by Reverend Kristin Gill Stoneking, FOR Executive Director

Local groups as source and

sustenance of FOR-USA’s activism

stretches back to our origins, when

68 people met in Garden City, New

York in November 1915 to

“establish a world order based on

love.” The focus in the early days

was largely domestic: against

conscription and militarism, for

economic justice and legal protection

of conscientious objectors.

In the nearly 100 years since, we

expanded our outreach to create a

presence abroad that included the

meaningful work of sponsoring

civilian diplomacy delegations to the

Middle East and the Soviet Union,

and providing protective

accompaniment in Latin America.

Yet, as FOR embraces the needs and

challenges of the twenty-first

century, we find the call to return to

the work of building and tending to

our national network and

infrastructure.

Throughout 2012, the National

Council worked with then-Executive

Director Mark Johnson to frame a

strategy that could respond to this

call. A model that organized activism

into regions of the country was

constructed, repurposing staff from a

predominately international focus to

nonviolent change work that sees

transformation in the United States

as the highest priority for

effectiveness. FOR announced this

new organizational model in

December 2012 with the hiring of

Rev. Lucas Johnson as Southeast &

Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator,

the first position tuned to the new

strategy. At the same time, Mark

Johnson announced his forthcoming

retirement.

The search process that ensued for a

successor prioritized capacity in

grassroots organizing with diverse

and younger populations while at the

same time requiring expertise in

organizational and financial

leadership. I am pleased to be able to

continue the work of Mark and the

National Council as we transition

fully into this new model, deeply

committing our national pro-

grammatic efforts to strengthen and

increase communications with our

chapters, local affiliates, religious

peace fellowships, and other

grassroots-based initiatives.

FOR’s theory of social change

understands our work as “a

movement that begins at the

individual level working locally

through active efforts by dedicated,

passionate people, many of whom

act from spiritual leadings, whose

clarity of purpose, vision and

success actively moves through

communities and structures

representing wider and wider

circles of peoples until systems are

transformed in sustainable ways for

the foreseeable future. Our field of

intended effective social change is

that of structural violence in the

United States and propagated by the

United States throughout

the world.” Grounded in this

regional strategy, we will be able to

more fully live the tenets of this

theory through our leanings and our

learnings, through our actions and

commitments, through our embrace

of a nonviolent way of life that

acknowledges first our

responsibility to change ourselves

as we ask the world to change.

(continued on page 2)

Returning to FOR's Roots: A U.S.-Based Strategy for

Nonviolent Social Change

What will be the priorities of staff in the regional organizing model? Regional staff will focus on reinvigorating or starting new chapters and affiliates; introducing new persons and groups to the FOR network; connecting constituencies through gatherings, social media, and other vehicles; offering trainings in person and through webinars; providing resources to support campaigns and initiatives. The heart of the new mission statement is “to organize, train and grow a diverse movement.” How does this new model further that? FOR staff will give particular attention to communities and persons who are under-represented in the FOR network: specifically younger persons, persons of color, and persons from non-Christian spiritual backgrounds. We hope to repeat the very successful “Fellowship School” hosted at Shadowcliff in the fall of 2013 in which four international students were trained by our diverse network in nonviolent transformation work. Also, we plan to include more interns and campus based work in the new model. How can I get involved? FOR has set the ambitious goal of 10 new or reactivated chapters and 500 new members by our 100th anniversary dinner in New York City in November 2015. If you are not part of a chapter, contact the regional coordinator in your region at http://forusa.org/contact to begin a conversation about connecting with activists and peacemakers in your area or around your interests. Invite others who would be interested in connecting with FOR. Inform us of the work you are doing either through the FOR organizer in your region, or our communications department at communications@forusa.org . Let us know what resources you need to be more effective and productive. Give to FOR, financial gifts are always needed and greatly appreciated www.forusa.org/donate. Pray for FOR or offer hope for FOR’s vision in your meditation practice. Believe in the coming reality of a transformed society and the beloved community.

Our self-identity has always been as a web of

deeply committed, passionate individuals. It is a

true pleasure and privilege to be with you in our

common purpose and work. May our movement

grow and may we see signs of transformation.

