VFP-111 Co-Sponsors WPJC International Day of Peace
The September 21 online IDP event can be accessed on the Center’s website
The September 21 online IDP event can be accessed on the Center’s website
For the 17th year in a row, WPJC will host Bellingham’s International Day of Peace celebration. This year features a series of virtual events including the presentation of our annual Lifetime Peacemaker Award, and a once-in-a-lifetime conversation between Seattle Black Panther co-founder Aaron Dixon and Portland artist, author, and educator Walidah Imarisha. This discussion between two of the most significant Black organizers in the Pacific Northwest honors this year’s uprisings against state violence across the country following the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade while calling upon our local community to confront white supremacy and anti-Blackness wherever it arises.
- New Lifetime Peacemaker Award Name on Saturday 6pm
Whatcom Peace and Justice Center has moved to enhance the name of our long-standing annual honor of the year to "Rosemary and Howard Harris Lifetime Peacemaker Award" in recognition of the outstanding contribution of Rosemary Harris (1915-2009). Rosemary Harris was a midwife and an educator, an active Quaker who founded an alternative school in Bellingham as well as, alongside Colleen Dickinson and Howard Harris, the Bellingham Peace Vigil - the longest standing peace vigil in the country!
-RSVP Early for Sunday, 20th 6pm Key Note with Aaron Dixon and Walidah Imarisha to enter a raffle and support the WPJC
This year’s virtual International Day of Peace event can be accessed through the Center’s website WhatcomPJC.org/idp2020.html and will be shared on YouTube and Facebook by @WhatcomPJC. Early RSVPs with donations of all sizes are encouraged and will benefit the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which relies on the support of community members to provide educational programs including Alternatives to Military Service and active nonviolence trainings within the community. Additionally, all donations above $50 automatically enter a raffle for 5 family style Caribbean cuisine meals from Calypso Kitchen.
Stay tuned to WPJC’s website and social media for a detailed schedule of events happening the weekend of September 20th.
- Virtual Auction & Take Out for Peace Promotion:
Throughout the month and weekend leading up to International Day of Peace, you can also bid in a Silent Auction with lots of great offerings from local artists and businesses and Black-owned restaurants in town from home through our Take Out for Peace promotion. Participating restaurants are donating 10% of their sales for the weekend to WPJC, so you can learn from Aaron and Walidah with a full belly: Guud Bowls (Friday), Ambo Ethiopian Cuisine (Saturday), Brandywine Kitchen (Sunday).
Entering its 18th year, the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center promotes lasting peace, social justice, and a culture of nonviolence at home and worldwide.
- New Lifetime Peacemaker Award Name on Saturday 6pm
Whatcom Peace and Justice Center has moved to enhance the name of our long-standing annual honor of the year to "Rosemary and Howard Harris Lifetime Peacemaker Award" in recognition of the outstanding contribution of Rosemary Harris (1915-2009). Rosemary Harris was a midwife and an educator, an active Quaker who founded an alternative school in Bellingham as well as, alongside Colleen Dickinson and Howard Harris, the Bellingham Peace Vigil - the longest standing peace vigil in the country!
-RSVP Early for Sunday, 20th 6pm Key Note with Aaron Dixon and Walidah Imarisha to enter a raffle and support the WPJC
This year’s virtual International Day of Peace event can be accessed through the Center’s website WhatcomPJC.org/idp2020.html and will be shared on YouTube and Facebook by @WhatcomPJC. Early RSVPs with donations of all sizes are encouraged and will benefit the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which relies on the support of community members to provide educational programs including Alternatives to Military Service and active nonviolence trainings within the community. Additionally, all donations above $50 automatically enter a raffle for 5 family style Caribbean cuisine meals from Calypso Kitchen.
Stay tuned to WPJC’s website and social media for a detailed schedule of events happening the weekend of September 20th.
- Virtual Auction & Take Out for Peace Promotion:
Throughout the month and weekend leading up to International Day of Peace, you can also bid in a Silent Auction with lots of great offerings from local artists and businesses and Black-owned restaurants in town from home through our Take Out for Peace promotion. Participating restaurants are donating 10% of their sales for the weekend to WPJC, so you can learn from Aaron and Walidah with a full belly: Guud Bowls (Friday), Ambo Ethiopian Cuisine (Saturday), Brandywine Kitchen (Sunday).
