CAMPAIGN NONVIOLENCE CONVERGENCE: MOMENT OF TRUTH
TIME: All Day
ADDRESS: 1640 Columbia Rd., NW
CITY: Washington, DC
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Join us on Sept. 21, 2018, International Peace Day, for an evening of reflection on five years of Campaign Nonviolence and the next steps forward, with George Martin, Rev. John Dear, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Shane Claiborne, Dr. Ken Butigan & Dr. Kit Evans-Ford, and on Sat. Sept. 22, 2018, for a legal rally and a nonviolent silent march from the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue to the White House for a rally and nonviolent direct action.
Friday, Sept 21. 2018
Gather at 7:00 p.m. at The Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Rd., NW, Washington, D.C. for an evening featuring Campaign Nonviolence The centerpiece of this Week of Actions will be The Moment of Truth – The Campaign Nonviolence Convergence September 21-22 in Washington, DC. On September 21, we will gather, reflect and prepare. On September 22, we will assemble at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, march to the White House, vigil, and take nonviolent action.
As we mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., we will march in the spirit of the prophetic declaration he made the night before he was killed: “The choice is no longer violence or nonviolence; it’s nonviolence or non-existence.” In this moment of truth, we will call on the nation to choose a culture of nonviolence free from war, poverty, racism, and environmental destruction.
Now is the moment of truth for taking action – and for recommitting to the power of truth itself, in light of the many false or misleading statements made by the administration. On September 22, we will take action for peace, economic equality, racial justice and environmental healing – and for a new spirit of truth and nonviolence.
Speakers will include Lisa Sharon Harper, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr, Kit Evans-Ford, Rev. Ray East, George Martin, Shane Claiborne, and Rev. John Dear.
Join us in Washington at this critical moment of truth.
THE NATIONAL CONVERGENCE SCHEDULE
Friday, September 21, 2018
Location: The Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Rd., NW, Washington, D.C.
4:00pm – 5:30pm: Nonviolence training by CNV with Ken Butigan and Veronica Pelicaric. Free. Dinner available for purchase at The Potter’s House restaurant and bookstore next to the Festival Center.
7:00 pm: Gathering at The Festival Center to celebrate, reflect and share stories on five years of the Campaign Nonviolence movement and discuss next steps. Speakers include CNV leaders Rev. John Dear, Ken Butigan, George Martin, and Kit-Evans Ford. Free-will donations accepted at the door.
Saturday, September 22, 2018
Location: King Memorial, 1964 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20024 near West Basin Dr. SW
9:00 am: Rally at the statue of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the Southside of the Lincoln Memorial, near the Jefferson Memorial Tidal Basin.
10:00 am: Silent March. We will line up in pairs holding signs and walk in silence from the Dr. King statue past the Lincoln Memorial to the front of the White House, where we will stand in silence with signs in Lafayette Park. While some keep vigil in front of the White House, others will participate in nonviolent direct action.
Registration: Please let us know which events you will join and how to contact you.
Please note: CNV is not coordinating lodging or transportation.
This convergence is taking place during the 5th Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 15-23, 2018. Be sure to hold your event locally earlier that week, then join us in DC!
Together in this Moment of Truth, we choose the way of nonviolence and we will take our message to the White House and the nation. Together, our collective actions and voices are calling for an end to the culture of racism, poverty, war, and environmental destruction, and making the choice for nonviolence, peace and truth.
For more information, contact Ryan Hall at Pace e Bene, at info@paceebene.org.
YES! I AM COMING TO WASHINGTON!
‘GRANDMOTHERS ON THE MOVE’ Podcast Episodes
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Grandmothers To Grandmothers Campaign
The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign exists to support the indomitable African grandmothers who are caring for the millions of children who have been orphaned by AIDS. Members of the Grandmothers Campaign share three goals. They work to:
- Raise funds to meet the needs of African grandmothers and the children in their care;
- Listen to African grandmothers, respect their expertise and amplify their voices, in order to promote authentic and substantive responses to the epidemic in Africa;
- Build solidarity among African and Canadian grandmothers in order to motivate and sustain the vital work of turning the tide of AIDS in Africa.
Canadian grandmothers groups are tremendously active in their communities. They put on concerts, organize card tournaments, and sell jewellery. They visit countless schools and community organizations. They bake, cook, sew, knit, paint, write, organize cycle tours, walks, and even ride motorcycles – all to raise funds and awareness for grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
To learn more about how you can get involved in the Campaign, write to Ilana here.
Articles About The Campaign
What started as a conversation around a kitchen table has grown to become a movement to empower women, especially grandmothers, in Africa.
The Grandmothers Campaign, an initiative of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, is known as Grandmothers 4 Grandmothers in Regina, which was among the very first places in Canada where women took on projects to support families in Africa.
‘We know the power of women’s organizing in Canada and older women have an extraordinary amount of vigour and energy.’– Ilana Landsberg-Lewis
As Ilana Landsberg-Lewis explains, the movement arose in response to the human crisis, observed by her father Stephen Lewis during his time as a special envoy for the United Nations, afflicting the African continent during the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Millions of children were orphaned by the deaths of their parents. Their grandmothers were left to raise them, with little or no support.
Ilana Landsberg-Lewis is co-founder, with her father Stephen Lewis, of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. One of their main campaigns supports grandmothers in Africa. (Lisa MacIntosh/Stephen Lewis Foundation)
“Grandmothers were just in an agony of loss,” Landsberg-Lewis said. “Death was everywhere. They were left with no income and often isolated by the terrible stigma surrounding HIV-AIDS.”
Landsberg-Lewis recalled how requests seeking aid referred to the grandmothers as “caregivers” and when she asked why, she learned there was a strong bias in play.
“Nobody wants to fund them because they’re older women and nobody sees them as a meaningful investment,” she learned.
“We decided if Canadian grandmothers knew what was happening on the [African] continent then it would surely resonate with them and boy did it ever,” Landsberg-Lewis said.
“I wish I could say that I was prescient but it would be overstating it,” she said, talking about how the success of the organization, which quickly grew from a handful of activists brain-storming at a kitchen table (her own) to over 250 chapters across the country.
Since 2006 they have raised about $25 million.
“It was really extraordinary but I can’t say that I’m surprised,” she said. “Older women in our communities, we know the power of women organizing in Canada and older women have an extraordinary amount of vigour and energy.”
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The Campaign currently boasts more than 240 grandmothers groups across the country. Many of the groups have organized into regional and national networks in order to support each other’s efforts in solidarity with African grandmothers and the children in their care.
Resources from the Grandmothers Campaign go to grassroots organizations that support African grandmothers with food, health care, school fees and school uniforms for their grandchildren, income-generating programmes, counselling, social support, essential shelter, and other necessities. Throughout Africa, grassroots organizations run by and for grandmothers are sharing insights, deepening their expertise, collaborating with other local organizations, and building their capacity to turn the tide of AIDS at community level.
