By Ashley Smith, member: PJC, Democratic Socialists of America, and Community Voices for Immigrant Rights This commentary is by Ashley Smith, of Burlington, a socialist writer and activist who writes for various publications including Harpers, Truthout, Jacobin, Against the Current,...

-Mark Hage, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine   November was another bloody month in Occupied Palestine. The Al Quds Center reported that Israeli occupation forces killed 43 Palestinians last month – 3 in Hebron, 1 from Jenin, 1 from Jerusalem,...

-Mark Hage, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine A 2018 report by the World Health Organization found that “there was an unprecedented number of attacks on healthcare in the Gaza Strip in the context of the Great March of Return.” Over the...

-Richard Czaplinski, President, Will Miller Green Mountain Veterans For Peace, Chapter 57   It’s been one hundred and one years since the Armistice was signed that ended the First World War. That war was so horrific that it was viewed...

By Mark Hage, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine Morton Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, is riled up about recent comments about Gaza by Bernie Sanders. At the 2019 annual conference of the liberal, pro-Israel advocacy organization...

-Rosanne Greco , PJC Member and member of Save Our Skies/Stop the F-35s There is evidence that the Burlington F-35 basing selection process was corrupt.  This evidence came to light as part of a lawsuit against the Secretary of the...

-Dan Maxon, PJC Direct Trade Partner Dan Maxon runs El Billete Imports, buying Ecuadorian textiles and handicrafts directly from the weavers and artisanos, with many of the products available in the P&J Store. Below is his take on the recent...

(AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio, File) by Ashley Smith, Democratic Socialists of America and Peace & Justice Center member After dragging its feet for months, the Democratic Party has finally launched an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. While this is welcome news,...

By Ashley Smith, Democratic Socials of America and PJC member What’s the cause of the so-called migrant crisis on the US border with Mexico? The Trump administration of course avoids this question preferring to demonize the human beings trying to...

-Mark Hage, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine After ten long years of intensifying a brutal military occupation and expanding an illegal , Jewish-only settlement regime, laying siege to and savagely attacking Gaza, punishing the working class and poor, stoking the...

-Rachel Siegel, PJC Executive Director Because there have been so many powerful, global climate justice actions1 recently, we have been asked at the Peace & Justice Center on more than a few occasions if environmental justice is part of our...

Amid growing resistance to the basing of the F-35A fighter-bomber planes at Burlington International Airport, several strategies have emerged: ongoing protests outside Senator Sanders’ office called Fridays at Bernie’s, legislative initiatives at the local and state level, larger scale protests,...

-Mark Hage, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine   Joe Biden fared very poorly in a recent candidates’ debate that featured Kamala Harris, to her credit, taking him to school on the difference between civil rights and states’ rights.  But it...

Don’t let the horror of what’s happening in our country paralyze you. The situation is not new (see the History of Concentration Camps in the US) but because there is heightened awareness, we are in a moment of possible change....

-Anna Shea, Peacework Intern   This past week, Wayfair workers in Massachusetts walked out on the job to protest the company furnishing ICE detention facilities with $200,000 worth of furniture. This action has made people question what other companies and groups...

-Mark Hage, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine Eight weeks ago, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers, full armed, descended on an elementary school for Palestinian kids in the city of Hebron.  They abducted a nine-year-old named Zein.  (The arrest was captured on...

Approved by Peace & Justice Center Board of Directors 6/24/2019 Over the years, the Peace & Justice Center (PJC) has raised concerns over the militaristic, anti-democratic tendencies of many countries as well as criticized U.S. foreign policy, military aid, and...

– By Mark Hage, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine   Texas Court Victory for Free Speech in the U.S. & the Palestinian BDS Movement A Federal Court in Texas handed down an important ruling Thursday, April 26, preliminarily blocking enforcement...

– Charlie Kleinfeld, PJC Racial Justice Intern Minutes after the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself the legitimate president of Venezuela, the Trump administration announced their official backing of him. The events of the past week appear to be...