Peace and grace to you,

Executive Director, FOR-USA

Frequently Asked Questions:

Kristin introduces the Regional Coordination strategy

to guests during a “Meet & Greet” gathering at FOR’s

national headquarters.

Returning to FOR’s Roots (cont.)

page 2 FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014

by Leila Zand, FOR Regional Coordinator/Organizer for the Northeast

My grandmother used to tell me, “Shhhh, if you listen carefully you can hear the light steps of the young spring girl in her

colorful skirt coming to the door.”

I invite you to celebrate the New Year with me, and the rebirth of our beautiful Mother Earth. Open the door and welcome

the green spring to your home, and thank her for the beauty she offers. Open the door, dance with her, hold her hands and

smell the renewal.

But, as my grandmother would also say, “It’s not that easy! Spring is not

coming in if you don’t clean your home - both your house and your soul.

She is a delicate, elegant beauty who doesn’t know anything but love.

Why would she enter a house filled with the dusts of cold winter? Why

would she come in to a home that is dark, painful, bitter, angry, and

cold?!”

Cleaning our homes, our hearts and souls is how Iranians prepare for

Nowrooz (Norooz). Norooz which literally means a new day, translated

as New Year, is based on articulated astronomical calculations of the

moment of equinox. The end of the old year, and the beginning of the

new is considered holy. It is a time of deep connection between the

creator and her creations; it is a spiritual moment of unity with all

diversity. And a most crucial moment in the life of a family, especially

with regard to forgiving past failings, healing conflicts, and looking forward to more constructive relations.

I invite you, my FOR family, to celebrate reconciliation and rebirth with me. Together we can renew our vows to create a

peaceful path toward justice for all. Happy Norooz!

Happy Norooz! Happy New Year! Happy Spring!

Spring and all its flowers

now joyously break their vow of

silence. It is time for celebration, not

for lying low; You too -- weed out

those roots of sadness from your

heart. ~ Hafiz

Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the

sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! ~ Sitting Bull

Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child

that knows poems. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014 page 3

by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, FOR Freeman Fellow

Passover: A Celebration and Exploration of Liberation

The oldest Sephardic haggadah featuring the prayer: This is the poor bread our ancestors ate in Mitzrayim. Let all who are oppressed, come and feast with us. Let all who are in need, join the Passover Seder!

The ritual book used for Passover, the haggadah or the telling, starts off with a call:

"Let all who are hungry, come eat. Let all who are oppressed come join the Passover

celebration!" Since this is the night of telling there is a presumption that the

community will hear from 'all those who are oppressed.' Hearing voices of people on

the front lines of struggle against systems of violence is the narrative of Passover.

Assessing how each of us unconsciously or consciously participates in or resists

structures of oppression is key to observing Passover - the oldest and most beloved

Jewish holy day.

For Jewish people concerned with our collective relationship to the State of Israel,

history has transformed the context in which we tell the Jewish liberation story and

radically reshaped our questions. For example, the last line of the haggadah, "Next

year in Jerusalem!" has caused members of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) to consider

this phrase from the perspective of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. From a

Palestinian point of view, "Next year in Jerusalem" is experienced as Israel's

occupation policies of forced displacement from Jerusalem as new Jewish settlers take

over former Palestinian villages and land. The State of Israel's dispossession policies

toward Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem encompass land appropriation,

discriminatory planning policies, the isolation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the

West Bank, the denial of citizenship to Palestinian East Jerusalem residents, home

demolition, settler vandalism and harassment, and the use of Jewish historical claims

to take land.

This year, as many Jews break the matzah in two, and hide one until the meal is

through, we will be contemplating next steps as solidarity partners in the Palestinian

freedom struggle. Those of us associated with JVP and the Shomer Shalom Network

for Jewish Nonviolence will continue to honor the 2005 call by Palestinian civil

society for boycott, divestment and sanctions. Working together, we can transform

despair into hope and oppression into liberation. Next year, a liberated

Jerusalem. Dayenu.

