Friends,
 The Fellowship of Reconciliation is celebrating the power of committed individuals to make a difference!
An FOR comic book in the Egyptian revolution
Earlier this year, we learned that our comic book, Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, helped inspire the success of Egypt’s peaceful, nonviolent movement for democratic representation.
Just three years ago, Dalia Ziada, Egypt Director of the American Islamic Congress began circulating translated copies of The Montgomery Story. Through AIC's HAMSA initiative -- designed to link civil rights groups throughout the Middle East and North Africa -- more than 2,000 copies were distributed in Arabic and Farsi. In an interview, Ziada shared that the translated version of The Montgomery Story had been shared in Tahrir Square and identified as contributing to the air of peaceful revolution in Egypt. It continues to circulate throughout North Africa and the Middle East.
 We have been inundated with requests for reprints of the comic book, in a variety of languages both here in the United States and from overseas! First published in 1958, Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story was conceived by the late Alfred Hassler. A former FOR executive director, life-long pacifist and environmentalist, Hassler also founded our Dai Dong project, an initiative that showed linkages between war, environmental problems and poverty. Benton Resnick, a black-listed writer from the 1950s, is credited with writing the comic, and the images were drawn by one of the artists working in the Al Capp Studios.
Our initial thought was to reproduce the comic book as a PDF and send that format in response to the various requests. But we now see that the significance of this historical, yet contemporary document deserves to be circulated in its original format!
 Will you help us get it done?
Make a donation to FOR to creatively promote peaceful nonviolence as the way to make change -- in Egypt, Iraq, Wisconsin, and around the world!
A peace community in Colombia
 Our brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and partners continue to actively commit themselves to peace by living with members of Colombia's Peace Communities. Isaac Beachy, one of our accompaniment team members from Harrisburg, Virginia, shares about life in San José de Apartadó Peace Community:
 "I was recently in my bed in rural Colombia when an explosion rocked my house. Heavy combat immediately ensued on the hill adjacent to the village I live in ... I and my teammate scurried around making contact with community leaders, our team in Bogotá and Colombian military officials. While most of the gunfire and combat came from the far side of the hill, enough shots were fired from the side facing our house to induce wincing.
"The crazy part ... is not [that] there was combat (we live in a war zone); it's the news stories that came out the day after. These news stories paint[ed] a picture of the peace community and civil society as [being] targeted by the guerilla[s] with the military as their selfless saviors. The military would have everyone believe that had it not been for their presence, the guerilla[s] would have attacked the peace community. In reality, it was the military encampment that drew the guerrilla attack that put us all at risk.
"When I talked to some of my neighbors in the peace community about the news stories they responded with anger and frustration, but not with surprise ... Spin has become the new weaponry of the Colombian state to do away with those they stigmatize as the enemy. As one of my neighbors commented, 'The radio is the military's biggest rifle.'"
Excerpt from "The Battle Next Door: An Insider's Experience with Colombian Military Discourse"
Help support our peacebuilding work in Colombia with your donation.
Afghanistan: Ending war and violence
 Though the United States' position on Afghanistan is that continuing the war will help the Afghan people, during her travels to the country, FOR director of Civilian Diplomacy Leila Zand found the reverse to be true. While the U.S. government says the country is in the process of being rebuilt, corruption continues to impede Afghanistan's development. Little thought has been given to the expressed needs of the Afghan people in the areas of education, health, housing, and simple daily welfare.
Visits to the refugee camps evoked a feeling of sadness and sense of urgency. The camps were filled with young girls and boys living in shelters made from mud, suffering from various skin diseases, some with untreated wounds, others had even lost limbs -- all a result of U.S. and allied forces' bombardments on the cities and villages. For Afghans, having three meals a day is a dream, but they need more. They need clean water, a working sewage system, roads, hospitals and schools.
 Leila found that what Afghans most want is an end to the military occupation. They are tired of the violence and destruction.
We have since met and begun to collaborate with several Afghan grassroots organizations. The Afghan Friendship and Cooperation Organization has asked FOR to return and provide training in nonviolent conflict resolution.
Your donation will help fund nonviolent conflict resolution trainings in Afghanistan.
Demilitarizing life in the United States
Last month, FOR Director of Programs Shauen V.T. Pearce created a workshop called "Demilitarizing life in the United States: Organizing across cultural lines for justice."
Former National Council member Rev. Sam Smith presented the workshop in Chicago at the Congress on Urban Ministry, hosted by the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education. Participants gained a deeper understanding of violence, how we perpetuate classicism and racism in organizing, ways to decrease the unintentional violence done through peace and justice work, and understanding more completely the roles of militarism in our lives.
This workshop is available for re-application in your local community. Please reply to this email for more information.
Support demilitarization and anti-military recruitment campaigns in the United States with your contribution.
The Fellowship of Reconciliation is a catalyst for peace, justice and nonviolence
Whether in peer-to-peer delegations, peaceful accompaniment, advocacy and research, or training trainers in international and domestic nonviolent conflict resolution, the Fellowship of Reconciliation works to present nonviolence, equity and reconciliation as real and viable alternatives to militaristic, social and cultural oppression.
As you've seen in the distribution of Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story, one person with conviction can touch and change many. Your financial gift helps us to do the same.
Make a donation to the Fellowship of Reconciliation today.
Thank you for your support!
FOR justice, FOR peace, and in Fellowship,
Shauen V.T. Pearce
Director of the Program Department
Image credits, from top: FOR, Comics Alliance, FOR accompaniment volunteer Mayra Moreno, FOR. |
