In January 2016, after we had helped establish the Ojai Branch of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, we were given the booklet, “We Need a Department of Peace: Everyone’s Business, No One’s Job” by William Benzon. The essential message of the book was that after several attempts over the entire history of our country, the US Government had failed to establish a much-needed Department of Peace.
In 2018, we establish a US Department of Peace. We printed up business cards using the US Department of Peace logo we had designed (above), and started handing them out at events we went to – local, national and international. We were surprised and gratified by the positive response we got. The vast majority of people receiving the cards got very excited by them, and thanked us for creating a Department of Peace. We started writing a book about our experiences, which is still in progress.
Because of the positive response, we decided to expand the US Department of Peace to include people all over the country. We designed our postcard-sized card, which we began handing out wherever we go with the intention of interesting people in joining us. We now have about 50 members, all around the United States. Every member has a card similar to what you are getting, with their name, phone number and e-mail, and optionally their address. As we are writing in our book we want to emphasize the necessity of taking the control of Peace into our own hands, especially since our own government is going around the world creating war using our tax dollars.
We urge you all to do this in your own way.
As for ourselves, right now we have a diverse and energetic core group of members. People in this core group participate in many activities to promote Peace. Internationally, we work in cooperation with organizations such as Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Members have also been on peace delegations to Costa Rica and Cuba.
Nationally, we actively participate in the End Wars Committee of WILPF, work with the National Organization for Women, the Peace and Solidarity Commission of the Party of Communists of the USA, and with the Peace Alliance, which is working with Rep Barbara Lee to get the Congress to establish a US Department of Peacebuilding.
Locally, core group members have been active in Showing Up for Racial Justice and Indivisible Ojai. We participate in a weekly Peace Vigil in Ojai, CA, conduct monthly meetings of WILPF Ojai in coordination with the Ojai Valley NOW chapter, show peace movies monthly in conjunction with the Ojai Library. We also work with the Universalist/Unitarian church in Santa Paula, CA on social justice issues.
A major activity of our core group is to distribute books and literature. We have distributed close to a thousand of copies of “Addicted to War”, a history of US wars in a graphic novel format, by Joel Andreas. We have distributed thousands of pieces of literature from NAPF, PCUSA and WILPF. We also work closely with Frank Dorrel, the publisher of “Addicted to War” and producer of the documentary “Paying the Price for Peace: The Story of S Brian Willson”. A current project is working with Frank to promote “The World Is My Country”, a soon to be released documentary about Garry Davis, Broadway actor and peace activist.
Core members write articles about current peace issues for the Peace and Solidarity Commission of the PCUSA. As Civil Society members, two of us attended the negotiations at the UN for the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty that was approved by 122 countries this past July. We have participated in many peace conferences, building relationships with numerous peace groups. Those conferences include, World Beyond War, Democracy Conference, Coalition for the Elimination of US Foreign Military Bases, the Triennial Congress of WILPF-US, and the annual conference of NOW.
In Love and Peace,
Nuri and Alan