Syrian Charoset for Passover from Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb

Charoset is a symbolic food that has two meanings (like all the symbols). On the one hand, it represents the mortar Israelites were forced

to use in Pharaoh's building projects. On the other hand, it represents the fruits of the garden of Eden associated with liberation and

delight. This charoset recipe is from the Brooklyn Syrian Jewish household of Stephanie Cohen.

3 pounds dates

Water

1/2 cup pomegranate extract (my addition) or sweet wine

teaspoon of ground cinnamon (mixed with a pinch of cardamom and all spice)

1 c. finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Put dates in large saucepan with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until dates are

very soft (30-45 minutes). Date skins will separate from the flesh of the fruit, and the boiling liquid becomes thick and syrupy. Mash

everything up. Add other ingredients. Chill until ready to serve. Eat with matzah and bitter herb.

Hag Sameakh, a joyous Passover season to you!

page 4 FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014

Photo courtesy of Ground Zero

On May 11, 2013, in an action organized by Ground Zero Center for

Nonviolent Action, Bernie Meyer of Olympia, Washington entered Sub

Base Bangor, home of the Trident submarines on the West Coast of the

United States, by crossing the line. Carrying a peace flag and reading

Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation, Meyer was taken to the

ground, arrested, and charged with “trespassing.”

A longtime peace activist dubbed the “American Gandhi” for his

portrayal of the legendary Mahatma Gandhi in the United States and

India, Bernie Meyer has been working since 1974 to abolish nuclear

weapons. He cites Gandhi’s last words as inspiration for his work.

Margaret Bourke-White, journalist for Life magazine, asked Gandhi on the day before he was assassinated on January 30,

1948, “How would you answer the atom bomb with nonviolence?” He replied, “Nonviolence is the only thing the atom

bomb cannot destroy. I did not move a muscle when I heard that the atom bomb destroyed Hiroshima. I said, ‘Unless

humanity adopts nonviolence and ends the atom bomb, it will be suicide for mankind.’” For Gandhi nonviolence is

ahimsa in Hindi which means “unwillingness to do harm.”

Meyer purposely risked arrest to draw attention to his cause as he believes that “nuclear weapons and the total nuclear

system are directly related to catastrophic climate change” and that “deaths are being caused by nuclear radiation even

before a nuclear bomb is detonated.” He chose to honor his deceased mother with this action, saying, “We must do all we

can to live as true human beings as a loving part of Mother Earth.”

(Bernie Meyer is former vice chair of FOR’s national council. Meyer’s court case was dismissed on December 6, 2013.

You can learn more about the American Gandhi at www.oly-wa.us/berniemeyer/ )

Mother's Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe

Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or tears!

Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking

with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have taught them of

charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another to allow our sons to be

trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated earth, a voice goes up with our own. It says, "Disarm, Disarm!"

The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.

As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of

home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail & commemorate the dead. Let

them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each

bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesars but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of

nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with

its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the

great and general interests of peace.

Honoring Mother’s Day

FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014 page 5

Minnesota FOR is thrilled and grateful to have received a $5,000 grant from the Community of

St. Martin to support their Campus Initiative. Initially conceived when MN FOR member

Duane Cady was on the FOR National Council in 2001, the Campus Initiative wasn’t launched

nationwide as intended due to funding and logistical difficulties. Cady persevered as

coordinator of the program and MN FOR was able to appoint its first intern at Hamline

University in October 2013. MN FOR board chair, Dave Gagne, applied for the grant, and now

MN FOR is seeking interns on the five campuses of the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities.

Recruitment of MN FOR interns is underway at Augsburg College, The College of St. Catherine, Hamline University,

Macalester College, and the University of St. Thomas. The interns are expected to form student groups to do research,

educational events, and negotiations with investment decision makers at each college or university regarding the

divestment of stocks that profit from weapons production, labor exploitation, and environmental degradation. Each intern

will receive $500 per semester for 8-10 hours of organizing and research per week. Interns will be supervised by

cooperating faculty on each campus. For more information, please contact Duane Cady at dcady@hamline.edu.

