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Thanks to a generous donor, new WNPJ memberships in 2014 will be matched, up to $2,000. Not yet a member? Please join and help us build a stronger statewide network! Already a member? Why not get a gift membership for a friend who shares your commitment to peace and justice? |
Action Alert 1: Push back the frac attack
Action Alert 2: Tell the "Climate President" to say no to Keystone XL
Action Alert 3: Nominate a young peacemaker for a fellowship
Action Alert 4: Keep spreading the word: WNPJ's youth video contest
Plus Events!
Action Alert 1: Spread the word: WNPJ's youth video contest
Action Alert 2: Oppose the new frac sand bill
Action Alert 3: Day of action tomorrow for gun background checks
Action Alert 4: Phone bank for a living wage - Madison
Plus Events!
WNPJ members remain active. Please click on titles to read entire articles.
As the song goes, "Give Peace a Chance." The Dane County United Nations Association just named Dr. Vincent Kavaloski its Global Citizen of the Year. Dr. Kavaloski, a professor of philosophy at Edgewood College where he specializes in the Philosophy of Peace. He has dedicated much of his career to teaching nonviolence. "Obtaining peace through non-violent means takes work," Dr. Kavaloski says. "You have to work hard against the war movement if you want peace." J. Patrick Reilly, The Dodgeville Chronicle, 2/20/14. The Dane County UNA is a WNPJ member group.
Action Alert 1: Rep Petri's Pentagon conflict of interest
Action Alert 2: Japanese children and radiation
Action Alert 3: Local control and a living wage
Action Alert 4: Spring days of action against drones
Plus Events!
February has been frigid, but WNPJ members and groups stay active. Click on titles to read the entire stories.
Action Alert 1: Keep local living wages
Action Alert 2: RSVP today for immigrant rights action
Action Alert 3: Support a world beyond war
Action Alert 4: Stop cruelty to circus elephants
Plus Events!
Action Alert 1: Lobby for immigrant rights
Action Alert 2: Support affordable housing - Mt Horeb / Dane County
Action Alert 3: Require a living wage - Milwaukee
Action Alert 4: Ban killer drones
Plus Events!
Despite the "chilly" weather, WNPJ members stay active. Click on titles to read the entire articles.
Madison-Rafah Sister City Project ambassador impressed by local youth facilities: "Every place I visited here is amazing.... But I don't like this weather," said Anees Mansour, director of the Rachel Corrie Cultural Center for Children and Youth in Rafah, while visiting Madison as the guest of the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project.
We're very sad to hear, via member group PSR-Wisconsin, that Dr. Jeff Patterson, a warm and wise man devoted to human health, the environment, and the abolition of nuclear weapons, has passed. Below is PSR's statement on his loss.
Jeff Patterson, DO, Madison physician and professor was an indefatigable champion serving Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) Wisconsin and will be sorely missed by all who knew and worked with him. Jeff passed away on Thursday night, January 23, of a heart attack.
Dr. Patterson's first work with PSR was to establish the Madison PSR chapter. With two other founding members and students at the UW medical school, they challenged the concept of a “winnable nuclear war.” Hundreds of people joined to formalize the Madison PSR chapter in 1983. Jeff remained very active in the chapter throughout three decades, and particularly enjoyed providing direction to interested medical students and nurturing their understanding of humanitarian ethics and activism.
John Kinsman, a Wisconsin farmer, organizer and writer who had a worldwide impact, promoting food sovereignty and practicing solidarity, passed away on January 20. No matter what the issue, from nuclear power to labor rights to war and peace, John always had a clear analysis and was happy to take action.
John was the president and a co-founder of Family Farm Defenders, an organic dairy farmer, World War II veteran, early civil rights supporter and leader in the international Via Campesina movement, who truly deserved WNPJ's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
There will be a mass of Christian held at Holy Family Catholic Church in La Valle at 10:30 am on Sat. Jan. 25th. Visitation will be held at the Hoof Funeral Home in Reedsburg (312 N Park St) from 4:00 to 8:00 pm on Fri Jan 24th, and from 9:30 - 10:30 am Sat Jan 25th at Holy Family Catholic Church in La Valle (310 Bluff St). A mass of Christian burial will then begin at 10:30 am at Holy Family, with interment at St. Boniface Cemetery in Lime Ridge. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Family Farm Defenders.
