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2002
2002 was another whirlwind year for the Peace & Justice Center.
After the devastating events of September 11th 2001, Vermonters
looked to the Center and Store as never before. Throughout the year,
many relied upon the PJC as a source of comfort, a place where they
could stop by and discuss current affairs, a place where those who
wanted to take action could come to meet and strategize. As bombs
began dropping in Afghanistan, Vermonters looked to us for
leadership in voicing dissent over our government’s response to the
terrorist acts, and for an alternative view to the one-sided
information the mainstream media provided.
Historic changes also occurred within the Peace &
Justice Center. After 12 years of vision and leadership, Ellen
Kahler made the decision to leave the Center to attend the Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard University. Chris Meehan started her
tenure as the Executive Director of the Center in May after having
worked in the anti-hunger field for over seven years.
Throughout this eventful year, many in our community
realized just how important it is to concentrate on the
interconnectedness of the PJC’s core issues of economic and racial
justice, and peace & human rights. Issues of war, militarization,
racism, workers’ rights, globalization, and classism are so closely
intertwined.
Over the past year, the PJC’s core projects continued
to work on social justice issues, locally and globally. Striving to
improve the working conditions, wages and lives of low-income
Vermonters, advocating for people of color, and mobilizing
individuals to take action on issues ranging from racism in our
schools to war were key areas of focus for the Peace & Justice
Center this year.
Here are a few of the important accomplishments of
the year: a successful conference on race and racism was held; the
Peace & Human Rights Project organized the participation of
Vermonters in the April 20th demonstration in Washington,
D.C., where up to 100,000 people marched; the Burlington City
Livable Wage Ordinance required that year-round city employees and
employees who work for businesses that contract with the city be
paid at least a livable wage; Forty-five livable wage activists
gathered at "Making Our Voices Heard: The 3rd Annual Livable Wage
Skill-Building Conference" in Rutland, VT. The conference
featured keynoter Jen Kern, national livable wage organizer, and
Vermont school support staff and health care workers; Phase 7 of the
Vermont Job Gap Study was released; the Justice for
Healthcare Workers Campaign was launched.
The
PJC organized a day
of reflection and celebration held to commemorate the first
anniversary of September 11th. PJC connected with community groups
and local schools to create peace prayer flags that were hung in
Battery Park to spread a message of peace through the world. Local
musicians, speakers, and over 200 community members came together to
support our prayer for peace; the PJC quickly organized 300 people
to demonstrate against the war during a visit to Burlington in
September from Vice President Dick Cheney; and we successfully
organized against a state resolution in favor of National Missile
Defense. Also during this year, the Peace & Justice Store broke
their sales record again while continuing to provide alternative,
meaningful products and educational materials that foster
cooperation, equality, and a sustainable society.
2003
Burlington Anti-War Coalition meets regularly to strategize
about what the next steps will be in response to a potential war
with Iraq. PJC coordinated three buses down to DC – a total of 10
buses went from Vermont in January. In February PJC coordinated six
buses to NYC (part of the twelve that went from Vermont) – the
largest peace protests in the world occurred on February 15th. US
attacked Iraq on March 20th.
- Successful march in
Burlington on 3/22 with 4,000-5,000 people in attendance.
- PJC sponsored “Iraq & the
Media” presentation at St. Michael’s College.
- PJC coordinated several
groups to do a “sit-in” at Senator Leahy’s and Jeffords’ offices
in early April. There were twenty-six people total – representing
people of faith, professionals, parents, grandmothers, activists.
Unfortunately, both Senators voted in favor of the supplemental
war funding. Burlington Free Press did not cover it which
prompted the group to do a “die-in” at the Free Press. It made the
front page of Seven Days.
Minimum wage legislation passed. A $.50
increase took effect on Jan. 1, 2004 and then in 2005 another $.25
increase took effect. This brought the minimum wage to $7.00 – the
fifth highest in the nation.
Phase 8 of the Job Gap Study was released in
early December. Phase 8 included a two-page section on jobs, livable
wages, poverty and race for the first time in Job Gap history and
there was also a two-page section on gender.
The Burlington Anti-Racism Coalition (BARC) was
created with a three part strategy: legislative, action, and study
circles. The AWARE march occurred on January 15th in
Montpelier with 100 people marching and 150-200 present inside the
statehouse for a hearing on anti-racism/harassment legislation in
schools. The Vermont Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights held another round of hearings on February 14th
to complete an update on their racial harassment in schools report.
The racial profiling group of BARC had a letter
sent out from the Mayor of Burlington to Church Street merchants
asking merchants to sign a pledge regarding racial profiling.
Seventeen merchants signed the pledge.
Vermont Workers’ Center became independent of
the PJC and became their own non-profit organization.
2004
The year 2004 was the Peace & Justice Center’s 25th
year!
In the spring, the PJC was a major organizer of The Another World
is Possible Conference. Over 160 people attended the three-day
conference. Guest speakers included: Medea Benjamin, founding
director of Global Exchange and founder of Code Pink and Zia Mian,
scholar from Princeton University; on the War at Home – Nancy Brown,
Military Families Speak Out, Shujaa Graham, former Black Panther and
death row survivor, and Amhed Shaki, Council on Arab-Americans and
editor of International Socialist Review; on Building Another World,
Betty Burkes, WILFP – National and Juan Carlos Vallejo, Colombian
scholar in exile in the US.
The Vermont Livable Wage Campaign launched a new educational
program for high schools based on the popular "Teaching Economics As
If People Mattered" national curriculum. Eight high school teachers
took part in piloting the curriculum during the 2004-2005 school
year.
In September, VLWC organized a gubernatorial candidates forum
focused on workers' rights and livable wages. Over 400 Vermonters
attended. Both candidates for Governor participated in the forum and
fielded several questions on livable wages, health care, affordable
housing and economic development.
2005
In January, the PJC co-organized the first Mountaintop Film
Festival in Waitsfield. The film festival featured several human
rights, peace and social change films.
Read our 2005 Annual Report!
Read our 2006 Annual
Report! |