"They're still talking about the

lunch counter sit-ins," said Creating

a Culture of Peace facilitator Doug

Horner at a recent CCP board

meeting. In November 2013,

Horner invited 16 inner-city

Cleveland residents to attend a 20-

hour CCP nonviolence training in

Mansfield, Ohio. The viewing of a

segment of a civil rights-era

nonviolence campaign from the

documentary A Force More

Powerful had a particularly strong

effect on several of the teenagers in

the training group. "They saw

themselves in those kids."

The CCP nonviolence training

program, developed a decade ago at

FOR by Janet Chisholm, is

currently shepherded by a team of

nine national board members. The

unique attraction of this training,

says board member Toni

McClendon, is the

"popular education" process of

action and reflection that CCP

uses in partnership with

community-based groups. Toni

and the other board members are

especially excited about a

renewed interest by local groups

to hold CCP trainings across the

country over the coming months.

In the West, Jeremy Lucas and

Janet Chisholm are teaming up

with the Episcopal Peace

Fellowship to plan future

trainings in Portland, Oregon and

Hawaii. In Minnesota, Dwight

Wagenius, T. Michael Rock,

Kathleen Remund, Joan Haan,

and Katherine Wojtan are

facilitating two basic trainings

over the summer in the Twin

Cities area. Partners for these

trainings are the United Church

of Christ and the St. Paul

Interfaith Network. And in the

East, CCP facilitator Christy

Gordon is offering a basic training

connected with Pax Christi in

Derwood, Maryland, June 6-8.

Further details on registering for

these trainings can be found on the

"calendar of upcoming trainings"

on the CCP website:

www.creatingacultureofpeace.org

. Or, contact Phil Stoltzfus, interim

executive director, at

847-790-4CCP or

info@creatingacultureofpeace.org

.

page 6 FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014

CCP Nonviolence Trainings Planned from Coast to Coast

Update on Minnesota FOR Campus Initiative

We welcome submissions for the Fall Witness. Send us news, views, events,

recipes, self-care & spiritual practices for the vernal equinox, the holiday season,

and the winter months. 300 word maximum.

Deadline August 1, 2014. Witness@forusa.org

Nonviolence is not passive. It is an active force within us that we can cultivate to counter the culture of violence in an

increasingly militarized and fear-based society. Peace Researcher Kenneth Boulding refers to nonviolence as an

“integrative power” that draws on our courage to be authentic which in turn draws people closer together. Gandhi coined

the term sarvodaya to mean “the uplift” or “fulfillment of all” which is at the heart of the shift in paradigms that is the

basis of a nonviolent culture.

Peace Paradigm Radio explores the power of active nonviolence in a highly

educational and enjoyable way. A project of the Metta Center for

Nonviolence with the support of KWMR, each show offers a segment with

Professor Michael Nagler, cofounder of University of California, Berkeley’s

Peace and Conflict Studies Program, sharing stories and analysis on

nonviolence in the news. Also on each show, Stephanie Van Hook, Metta

Center Director, interviews guests who practice the principles of

nonviolence in their effort to create a better world. Other special guest hosts

include Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers of PopularResistance.org with a

monthly Resistance Report, and former KWMR host of Transition to Peace,

Russ Faurbrauc, to talk on the transition to a nonviolent world.

On Peace Paradigm Radio, we believe that nonviolence is the key to a livable and prosperous future for generations to

come, and through learning more about it, you can transform your life and the world around you.

Airs every other Friday at 1:00 pm PST on KWMR Community Radio. You can listen live at www.kwmr.org or access

the show’s archives at www.mettacenter.org.

FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014 page 7

Weekend Retreat sponsored by the Metta Center Buddha and the World Crisis: Discovering Compassion in Action When: August 1-3, 2014 Where: the beautiful, serene, and healing Mt. Madonna Center, Watsonville, CA. As the Dalai Lama says, “Compassion is the religion of this age.” We will explore the practical teachings of the Compassionate Buddha, as contained in the Dhammapada (the “Way of the Law”). Instruction in passage meditation and practice will be tailored to participants’ needs and experiences. Opportunities for yoga and hiking will be integrated into our time together. One need not be a practitioner of Buddhism - open to all. For more information: visit www.mettacenter.org or call 707-774-6299.

“We are constantly being astonished at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt-of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

The Nonviolence

Handbook by Michael N.