Entering its 18th year, the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center promotes lasting peace, social justice, and a culture of nonviolence at home and worldwide.
Bellingham’s Veterans For Peace to Celebrate Armistice Day 2019
Monday, November 11th, 10:30 AM at the Church of the Assumption, 2116 Cornwall Ave
Once again Bellingham's Veterans For Peace Chapter 111 and supporters of peace will be standing in solemn commemoration of the 100th year anniversary of the end of the First World War across the street from the Church of the Assumption,
2116 Cornwall Ave, on Sunday, November 11 at 10:30 AM.
On Monday, November 11 at 10:30 AM Bellingham's Veterans For Peace and supporters of peace will be gathering in tribute to commemorate the anniversary of the end of the First World War, across the street from the Church of the Assumption, 2116 Cornwall Ave.
Over one hundred years ago this month the world celebrated peace as a universal principle. All the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War went silent during the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of that eleventh month. Nations mourning their dead collectively called for an end to the butchery of all wars. Armistice Day was born and designated as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated." On June 28, 1919 Germany and the Allied powers signed the Treaty of Versailles, declaring an end to “the war to end all wars.”
After World War II, the U.S. Congress decided to rename and designate November 11 as a national holiday, Veterans Day. Sadly, commemorating a forever end to hostilities eventually morphed into glorifying military service and justifying the next war. Armistice Day was flipped from a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism.
Next Sunday thousands of churches at home and abroad, including Bellingham’s Church of the Assumption, will ring their bells 11 times slowly in solemn remembrance at 11 in the morning to mark the end of the war that, in retrospect, ended peace. With the US now waging seemingly endless war, it’s time now, more than ever, for Americans to reclaim Armistice Day.
Join us once more in silent commemoration, with worldwide millions.
Monday, November 11th, 10:30 AM at the Church of the Assumption, 2116 Cornwall Ave
Once again Bellingham's Veterans For Peace Chapter 111 and supporters of peace will be standing in solemn commemoration of the 100th year anniversary of the end of the First World War across the street from the Church of the Assumption,
2116 Cornwall Ave, on Sunday, November 11 at 10:30 AM.
On Monday, November 11 at 10:30 AM Bellingham's Veterans For Peace and supporters of peace will be gathering in tribute to commemorate the anniversary of the end of the First World War, across the street from the Church of the Assumption, 2116 Cornwall Ave.
Over one hundred years ago this month the world celebrated peace as a universal principle. All the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War went silent during the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of that eleventh month. Nations mourning their dead collectively called for an end to the butchery of all wars. Armistice Day was born and designated as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated." On June 28, 1919 Germany and the Allied powers signed the Treaty of Versailles, declaring an end to “the war to end all wars.”
After World War II, the U.S. Congress decided to rename and designate November 11 as a national holiday, Veterans Day. Sadly, commemorating a forever end to hostilities eventually morphed into glorifying military service and justifying the next war. Armistice Day was flipped from a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism.
Next Sunday thousands of churches at home and abroad, including Bellingham’s Church of the Assumption, will ring their bells 11 times slowly in solemn remembrance at 11 in the morning to mark the end of the war that, in retrospect, ended peace. With the US now waging seemingly endless war, it’s time now, more than ever, for Americans to reclaim Armistice Day.
Join us once more in silent commemoration, with worldwide millions.
VFP-111 and Whatcom Peace & Justice Center to Co-Host Documentary Film
An Endless War? Getting OUT of Afghanistan
Friday, November 15, 6:00 PM at Bellingham Food Co-Op Community Connections Classroom 103,
405 E. Holly St
“For Americans to withdraw from Afghanistan is not a reason for shame. This is not about America, in fact this is where American exceptionalism gets us into trouble. The shame is to deny the reality of the situation.”
On Friday, November 15, Bellingham's Veterans For Peace Chapter 111 and Whatcom Peace & Justice Center are co-hosting the 2019 anti-war advocacy documentary An Endless War? Getting OUT of Afghanistan at the Bellingham Food Co-Op Community Connections Building.
