By Ben DuVall
For the past several years, I’ve been working on a series of drawings based on a research project into nuclear disarmament movements, from the 1950s through the present. My fascination with these movements first began with the peace sign; first drawn by Gerald Holtom in 1958 for the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), it superimposes the semaphore flag signaling positions for the letters N and D, and soon became symbolic of nuclear disarmament movements worldwide.
The Joint Oversight Committee and staff would like to thank you for your continued support this year – 2022-2023. Thank you for your church’s participation in the Joint Oversight Committee and for donations from congregations, individuals, and your state conferences. IPN is able to continue its work because of your gifts.
By Christine Sheller
August 8, 2023, the Des Moines peace community came together to observe the annual mourning and service of hope for the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in 1945. This year’s theme was Hiroshima- Nagasaki: The Horror and the Hope.
By Jessie Palatucci; reprinted with permission; first
printed for FCNL email newsletter, June 16, 2023
In a significant victory for Native American rights, the
Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act
(Public Law Number: 95-608) this week. (Editor's Note: of June 16, 2023)
ICWA was established in 1978 to remedy decades of government abuse that resulted in the removal of hundreds of thousands of Native children from their homes and communities.
By Rev. Darrell Mitchell
Edmund Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” To me, those are great challenging words, that you and I need to hear! We have a lot of moral concerns in our country right now. Can we work together in fixing our moral concerns?
By Bridget Moix, reprinted with permission; first published for FCNL (Friends Committee on National Legislation), June 15, 2023; see https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2023-06/celebrating-juneteenth-and-continuing-work
On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas were finally informed that they were free, two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Texas was the last state in the country to receive word of the proclamation and make good on its promise. The freedom declaration sparked celebration among the formally enlsaved and the local holiday of Juneteenth was born.
By Maria Garcia; published first for On Earth Peace May 19, 2023; reprinted with permission; see onearthpeace.org
(IPN Editor's Note: On Earth Peace is a Church of the Brethren agency. Mark and Janet Rosenbury have recently relocated to Indiana, but lived in Des Moines, Iowa and were active and involved with Iowa Peace Network for many years. I really enjoyed hearing about his CO experience and story.)
By David Swanson
Of course I can only touch on one aspect of recent history here.
I’m looking at the new report from Costs of War.
Five years ago, I think Nicolas Davies credibly and conservatively estimated 6 million people directly killed in U.S. wars since 2001 in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia.
Iowa Peace Network recently signed this letter to Biden, calling for a National Day of Prayer and Contemplation this coming Mother's Day, May 14, 2023.Add your name to the petition to President Biden to declare Mother's Day 2023 a national day of repentance, mourning, prayer, and reflection to address the culture of gun violence that is staining our collective soul.
By Marcia Orellana, Jus Tavcar, and Nuria Raul, all staff at FCNL (Friends Committee for National Legislation) Reprinted with permission. First published for FCNL. See https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2023-04/solve-our-most-urgent-challenges-we-must-address-intersection-conflict-climate?