Nagler will be available

for purchase in April,

2014. Copies can be

obtained directly from

the publisher

(www.bkconnection.com),

at Amazon.com, ordered

from your local

bookstore, or ordered

from the Metta Center for

Nonviolence

(www.mettacenter.org).

Peace Paradigm Radio: A Project of the Metta Center for Nonviolence

Western Washington and Oregon FOR have partnered for fifty-six years to conduct one of the

largest peace conferences in the Pacific Northwest. This year, activists from a variety of faith

traditions from all over the country are invited to the Seabeck Conference Center west of

Seattle on July 3 – 6, to explore the theme, Take Back the 4th: Speak Truth to Power, to focus

on preserving our Constitutional 4th Amendment right against unreasonable search and

seizure in the information age.

Keynote speakers Peter Phillips (Project Censored), Michael Nagler (Metta Center for

Nonviolence), and Rev. Kristin Stoneking (Fellowship of Reconciliation USA) will discuss

the theme and other social movements that seek to bring peace and justice to our world.

Numerous workshops on issues relevant to our time will be offered, as well as an uplifting

music program led by folksinger Tom Rawson that will culminate in a joyful community

talent show. Child and teen educational programs will also be provided to ensure learning

experiences for all family members.

Conference & Registration Information: Contact John Roy Wilson at 541-687-6728/jrw45@comcast.net, or Janet Hawkins at 503-244-7703/janetchawkins@msn.com. Or visit: www.ofor.org, www.forseabeck.org, or

www.facebook.com/OregonFOR

by John Lindsay-Poland, FOR Western Regional Coordinator/Organizer

To effect social change using nonviolence is difficult. Like anything challenging, it requires skill and knowledge. FOR-

USA staff can help local groups to think through strategy, research, effect outreach, make connections in and beyond their

communities, and create internal resources needed for the long haul.

In California, FOR is co-sponsoring a Kingian Nonviolence workshop in Oakland on April 5-6. Together with East Point

Academy, we’ll explore in a packed 16 hours: conflict and how it works, the principles of nonviolence, and how to apply

these principles to organizing for social change. This intensive workshop is an opportunity to understand conflict and

nonviolence through Rev. Dr. King’s approach and to generate community. To register, go to

www.eastpointpeace.org/workshop.html.

FOR is also working with local California peace centers, FOR affiliates and chapters to share skills and opportunities and

break the isolation that local activists sometimes experience. Nine local peace centers from San Diego to Chico work on

diverse issues that include economic and racial justice, climate change, gentrification, police accountability, mass

incarceration, training, etc. FOR is facilitating a statewide gathering in Santa Cruz, June 13-14, of peace centers and other

FOR groups.

Through participation in national initiatives, FOR-USA can make broader connections available to local groups. One of

these is the Global Day of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) on April 14 (day before tax day), to educate about and

protest the moral and political scandal that our world spends $1.7 trillion a year on the war system. See demilitarize.org.

For more information, contact John Lindsay-Poland, 510-282-8983, johnlp@forusa.org.

page 8 FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014

Take Back the 4th: Speak Truth to Power ~ 2014 Seabeck Conference

Constructing the Beloved Community in Western States

by Susana Pimiento Chamorro, FOR Southwest Regional Coordinator/Organizer and Western Hemispheric Liaison

“Peace Takes Courage” was the central theme of Sustainable Options for Youth’s (SOY) counter-recruitment table at

Reagan High School, in northeast Austin this January. The SOY table was directly opposite the marine’s recruitment table

at the career fair. Both tables had chin-up bars. SOY gave everyone a prize: a Cesar Chavez stencil t-shirt, a book entitled

Addicted to War, or FOR’s Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story comic book.

Co-founded by longtime activist and FOR member, Vera Shirley (1921-

2008), Sustainable Options for Youth is a group of students, teachers,

activists, veterans, and parents that do direct outreach to offer an alternative to

military recruitment at public high schools in Austin, Texas. SOY uses art and

interactive games to educate about active nonviolence. They have a wheel of

fortune with pictures of legends like Gandhi and Rosa Parks, and modern day

activists like local hip hop singer Gidon; they offer printed materials to tell the

truths not told by military recruiters.