-Deb Ellis, Co-Producer of “Howard Zinn: You Can’t be Neutral on a Moving Train” As Vermont filmmakers, we are thrilled to share Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train with a home state audience! Zinn’s message is as rich...

– By Richard Czaplinski, President Will Miller Green Mountain Veterans For Peace, Chapter 5   In all the controversy and discussion about the F35s coming to Burlington (jobs, noise, dangers to surrounding homes, schools and businesses, reliability, need, cost, to name...

We are greatly concerned about the uptick of antisemitic and other forms of hate crimes and violence in our country. We seek to ally with individuals, organizations, and congregations against these acts and towards a more just society. Peace &...

-Rachel Siegel, PJC Executive Director I am anticipating this Thursday with much ambivalence. I love to be with friends and family, I love to cook and to eat, I love a day with the wood stove going and games to...

Volunteers around Vermont started organizing a year ago with MoveOn.org to prepare rapid response protests in the event that Trump interfered with Mueller’s investigation. In firing Jeff Sessions and assigning Whittaker (not Rosenstein) as Mueller’s supervisor, Trump has crossed the...

Celebrating and Reclaiming Armistice Day Burlington, VT — ​ At the 11 th hour of the 11 th day of the 11 thmonth in 1918 World War I ended. On this 100th anniversary Burlington will call to commemorate the armistice and to abolish war with (a) church bell...

By Netdahe Stoddard         I don’t have to tell you that our current political leaders are promoting violence against, and denying equal rights to, People of Color, women, LGBTQIA folks and all political opponents of the right. Meanwhile, every shade...

Photo from US Campaign for Palestinian Rights -Kathy Shapiro, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine   Many journalists, politicians and Zionists today accuse people who support BDS of anti-Semitism.  In the U.S. to date, laws have been passed in 25 state...

“Whatever a soldier believes when they begin their military service, there is no way to behave ethically in the occupied territories. It’s a system in which Palestinians are always treated as inferior, always viewed as the enemy, whoever they are....

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This past weekend, activists across Vermont dropped banners over Routes 89 and 91 in a campaign to remind leaf peepers of the ongoing atrocities of family separation, the perverse interpretation and implementation of immigration law, and increasingly militaristic Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

On July 28, 2018, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) office in Williston, VT to protest our government’s inhumane separation of children from their parents and illegal treatment of immigrants seeking asylum. Thirteen...

I am a poet. I am a water protector. I’m also a being with memory. An enormous watershed of memory. I’m also a white person in America evaluating the values I hold. Better to evaluate how I Walk, not what...

Join various events around VT in recognition of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atomic bombs that were dropped in Hiroshima (on August 6th) and Nagasaki (August 9th) in 1945 changed the way that we view the dangers of...

By Richard Czaplinski “I’m for peace, but not your kind of peace.” So said a man as he came up close to me while I led the Vermont Veterans For Peace (VFP) “Budget Banner” down State Street during the July...

I’ve never been a marcher. I don’t like to feel used by anyone. But this time, I marched and wore black as requested. I marched because I am grieving for those 30 murdered young people. I never thought that our...

Mindfulness and similar contemplative practices have become increasingly common in activist circles in recent years. In fact, we do workshops on this topic here at the Peace & Justice Center! Mindfulness practices have a lot to contribute to activists, however,...

by Robin Lloyd, PJC founder and member Why do I want to take part in the Poor People’s Campaign, especially its focus this week on militarism and gun violence? I’m not a poor person, but I have an aversion to...

By Vicky Castillo, a student at Saint Michael’s College who co-leads the Civil Rights Alliance (CRA) through the Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts (MOVE) on campus It’s in the air. It surrounds us. At all times. In all places. And we can’t...

The Peace & Justice Center, and affiliated groups are proud to announce the second Vermont Peace Conference: Building a World Beyond War, on Saturday May 12 from 9:30 – 4:30 pm at the Old North End Community Center on 20...

Adrienne Kinne is a ten-year Army Veteran and an 11-year peace activist, now the Vice President of the Veterans For Peace US National Board of Directors. She has also served as the President of the Will Miller Green Mountain Veterans...

