Tag: Greater New Haven Peace Commission

New Haven Peace Commission, New HOPE Housing Program, Newhallville Neighborhood to Celebrate International Day of Peace

by City of New Haven Peace Commission

In 1981 the United Nations General Assembly declared September 21 as the International Day of Peace. The Assembly established it as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.

To bring attention to the importance of this day, the City of New Haven Peace Commission for more than a decade has planted a tree on the grounds of a city school, library, or public space. This year, the New Haven Peace Commission, New HOPE Housing Program, and Newhallville neighborhood will join together with the international community to recognize the International Day of Peace by co-hosting a program at the new home of HOPE, 660 Winchester Avenue, New Haven.

The program has been planned jointly by Newhallville neighborhood organizations, Alder Devin Avshalom-Smith, Peace Commission members, Rev. Bonita Grubbs and staff of Christian Community Action, and new residents of HOPE. [The date of the program was not chosen before our newsletter went to print. The event will be during the week of Sept. 18. Contact the City of New Haven Peace Commission at [email protected].]

During the program, a permanent memorial to recognize International Day of Peace will be installed on the grounds of HOPE, near a specially-chosen tree, provided and planted by URI (Urban Resources Initiative) and the placement of a plaque nearby to commemorate the day. The tree is planted to remember those killed by gun violence in our communities and in wars abroad and to affirm the commitment of New Haven as a Peace Messenger City, for action toward peace and justice everywhere.

2022 Theme: End racism. Build peace. From the United Nations website for 2022 International Day of Peace: https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace.

Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.

But achieving true peace entails much more than laying down arms. It requires the building of societies where all members feel that they can flourish. It involves creating a world in which people are treated equally, regardless of their race.

Traditional Reading ‘Beyond Vietnam’

by Henry Lowendorf, Greater New Haven Peace Commission

It has become a tradition in New Haven to celebrate the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., with a public reading of his brilliant speech, Beyond Vietnam.

The reading will take place at noon Monday, Jan. 17, via Zoom. Contact the Peace Council at 203-389-9547 or [email protected] if you would like to read or participate. To listen in solidarity, contact us for the Zoom link.

At a time when the people of our country and the world face an ongoing pandemic, economic deprivation, gross inequality in jobs, health care, housing, education, we celebrate the crystal clarity of King’s vision for peace and justice expressed during the brutal U.S. war on Vietnam 54 years ago. Today we call for ending the dozens of wars, blockades and gross interference in the political affairs of other nations waged by the U.S.A.

The Greater New Haven Peace Council invites you to join in reading this powerfully emotional and historical analysis that is today as relevant as it was when King presented it in 1967.

King: “I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.”

Congress is now passing a new military budget of three-quarters of a trillion dollars, a huge increase over Trump’s last budget, which itself was highly bloated over Obama’s. Military spending consumes over half of U.S. discretionary budget while the U.S. spends more on weapons and war than the next 11 countries combined.

King: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

Contact the Peace Council now to be added to the roster of readers or for the Zoom link to listen to the readings: 203-389-9547,  [email protected].

King called for an end to the madness of militarism, inequality and greed. Let’s settle for nothing less than a just transition to a Green, Peace Economy that works for all of us.