Becoming a Kinder Gentler Nation

Becoming A Kinder Gentler Nation: 

Putting Our Money Where Our Morals Are

Thank you Ann Abdoo for an informative, thoughtful talk!

Click on the link to listen.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXYumh9Ivac&feature=youtube

 

 

Mothers Day Peace Wants a Piece of the Pie Visit

Colleen Mills, President of the Citizens for Peace; Cal Matle, Office Manager for Congressman Bentivolio; Melanie Collinsworth, District Scheduler/Caseworker for the Congressman; Gloria Gonek, Citizens for Peace Board Member

Mothers Day Peace Pie Delivered to Kerry Bentivolio's Office

Thanks to Gloria Gonek for arranging our annual visit to our representatives requesting support of peace legislation!  We had a great visit with the congressman's office manager, Cal Matle. He generously gave us over an hour to discuss our priorities of supporting legislation that would reduce violence such as the Youth Promise Act and the Department of Peacebuilding (H.R. 808).
We shared our Political Action Guide for Peace and a large packet of materials including information on the U.S. Peace Index.
Gloria presented an all-American cherry pie and accompanying pie chart showing our federal budget with a small sliver (1%)  for peace. 

May 14th Meeting Focuses on a Moral Budget

Becoming a Kinder Gentler Nation:

Shifting our Money to Support our Morals

The United States defense budget is greater than the combined defense budgets of the next seventeen largest spenders.  Our over-reach takes away from the basic needs of people here at home.  It is time to shift our priorities.   Ann Abdoo demonstrates how this shift could bring a dramatic change in our economy.   Her presentation will be at the Citizens for Peace meeting on May 14, at 7 pm at Unity of Livonia, (26880 Five Mile Rd. east of Middlebelt.)

Join in a ground swell effort to contribute to a national discussion on the benefits of more socially just society and ultimately a more peaceful world. 

Ann Abdoo has been a member of Citizens for Peace and a board member since 2004.  Her work in public libraries for over thirty years resulted in her developing her own philosophy of social justice, which she will share with you on Tuesday night, May 14^th.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

Robert Weir Shares the People of Calcutta

Joy in the Face of Poverty

What a beautiful presentation Robert Weir shared with us!
With the pictures and videos Robert shared, we experienced
being with colorful, beautiful people of the Calcutta slum.
Here's the link to view again!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V--73yFJdg

Michael Wickett Presents

Thanks to Michael Wickett we are focusing on the power of gratitude in creating our powerful life vision!

Here is the YouTube link from Michael Wickett's talk on "Creating a Powerful Life Vision" for you to put on the website:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAKIblsAb8g

Michael also shared these documents to guide us in asking the questions to help us change our lives and relationships. 

 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_xQX09SypdLa21SX1J0R2lsRmc/edit

Robert Weir Talk on India

Life Among the People in a Calcutta Slum with Robert Weir

Experience the colorful contrasts of the people of India as seen through the eyes of Michigan author Robert M. Weir at the 7 p.m. Citizens for Peace meeting Tuesday, April 9^th at Unity of Livonia.

Robert will share his experiences traveling Northern India by bus and train, then living among the people of a Calcutta slum.  An author, photographer, traveler and speaker, he spent 10 months in India recording the lives of those around him.

In story, video, and photographs, he captures joy in the face of poverty through scenes ranging from children playing simple games, participants in community celebrations to street vendors, shops and eateries.

A natural storyteller, Robert will provide enlightening commentary throughout his presentation.

Unity of Livonia is located at 28660 Five Mile Road.  The talk is free and open to the public.  All are welcome

Peace and Conflict Discussion Series

Join us for the final discussion of our Peace and Conflict Discussion Series!

 

If you haven't had time to read The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop, by William Ury, don't let that stop you from coming to the discussion on Thursday, April 4th   at the Livonia 

Civic Center Library.  We will be giving an overview of the book and showing a short DVD of the authordiscussing, "The Third Side" to enhance our discussion.  Come and learn some new tools, so that you can take concrete steps to immediately put to use these principles in your own life.

For further questions call 248-476-0791 or email rdoyle@cheerful.com  

Michael Wickett Workshop April 6th at 10:30 AM!

