WNY Peace Center

04/08/2022

"Rwandans have begun a solemn commemoration of the 1994 genocide in which more than 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu who tried to protect them were killed.

President Paul Kagame on Thursday laid a wreath at a memorial site where more than 250,000 people are buried in the capital, Kigali. The ceremony marked the beginning of a week of somber events.

Kagame said he opposes any attempts to rewrite the history of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The killings were perpetrated by extremist Hutu over a period of 100 days."

Read more: http://ow.ly/JECr50IEzQ1

#Rwanda #PeaceEducation #ResistMilitarism #ImmigrantRefugeeJustice

04/08/2022

Via our friends at Peace Action: "The crisis in #Ukraine underlines the need for a U.S. foreign policy reset. This war should be a wakeup call that it is time to invest in peace and human security and redouble efforts to prevent political violence. No country should have to bear the horrors of war we are seeing vividly in Ukraine.

At the same time, non-military challenges are proving to be our nation's gravest threats. One million people have died of COVID, yet we have underfunded our healthcare systems and done far less than we should to ensure global vaccine equity. At the same time, severe weather events caused by climate change are ravaging our communities. It's time for a foreign policy that addresses our true security needs."

*** Please contact your members of Congress today to urge them to speak out for diplomatic steps and to oppose any war escalation in Ukraine. http://ow.ly/i1Ah50IEzEp ***

#ActionAlert #PeaceAction #ResistMilitarism #EconomicJustice

04/08/2022

"What does it mean to teach race in a classroom? Many in America believe such work is akin to indoctrination. In my experience, nothing could be further from the truth.

To teach race, I ask questions. I craft these inquiries to be a gentle knock on the heart’s door. Indoctrination bullies and backs us in corners, funneling students toward rigidity and orthodoxy; questions disarm and invite, throwing open all windows and doors to reveal many paths to knowledge.

But before posing questions, I do two things: build trust and remove fear. Nothing sunders or damages the spirit of a classroom more than fear. As their teacher, I do not agitate, insult, demean or embarrass my students; through my presence and actions, I communicate respect, love and trust. So, when the questions come, students know I am in their corner, on their side, with them every step."

Read more from #AAPF's Diary of a Targeted Teacher, here: http://ow.ly/SYQF50IEzrP

#RacialJustice #PeaceEducation #CRT #EconomicJustice #UniteTheStruggles #PeaceThroughJustice

04/08/2022

Tomorrow is the LAST DAY to visit the #AtticaNow exhibition at Buffalo Arts Studio! Attica NOW is the culmination of CALDODECULTIVO's four month research residency as part of the Displacement: Reclaiming Place, Space, and Memory exhibition program.

"Currently based in Buffalo, NY, CaldodeCultivo is a Spanish-Colombian art collective founded by Unai Reglero and Gabriela Córdoba in 2006. CaldodeCultivo addresses conflicts of a global nature that manifest in the local realm. Using different artistic languages, from public installation to video, the collective creates devices of counter-information, agitation, and provocation that work as catalysts for dissent.

During their residency, CaldodeCultivo examined the 1971 #Attica uprising, which left 43 people dead, almost all of them killed by law enforcement officers retaking the prison. Attica NOW places the current conditions of prisons and detention centers at the center of their project and identifies incarcerated people, both past and present, as political subjects."

Learn more at buffaloartsstudio.org/events/caldodecultivo-attica-is-now-february-25-april-8-2022/

#PrisonersRights #LatinAmericanSolidarity #ImmigrantRefugeeJustice #EconomicJustice #UniteTheStruggles #PeaceThroughJustice

04/08/2022

"A coalition of advocates for immigrants’ rights claims that 'egregious conditions' and 'unsafe release practices' at the federal detention center in Batavia have caused detainees 'serious injury and even death.'

Those claims are leveled in a Freedom of Information request filed Wednesday with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the agency that runs the Batavia facility, formally known as the Buffalo Service Processing Center.

In the FOIA request, the coalition cites current and former detainees’ accounts of beatings, medical neglect and other abuses.

In addition to conditions inside the detention center, the coalition takes issue with ICE’s practice of releasing detainees 'without warning at a remote gas station, often late at night, lacking winter-appropriate clothing, funds for travel, or any assistance in finding shelter or reuniting with family.'"

