St. Francis Parish Office. Details: grace@icpj.net, 734-663-1870.
Friday July 18 through Saturday July 19--"Peace Generator" 24-Hour World-Healing Peace Circle, 6:00 pm Friday to 6:00 pm Saturday at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4001 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd.. Stop by for 30 minutes or more anytime in this 24-hour period to join in silent prayer or focused meditation toward world peace, understanding, cooperation, and joy. Info: 734-971-8576, email harvey@ic.net, http://perpetualhealing.net
Monday, July 21--"Grillin with Friends: Charity Event for Friends In Deed." 6-8 p.m. at BD’s Mongolian BBQ. $12.99 per adult for all you can eat soup, salad, and stir-fry. Make reservations by calling 734-913-0999, please specify it’s for the Friends in Deed Charity Event.
Friday August 22 to Saturday August 23--Friends in Deed Late Summer Rummage Sale, St. Luke Lutheran Church, 4205 Washtenaw. Friday noon to 7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Details: Kirstin Jackson, Friends In Deed, 485-7658.
Tuesday, September 9--"Casa Materna: Caring for High-Risk Pregnancies in Nicaragua" Merilynne Rush, midwife, will be speaking about her recent two months working in Nicaragua. Kitty Madden and Jeronima Ubeda, administrators of Casa Materna, will also be present as part of their annual speaking tour. Casa Materna, coordinated by a small group of Nicaraguan women, assists high-risk pregnant women from rural areas who come to the city of Matagalpa to have their baby in the hospital. They provide shelter, food, education, medical care, transportation and other services at the time of birth. Details: info@icpj.net, or call 734-663-1870.
Last week we looked at Utah Phillips’s first lesson in pacifism from Ammon Hennessey at the Joe Hill House, a Catholic Worker House in Salt Lake City. Ammon told Utah that giving up violence is like giving up booze, you have to be able to put your hand in the air, stand up, and admit your capacity for violence, and then deal with how that affects those around you.
This week, we see just how big a job it is to renounce violence
Transcribed from Utah’s CD "I’ve got to know," Here is the first of two explorations of what it means to be a pacifist.
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Ammon said, "That's not enough [to admit your capacity for violence]."
I said, "Oh"
He said, You know, you were born a white man in mid twentieth century industrial society. You came into the world armed to the teeth with an arsenal of weapons, the weapons of privilege: sexual privilege, economic privilege, racial privilege. You want to be a pacifist it’s not just about giving up your hard angry thoughts. It's not just about giving up guns and knives and clubs and fists. Your going to have to give up the weapons of privilege and go forth into the world completely disarmed.
That's hard.
Ammon's been gone 20 years, and I'm still at it, but if there's a worthy
struggle in my life, I suppose that's the one.
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