Peace & Justice Center

Managing International Conflict in a Transformed World: The Work of the U.S. Institute of Peace

The Peace & Justice Store will be closing at 3:30 today.  Sorry for the inconvenience!

A Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Seminar
Lead by John F. Reuwer, MD

If you wish you could find more peace within yourself, or have more energy and skills to make peace with people you love and people you don’t, this seminar is for you.  The “language of life” has been used as a description of nonviolent communication, developed by Marshall Rosenberg, and adapted here by Dr. Reuwer.

This highly interactive day will give you the opportunity to develop valuable skills to make life easier and more enjoyable.

Areas to be covered include:

1. Definitions of peace – what does peace mean to you?
2. What makes human beings tick – what is alive in us that motivates us to do everything we do – an overview of NVC.
3. Learning to experience the freedom and power that comes from seeing things as they are (before we judge how they should be): transforming “should” energy into living energy.
4. Learning the power of feelings – what they tell us, and how we can transform even negative emotions into energy for positive change.
5. Our beautiful needs – how they define who we are and where we want to go.
6. Learning to make requests of yourself and others in a manner that creates the peace you want.
7. Practicing the language of life. How to carry this into your world to make life easier and more peaceful with anyone you encounter. You will have the opportunity to practice real life situations in a safe environment if desired.

Ed Everts, lifelong peace and justice activist, died this past Friday, May 10, 2013, a month short of his 94th birthday.

In September 2007, Serena Chaudhry, then PJC Executive Director, wrote this about Ed:

“Ed Everts fell into a lifetime of leadership and activism. In 1940, Ed Everts joined the military. In 1945, Ed fell from the sky when his plane was hit. His near death experience ultimately pushed him out of the military and inspired Ed’s belief that war is not the solution. This epiphany launched Ed into a life of social justice activism. In a California meat packing company he organized union workers and negotiated the complexities of racial justice and equity. Circumstances eventually brought Ed Everts to Vermont where he continued to agitate through becoming a member and avid supporter of the Peace & Justice Center and the Green Mountain Veterans for Peace as well as filming and producing 15 years of public access T.V. shows.

It is refreshing to see activism recognized and rewarded. Ed Everts was acknowledged in 1997 when he was honored as runner up for United Way’s Hometown Hero Award. It is nothing less than inspiring when celebrated leadership perseveres. Ed Everts persevered. He donated his U.S. Air Force pension to the Peace & Justice Center every month for 23 years. Swords into Plowshares!”

Ed was very generous to the Peace & Justice Center for many years and in many ways: with is heart and soul, his money and time, his songs and laughter, and wit and wisdom. He served on the board, many committees, and proofread the newsletter for countless years. The PJC would not have lasted as long or been the same organization without Ed Everts’ participation. Thank you, Ed.

This Link will take you to an interview with Ed that was printed in the Peace and Justice News in 1997.

His memorial service is June 29, Saturday afternoon at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington.

By Morgan Sherry, PJC Racial Justice Intern

It was in the wake of the PJC’s involvement with the One Billion Rising campaign (February 2013), a movement dedicated to ending violence against women, that I discovered another campaign with a mission to improve the well being of global women. This campaign is called 10×10 and is a global action campaign that recently produced the film, Girl Rising.

10×10 has a simple mission, but essential to the success of young women around the world. Their campaign believes that by educating girls in developing nations, in due time, the world will change for the better. Through the power of storytelling and social issue film making, 10×10 has created the film Girl Rising. With the help of former ABC journalists such as Kayce Freed Jennings, and The Documentary Group, this incredible idea was transformed into a spectacular film that tells the personal stories of nine extraordinary girls from nine different countries around the world. With such different lives to lead, these incredible young women share one very important goal: They want an education.

10×10 partners with policy leaders to influence governments and global institutions to enact and enforce laws that ensure each girl has an equal opportunity to fulfill her full potential. The campaign focuses on the education of women because they feel that educated girls have the ability to dramatically improve the well being of their families, communities, and their countries. Educated young women can, and will help reduce worldwide poverty, child mortality, HIV infection rates, corruption, and change the conditions that lead to terrorism.

The power of an education mixed with the influence of motivated women, is a recipe for success in terms of bettering the lives of women. It is easy to sit around and wait for others to make change, but we need not wait.

The 10×10 campaign and the producers of Girl Rising have three major changes they seek to make in the world: To change minds, lives, and policies. These activists are forming a strong media presence and continuing fundraising in hopes of one day seeing the change they desired.

I am excited to announce that on Thursday, May 16th at 7:00 p.m. The Roxy (222 College Street, Burlington) will be screening this film! If you are interested in learning more contact Kyle at 863-2345 x6 or kyle@pjcvt.org.

Links:
Click here to buy tickets to the screening on May 16th at 7:00 p.m.

Click here for more information on 10×10.

Click here to view the Facebook Event for this screening.