Creating a Powerful Life Vision

The free workshop “Creating a Powerful Life Vision” will be presented at Unity of Livonia 

Saturday, April 6^th from 10:30 AM to noon. Highlights of the workshop include: 

1.  The essential step to a new life;    

2.  Turning obstacles into opportunities; 

3.  Using gratitude to empower your life; and 

4.  Stop settling for mundane results.  

It will be an opportunity for participants to create the life they dream of.

feels the two best speakers in America, are Zig Ziegler and Michael Wickett.

Michael Wickett has been a speaker and trainer for over twenty-five years. 

He conducts programs on leadership, selling skills, customer service and peak performance.   

He has developed and teaches life skills programs for recovering alcoholics and has hosted a 

documentary for Public Television titled “Michigan and The American Dream.”   

He has had many corporate clients and has spoken to numerous churches and spiritual centers. 

 Dan Strutzel, Vice President for Nightingale Concant, the world’s largest producer of audio success products, said that after fifteen years of hearing all the world’s major speakers… 

He feels the two best speakers in America, are Zig Ziegler and Michael Wickett.

 

Michael’s DVD’s including his best selling “It’s All Within Your Reach” will be available for purchase.

Love offerings will be shared by Citizens for Peace and Unity of Livonia.  
Come & bring your friends!  They will thank you for it!

Thank You Cecile Pineda!

Cecile Pineda Shares Lessons from Fukushima

What an informative talk we received from Cecile Pineda! Thank you to Cecile Pineda and all of the organizations supporting her Great Lakes tour. The Womens International League for Peace and Freedom helped with her travel expenses and deserve a big thank you! Thanks especially to Kay Cumbow and Laura Dewey for all of their work planning the tour. We were glad to help raise awareness on such an important issue. Here is the link to her talk on Fukushima:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsL0ofdjuLs&feature=youtu.be

Charter for Compassion Talk

Colleen Mills Presents Karen Armstrong's Charter for Compassion

Here's the link to view the information about the Charter for Compassion that was presented at our February meeting. If you haven't signed the Charter yet, to to the website and sign it.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pRlDLGsYYs

Lessons from Fukushima With Cecile Pineda

Award-Winning Author Offers Lessons from Fukushima

at Unity of Livonia

As part of her 10-day book tour of the Great Lakes region, author Cecile Pineda will share her stirring insight of the nuclear industry with metro Detroit audiences on Tuesday, March 12, at 7 p.m. at Unity of Livonia.  Ms. Pineda’s latest book, Devil’s Tango: How I Learned the Fukushima Step by Step, is a provocative and heart-wrenching exploration of the nuclear industry and the ongoing impact of the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility in Japan on March 11, 2011.  An update on the consequences of the tragic event will be a major focus of Pineda’s talk.  Her book tour coincides with the second anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. 

Published on the one-year anniversary of the disaster, the book, in Pineda’s own words, is “a crazy quilt of multiple voices, pieced together day-by-day.”  At times lyrical, meditative or even comical – yet always disturbing – it reflects her anguished attempt to come to terms with Fukishima’s catastrophic consequences to the entire planet.  “We are beyond the place where available technology can address what is ongoing and probably will be ongoing for many, many decades,” says Pineda. 

Published by WingsPress, copies of Ms. Pineda’s newest book will be available for signing and sale at the Unity of Livonia engagement. The Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, U.S. Chapter is sponsoring Cecile’s Great Lakes Tour.

Cecile Pineda has been an anti-war activist from early life.  Her novels, all available from WingsPress.com, have been critically acclaimed, with Face, winning the Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal – a record for first fiction, as well as the Sue Kaufman Prize and a National Book Award nomination.  Her picaresque novel, The Love Queen of the Amazon, written with an NEA Fiction Fellowship, was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times.

The local group, Citizens for Peace, is sponsoring her stop in Livonia, along with the Alliance to Halt Fermi 3; Huntington Woods Peace, Citizenship & Education Project; IHM Justice, Peace and Sustainability Office; Nukewatch; Peace Action of MI; Sierra Club (Southeast MI); Swords Into Plow Shares Peace Center & Gallery; Women’s Action for New Directions (Southeast MI); and Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (Detroit).  Local activists invite the public to this free event.  For more information call Colleen at 734-425-0079.

Charter for Compassion Presentation

Here's an Introduction to the Charter for Compassion.

