Listen to a recent WDET interview with Dr. Fred Pearson, the current director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies: http://www.wdet.org/news/story/PeaceandConflictInterview/

Please sign a petition to save the peace center here: http://www.signon.org/sign/save-the-center-for-peace?source=c.url&r_by=1272864

Silent March for Peace FRIDAY October 14th, AT NOON meeting at the front entrance of  Old Main/WSU campus : https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=227485250644699

“WSU President Gilmour has moved to have the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies closed, with a final vote of the Board of Governors to be decided in December. The Dean of the College of Liberal Arts (where the Center resides), Robert Thomas, has given a directive to have a formal annual commitment of $177,000 as a pre-condition to withdraw its request for closure by a self-defeating deadline of October 21, 2011. We are intent on taking a collective stand on the import of keeping the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies open. We implore this academic administration to engage in fruitful open negotiation as the Center’s supporters bring forth resources and support, funds and fundraisers to meet this financial challenge.

We are taking a stand that peace education is vital to the development of our society and it shall continue. At this Great Turning we need to model the importance of citizenship as living responsibly in the world. And we must ask, “What does a university responsibly give to a society?” The university was originally founded on the principle of providing “academic freedom.” My classes have been cross-listed with the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and they have creating the context for studying and creating art that moves the culture forward, and raises questions that move our society forward.

Save the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and give peace a chance!

We are in the midst of a powerful democratic awakening and we need your help as a leading voice for peace. The Center for Peace and Conflict Studies in Detroit
is part of the Wayne State University, a major Carnegie Mellon research university in the cultural center of Detroit. We are now stewarding the 21st century facing great battles for our devastated inner city school systems which experiences 50-75% dropout rate, the ravished environment and the ravaged economy. I am teaching a class titled: Art as Activism: So You Say You Want a Revolution? and it is committed to being part of the grassroots activism that is fired up in this city at this time. We have read Grace Lee Boggs’s current classic The New American Revolution: Sustainable Revolution for the 21st Century as our textbook where she speaks to this being the time to “grow our own souls.” Now we are literally asking our Wayne State University administration to,
“Give peace a chance!”

The Center for Peace and Conflict Studies began in 1965 and forged peace education during the seismic social changes of the following decades. This program is the oldest of its kind, and it grew during the most challenging decades of social change for peace, women’s rights, civil rights and the LBGT movement. Now we are another crucible for change. This Center for Peace and Conflict Studies teaches the tools for creating a more just society and beloved communities in a state that has been rated third in the number of hate groups in this country, and where hate crimes against LGBT individuals have reported to be increased in 2010 (according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs). It was crucial in mediating life threatening conflict with Arab-American owned businesses in the neighboring township Dearborn after 9/11, and continues to be crucial in educating against bullying in the schools and diminishing violence against youth. It is successful in its mission to “develop and implement projects, programs, curricula, research and publications in areas of scholarship related to international and domestic peace, war, social justice, arms control, globalization, multicultural awareness and constructive conflict resolution” and it is being threatened of being closed by its own administration to serve the budget cuts and be the sacrificial lamb to this economic crisis.

We acknowledge that these are difficult times and that the administration must make difficult decisions. However we are there are creative solutions for keeping the center open and we are mandating our administration to consider being flexible to those who are stepping up to the plate to create solutions for sustaining the operation of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies.

Howard Thurman cautions those of us who are concerned with cultural transformation to not allow our visions to conform to a pattern we seek to impose but rather to allow them to be modeled and shaped according to the innermost transformation that is going on in our spirits.

It took 46 years of social justice struggle to have the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies forge its presence to now. We must keep it in place, keep what is good. We have to take care of the past in order to take care of the future. If we let it cave now, we will march, and rise, and create revolution to again ask, “What kind of education do we need to forge the future?” And it will be, again, a Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. ” – source; face book announcement, created by Aaron Timlin, Marilyn Zimmerwoman, and Sarah Stawski

On Thursday May 26th at 7:00 pm the Book Beat is pleased to present Grace Lee Boggs together with Oran Hesterman in discussion at the Oak Park Library, located at 14200 Oak Park, Blvd., in Oak Park. Books will be available at the event for purchase. Please call 248-968-1190 for more information. We sincerely thank the Oak Park Library for providing their space and support for this important community event.

Grace Lee Boggs is a legendary Detroit based activist and force for social change. She is a visionary thinker and author who has devoted over seven decades of her life not only in sharing her ideas on civil rights, education, environmental justice and peace but putting them into everyday use and practice. She is an internationally renowned author and inspirational force for change. Her new book is The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century.

Grace Lee Boggs was born in New York City in 1915 and is the daughter of Chinese born immigrants. In 1953 she moved to Detroit and married African-American labor and Black Power activist Jimmy Boggs (1919-1993) whose selected writings have recently been released as Pages from a Black Radical’s Notebooks: A James Boggs Reader.