SOY volunteers talk about the high incidence of sexual assault in the military

and the lack of accountability for sexual predators, and the post-traumatic

stress disorder (PTSD) that affects veterans. Hart Viges, an Iraq Veteran for Peace and SOY volunteer, asked the students

surrounding the table at Reagan HS, “Do you like fireworks?” The youth listened with wide eyes as Hart continued,

“Well, think twice about enlisting, because you won't like fireworks after you’ve been to war.”

At the career fair, SOY also took a “penny poll” regarding federal spending. The youth were given a stack of 10 pennies

to vote among 5 categories. The results in order of importance: 1st Education, 2nd Environment, 3rd Health Care, 4th

Humanitarian Aid, and, lastly, the Military. So, if Reagan HS students had the chance to decide how our tax money would

be spent, we might live in a more sustainable world.

The North Texas Fellowship of Reconciliation was founded at the Interfaith Peace Chapel on the campus of the Cathedral of

Hope in Dallas, Texas on January 25, 2014. Organizer and editor, Reverend Jeff Hood, tells about the chapter’s inception.

Peace Takes Courage: Counter-Recruitment in Austin, Texas

Susana volunteering with SOY

Birth of a New FOR Chapter

On the 30th of December 2006, I

collapsed to the floor of my room in

tears. I was a few weeks away from

beginning my first semester at The

Southern Baptist Theological

Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. I

was supposed to believe that God

brings about absolute vengeance and

retribution...yet there I was on the

ground crying. I had never known

Saddam Hussein, but I did believe he

was a murdering genocidal dictator.

So as the world cheered his

execution, why was I crying? I

guess I was crying because I was

just bold enough to believe that

when Jesus declared that I should

love my enemies...he also meant

Saddam Hussein. This was the

moment I began to believe that

violence has no place in the life of

the follower of Jesus. Since that

moment, my commitment to love

and reconciliation instead of

violence has only deepened.

The North Texas Fellowship of

Reconciliation draws persons

together from different faith

backgrounds who have come to the

conclusion that violence is spiritually

incompatible with love and

peace. We are all painfully aware of

the cost of violence and we are

simply no longer willing to wage

it. For us, love is truth and we are

committed to it.

To read blogs and essays about a nonviolent

approach to contemporary social justice issues:

northtexasfor.com

FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014 page 9

is continuing nearly a decade of work with DePaul

University Student Service Learners and the PAX

200 Class. This spring the students will table for

the I Will NOT Kill campaign in the Student

Center, and attend the Chicago Chapter monthly

meetings. Our chapter and the students will also

participate in Pace e Bene’s Campaign

Nonviolence. Our work with DePaul students is

an excellent example of how to cultivate young

people into new members of local FOR chapters

and is work that can be replicated in countless

universities and colleges across the nation.

The Future Is NOW is an intergenerational summit sponsored by exciting

taking place August 15-17 near the Twin Cities. The core organizers of the summit invite you to help us realize

The Future is Now. Most of us are members of front line communities struggling for racial, economic and

environmental justice. We are young and passionate about putting a plug in the school to prison pipeline, ending policies of

deportation, mass incarceration, and the militarization of police. We are building the future we want to see now.

Help us take the next step by supporting The Future Is NOW Summit.

Here's what you can do:

1) Learn more at www.blazingforward.org

2) Spread the word by liking us on FACEBOOK. Facebook.com/2014FIN

3) Share your involvement through Twitter - #FutureIsNow #FINchat

4) Help young people to attend by contributing $175 to sponsor one person

5) Create a fundraising & education party through your local FOR chapter or RPF for The Future Is NOW. One of the

core organizers can help you put together a local event.

