4509 Walnut, Kansas City, MO 64111 · 816-561-1181 · PeaceWorksKC.org · [email protected] · April 2017
Planting Seeds of Peace, April 22
April 22, Earth Day, calls us to live up to the first three words of our vision: a healthy world of justice
and peace without war and its weapons. PeaceWorks, KC, invites you to celebrate “Peace on Earth Day”
by coming to our Planting Seeds of Peace party.
Join us in celebrating the hard work of many PeaceWorks volunteers and welcoming current and prospective members. Come learn about local peace-making opportunities, listen to live music, play games,
and eat delicious food. The event is free and family-friendly. You’ll find out how to become a local steward of peace by becoming a member of PeaceWorks.
Time
April 22, Saturday, 5:30-8 pm
Place
All Souls Unitarian Universalist
Church, 4501 Walnut, KC, MO 64111
Info
816-561-1181 and on
Facebook at PeaceWorksKC
(Say you’ll come!)
Sightings of a new ‘National Bird’
By Jim Hannah
Pity the bald eagle.
Yes, it’s enjoyed a recovery from near-extinction. But now it faces obsolescence,
replaced by a modern “national bird”—the armed drone.
Whereas the bald eagle may range over thousands of acres, its metallic counterpart can easily reach out thousands of miles to “tap” (or even “double tap”) its
prey.
Yes, amazingly, the bald eagle can soar to heights of several hundred feet and
swoop down at great speed. But the new national bird has an integrated web of
satellites circling the globe miles high, to rain instant laser-guided death from
above.
A new ‘National Bird’ — continued on p. 2
Lisa Ling
— Photo by Jim Hannah
PAGE 2
P E A C E WO R K S A P R I L 2 0 1 7
A new ‘National Bird’ — continued from p. 1
And then there’s the matter of
visibility. While bald eagles can
be sighted only in parts of North
America, stirring emotions of patriotic pride, the new national bird
is gaining recognition world-wide,
striking fear as a symbol of US
military reach (and overreach).
A new film documentary, National Bird, highlights the way armed
drones have increasingly become
the symbol of the United States
and its commanding military
presence throughout the world.
One of the three former drone
personnel featured in the film is
whistleblower Lisa Ling, who
served in the military for 20 years
and spoke in Kansas City March
12 at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church.
“Drones are terror,” she said, describing how a visit to Afghanistan opened her eyes to the human cost of the drone program.
“If you’re a child gardening with
your grandmother in Afghanistan
and hear the click-click of a
drone, you don’t know when you
or your loved ones may be dead.
24-7, you’re afraid of the sky.”
The number of civilian deaths
from drone strikes is underreported, Ling said, because persons in proximity to alleged or
actual combatants are deemed to
themselves be targetable terrorists.
Graphic courtesy of nationalbirdfilm.com
Ling said that she was very hospitably received by her Afghan
hosts. “I think the drone program
is unforgivable,” she said, “but my
hosts forgave me, even though I
didn’t ask them to. What they did
ask was, ‘Could you please stop
killing our Afghan civilians?’”
the peace activists to become fully
informed so their actions would
not have unintended consequences, and stressed that today’s activists need to move beyond 1960s
approaches to find new, unpredictable strategies not easily neutralized. Many of the efforts used
after the Vietnam War are no
Drone operators, Ling said, are a longer applicable today because of
very small part of the overall
how well they worked then; coundrone program. She herself
termeasures now dilute those
served as a United States Air
steps, said Ling. “The most imForce technical sergeant and was portant thing is that we all need
told on receiving her honorable
to start talking about military
discharge that her work helped
drone warfare to remove this topidentify more than 121,000 taric from the shadows. We are all
gets in two years. She now deonly as sick as our secrets.”
scribes that work as “hunting humans,” saying that she, and many —Jim Hannah belongs to the
other drone personnel, bear the
PeaceWorks, KC, board.
burden of war. “I lost part of my
humanity” in the drone program,
she said, noting that one of her
colleagues had committed suicide.
Ling strongly stressed that military bases are not the best targets for peace activists. Many of
the “dronies,” drone operators,
she said, were young and just
looking for a way to better themselves or support their families. A
better target for activism, she
said, would be corporations that
hugely profit from drone warfare,
and legislators who approve
drone funding.
In speaking to her All Souls and
PeaceWorks audience, Ling urged
National Bird premiers in
the KC area Sat., April 8, at
the Plaza Library, 4801 Main
St., KC, MO. Director Sonia
Kennebeck will attend the
event, slated from 2 to 5 pm.