Click on this link to view a YouTube intro to the Charter for Compassion.

 http://www.youtube.com/charterforcompassion

See you at our meeting at Unity of Livonia at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12th!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" is Gandhi's encouragement to us all!

Maybe YOU are the one to start the "compassionate" change we need in our city, state, & country!

Join us for our February events!

Citizens for Peace Hosts Three Events in February in Three Locations! Mark Your Calendars!

The “Commonalities within World Religions” is the topic of the first session of the 2013 Peace and Conflict Discussion Series. This is the second annual discussion series hosted by the Citizens for Peace to celebrate the Season for Nonviolence.

Henry Ford Community College professor Dr. Grant Shafer, PhD, will lead the discussion; and will share two short videos featuring a Rabbi, a Pastor and an Imam who call themselves the “Interfaith Amigos”. They will present their views on the “Truths and Untruths” in their three religions. The free event is at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 7 at the Livonia Civic Center Library ((32777 Five Mile Rd.). 

The “Charter for Compassion” is the topic of the Tuesday, February 12^th Citizens for Peace meeting. Colleen Mills, president of the Citizens for Peace, will share information about Karen Armstrong’s award winning idea of a “Charter for Compassion”.  Kalamazoo’s Fetzer Institute provided $100,000 to implement it.  Come to the meeting to find out about the impact this great idea has had in our country and around the world. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at Unity of Livonia (28660 Five Mile Rd.).

The encore presentation of the film “I AM” will be shown at the Livonia Senior Center (15218 Farmington Rd.) on Wednesday, February 13^th at 11 a.m. Successful director (Liar, Liar, Bruce Almighty), Tom Shadyac, explores answers to the root causes of our world problems in his film. He asks two questions – “What’s wrong with the world?” and “What can we do to fix it?” Shadyac interviews thought leaders including Desmond Tutu, Howard Zinn, and Lynne McTaggart. Shadyac presents scientific evidence that we are hardwired for connection and compassion; and our power comes by being able to cooperate, rather than compete. In the process, he discovers what is right with our world.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information call Colleen at 734-425-0079.

Nancy Brown Peace Carillon Belle Isle

So often we see symbols of war in our communities. For example a tank or an artilliary piece is placed in front of a veteran's club house. But in Detroit there is carillon to commemorate peace. Perhaps it is not well known more because it is on Belle Isle. However the blog Detroit Video Daily has told it's story in words, images and sound.

While you're at the blog click on home and see what this blogger has to say about Detroit. Oh what you will read and see is a side of Detroit that is not found in the mainstream media because the DVD blogger looks at Detroit's positive side.

What symbols of peace and justice in and about Detroit do you see?

Peace and Conflict Discussion Series

               

 THE LIVONIA CIVIC CENTER LIBRARY  

32777 Five Mile Road – Livonia, MI 48154 - 734-466-2490

The Citizens for Peace is sponsoring their second annual Peace and Conflict Discussion Series to celebrate the Season for Nonviolence*.  The discussion group will meet on the first Thursday of February, March, and April 2013 in the MICHIGAN ROOM in the Livonia Civic Center Library Atrium from 7:00 to 8:30 PM.  It is FREE and open to the public.  PLEASE read the selected books prior to the session.  Books may be purchased or borrowed through your local library network or through MelCat.  You may have to ask your librarian for assistance.

__________________________________________________________________

Thursday, February 7 – COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS,  a discussion led by Henry Ford Community College professor Grant Shafer, Ph.D., Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan; M.A, Theological Studies,

Harvard University; B.A., History, Wayne State University.

DISCUSSION FOCUS:  The commonalities within world religions.

Thursday, March 7: – MUHAMMAD: A PROPHET FOR OUR

TIME, by Karen Armstrong, publisher: HarperCollins, 2006.  Armstrong, an author, scholar, and journalist, is among the world’s foremost commentators on religious history and culture. Facilitator:   Suzanne Kaplan, Schoolcraft College Professor Emeritus.

DISCUSSION FOCUS:  What made Muhammad a prophet nearly

1400 years ago?