Read more: http://ow.ly/GjWQ50IEz31

#ImmigrantRefugeeJustice #PrisonersRights #RacialJustice #UniteTheStruggles #PeaceThroughJustice

04/07/2022

Don't miss this great event tonight!

04/07/2022

Today is #WorldHealthDay and we'd like to recognize the Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) for donating PPE to our spring #IRJ2Learn fundraiser!

Between this donation and your generous support, the Immigrant & Refugee Justice (IRJ/"urge") Taskforce is able to provide high-quality masks, sanitizer, disinfectant, and 5 Corsi-Rosenthal filter boxes to Journey's End classrooms so their adult students can safely return for in-person language learning!

THANK YOU!

To learn more about IRJ, visit linktr.ee/irj

#ImmigrantRefugeeJustice #HealthEquity #EconomicJustice #CovidIsAirborne #MasksWork #MasksOn

04/07/2022

Join our Environmental Justice Taskforce tonight at 7 for the monthly WNY Drilling Defense meeting on Zoom! Featuring Mark Dunlea: IPCC Report, NY State Legislative (In)Action & April Albany Climate Rally.

Educated at RPI and Albany Law School, Mark teaches “Climate Change and Advocacy” at Bennington College. He’s a co-founder of the Green Party in NY State, a co-founder of the NY Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), a community organizer for ACORN, and the Hunger Action Network, a coordinator for People of Albany United for Safe Energy (PAUSE) in Albany, the http://ow.ly/E0Mc50ICwCY affiliate in Albany, steering committee member of 350NYC, founder of the Green Education and Legal Fund… co-host of a nightly new program on the Sanctuary for Independent Media. Mark opposed nuclear power way before most environmental groups did and Mark helped organize the successful NY City pension-fossil fuel-divestment effort.

Join here: http://ow.ly/8i5N50ICwCX
Meeting ID: 824 7402 7244
Passcode: 100by2030

Learn more about our Environmental Justice Taskforce at wnypeace.org/wp/task-forces/environmental-justice and join them on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/1565798450235467

#EnvironmentalJustice #EconomicJustice #UniteTheStruggles #PeaceThroughJustice

04/06/2022

TONIGHT AT 7 ON ZOOM, the Rochester Committee on Latin America and L.A.S.C. wny present: "#Honduras and US Imperialism Today".

Presenters:
🇭🇳 Jennifer Atlee – worked in Central America since 1984 in the areas of human rights, trauma and recovery and U.S. policy with Witness for Peace, the Guatemalan Church in Exile, and Nicaraguan Ministry of Social Welfare, AFSC (Quakers), and the Quixote Center. She is the Coordinator of the Nicaragua – United States Friendship Office of the Americas and helped to develop the Honduras Accompaniment Project. She is the author of Red Thread; A Spiritual Journal of Accompaniment, Trauma and Healing, which chronicles her experiences in the war zones of Nicaragua during the U.S. sponsored contra war.

🇭🇳 Tom Loudon – worked in Central America for over thirty in the areas of human rights, sustainable development and international policy. He worked with Witness for Peace, the Bloque Inter-Comunitario, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC-Quakers), the Quixote Center, the Alliance For Responsible Trade and served on the Commission of Truth in Honduras following the 2009 coup. Tom has recently retired from the Migrant Workers program for the state of Michigan. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Nicaragua - United States Friendship Office.

For Zoom details, please email info[at]rocla.org.

#LatinAmericanSolidarity #ROCLA #LASCwny #ResistMilitarism #EconomicJustice #ImmigrantRefugeeJustice

04/06/2022

Talking Peace with the WNY Peace Center

Talking Peace with the WNY Peace Center

04/06/2022

Talking Peace with the WNY Peace Center

https://fb.watch/ccDyrJjU7D/
PeaceAction Student Groups: Canisius College. With Samerian Mbili, Student Organizer of PeaceAction Canisius College; Sharon Smith, PeaceAction Canisius College Event Coordinator; and Vicki Ross, WNYPC Community Coordinator
Topics Discussed: values we bring.… what is PeaceAction?.... PeaceAction Canisius College?.... what events/campaigns have you had? are planning? (incl Earth Day litter cleanup).... how can a college campus start up a PeaceAction student chapter?.... what are your hopes and plans?.... ways people can help, and/or get more involved