RSVP for the free film at
816-701-3481 or at any KC,
MO, public library.
P E A C E WO R K S A P R I L 2 0 1 7
PAGE 3
Share at table and plot the politics of peace
By Joseph Wun
in Pendleton Heights. Come to share at table and
plot the politics of peace.
A recent article in The Kansas City Star profiled
men and women, members of this city, who migrat- I hope it can be an entrance (yet another side-door
ed without documentation; the inches on the page
discovered, or perhaps the front door) into systemic
drew attention to
questions of who
the personality of
plants, grows, harthe persons at
vests, and prepares
greater risk
food, of who owns,
surfaced by the
and how. Ask the
new administravendors. Begin
tion’s mandate. If
again with daily
this last phrase
bread.
seemed redundant,
Nov. 8 (Election
it is on purpose. As
Day) came
I surmise, part of
and Nov.
resisting resurgent
9 dawned. I wept.
oppression, and
Then I put two feet
promoting revividown and believed,
fied attention to
incorrigibly, in this
Graphic courtesy of New Roots for Refugees
the liberation of all
country that does
peoples, is remembering that—
not yet exist.
1. Nothing, and no one, is indifferent to us.
That small and infinite “yet” is the feathered hope,
2. Everything must be personal.
the mutual struggle, of we who work for peace, of
we who might, indeed, found a nation dedicated to
I encourage you to initiate or deepen your own dis- liberty and justice for all. We’ll need to eat and
covery of this city—its panoply of people from many meet again along the way.
nations and of many tongues—with a seemingly
simple, apparently precious, but, properly oriented, —Joseph Wun, of the PeaceWorks board, wrote this
robust recognition of belonging at the level of the
as “a personal encouragement and invitation.”
everyday, personal, and particular: food.
Yes, economic exchanges declare what we afford,
what we value morally. Yet this is no lame call for
fashionable consumption or self-righteous culinary
tourism. It is not a cure-all or a feel-good solution.
It is an invitation to cultivate humility and, perhaps, enter into more regular commerce in places
in Kansas City that have been disregarded
(perhaps even by us), or are outside of convenience.
All of you, probably better than I, know where
those spaces are. Cate Bachwirtz has offered encouragement to source produce from the Brookside
Farmers’ Market, and to develop relationships with
the growers there.
I can offer this note: Come to the Northeast. Come
and witness the splendor of Independence Avenue—an Iraqi bakery, a Somali café, a panaderia
and pasteleria, an Halal meat market tucked away
Here is my annual membership for PeaceWorks
□
□
□
□
□
□
□
□
□
Membership .............................$40
Donor .......................................$50+
Major Donor .............................$100+
Family Membership .................$60
Group Membership ..................$75
Limited-Income Membership ...$5+
Newsletter Subscription ...........$10
Lifetime Membership ...............$1,000
Sustaining Membership ...........$5+/mo.
Mail to:
PeaceWorks
4509 Walnut St.
Kansas City, MO 64111
Make check to:
PeaceWorks
or, for tax deductibility, to
Missouri Peace Foundation.
□ Send newsletter electronically
E-mail address: _____________________________________________
Name: _____________________________________________________
Address: ___________________________________________________
City, State, ZIP: _____________________________________________
Daytime phone: (____)__________ Evening phone: (____) _________
PAGE 4
P E A C E WO R K S A P R I L 2 0 1 7
Dave Pack reflects
Constructive
on military cost$,
conversation
our country and families feroffers MLK for hope With
vently divided on many issues, rePeaceWorks treasurer Dave Pack, during the
organization’s Annual Meeting March 5, addressed the ever-increasing U.S. military
budget. Pack shared this powerful quote from
Martin Luther King, Jr.:
“We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thingoriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more
important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
Pack called U.S. military spending enormous,
saying military spending includes not only the
Department of Defense but also nuclear weapons, veteran care,
etc. Now the Trump
Administration wants
to add $54 billion to
the budget, bringing
the total U.S. military
spending, for one year,
to $947 billion, said
Pack. “When broken
down, it would cost
every person in America—that’s all 325 milDave Pack
lion of us—$3,080
each. And that’s just shocking! Our government is choosing to spend our tax dollars on
war, power, and greed over people’s lives. And
that is the work of all of us here today, to take
a stand against militarism, focusing our work
on the common good, peace, and justice.”
spectful dialogue, or constructive
conversation, is a skill we need to
learn and practice. Mikhala LantzSimmons, of the Center for Conflict
Resolution in KC, MO, presented
elements of respectful dialogue at
the PeaceWorks Annual Meeting.
