Check out the wonderful lists of collaborators and supporters on 10 Days Free From Violence.
National Conference for Palestinian Human Rights
The National Conference for Palestinian Human Rights is taking place in Saint Paul on September 28-30. Please consider registering for and attending the conference.
The conference will take place at the InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront (11 E Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, MN 55101). Program will start at 6:00pm on Friday, September 28 and end at 5:30pm on Sunday, September 30.
Regular registration is $175 per person and includes entrance to all conference events plus breakfast and lunch Saturday and Sunday. Discounted registration for $125 for a limited time so hurry and register today.
The program includes sessions such as Resilience Across Movements, Updates from Palestine, Intersectional Feminism and Gender Justice, Palestine in US Politics, and Global Struggles for Collective Liberation. Confirmed speakers include journalists Mariam Barghouti and Marc Lamont Hill, human rights lawyers Noura Erakat and Hassan Jabareen, and Indigenous rights activists Waziyatawin and Coya White Hat-Artichoker.
For more information visit the conference website. You can also RSVP on Facebook to get updates as soon as they are available. Volunteers are needed to assist with local arrangements including housing out of town attendees. If you are interested in helping out you can sign up.
Cannot make it? Please consider making a donation to help others attend.
Questions? Email conference@uscpr.org or call 703-312-6360.
Standing in Solidarity
Please visit our new Standing in Solidarity page! Let us know if there should be additions or changes.
I Don’t Believe In Violence
by Larry Long
posted with his permission
Dr. Martin Luther King gave a speech back in 1967 entitled “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence” He talked about “a society gone mad on war.” He warned “that America would never invest the necessary funds” to end poverty “so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube.”
This speech brought me back to January of 1991. I had 7th grade students from Stillwater, Minnesota read that same speech and other writings by Dr. King, in preparation to collectively write a song in his honor to be performed for an all school celebration, such as the one we are having today at the Ted Mann theatre.
This collective songwriting process began on January 18th, 1991, three days after Dr. King’s birthday. It was a difficult day, though, for all of us.
We were all stunned and tired from staying up late into the morning, glued to the television set, watching the first bombs fall live down upon the capitol city of Iraq, Baghdad. The first Gulf War, known as Operation Desert Storm, had just begun.
To break the silence, I simply asked the children, what do you think Dr. King would have to say about what we all just witnessed on television.
This is what we wrote:
I Don’t Believe In Violence
If someone strikes I won’t strike back
If the strike again I will not attack
I’d rather talk then hear bones crack
I don’t believe in violence
Streets are filled with gang warfare
Some people don’t mind, they just don’t care
When children get killed, it’s never fair
I don’t believe in violence
Talk of war in the news
Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine, too
It all comes back to me and you
I don’t believe in violence
Nuclear missiles and Tomcats
Stealth bombers and poison gas
Oil spills and M-1 tanks
I don’t believe in violence
Jumping off buildings just like flies
Killing machines, don’t believe my eyes
Late at night I can hear them cry
I don’t believe in violence
Women are scared at night
There’s abduction, rape, filled with fright
Keep on running until you find the light
I don’t believe in violence
People living in landlord shacks
Keeping warm by burning trash
In need of food, they steal for cash
I don’t believe in violence
Martin said, “Do not kill.”
I don’t want dead bodies in landfills
Committing violence is not God’s will
I don’t believe in violence
© Larry Long Publishing 1991 / BMI
Collaborator Meeting, 8/16
Our next collaborator meeting will be Thursday, August 16, 2018 in the fourth floor conference room of the Central Midway Building.
Thursday,August 16: 7-9pm
Central Midway Building (home of Friends for a Nonviolent World)
393 North Dunlap Street, St. Paul
This is just west of Lexington Ave. Take the frontage road on the north side of I-94 (St. Anthony Ave.), turn right on Griggs (the first right you can take), you will see Central Midway to your right.
We have three more collaborators’ meeting before the 10 Days Free From Violence, September 21-30, 2018. Hope you have had a chance to check out your event on the overview page. Please send any corrections via the “contact us” page.
- Thursday, August 16
- Tuesday, August 28
- Wednesday, September 12
- Thursday, October 4
Liberation Cabaret
There will be a series of Liberation Cabaret presentations by the Peace and Social Justice Writer’s Group, beginning with an entertaining event at Boneshaker Books this Wednesday (9/25) at 6:30 p.m.
Also join us on 8/22, 9/26, and 10/24. The event on September 26 will be Boneshaker’s contribution to 10 Days Free From Violence.
Please come if you can and get the word out to others with our flyer.
Schedule of Events Available!
Our schedule of events for 10 Days Free From Violence is coming together. Please check it out!
Scholarship opportunities in UK
The Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University currently has a number of scholarship opportunities available for our postgraduate online courses in Peace and Conflict Studies and Maritime Security for our September 2018 intake.
These scholarships have been made available through the generosity of The Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust to support students wishing to pursue our courses in Peace and Conflict Studies or Maritime Security. They are designed for candidates from low-income countries and lower middle-income countries, which, ordinarily, are conflict-affected. Please see theWorld Bank’s country and lending page for a definitive list of countries.
In addition to the partial scholarships that are normally available, this year the Centre is able to offer a full fee scholarship to a civil society peacebuilder to recognise their work in the field and help formalise their practice. In order to underline our commitment to supporting practitioners working in peace and reconciliation, this application is open to those who have become leaders in rebuilding their society and bringing communities together during and after conflict, but have no previous experience of studying peace studies or a related field.
For more information on these scholarships, with an application deadline of 31 July 2018, please visit:
Or for further information please contact our Postgraduate Programmes Manager, Samima Hussain.
Collaborator Meeting, 7/12
We will be meeting this Thursday, July 12 from 7-9 pm at the 4th floor conference room of the Central Midway Building (home of Friends for a Nonviolent World, 393 North Dunlap Street, St. Paul).
( It is a Just west of Lexington Ave. Take the frontage road on the north side of I-94 (St. Anthony Ave.) turn right on Griggs-the first right you can take and you will see Central Midway to your right)
Our agenda will include getting us all caught up on what is being proposed for the 10 Days and seeking further input. We will also seek your input on the strategy for the promotion of the 10 Days.
Mni Ki Wakan: Pre-Summit Fundraiser
July 25 6-9 PM
First Universalist Church
3400 Dupont Ave, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55408
Hau Mitakuyapi, dear friends, relatives, supporters, allies, and organizations, you are cordially invited to the Mni Ki Wakan (Water is Sacred): Pre-Summit Fundraiser on July 25th in support of the upcoming second annual of the Mni Ki Wakan: World Indigenous Peoples’ Decade of Water Summit, August 8-9.
The Mni Ki Wakan: Water Summit will convene indigenous peoples and youth from the world community around water., it is dedicated to water and human rights. The Pre-summit Fundraiser will feature indigenous guest speakers, artists, and presentations from co-conveners of the water summit.
Support Our Pre-Summit Fundraiser
By sharing our poster, Inviting others, and our Facebook event page.
Donate At The Door:
$25, $50, $100, $200
No one is turned away if unable to donate.
All Are Welcome
Mail Your Check Donation To:
Barbara Schneider Foundation
2419 Nicollet Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404
Donations and contributions will benefit the Mni Ki Wakan: World Indigenous Peoples’ Decade of Water Summit
Twin Cities Nonviolent 