The 1 hour-long film, produced by social and environmental activist Jean-Louis Bourgeois and directed by award-winning filmmaker Bob Coen, deconstructs the reasons why the Afghanistan conflict was doomed to fail from its start more than 18 years ago and why it has dragged on for so long.
An Endless War? is a frank analysis of America’s doomed campaign against a surging Taliban resistance, featuring interviews with former commanding officers of the US military, combat veterans, political analysts and American and Afghan peace activists – including FCNL’s Shukria Dellawar, Congressman Walter Jones and IPC Fellow Matthew Hoh. Director Coen and executive producer Bourgeois also offer solutions on how the United States can exit Afghanistan and not make this an endless war.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers and experts featured in the documentary.
Parking is available behind the Community Connections Building.
An Endless War? Getting OUT of Afghanistan
Friday, November 15, 6:00 PM at Bellingham Food Co-Op Community Connections Classroom 103,
405 E. Holly St
“For Americans to withdraw from Afghanistan is not a reason for shame. This is not about America, in fact this is where American exceptionalism gets us into trouble. The shame is to deny the reality of the situation.”
On Friday, November 15, Bellingham's Veterans For Peace Chapter 111 and Whatcom Peace & Justice Center are co-hosting the 2019 anti-war advocacy documentary An Endless War? Getting OUT of Afghanistan at the Bellingham Food Co-Op Community Connections Building.
The 1 hour-long film, produced by social and environmental activist Jean-Louis Bourgeois and directed by award-winning filmmaker Bob Coen, deconstructs the reasons why the Afghanistan conflict was doomed to fail from its start more than 18 years ago and why it has dragged on for so long.
An Endless War? is a frank analysis of America’s doomed campaign against a surging Taliban resistance, featuring interviews with former commanding officers of the US military, combat veterans, political analysts and American and Afghan peace activists – including FCNL’s Shukria Dellawar, Congressman Walter Jones and IPC Fellow Matthew Hoh. Director Coen and executive producer Bourgeois also offer solutions on how the United States can exit Afghanistan and not make this an endless war.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers and experts featured in the documentary.
Parking is available behind the Community Connections Building.
An Evening with a Whistleblower, Former CIA Analyst
Mel Goodman
Tuesday, May 8th
7:00 PM at Garden Street United Methodist Church, Room B, 1326 N. Garden St, Bellingham
Bellingham's Veterans For Peace Chapter 111 is once again hosting author and CIA dissident Melvin A. Goodman at Garden Street Methodist's basement Fireside Room on Tuesday, May 8 at 7:00 PM. Currently the Director of the National Security Project at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC and adjunct professor of government at Johns Hopkins University.
Mel Goodman’s talk will focus on his career as a respected intelligence analyst specializing in US/Soviet relations, which ended abruptly in 1990. After twenty-four years of service, Goodman resigned when he could no longer tolerate the corruption he witnessed at the highest levels of the Agency. In 1991 he went public, blowing the whistle on top-level officials and leading the opposition against the appointment of Robert Gates as CIA director. In widely covered Senate hearings, Goodman charged that Gates and others had subverted “the process and the ethics of intelligence” by deliberately misinforming the White House about major world events and covert operations.
Don't be surprised also if Mel provides us with a report card of Trump's first 18 months in office. It's shaping up to be an interesting discussion.
Mel has authored, co-authored, and edited eight books, including his recent Whistleblower at the CIA: An Insider's Account of the Politics of Intelligence. In this breathtaking expose, Goodman retraces his career with the Central Intelligence Agency, presenting a rare insider’s account of the inner workings of America’s intelligence community, and the corruption, intimidation, and misinformation that lead to disastrous foreign interventions. Whistleblower is described by Daniel Ellsberg as “an invaluable historical exposé, a testimony to integrity and conscience, and a call for the U.S. intelligence community to keep its top leaders in check.”
The 24-year veteran with the CIA and the Department of State, Goodman also taught international relations at the National War College for 18 years. His articles and op-eds have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Harper's, Foreign Policy, Foreign Service Journal, Baltimore Sun, and the Washington Post.