                         

Thursday, April 4, – THE THIRD SIDE: WHY WE FIGHT

AND HOW WE CAN STOP by William Ury, publisher:   Penguin

Group, 2000.  Dr. Ury is co-founder of The Program on Negotiation at    Harvard Law School where he directs a research project on the prevention

of destructive conflict.  Facilitators:  Carole Kersten and Rosemary Doyle, Citizens for Peace.

DISCUSSION FOCUS:  It takes two sides to fight but a third to

stop—how does one get to the third side?

__________________________________________________________________

* To honor the 2013 Season for Nonviolence, co-founded by the M.K. Gandhi Institute for

Nonviolence and The Association for Global New Thought which focuses attention on the philosophy of attaining peace through nonviolent action as demonstrated by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.  It was launched in 1998.

SPONSORED BY THE CITIZENS FOR PEACE

www.citizensforpeace11.blogspot.com

A nonprofit nonpartisan community organization whose mission is to create a culture of peace.

For further questions contact 248-476-0791 or rdoyle@cheerful.com

"I AM" Film starts the new year

Citizens for Peace Show Film “I AM” at Jan. 8^th Meeting

The public is invited to view the 2011 film “I AM” at the Jan. 8th Citizens for Peace meeting at Unity of Livonia at 7 p.m. The film asks two central questions: “What’s wrong with the world?” and “What can we do to fix it?” Successful Hollywood director Tom Shadyac wrote, directed and narrated the film after a bicycle accident changed his life. His journey from materialism to purpose took him from living in a 17,000 square foot mansion to happily living in a trailer.

On his quest for answers to the root causes of the problems in our world, Shadyac interviews scientists, psychologists, authors, philosophers, and others, including Desmond Tutu, Howard Zinn, Lynne McTaggert, Thom Hartman and Noam Chomsky. He discovers scientific evidence that we are hardwired for connection and compassion; and that our power comes by being able to cooperate rather than compete. Join us in viewing this thoughtful and uplifting film!

AMAZING PEACE by Maya Angelou

It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war.  But true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait awhile with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.

We, the Jew and Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you to stay while with us
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look behond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.

On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To traanslate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.

We Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace.  We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace.  We look at each other, then into ourselves,
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation:
           Peace, My Brother
           Peace, My Sister
           Peace, My Soul

Rosemary Doyle

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

                       May the spirit of peace fill your home 
                                       this holiday season!

                 Let's dedicate ourselves to work for peace 
                                       in the new year!

                     Thank you for being a soldier of peace! 

                                      George and Colleen 

Citizens for Peace on the Radio

What an Exiting Year of Peace We Our Planning!!

It was fun talking to Annette at Body Mind Spirit Radio yesterday morning.
I got to talk about all of the great plans the Citizens for Peace have coming up!
I'm very excited about sharing another year of peacemaking with you!
Click here to listen:
http://bodymindspiritradio.com/events/peace-plan

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!

PEACE!

Colleen

Kim Redigan Talk on Her Visit to Haiti

 Kim Redigan and a Book Exchange at our Dec. 11th Meeting!

An educator, activist, mother, writer and advocate of active nonviolence, discusses her passion for peace with the Citizens for Peace as well as the public at Unity of Livonia Tuesday, December 11^th at 7 p.m.

Kim Redigan, of Dearborn Heights, who teaches at U of D High School, will tell of her recent trip to Haiti where she participated in a Peace Camp for the children living in Cite Soleil, a shantytown outside of Port-au-Prince. Her first trip to Haiti took her to the mountainous area for a celebration of the first college graduating class in rural Haiti.

With the two different perspectives of education in Haiti, Kim will share her experiences and impressions of education in Haiti.

Kim also teaches Social Justice at a two week Peace Camp every summer in Detroit. Her passion for peace has taken her to the Middle East with the Michigan Peace team three times in the last ten years. She is a nonviolence trainer with the Michigan Peace Team and writes for their newsletter. Kim serves on the board of Pax Christi MI; the Michigan Coalition of Human Rights; Southeastern MI Jobs with Justice; and is on the Coordinating Committee of the Detroit Area Peace with Justice Network. She is a peace ambassador with an extensive background of peace activism and will give a dynamic presentation on education in Haiti.

There will also be a Book Exchange after the presentation.  Anyone bringing a favorite book to trade can select another book to take home.  Unity of Livonia is located at 26880 Five Mile Road. All are welcome.