Local Organization Raises Proactive Voice for Peace and Social Justice

Jamie K. Donaldson is the coordinator of the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, located at 1226 Cornwall Avenue. Feel free to contact the center at 734-0217.

Last year readers of Whatcom Watch were among the first county residents to read the birth announcement of the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center. Now, twelve months and one (?) foreign war later, folks involved with this community project for peace can take stock of our accomplishments and challenges that lie ahead.

For a good many people, it seems important to have a physical place in our county dedicated to promoting peace. A place where you can pick up a lapel button, sign up for a nonviolence study group or simply express your own outrage over the latest outrage in Iraq.

Our drop-in center for peace attended to over 1,200 visitors during the first half of this year alone. And although in summer people’s attention turns to vacation and fun, the center still brings in folks to browse the lending library or leave off a much-needed contribution, sometimes in the form of a U.S. Treasury check—an undeserved tax return that someone wanted to go for peace.

One of our accomplishments this year was to work with the Bellingham School District to set up literature tables in the three district high schools to provide an alternative viewpoint to the military recruiters who often visit campus. Volunteers provide students with information about peaceful careers, sources for financing college and getting marketable job skills without joining the military, and about government programs such as AmeriCorps.

In our second year, we hope to provide a similar service to high school students in the county. We are also busy spreading the word to parents about recent changes in privacy laws under the 2002 “No Child Left Behind” Act (NCLB). Unless parents contact the school directly, their high school students’ personal information (name, phone number, etc.) will now be released to the military for the purpose of recruiting students in their homes.

The NCLB act allows parents to “opt out” of having this information released, but they must tell the school administrator of their wishes. We’ve learned that many parents throughout Whatcom County are unfamiliar these new provisions.

In its first year, the peace center strived to work with other community organizations, including faith-based groups, to raise a proactive voice for peace, social justice and nonviolence. When the bombing of Baghdad started, seven faith communities responded to our call for special prayer services in times of war, and we helped organize the silent candlelight vigil held in Maritime Heritage Park.

In the coming year, we hope to receive invitations from faith-based groups and other community organizations throughout the county to learn how we might work together to promote alternatives to war, militarism and violence. How about a video presentation and discussion on the “Force More Powerful”—a public television series on how nonviolent power overcame oppression and authoritarian rule in the 20th century? Could nonviolence, as in diplomacy, ending arms sales and use of the International Criminal Court, work against terrorism? How will we know if we don’t try?

So far we are encouraged by the community’s response to this project for peace. Over 225 county residents from Acme, Bellingham, Blaine, Bow, Custer, Deming, Everson, Ferndale, Gooseberry Point, Lummi Island, Lynden and Sumas value the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center’s work enough to make financial contributions. Contributions are tax deductible through the center’s fiscal “agent,” Bellingham Friends Meeting (Quakers).

And if anecdotal evidence is any indication, we are slowly earning a reputation as a reliable voice for peace: a New York Times reporter called the center during the Iraq war to inquire about Bellingham’s response to the bombs falling on Baghdad and twice now Congressman Rick Larsen has asked for our views on different international conflicts.

We look to our future in Whatcom County with humbled excitement but also with some trepidation. Will the community support this project for peace in between wars? Will it agree that creating a culture of peace and nonviolence is an ongoing effort worth pursuing and financing?

The challenge to peace is daunting. Movies glorify war, and violence against human beings and the planet is shown to have no consequences in popular video games. National governments have no patience for pursuing the path of peace, nor much inclination when there’s oil to be had, or armaments to be sold.

So it’s up to us, yes us, here in Whatcom County and folks all over the world, to stand up for another way of living our lives and treating each other. But we must not be too tied to seeing the results of our efforts, for therein lies certain frustration. Our solace and affirmation comes in knowing that whether through the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, or our faith communities, or our silent meditation or our peaceable child-rearing, that we’re living right and contributing to the birthing of a culture of peace and nonviolence. Join us. §