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Jul|Aug|Sep 2013 July / August / September 2013 HIGHLIGHTS A PUBLICATION OF THE PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER PAGE 2 Building Connections From the Center Staff transitions, new board member, and BY Kyle Silliman-Smith, PJC Program Director renewed focus on our mission.. n recent years Chittenden County culture we will be exploring each week PAGE 3 I (and to a lesser extent, all of please check out the box on page 2. Upcoming Cost of War Series Vermont) has become a new cultural The Peace & Justice Center’s Let’s Aug. 9 Songs of Hope and TBA date for melting pot, which is now home to over Dance Together Series will create a space Jeremy Scahill and Dirty Wars. 14 resettled communities. I cherish this for people of all ages to discover different diversity and believe that it contributes to styles of dance from around the world PAGE 4 a vibrant and loving community that I am with a modern flair! Each class will be lead Ed Everts , 1919-2013 proud to call home. In recognition of the by two instructors (Susmita and Goma, enrichment that each international Zahra and Halima, Beny and Rodrick, and The Art of Social Justice community brings to our lives, the Peace Zeinab and Madina) who will teach in the Art is the motivator and the accelerator of & Justice Center is launching a couple of style of their culture. Each of these social behavior and change. very exciting summer programs! The PJC international teens have a passion for Kids’ Club and Let’s Dance Together. dance and an amazing natural ability. PAGE 5 The PJC Kids’ Club is a program Many of them have experience leading Which Way Home designed for children ages 5-10 and for classes for kids and some have aspira- A documentary chronicles the journey of youth, ages 11-15, to participate in as tions of being professional dancers. refugee children. mentors. Each week the group will focus Participants will hear from the youth Burlington’s Livable Wage on getting to know a different cultural dance instructors on what some move- Ordinance group from around the world by hearing ments represent culturally and the from young adult guest speakers from significance of traditional dance in their PAGE 6-7 that community. I believe that this lives. The students are supported by Fair Trade articles program has the ability to build powerful dance instructor Morgan Sherry, who is A Race to the Bottom; PJC Garment cross-cultural connections among the helping them to develop a full hour long Campaign; Deadline for the UN Millennium next generation and support youth and routine including warm-ups and cool- Development Goals young adults in gaining confidence and downs. leadership skills that will help them to Like the PJC Kids’ Club, this program PAGE 8 succeed. Parents of the children attend- is designed to build leadership skills and Quinoa Popularity and ees are asked to stay for all program experience among youth as well as create Consequences activities. By encouraging family partici- an opportunity for all people living in this Remebering Michael Hastings pation, both children and their parents community to get to know each other in a will have the opportunity to strengthen fun way. I believe that performance is a PAGE 9 their relationships with each other and powerful tool of expression that builds Robin’s Nest the community at large. connections that cross language and African History as told by Africans. It will also be incredibly fun! Our cultural barriers. These classes will be programming will include stories & unique and exciting and I encourage all PAGE 11 folklore, games, music, dances, language experience levels to attend. Don’t miss The Upcoming Generation of exploration, and snacks from around the this unique opportunity to learn fun, new, Celebrity Activists globe. This group will meet at the Peace and meaningful dances! Classes will take Celebrities like Gisele, Eva, and GaGa will & Justice Center, 60 Lake St, Burlington, place on four consecutive Saturdays inspire young activists around the world. on Sundays from 2-4 pm throughout July and August. For more details on what Connections continued on page 3 research policy action 2 July/August/September 2013 From the Board of Directors Dear Friends, EDITOR ransitions and decisions have occupied us at the PJC Board during the last three months. Wendy Coe T Transitions first: in mid-May Gaby Ochoa Brenneman left her position as store manager and director of the Fair Trade Campaign, with plans to travel more frequently to her native Guatemala. PUBLISHED We all miss her gentle presence. Carmen Solari, formerly Gaby’s assistant, is now bringing some new ideas 4/year to this position – like setting up a table promoting fair trade in the garment industry on Church Street. (See form on page 12) Carmen was a double Religion and English major at UVM. She selected Krista Panosian, who