Radiance of Tomorrow
by Ellen Finkelstein
“We must live in the radiance of tomorrow, as our ancestors have suggested in their tales. For what is yet to come tomorrow has possibilities, and we must think of it, the simplest glimpse of that possibility of goodness. That will be our strength. That has always been our strength.”
– by Ishmael Beah
WWFOR need your help in recruiting high-school students for the annual Peace Activist Trainee program. Do you know a sophomore or junior in high school who is interested in gaining skills in organizing for peace and justice in their community? Encourage them to apply to be a PAT! Watch a clip about last year’s program. The program, generously funded by the Abe Keller Peace Education Fund (and some of you), runs July 7th through July 31st in Seattle. All the information is available online. The application form is available as a Pdf or Word document. The deadline for applications is May 14 and we will be interviewing applicants starting May 27. The application and a letter of reference can be emailed to pat@wwfor.org or sent by postal mail to WWFOR, 225 N 70th St, Seattle WA 98103.
The theme of the 2014 Seabeck conference is “Taking Back the Fourth: Speaking Truth to Power.” The 2014 FOR Conference at Seabeck on July 3-6 is organized this year by Oregon FOR. It marks the centennial of the birth of Oregon’s favorite poet – William Stafford. “To celebrate William Stafford is to celebrate peace-making.” Keynote speakers include: Peter Phillips (Project Censored), Michael Nagler (Metta Center for Nonviolence), and Rev. Kristin Stoneking (Fellowship of Reconciliation USA). Registration will be available soon and more details are available: http://forseabeck.org/
FOR-USA is hosting “The Future is NOW” on August 15-17 at Camp Friendship in Annandale, Minnesota. It is a national intergenerational summit for people working on economic, racial, environmental, and social justice. For three days, activists of all ages, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual identities and economic backgrounds from across North America will meet to share experiences, build collective strategies and strengthen skills. This will be a participant-led intergenerational summit.
John Dear, an internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence and former executive director of FOR-USA, recently spoke in Seattle. He is working on Campaign Nonviolence with Pace e Bene (see Nick Mele’s article). You can watch his inspiring Seattle talk: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cm1eXAeamSU or http://youtu.be/Ty2ORbkfjEc (thanks to videographers Todd Boyle and Mike McCormick). I strongly recommend his new book, “The Nonviolent Life”:
“I commend three dimensions of nonviolence – practicing nonviolence toward ourselves; practicing nonviolence toward all others, all creatures and creation; and practicing active nonviolence by joining the global grassroots movement of nonviolence – and suggest that to be a person of nonviolence that we each need to practice each dimension simultaneously if we are to become authentic practitioners of nonviolence.”