Last month, the Peace & Justice Center hosted an anti-militarism game night at the University Of Vermont Interfaith Center. It was a great success! The games included Jeopardy and Jenga with a trivia twist, incorporating questions about various different military...

As you know, our campaign to stop the F-35 from coming to Burlington scored a major victory with the passage of Ballot Item #6 last week, by a solid 55-45% margin. (It got more votes than Miro Weinberger did!)Now our...

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Thank you Margaret Harrington, Dr. John Reuwer and Channel 17 for this show. We are so excited for our Nuclear War and Weapons Movie Week to start tonight with the 1984 movie Threads at UVM. For more info on Dr....

  This new book is both whimsical and serious.  Put together by long-standing PJC supporters Larry and Linda Hamilton, it is now available in the PJC Store. Reading this charming book will change the way you look at the landscape.  You...

Join our Nuclear War and Weapons Film Week later this month! This series is designed and supported by Dr. John Reuwer in partnership with the Peace & Justice Center’s programming team. Each film is being hosted by a different partnering group....

“Allyship is work. It’s hard, important work. As one of the facilitators for the Privilege and Accountability workshop I’m grateful for the opportunity to explicitly challenge the notion of learning being enough to dismantle oppression. For years, “knowledge is power”...

At 1:00 on Saturday, while Women’s March events worldwide were having a minute of silence for women’s equality, we had a minute of yelling — a wild rumpus! This was the kick off of the March for Our Future. The...

In this current political climate, discussions surrounding race-related issues can be heated and controversial. As a senior who will be leaving Vermont in just a few short months and who will be meeting people from around the country and world,...

All seasoned activists know that the journey toward justice is a long one indeed, and that we need to take care of ourselves in order to avoid burnout. At the same time, we only have one life to live, and...

Join the PJC on Saturday, January 13th, 2018 from 10am – noon at the Peace & Justice Center, 60 Lake Street, Suite 1C, Burlington, VT for a special two-hour workshop. It’s not just being polite, or a Hallmark Card invention...

Come join us for this two-part workshop Monday, November 27th and Wednesday the 29th from 6:30-8pm. This program explores how addressing conflict nonviolently can be a positive and effective way to grow and change individually, deepen relationships, and support social...

A few years ago I was invited to join an international delegation of diplomats and human rights experts as an interpreter in a Bulgarian village facing ethnic violence. I was not a professional interpreter back then, nor am I now,...

In October two focus groups were held at the PJC to discuss the idea of creating a nonviolent street team – a body of people who could be called upon as an alternative to the police when there is an...

What are you afraid of?  A fairly simple question with any number of possible answers.  If I asked every person who read this post to make a list of their greatest fears, there are a few items that would appear...

Join us in supporting a Burlington showing for the Global Vigil hosted by Border of Lights (borderoflights.org).  We will meet in front of the Peace & Justice Center to remember the 1937 Haitian Massacre where thousands of Haitians and their...

We are delighted to have Margaux Miller and Colby Yee lead a discussion on Saturday, September 30th from 2-5 at the Peace & Justice Center. Margaux was a 2017 Summer Intern with us and she and Colby are the co-coordinators...

Ellen Davidson and I are both active members of Veterans for Peace, and have organized two solidarity delegations to Occupied Palestine. The delegation’s intent was to join with Palestinian nonviolent resistance and oppose, vocally and simply by their presence, the...

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by Gabriella Ribeiro and Rob Persons, PJC Peacework Interns On August 9th, 2017 a number of Peace & Justice Center volunteers, interns, and staff members came together and performed an informative pop-up piece that gave insight into the current and...

My response to the heinous violence in Charlottesville has become longer than I intended but I want to send you something and I don’t know what to cut out of it. I want to be part of your loving community...

Press release: August 4, 2017 On Sunday, August 6, marchers in Burlington will commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan by gathering at the top of Church St. at 7 pm and walking and singing...

The Greater Bennington Peace and Justice Center has lead a partnership of peace groups to craft the following letter. They are looking for individuals statewide to join them in contacting our Congressional delegates. Please contact our delegates through their webpages...