Prior to this event the chapter has reserved the Brandywine Kitchen mezzanine, 1317 Commercial St, from 4:00 - 5:45 PM for dinner. Please join us.
MARCH ON BELLINGHAM
Saturday, January 20, 2018
10 am City Hall
Saturday, January 20, 2018
10 am City Hall
A day shy of 2017's Womxn's March on Bellingham
organizers and hundreds of supporters are expected to gather again on the streets of Bellingham.
'This is a march for solidarity with each other, to raise a voice against the fear and hatred this new administration was ushering in. This march will usher in a weekend of change and hope, highlighting every attempt we are making, at change, awareness and solidarity! It all matters! Let’s share this weekend with a spirit of hope and love!'
Full Disclosure Campaign Update - September 6
To: VFP Chapters and Active At-Large Members
Re: Burns/Novick PBS Series on Vietnam
If you were at VFP's Chicago convention or heard from someone who was, you know that the "Full Disclosure" workshop generated lots of ideas for VFP to have its voice heard in the national discussion that will follow the airing of PBS' "Vietnam" series beginning Sept. 17.
We can't stress how important that will be. As one person said in Chicago, "The PBS series will put a national spotlight on Vietnam and the 50th anniversary events. It'll be our last time to effectively set the record straight. After a 50th anniversary, it'll be all ancient history...we'll be just walking with the dinosaurs after that."
So let's seize the moment, friends and comrades! Time is short, but there are ample opportunities if we don't delay.
RESOURCES
VFP members have been hard at work preparing some really solid material for you to use locally. There's more coming. And we invite you to plug in and add your ideas.
1) The VFP "Full Disclosure" website. One feature not to miss is the timeline/chronology. Another is the most comprehensive critique of the Burns/Novick documentary we've seen so far, written by Thomas A. Bass in the Mekong Review, titled "America's Amnesia."
2) Then there's "Full Disclosure," the newspaper, It's essential. Initially 28 pages, expanded to 32 pages to include another review by Camillo Mac Bica. If you haven't ordered a bundle yet, do so here today. You will need them.
3) PBS affiliates and many libraries have scheduled or soon will schedule various kinds of local programs. If there's not a viewing party or discussion already scheduled where you live, organize one! The PBS p.r. team has encouraged VFP to participate and to let them know if there's any problem doing so. We have a perspective that is terribly important for the public to hear. Millions will be listening. The material is there to help you do it. All that's needed is your participation.
WHAT'S IN THE SERIES?
Bass' review appears to be based on him seeing the whole series, but no one we've talked with has, so it's unclear exactly what will be presented. But we do know this much:
1) PBS has published a thumbnail description of each of the 10 episodes and we've prepared some talking points based on those (see attached file) and
2) As these things go, it's unlikely that American Exceptionalism, American Empire or America's Addiction to War will be highlighted, thus the importance of VFP members taking a leading role in the local discussions.
WHAT'S THE FIRST STEP?
Reach for your phone. Call your local PBS affiliate and your library. Ask them if they have a presentation of some sort planned in conjunction with the documentary. If yes, tell them you want to be part of it. If no, ask them if they'd like to be part of one.
PLEASE NOTE:
Also, sign up to be on the "Full Disclosure" email list if you want to communicate with VFP activists around the country who are working on this.
To join the Vietnam Full Disclosure "google group" you must have a Google login. Once logged onto Google, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/vnfd and submit a request to join the group. Alternatively, send a request to group manager Becky Luening at becky.pdx@gmail.com and she will directly add you to the group. After being subscribed, anyone can post to the group via the email address vnfd@googlegroups.com
Get involved in this rare opportunity to get America talking about what really went down in Viet Nam!
To: VFP Chapters and Active At-Large Members
Re: Burns/Novick PBS Series on Vietnam
If you were at VFP's Chicago convention or heard from someone who was, you know that the "Full Disclosure" workshop generated lots of ideas for VFP to have its voice heard in the national discussion that will follow the airing of PBS' "Vietnam" series beginning Sept. 17.