She said we need to be willing to
Mikhala Lantz-Simmons
listen and discuss ideas in a safe
and fair environment that opens up dialogue and
doesn’t alienate or further anger a person. The goal is
not to agree but to gain a deeper understanding of others’ viewpoints. The ability to consider different perspectives is the first step in critical thinking and problem solving—the process of truly communicating and
opening ourselves up to considering new ideas.
“When we are in conflict, it can be really hard to hear
others’ perspectives,” said Lantz-Simmons. She explained that people may say “the tip of the iceberg” in
commenting on a topic such as the Affordable Care
Act, and it’s up to us to explore the vast area (under
the tip) representing interest and need. LantzSimmons discussed de-escalation skills to help us
“listen past the position to perceive others’ interest
and need. Get past the initial flare-up. Recognize others’ dignity.”
—By Mary Hladky and Jane Stoever
Closing the Annual Meeting, Pack shared this
statement King used (originally published in a
book by Theodore Parker, Unitarian minister
advocating the abolition of slavery, in 1853):
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it
bends toward justice.”
— By Mary Hladky, who serves on the
PeaceWorks, KC, Board of Directors
Rosie Stoneking, Beth Seberger, and Sr. Barbara McCracken
share a conversation during the Annual Meeting March 5.
P E A C E WO R K S A P R I L 2 0 1 7
PAGE 5
Scenes from the
Annual Meeting
Left:
Henry Stoever and Michael McGrath dialog during the Annual Meeting.
Right:
Sunny Hamrick, of the
PeaceWorks Board, gets
ready to enjoy some refreshments before the
meeting begins.
— Photos by Jim Hannah
Inspirational award winners
By Mary Hladky
especially appreciate your efforts on
Botts Road,” she
said, referring to
PeaceWorks’ work
against the new nuclear weapons parts
plant at Botts Road
and Mo. Hwy. 150.
“Let peace be your
quest and aim!” said
McCracken.
During its Annual
Meeting March 5,
PeaceWorks gave
the Charles E. Bebb
Peace Merit Award
to Benedictine Sister Barbara
McCracken, honoring her for a lifetime
of service. She led
Barbara McCracken, OSB
the Kansas City, Kansas, Archdiocese Peace and Justice Office for She now lives in Atchison at the
a decade and effectively brought Benedictine Monastery, working
activists together across racial
with the Interfaith Center on
and other divides. She also proCorporate Responsibility, which
vided 10 years of service at Sha- calls on the world’s
lom Catholic Worker House in
most powerful comKCK, a shelter for the homeless. panies to address
In the 1990s, she wrote a weekly their impact on the
column on peace and social jusworld’s most vulnertice for the Catholic newspaable communities.
per, The Leaven, and often criShe regularly ministiqued U.S. foreign policy. She
ters to female inlater served at Keeler Women’s
mates in Atchison
Center, serving low-income, mid- and heads up Benecity women and men, and visiting dictines for Peace: a
Latoya Caldwell
true role model for
women in jail each week.
our work!
McCracken mentioned she had
never before received a plaque
This year, PeaceWorks bestowed
and was humbled by the honor. “I the Kris and Lynn Cheatum
Community Peace Award on
Stand Up KC, a powerhouse of
fast-food and retail workers demanding a livable wage and a union. Workers tell their stories so
we have a basic understanding of
what it’s like to walk in their
shoes, reminding us all of the
glaring contrast of poverty and
wealth in our country. In just four
years, this national movement
has increased the minimum wage
in numerous cities and was a major influence in pressing Andrew
Puzder to step down as President
Trump’s first Secretary of Labor
nominee. This grassroots group is
standing up for our
community’s future.
The award was accepted on behalf of
Stand Up KC by
Latoya Caldwell, a
fast-food worker inspired by Stand Up
KC to take a stand
for herself and her
five children. She has gone on
strike eight times in four years.
She declared, “We can win, and
we will win!”
PAGE 6
Stand Up KC caps
work against Puzder
with victory rally
By Brother Louis Rodemann
P E A C E WO R K S A P R I L 2 0 1 7
See At the River I Stand
Stand Up KC is showing the 1993 documentary At
the River I Stand on the anniversary of Martin
Luther King’s assassination—April 4—at 7 pm at
the Gem Theater, 1615 E. 18th St., KC, MO. A candlelight vigil will follow the film.