Interested in becoming a PJC Event Facilitator? Join us, Sunday, October 29 from 3-4:30 at the Peace & Justice Center for a Prospective Facilitator Gathering to learn about becoming a facilitator of our educational programs. The evening will include an...

Poverty impacts our communities in both big and small ways. And many of us have experienced poverty at one time or another in our lives. Equity Solutions brings people together for a deeper understanding of the root causes of poverty...

Join us at the Peace & Justice Center on August 26th, 3:30 – 4:30 for the White Fragility Talk. White Fragility is a state in which even a small amount of racial stress becomes intolerable for a white person. Recognizing...

Thursday, September 14 from 12-1pm, Understanding Fair Trade Labels is a presentation that breaks down the differences between Fair Trade Certifications, Fair Trade Membership Organizations, and Direct Trade to help us better understand the Fair Trade Movement. People are encouraged...

Come check out our Mindfulness for Activists event on Thursday September 28th and October 5th from 6 to 8pm at Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg, Vermont. In order to keep taking on injustice, we need to develop a...

Through a series of interviews, university speeches, and lifelong activist work, the book Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis gives valuable insight into the power, influence, and interconnectivity of collective freedom movements from all around the world. Davis...

Dear Friends and Family, Yesterday was my second day attending the United Nations New York convention for a treaty banning nuclear weapons. I hope the news of the US shooting down Syrian jets and the Russians buzzing US military aircraft,...

Thank you to the YWCA and everyone who was a part of last week’s reading of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Speech “Beyond Vietnam: a Time to Break Silence“. If you missed it we really recommend watching the reading, we...

Join us this Thursday, May 4, at Arts Riot in Burlington for this Community Reading. More details below. One of Martin Luther King Jr.’s lesser known yet equally impactful speeches, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” condemns the violence...

Sunday May 7th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm hosted at the Barn House on the Clemmons Family Farm on 2122 Greenbush Road in Charlotte. Explore the planning and implementation of the Children’s March of 1963 in Birmingham, AL. In between watching...

The Peace & Justice Center is delighted to share screenings being hosted in various places throughout Vermont next month. Each screening will be followed by a panel and/or Q&A. VT PBS, local communities and the PJC are coming together to do...

Saturday, May 6th from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm at Champlain College on 163 South Willard St, 05401. Open to youth ages from 14 to 24, hosted for the youth and by the youth. Our multi-regional conference includes youth and...

Saturday, April 8 from 9:00am-3:30pm at Burlington High School. [Please note: The official deadline to register was Wednesday, March 29.  You are encouraged to still sign up but because it is past the deadline, we may be less able to...

Nonviolence has been proven to be incredibly effective in addressing oppression even though our culture may not embrace or encourage this truth. Nonviolent activists utilize the power we have as people working collaboratively for a common good to employ a...

By Sandy Baird Seven years ago, on March 8, a student of mine in the Pro Se Legal Clinic arrived with a rose for every female volunteer and litigant. That student was from Moldova, a former republic of the Soviet...

By Diana Gonzalez Sometimes we need to practice practicing so we are able to be courageous when a situation arises. In November, the Peace & Justice Center generously hosted a workshop in non-violent interventions. In this workshop participants practiced ways...

By Colin Bradley When I left Standing Rock at the end of November, my hands were so cold that I couldn’t move them. I had lost the gloves I got from donations. But when I first arrived, in the beginning...

Thursday, December 15, 5-7:30pm at the Peace & Justice Center. This Book Release and Signing includes Q&A with the author and light refreshments. One Bead at a Time is the oral memoir of Beverly Little Thunder, a two-spirit Lakota Elder from Standing Rock, who...

Come join us at the Burlington Waterfront for our annual Songs for Hope event, sing peace and justice folk songs (click here for the song sheet) and light candle boats in remembrance of those killed during the US dropping of the...

War is a Racket Performance and Discussion at the Fletcher Free Library, May 25 at 6pm A lively and engaging reenactment of the prescient words of Major General Smedley Butler, War is a Racket is a one person show based on General...