 | | | | We are delighted to announce the publication of the Summer 2021 issue of Fellowship magazine! "Rethinking Democracy" takes on the fraught question: How do we reconcile our current contempt for democracy with our simultaneous longing for it?
The 56-page issue includes a wide range of stories from diverse U.S. and global voices, including Kazu Haga, Jason Carson Wilson, Ilana Maria Sala, Eileen Flanagan, Solomon Salve, and more. It also features poetry, FOR program updates, profiles of two dozen great new books, and tributes to peace movement allies who have transitioned.
Subscribers and recent donors to FOR will receive your copy in the next few days. If you're not a current subscriber, you can easily renew here. |
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This week marks the 76th anniversary of the tragic U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. Today, August 5th, May Peace Prevail On Earth International is hosting an international program with speakers from around the world. It will include a Synchronized Global Meditation at the exact moment that the bombing occurred in Hiroshima ( at 7:15 p.m. US Eastern time, which is 8:15 a.m. Japan time on Aug. 6th). You may participate in any part of the program via Zoom or Facebook Live.
FOR-USA has received words of appreciation from our sister Japan FOR branch for our continuing support of their courageous peace witness in the face of growing nationalistic efforts to remilitarize Japan. Grassroots FOR groups are also organizing commemorative events across our nation, and we honor each local program -- from Seattle to Chicago (where FOR National Council Ellen Lindeen will speak in front of the Federal Building) to New York and beyond. |
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| | | | Register now to join FOR on Wed., August 25th at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time for "Religion, Peace, and Sanctuary" -- an international webinar organized as a pre-event for this October's IPB World Peace Congress in Barcelona, Spain. In this special Zoom-based online event, featuring speakers from Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas, you will hear from and engage with 7 radical visionaries who have been inspired by their faith traditions to use their power, privilege and trust in God in the struggle to end war, open borders, and provide sanctuary honoring the dignity and human rights of all people. |
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Mexico sues U.S. gun companies |
On Aug. 4th, international media outlets reported the headline news that the Mexican government was suing U.S. gun manufacturers due to the massive proliferation of armaments that feeding ongoing violence in their country. The Stop U.S. Arms to Mexico Campaign, directed by former longtime FOR staffer John Lindsay-Poland, immediately issued this response: "Lawsuit is a step in the right direction, but more needed, say experts." |
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| | | | Sept. 16: RUN book launch event with Andrew Aydin |
Save the date of Thursday, Sept. 16th at 6:00 p.m. Eastern for a special book event with Andrew Aydin, co-author of RUN: Book One. This new graphic memoir published this week posthumously by Rep. John Lewis with his longtime aide Aydin follows on the global success of their best-selling three-part series MARCH. RUN describes Lewis's decision to enter politics after his many decades of grassroots front-line activism. Stay tuned for registration details for this special event hosted by Malaprop's independent bookstore in Asheville NC in partnership with FOR-USA. ( Read this feature in the Washington Post.) |
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The Grassroots Reparation Campaign is coordinating another "Reparations Sunday" education & mobilizing event on Sunday, August 22nd at 4:30 p.m. Eastern ( register here). The following week, starting on Aug. 29th, the coalition -- an outgrowth of previous work facilitated through FOR -- will launch a 5-week online Reparations study course on "Building a Culture of Reparations" ( register here). |
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| | | | Hosted by Pace e Bene, on Sat., August 21st you are invited to enjoy music from around the world to support the movement for a culture of active nonviolence free from racism, poverty, environmental destruction, and war. This online music festival features scores of artists and brief presentations on the power of nonviolent change. As part of For Goodness Sake, a live online nonviolence training and webinar exploring the power of music in nonviolent movements will be hosted by Pace e Bene on Friday, August 20. |
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To Governor Tom Wolf, D.A. Lawrence Krasner, and Secretary John Wetzel, As religious and faith leaders from diverse spiritual positions and political affiliations, we join together in this Call for the immediate and unconditional freedom of Pennsylvania inmate and internationally-recognized political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Signed by Dr. Cornel West, Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, Bp. John Eric Stowe, Rabbi Alissa Wise, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons & more than 35 other faith community leaders. [ more]
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| Image by hafteh7 from Pixabay. |
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Religious Peace Fellowship highlights: |
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| Photo courtesy of the University of Washington. |
| | | Thaddeus Spratlin, ¡Presente! |
Thaddeus Sprattln, a professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, died May 18 at the age of 90. A trailblazing teacher, scholar, and community leader, Spratlin was also a dedicated FOR member and active in the Western Washington FOR network. Read this poignant tribute. |
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David Mitchell, ¡Presente! |
David H. Mitchell, III, died on July 1st at age 78 after a long and courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease. As a young man facing military service during the Vietnam war, Mitchell refused conscription into the U.S. armed forces; his court case ( profiled in this book) was ultimately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Mitchell became a lawyer working with the Legal Aid Society in New York State, and was active in peace groups in NY's Rockland County, including FOR. |
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Brand new swag from FOR! Our just-released apparel features zippered sweatshirts, hoodies without zippers, t-shirts, and baseball caps! Visit our online store to check out all the merchandise -- represent your own commitment to the Fellowship or make a gift to your favorite peacemaker. |
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| Back of sweatshirt and t-shirt |
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Every Thursday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, FOR members across the nation gather for a Building Community & Sharing Hope conversation. To learn more and get Zoom access details, reply to this message.
August 6: Transfiguration Day (Western Christian) Aug. 6: Commemoration of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan (1945) Aug. 8: International Interfaith Awareness Week Aug. 9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples Aug. 9: Remembering the death of Michael Brown, Jr. in Ferguson MO (2014) Aug. 9: Commemoration of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan (1945) Aug. 10: First of Muharram (Islam) Aug. 12: U.N. International Youth Day Aug. 12: Remembering the death of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville VA (2017) Aug. 15: Remembering the death of Anthony McClain in Pasadena CA (2013) Aug. 19: Birth date of Dr. Margaret Morgan Lawrence (1914) Aug. 19: Remembering the death of Gavin Cato, age 7, in Brooklyn NY (1991), which precipitated three days of rioting in Crown Heights |
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