“Reading Grace Lee Boggs helps you glimpse a United States that is better and more beautiful than you thought it was. As she analyzes some of the inspiring theories and practices that have emerged from the struggles for equality and freedom in Detroit and beyond, she also shows us that in this country, a future revolution is not only necessary but possible.” –Michael Hardt, co-author of Commonwealth

“One of the most accomplished radicals of our time, the Detroit-based visionary Grace Lee Boggs has become one of our most influential and inspiring public intellectuals. The Next American Revolution is her powerful reflection on a lifetime of urban revolutionary work, an ode to the courage and brilliance of her late partner James Boggs, and a plain-spoken call for us to address the troubled times we face with a sense of history, a strong set of values, and an unwavering faith in our own creative, restorative powers.” –Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

A short fascinating article in the Monthly Review by Grace Lee Boggs on education, Freedom Schools and the Detroit Summer Project.

Grace Lee Boggs, an “elder stateswoman on the Black Power movement” reflects on the Beloved Community of Martin Luther King Other archived articles by Grace Lee Boggs are available on the site of Yes! Magazine.

The Boggs Center was established in Detroit in 1995 by friends of Jimmy Boggs (1919-1993) and Grace Lee Boggs to continue their legacy as movement activists and theoreticians.

Oran Hesterman on Fair Food

Dr. Oran Hesterman is the founder of the Fair Food Network “a national nonprofit that works at the intersection of food systems, sustainability and social equity to guarantee access to healthy, fresh and sustainably grown food, especially in underserved communities.” He is also author of the new book Fair Food, a book that takes a look at how food gets to our dinner table and how it can be done better. We are pleased to bring him into this discussion on new ways to think about living and creating a sustainable future. Oran Hesterman lives in Ann Arbor.

“The author’s deft explanation of our current cultivation and consumption of food should have families moving away from their supermarket aisles and into farmers’ markets and community-supported agriculture programs…A thorough, inspiring guide on how to restructure the food system for a long and healthy future, for consumers and legislators alike.” - Kirkus Review

“Fair Food not only chronicles the challenges our food system faces and the achievements already made but also illuminates a clear path toward a more sustainable, fair, and delicious future.” —Alice Waters | Chef, Restaurateur

Earth Hour 2011: 8.30pm, Saturday 26 March. This Earth Hour, go beyond the hour with a commitment to a positive action for the planet and celebrate that commitment with the people of the world by switching off your lights for Earth Hour 2011.

From its inception as a single-city initiative – Sydney, Australia – in 2007, Earth Hour has grown into a global symbol of hope and movement for change. Earth Hour 2010 created history as the world’s largest ever voluntary action with people, businesses and governments in 128 countries across every continent coming together to celebrate an unambiguous commitment to the one thing that unites us all – the planet.

Sign up to earthhour.org, switch off your lights for Earth Hour 2011, and share the positive actions you will sustain for earth beyond the hour.

Connect with Earth Hour
Twitter: http://twitter.com/earthhour
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/earthhour
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/earthhour
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/earthhour_global

Contributed by Earth Hour

This video above is a “sleeper hit in classrooms around the country” and has had over 6 million views. Read the New York Times review about this video’s impact in the classroom: A Cautionary Video about America’s Stuff.

There are many resources on the website The Story of Stuff, so “click around, get involved.”

El día de los niños/El día de los libros

Since 1925, Día del niño, or the Day of the Child, has grown as an annual celebration throughout Mexico. This day recognizes children, pays homage to their importance in society, and endorses their well being. Pat Mora, a Texas native and nationally recognized author of children’s books, first heard of this Mexican tradition during a 1996 interview for a public radio program. As so often happens, the wheels in her head began to turn as one good idea (Día del niño) bred another one (Día de los libros).

On Saturday morning, April 25th, 2009 Pat Mora author and founder of Día de los libros was the Honored guest speaker at this first celebration held in Southwest Detroit. Sponsored by the Mexican Consulate with support from the office of Mayor Ken Cockrel, the event brought books to underprivelidged children in this Latino community. Mexican culture was celebrated with art, music, poetry and spoken word. We hope this can be the start of an annual Detroit event, celebrating books, children and culture throughout the community.

“How very appropriate that the first trade book about Children’s Day/Book Day should be enthusiastically penned by the founder of this holiday, celebrated annually since 1996 on April 30, the same date as Mexico’s Day of the Child. This call to arms for connecting kids and books exhorts everyone to read and have fun in whatever language and locale they choose: “Hooray! Today is our day. ¡El día de los niños! Let’s have fun today reading our favorite books. Toon! Toon!” The straightforward, bilingual text in Spanish and English is beautifully illustrated in bright, bold, acrylic paintings that integrate books and letters into timeless scenes of multicultural children cavorting, exploring, and, of course, reading. Turn to the back of the book for more on Mora’s inspirations and suggestions for celebrating children’s literacy in your own community… Ages 3-7 years.” (Source: Booklist)

We are delighted to be helping supply books for his appearance at the Gross Pointe Libaray on April 9th. If it is possible for you to attend this lecture do it.  His talk, “The Most Important Number in the World: Saving the Planet and Maybe Even the Auto Industry,” will take place on Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.  He will be focusing on the current financial crisis and the potential of a green economy as part of the economic recovery, as well as job creation in industries such as wind and solar energy, transportation, construction and food production.  His message is one of hope and clarity.  Admission is free, but a ticket is required. Tickets can be reserved by calling the Grosse Pointe Central Library at 313-343-2074 x220.