WNPJ member groups are active and keep turning up in the news. Click on titles to read the entire articles.
How the Washington Post distorts Colombia: In this essay, Jack Laun of the Colombia Support Network, describes United States government complicity in the use of paramilitary forces in Colombia's "dirty war" against both guerillas and noncombatants, including an attack on the Peace Community of Apartado in 2005. He also examines how U.S. policy favors the profits of huge corporations over the needs of Colombia's poor. Counterpunch, 1/15/14. See also Jack's comments in Why US policy towards Colombia lacks integrity, coherence on the Voice of Russia, American edition. The Colombia Support Network is a WNPJ member group.
From July 11-14, 2013, members of the WNPJ Outreach team hosted community dialogues that asked the simple question: what are we doing well in our pursuit of creating communities of peace, justice and sustainability? We put out a call to WNPJ members, and what resulted were three events, two in Milwaukee and one in Verona with over 40 people participating.
In this blog entry, we will summarize what happened at each event to the best of our memory and from our notes,* linking to projects and ideas that participants mentioned. Our hope is that these connections will serve as a basis for more conversations around the state and more momentum for those who are working for peace, justice and sustainability. For more information on how to organize an event in your community, you can contact WNPJ at 608-250-9240 or diane@wnpj.org.
| Event Title | Event Date |
|---|---|
| International Women's Day Free Dinner - Madison | 03/07/14 |
| International Women's Day awards for fighting the privatization of child welfare - Milwaukee | 03/08/14 |
| We the People Are More Powerful Than We Dare to Believe: First Steps in Dismantling Corporate Rule - Iowa | 03/07/14 - 03/09/14 |
| Wisconsin: Issues that matter luncheon / lecture series - Milwaukee |
03/04/14 03/11/14 03/18/14 03/25/14 |
| Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II speaks "On the People's Moral Agenda: Anti-Racism, Anti-Poverty, Pro-Labor" - Madison | 03/13/14 |
| Family Farm Defenders annual meeting, conference and awards dinner - Baraboo | 03/14/14 - 03/16/14 |
| Great decisions world affairs discussions - Dodgeville |
03/07/14 03/21/14 04/11/14 04/25/14 |
| White Privilege Conference - Madison | 03/26/14 - 03/29/14 |
| WNPJ spring meeting, with a focus on ending wars and growing jobs - Oshkosh | 04/06/14 |
| Training in nonviolent action for social change - Luck |
04/04/14 - 04/06/14 06/13/14 - 06/15/14 |
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Many thanks to all who joined us in La Crosse on Saturday for WNPJ's member assembly and 13th annual awards reception, with special thanks to our host Tracy Littlejohn and the Hmong Cultural and Community Center!
Our awardees included (from left to right in the picture) Peacemaker of the Year - Adult Babette Grunow, Lifetime Achievement Award winner Al Gedicks, Peacemaker of the Year - Senior Pat Popple, and Peacemaker of the Year - Youth Key Jackson. (Not pictured is our Dennis Bergren LGBTQ Advocacy Award winner Sharon Whitney, who was unable to attend.)
To see more pictures from the day, click here.
WNPJ's first User's Manual is designed to help WNPJ member groups and individual members make greater use of the services we offer, including: statewide lobby days, event publicity, weekly action alerts, WNPJ work groups, meetings and awards and website features like In the News and Success Stories. Printed copies of the WNPJ Users Manual are free to member groups and individual members, or read the full Users Manual online here...
608-250-9240, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, 122 State Street, Suite 405A, Madison, WI 53703, Send an email to the office diane@wnpj.org.
WNPJ is a member of the Community Shares of Wisconsin.
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Sen. Tom Tiffany has introduced a revised version of 
Please call Governor Walker and demand a VETO of AB 297, the race-based mascot support bill - 
Milwaukee was one of 10 cities nationwide where immigrants and advocates protested the "border surge" in the U.S. Senate's immigration reform bill, thanks to WNPJ member groups Voces de la Frontera and Peace Action.