6) To apply: www.blazingforward.org

For more information contact shauenp@forusa.org or lgottlieb@forusa.org

FOR Chicago

From left to right: Rev. Sam Smith (Chicago FOR Chapter Chair), Sarah Kramer (DePaul University Service Learner), Meghan Mae McLaughlin Trimm

(Chicago FOR Chapter Intern), Rauthany Iy and Yeon Noo Bae (DePaul University Service Learners). Two other DePaul University Service Learners, Fatima A

Jacome and Blake Truitt, were not present for this photo.

page 10 FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014

Photo courtesy of Len Tsou

Photo courtesy of Doug Nobiletti

by Jim Murphy, FOR National Council member and founder of Vets FOR

by S. Hope Altkin, FOR Peace House Host and Events Coordinator

It is impossible for me to imagine that Pete Seeger is ‘no longer with us.’ Shortly

after his passing on January 27th, a friend said to me, “He was, is, and will be...” I

have pondered this since.

One day, after having volunteered with the Clearwater and the Beacon Sloop Club

for many years, Pete mentioned to me how difficult the mail and the files were

becoming - it was all just getting to be too much. I offered to help. So it came to be,

the gift of knowing Pete while working with and for him at the home he shared with Toshi, his wife and partner of over 60

years, continuing to organize and catalogue the enormous volume of correspondence, literature and material that found its

way to their doors. It was not an easy task, and I often found myself in amazement at how Toshi had done it all and so

much more!

Pete was easy to know and the kindest spirit I have ever known. He had the

gift of story and no work day was complete without several. It was a sure

thing that, if asked a question about where he would like this or that, a story

would follow. Sometimes I would have to ‘take myself off the clock’ as

one story flowed into another.

Everything that Pete did was with exquisite attention to detail and care…

from chopping firewood, building a fire, considering a question, or penning

a song. The gifts of shared meals, visitors, conversation, reflections on the

world past, present and future... I will forever be grateful.

So, yes, it’s difficult to contemplate a world without Pete and Toshi Seeger; and, fortunately, because of all that they did

and all they gave to us, we don’t have to.

Veterans FOR Emergency Food Card

Assistance Project

Veterans Fellowship of Reconciliation has launched a new project to provide short-term food relief to veterans living

on the edge. We are donating $50 food gift cards from Greenstar (a large food co-op in Ithaca, NY) and Wegmans

Supermarket to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam vets. Local veterans and allies are matching the donations from

Greenstar and Wegmans. The 1st Unitarian Society of Ithaca (FUSIT) is the hub for this project. Any veteran that is

interested can contact us to arrange a meeting in which we will verify their experience and provide a first card. At the

initial meeting we will offer assistance and advice with regard to utilizing Veterans Affairs (VA) services, as well as

provide initial transportation and accompaniment, if desired.

We feel the Food Card Project is another way to unite veterans and community. War is a moral injury as well as a

psychological, neurological or physical injury, and “Coming Home” is never simple. There were hundreds of thousands

of Vietnam Veterans that died by 1980. We can't let this happen again.

Since the VA is overwhelmed with the needs of the veterans of the U.S. wars of the past 12 years, we hope to share this

model project. Any national FOR chapters interested in our blueprint, please contact us at ivetsfor@gmail.com or by

phone at 607-319-0980.

Pete Seeger ~ ¡Presente!

FOR Witness ~ Spring 2014 page 11

Donzaleigh Abernathy

Rev. Kristin Gill Stoneking, FOR Executive Director

and Ed McManus, Centennial Committee Chair

are pleased to introduce

The Fellowship of Reconciliation’s

2015 Honorary Centennial Committee

George Houser

Mrs. Juanita Jones

Abernathy

Taylor Branch

The Rev. John Dear

Mike Farrell

The Rev. James Lawson

Joan Baez

Dr. Helen Caldicott

Jonathan Demme

Arun Gandhi

The Hon. John Lewis

Liliane K. Baxter

Joan Chittister, OSB

Hildegard Goss-Mayr

Sr. Helen Prejean

Medea Benjamin

Pat Clark

Daniel Ellsberg

Thich Nhat Hanh

Pete Seeger (deceased)

Daniel Berrigan

Dr. Dorothy Cotton

Adolfo Perez Esquivel

Dr. Vincent Harding

Martin Sheen

Julian Bond

Samina Faheem Sundas

Plans are underway for

FOR-USA’s 100th Anniversary Celebration.

How will your beloved community celebrate?

Please share with us: centennial@forusa.org.