We can't stress how important that will be. As one person said in Chicago, "The PBS series will put a national spotlight on Vietnam and the 50th anniversary events. It'll be our last time to effectively set the record straight. After a 50th anniversary, it'll be all ancient history...we'll be just walking with the dinosaurs after that."
So let's seize the moment, friends and comrades! Time is short, but there are ample opportunities if we don't delay.
RESOURCES
VFP members have been hard at work preparing some really solid material for you to use locally. There's more coming. And we invite you to plug in and add your ideas.
1) The VFP "Full Disclosure" website. One feature not to miss is the timeline/chronology. Another is the most comprehensive critique of the Burns/Novick documentary we've seen so far, written by Thomas A. Bass in the Mekong Review, titled "America's Amnesia."
2) Then there's "Full Disclosure," the newspaper, It's essential. Initially 28 pages, expanded to 32 pages to include another review by Camillo Mac Bica. If you haven't ordered a bundle yet, do so here today. You will need them.
3) PBS affiliates and many libraries have scheduled or soon will schedule various kinds of local programs. If there's not a viewing party or discussion already scheduled where you live, organize one! The PBS p.r. team has encouraged VFP to participate and to let them know if there's any problem doing so. We have a perspective that is terribly important for the public to hear. Millions will be listening. The material is there to help you do it. All that's needed is your participation.
WHAT'S IN THE SERIES?
Bass' review appears to be based on him seeing the whole series, but no one we've talked with has, so it's unclear exactly what will be presented. But we do know this much:
1) PBS has published a thumbnail description of each of the 10 episodes and we've prepared some talking points based on those (see attached file) and
2) As these things go, it's unlikely that American Exceptionalism, American Empire or America's Addiction to War will be highlighted, thus the importance of VFP members taking a leading role in the local discussions.
WHAT'S THE FIRST STEP?
Reach for your phone. Call your local PBS affiliate and your library. Ask them if they have a presentation of some sort planned in conjunction with the documentary. If yes, tell them you want to be part of it. If no, ask them if they'd like to be part of one.
PLEASE NOTE:
- If the local programmers are NOT welcoming, explain to them that local panels are supposed to be diverse and open. PBS has funded 76 stations with grants to produce local content and PBS officials are expecting local affiliate panels to be welcoming to VFP members.
- Consult the list of PBS affiliates to see what sorts of things are planned around the country (see attached file).
- Nate Goldshlag and Gene Marx are working with chapter contacts and other members to urge their involvement.
- If you are experiencing push-back locally, contact Nate or Gene. They will try to resolve it. If unsuccessful, they'll contact the PBS staff who will take it from there.
- If none of the above works and you're still frozen out, don't be shy about a) talking to the press about it and b) organizing a VFP-sponsored talk/event or even a picket line of the affiliate's office.
Also, sign up to be on the "Full Disclosure" email list if you want to communicate with VFP activists around the country who are working on this.
To join the Vietnam Full Disclosure "google group" you must have a Google login. Once logged onto Google, go to: http://groups.google.com/group/vnfd and submit a request to join the group. Alternatively, send a request to group manager Becky Luening at becky.pdx@gmail.com and she will directly add you to the group. After being subscribed, anyone can post to the group via the email address vnfd@googlegroups.com
Get involved in this rare opportunity to get America talking about what really went down in Viet Nam!
VFP-111 to Hold July Mini-Retreat
Mark your calendars. A chapter gathering, for planning, socializing, and our shared journey into the future will take place on Sunday, July 16, at 2:00 PM. All VFP members, family, and friends are invited.
Where: At Alice’s house, 8181 Birch Terrace Place
About a mile from I-5 exit 270 (Birch Bay Lynden Rd.) This neighborhood is west and north of the exit.
Phone 360-312-8234 for additional information.
Mark your calendars. A chapter gathering, for planning, socializing, and our shared journey into the future will take place on Sunday, July 16, at 2:00 PM. All VFP members, family, and friends are invited.
Where: At Alice’s house, 8181 Birch Terrace Place
About a mile from I-5 exit 270 (Birch Bay Lynden Rd.) This neighborhood is west and north of the exit.
Phone 360-312-8234 for additional information.
