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Creative Activism

  • City Repair Los Angeles
    Inspired by Mark Lakeland of Portland Oregon's City Repair Project, this is a support and discussion group for people planning to make similar local community building projects happen in Los Angeles (Portland's City Repair can be found at www.cityrepair.org).
  • C.I.C.L.E. :: BikeNow.org
    a not-for-profit group, based in Los Angeles that seeks to promote the bicycle as a viable and sustainable transportation choice. Run the wonderfully clever and lovely Liz and Shay.
  • Path to Freedom
    The Dervais family are an inspriation to many people. They grow literally tons of organic food on a 10th of an acre farm in Pasadena. They make their own biodiesel, installed their own solar panels, cook in a cob oven. With DIY gusto and an eye for beauty they have created an urban homestead that gives me hope for humanity. LOVE THESE GUYS!
  • Mark Morford's Morning Fix
    "[A] misguided, lost and carnal individual... filled with vexation and ignorance of God [who will] gladly cheer the anti-christ." -- Christian Resource Network
  • Hathor the Cow Goddess - Lactivism
    My fellow homeschooling mom Heather Cushman-Dowdee makes cartoons, zines and performance art about how conscious activist mothering can and will change the world, using sense of humor, nipples and big heart.
  • More Than Warmth
    Educational project fostering understanding between children from different cultures. American children create beautiful quilts that are sent to children in need in Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond.
  • Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theater
    Using the ancient tradition of puppet and mask theatre to explore issues, events and values of contemporary society, including the concerns of its home neighborhood in Minneapolis.

Heroes

  • George Mizo
    Member of Veterans for Peace and founder of the Friendship Village in Vietnam
  • Philip Berrigan and the Plowshares Activists
    For 23 years Philip Berrigan, his brother Daniel, his wife Elizabeth McCallister and other Plowshares activists have kept alive the spirit of resistance to the arms race. They inspire me with their courage to go to prison for their stand against the war makers.
  • Julia Butterfly Hill
    For 738 days she lived in the canopy of an ancient redwood tree, to make the world aware of the plight of ancient forests. Founder of Circle of Life Foundation, check it out.
  • Thich Nhat Hahn
    Vietnamese Buddhist monk living in exile in France, where he teaches, writes, and works to help refugees worldwide. He conducts mindfulness retreats, helping thousands of individuals seeking peace in their hearts, and in the world.
  • Starhawk
    Author of The Spiral Dance, and The Fifth Sacred Thing. Deeply committed to bringing the techniques and creative power of spirituality to political activism
  • S. Brian Willson
    Vietnam veteran, peace activist known for his civil disobedience, fasting and writings about US imperialism

Quotes

  • Thich Nhat Hanh
    A Smile is the most basic kind of peace work.
  • Dr. Martin Luther King, jr.
    And even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
  • Dennis Kucinich
    The advancing tide in this world is towards human unity; the advancing tide is towards people opening their hearts and recognizing they're brothers and sisters across the miles; the advancing tide is one where the world survives the destructive capabilities because the human heart has transformed....
  • John Muir
    Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.
  • Henry David Thoreau
    All good things are wild and free.
  • Barbara Kingsolver
    No kind of bomb ever built will extinguish hatred.
  • E. B. White
    I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world--this makes it hard to plan the day.
  • Daniel Quinn
    When you defeat a thousand opponents, you still have a thousand opponents. When you change a thousand minds, you have a thousand allies.
  • Lewis Carroll
    Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
  • St. Francis of Assisi
    What we are looking for is what is looking.
  • Howard Zinn
    It is the job of the artist to think outside the boundaries of permissible thought and dare to say the things that no one else will say.
  • anonymous
    I pledge allegiance to the Earth, On which I stand, And to all living things, One world, One people, Undivided, With food, shelter and justice for all.

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December 12, 2007

A Ray of Light in Dark Times

Wiot
Crazyness around here. Piles of boxes, to-do lists stuck all over the walls. We leave for Asheville Dec. 27th. But I wanted to share this story about an art project for peace, created by Yoko Ono.

On what would have been John Lennon's 67th birthday, she unveiled a project 40 years in the making—the Imagine Peace Tower. Dedicated to Lennon, the tower shoots light into the sky and bears the inscription “Imagine Peace.” It will light up every year between October 9th, the day of Lennon’s birth, and December 8th, the day of his death.

Yoko chose a small island just off the coast of Reykjavik, Iceland for the memorial because of its beauty and its reliance on natural power. The tower will be powered entirely by geothermal energy, which is plentiful on the volcanic island.

video about it

She has a website called Imagine Peace which has a 10 minute video of clips of John and Yoko talking about their work for peace, followed by some stark images of war to the tune of "War is Over". It'll make you cry. Some of it is too ugly for kids. There's also a letter from Yoko about the various celebrations that happened this year in remembrance of John.

War is over if you want it.

peace,
Jennifer

December 12, 2007 |