His latest book,  Deep Economy:The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future was published in 2007.  In Deep Economy, McKibben puts forward a new way to think about the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the money that pays for it all. Our purchases, he says, need not be at odds with the things we truly value. The animating idea of Deep Economy is that we need to move beyond “growth” as the paramount economic ideal and pursue prosperity in a more local direction — relying more on locally grown foods, energy and culture.

McKibbin’s experiment of a year spent eating locally is covered in one chapter, as he digs into new urban farming, and the explosion of local farmer’s markets. He also tells the sad tale of how surplus industrial food is dumped into our public school systems, which explains what McKibben describes as the endless “Sloppy Joe monotony of lunch lines across the country…. the problem is  cheap, fast, easy food doesn’t deliver”. He suggests shifting or ending the subsidized industrial farming practices and giving support directly to farmers who support the local economy.

This idea is extended in chapters that deal with energy and communication, where the viability of local radio, NPR,  bicycle propelled cities (Holland), local currency, community living and high quality mass-transit are more than just pipe-dreams. McKibben knows better than anyone, that we are less than an inch away from disaster and points to every mistake and flaw in the system, yet he’s also a person with smart solutions and political savvy. His influence was most pronounced on Vice-President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore who has quoted from and endorsed McKibben in numerous lectures and books.

The underlying message in Mckibben’s work is that there is an abundance of hope and people of vision in the world. There may be no perfect order,  but there are lessons to learn. From Europe, whose cultured people work to live and not live to work, to Kerala, a poor section in India that has achieved the highest literacy rate in the world and a longer life expectancy then in America. Hope is an important commodity today, and McKibben offers it up in big helpings. We need to only listen and act. Deep Economy is an important manifesto for our times.

From an article in The Nation: The author of a dozen books and countless magazine articles, McKibben is ubiquitous on the sustainability scene–the go-to environmentalist for keynote speeches, forewords, blurbs and anthologies. He has now compiled a collection of selected work, The Bill McKibben Reader, and it reveals a writer whose environmentalism runs deeper than the mainstream versions he’s helped to inspire. The contemporary “green” resurgence is still largely limited to small-bore economic and personal adjustments–hybrid vehicles, cap-and-trade proposals, solar panels. McKibben’s environmentalism, by contrast, is essentially religious: a guiding set of beliefs about what humans owe to a sacred source of life.

We were recently lucky to locate a small supply of  Deep Economy and The Bill McKibben Reader as publisher remainders, and are be able to pass on a substantial savings to our customers and those who attend the lecture. We hope to see you at Bill’s talk April 9th. Please call to reserve signed books.  Earth Day is April 22nd — and now is a good time to consider and reflect on our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment.

350.org is an international campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world
around solutions to the climate crisis–the solutions that justice demands. Join the 350 movement and watch this short Bill McKibben video (350 seconds on 350):

Random Acts of Kindness week is February 9-15, 2009. At the Acts of Kindness site you can create a community website (there are 785 in Michigan), read discussion boards, gain inspiration, share ideas and learn how to pass kindness onto others. Become a member, it is all offered free of charge.
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation inspires people to practice kindness and to pass it on to others. We provide free educational and community ideas, guidance, and other resources to kindness participants through our website at www.actsofkindness.org.

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is the United States delegate to the World Kindness Movement, an organization that includes various nations. People in these countries promote kindness within their countries’ borders and are creating a global network of kindness and compassion.

As people from different cultures and from all walks of life are joining to spread kindness, they are creating a powerful, synergistic action throughout the world. Please join us in bringing kindness and compassion to our local and global communities!

We would like to thank everyone in the Berkley School District who helped make this a success; teachers, media specialists and administration – thank you all for your support and the methods used to bring the message and ideas of “Three Cups of Tea” and “Pennies for Peace” into the classroom.

A special thank you goes out to Amira and Greg Mortenson for putting together an inspiring and lovely presentation. We appreciate and enjoyed your company – and hope you can someday return to see more of Detroit, a city that especially needs to hear your message of hope.

This has been a wonderful and uplifting launch for these two important children’s books; the picture book adaptation, “Listen to the Wind” and young adult version of “Three Cups of Tea.” We would like to stress that this young person’s book was a simultaneous release in paperback and hardcover (so one does not have to wait a year for the paperback version to appear). This rarely occurs in publishing, and the paperback was priced low at only $8.99! — an opportunity to begin reading this in classroom groups and young people’s reading groups. Everyone knows a young person -or possibly five young people, who should be reading and exposed to this phenomenal book. “Three Cups of Tea” shows how each young person and individual can be of service and help in transforming the world. Start now.

Book Beat will continue its “Pennies for Peace” fundraising until the end of March. We hope others will begin a project or continue one for themselves -together we can make a difference, one penny at a time.