interned at CIRCULATION the store last semester, as the new assistant store manager. Krista’s studies at UVM have centered on 1,200 international and community development; she’s also full of good marketing ideas for the store. Together, they’ve managed a near-seamless transition. The opinions expressed in the articles, including Our Board is expanding. David Shiman, who brings us rich experience as a professor focusing on those by staff, are those international education and human rights at UVM, joined in May. As a former board member of Amnesty of the authors and not International and former president of UVM’s Faculty Senate, he’s well connected to local resources and necessarily those of the peace & justice center. savvy about how organizations work. Let’s all welcome him! Decisions: On June 12th, we held a very productive joint Board-Staff meeting to review programming in the past year and, even more importantly, set directions for the future. We decided that, during 2013-2014, we would concentrate on one major program within each of the areas in our mission statement: economic justice, racial justice, peace, and human rights. For economic justice that will be the Livable Wage Cam- paign, though we don’t plan to fully reactivate it until winter. Racial Justice will be promoted through programs on White Privilege. Peace and anti-war work will be covered by the Cost of War Series, which is 60 Lake Street #1C funded by a grant through December; after that our main emphasis will be on drones. The Fair Trade Burlington, VT 05401 Campaign – serially focusing on the production of garments and cocoa – is devoted to human rights. We 802.863.2345 fax: 802.863.2532 also intend to leave space in our programming for emerging issues we consider important. www.pjcvt.org Ongoing programming in the last three months has included Cost of War speakers (most effectively, [email protected] Medea Benjamin), white privilege workshops (including one for local police), and a series of workshops on nonviolence. This letter wouldn’t be complete without congratulating Colleen Deignan and Kyle Silliman- BOARD OF DIRECTORS Smith on their fine record of procuring grants for the Center during the past year. In June, they found out (alphabetical order) Linda Ayer that the Haymarket People’s Fund will be making us a sizable grant to support our racial justice program- Autumn Barnett ming. Brava! twice over. Spence Putnam David Shiman Nathan Suter Judith Yarnall Andrea Swan for the Board Judy Yarnall STAFF Wendy Coe Colleen Deignan PJC Summer Kids Club Series Krista Panosian Kyle Silliman-Smith 2-4pm Sundays. Join us for stories, games, music, and snacks that will broaden your understanding of these communities Carmen Solari in the Burlington area. Parents and family members are welcome! Info: 863-2345 x6. 7 JULY: CELEBRATING IRAQ 4 AUGUST: CELEBRATION OF AFRICAN CULTURES PJC MISSION Our guests will be Halah Sharad, a Peace and Justice Our mission is to create a 11 AUGUST: ABENAKI CELEBRATION DAY just and peaceful world. Studies student from St Michael’s College, and Anwar Diab Come explore Vermont’s vibrant Abenaki culture with us To this end, we work on Agha, lead singer and musician of Burlington’s Middle the interconnected issues as we meet and hear the stories of Abenaki community Eastern band: the Anwar Ensemble. of economic and racial members from the area. justice, peace, and human 14 JULY: CELEBRATING BOSNIA. rights through education, 18 AUGUST: CELEBRATING GUATEMALA advocacy, training and non- 21 JULY: CELEBRATING THAILAND & VIETNAM. violent activisim, and 25 AUGUST: CELEBRATING MEXICO community organizing, Our guest will be Teasella Taelyn Thi Nguyen, a former Carmen Solari, the P&J Store Manager, will have just since 1979. intern of the Peace & Justice Center. returned from a Fair Trade Conference in Mexico. 28 JULY: CELEBRATING BHUTAN & NEPAL research policy action July/August/September 2013 3 Connections continued from page 1 Cost of War Speaker and Film beginning June 29th from 1-2pm, at North End Studios, 294 N. Winooski Ave., Series Events to Look Forward to... Burlington. For details on what each class will focus on, see box below. Although the details are not concrete yet, there are several great events to look forward The vision for both of these programs to this summer. is to promote peace, justice, and apprecia- tion for cultural diversity through play Dirty Wars (an important aspect of nonviolence). I Dirty Wars Screening: Early August – details TBA. “Filed from the frontlines of the war hope that these events lay the foundation on terror, documentarian Richard Rowley’s astonishingly hard-hitting Dirty Wars renders that will allow our children and youth to the investigative work of journalist Jeremy Scahill in the form of a ’70s-style conspiracy become cultural advocates and delegates thriller.
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