The award-winning documentary portrays the last
two months of King’s life and the struggle of 1,300
sanitation workers in Memphis. As
Stand Up KC continues pushing for
$15 an hour for low-income workers,
and a union, it is commemorating
King’s life and legacy through this
film. “Dr. King was calling for $2 an
hour; that would be $15 today,” says
Zachary Mueller, a Stand Up KC organizer. The Facebook page for Stand
Up KC notes, “In an era of increasing
division, bigotry, and violent hate, we
come together to breathe new life into
Dr. King’s vision of ‘Beloved Community’ of black, white, and brown
Winner of PeaceWorks’ Cheatum
Americans organizing together as one
Photo courtesy of Stand Up KC
Award (see p. 5), Stand Up KC is part
people who share a common destiny.”
of a four-year movement begun by workers in New
RSVP for free tickets at [email protected] or
York in November 2012. The local group commem816-547-5969.
orated the fourth anniversary on Nov. 29, 2016,
with hundreds of workers and allies rallying at
63rd and Paseo, then marching to Meyer and
Troost, site of a McDonald’s restaurant, where 108
persons sat and blocked traffic in that intersecDuring the March 5 Annual Meeting of Peacetion. All were arrested and charged with disobeyWorks, these persons were elected to one-year
ing an officer—failing to stand up and disterms:
perse. The date for a hearing continues to be postboard chairperson—Henry Stoever
poned.
board vice chair—Lu Mountenay
In the KC metro area, the organization has led
board treasurer—Dave Pack
multiple rallies and marches, with workers walkboard secretary—Sunny Hamrick
ing out on strike at fast-food restaurants, strugRon Faust and Ann Suellentrop were re-elected to
gling and advocating fair wages and just working
two-year terms on the board. Returning or new
conditions—$15 per hour and a union. Recently
board members elected to two-year terms are
other workers have joined, including day care
Spencer Graves, Lauren Hall, Jim Hannah, Leigh
workers, health care providers, untenured teachWoody, and Joseph Wun. Both Mary Hladky and
ers, and airline baggage handlers.
Tamara Severns are completing their two-year
—Christian Brother Louis Rodemann has particiterms on the board.
pated in Stand Up KC rallies, has accompanied a
In addition, Lu Mountenay and Debbie Wallin
striking worker back to the job the next day, was
were re-elected to two-year terms on the Nominatarrested for civil resistance Nov. 29, and went on
ing Committee. Completing her two-year term on
the Stand Up KC bus to St. Louis to protest the
the committee is Cele Breen.
candidacy of Puzder.
On Feb. 16, Stand Up KC held a “victory” march
and rally at a local Hardee’s fast food restaurant. The day before, Andrew Puzder,
CEO of the parent company of
Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., had stepped
down as President Donald Trump’s
nominee for Secretary of Labor. This
concluded a two-month nationwide
campaign. The number of cities and
the size of the rallies grew with the
uncovering of a catalog of labor injustices: charges of racial and sexual
harassment, low wages, wage theft,
part-time schedules, sporadic hours,
and lack of benefits.
Election results
P E A C E WO R K S A P R I L 2 0 1 7
PAGE 7
Poems from prison
Exhaustion
Lessons
By Adam Rhodes
By Jacob Waldrup
lessons
Bleak, my outlook on life.
big leather strap
Bare, the contents of my soul.
Stalled, the friendships I fight for.
crying, begging, pleading
Life, it weighs on me like a crown
hope the pain goes away quickly
On an aging beauty queen.
Jacob Waldrup presents his work at a recent
poetry reading.
— Photo by David Firman
Daddy
Note: Adam Rhodes and Jacob Waldrup are two of the current and former inmates at Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, KS, who have read their works to the public in Overland Park, KS. The authors
participate in Arts in Prison workshops taught by Arlin Buyert, a PeaceWorks member.
Henry’s Hopes
Jubilee!
By Dr. Ronald L. Faust
It doesn’t have to be
Just because just because
Some authority said so
People can make a difference
As the Peace Community
Demonstrated in protest
And letters for Chelsea
That’s right, President Obama
Commuted Chelsea Manning’s
Thirty-five year sentence
After serving seven years
For revealing secrets
To WikiLeaks
This was an amazing rescue
In the face of the inevitable
When it looked like Chelsea
Was consigned to a fate
Of punishment
Over her personal identity
And rule violations
The Peace Community showed
support
For her situation and liberation
From her unusual restrictions
This Jubilee party might circle
up
Chelsea, Barack, Martin, Ann,
PeaceWorks
A community grateful to Obama
For this humane act of grace.
Henry Stoever, the board chairperson of PeaceWorks, KC, shared his
hopes during the March 5 Annual
Meeting. Some excerpts:
Rallying in support of Chelsea Manning.
(On occasion when President
Obama commuted the remaining prison sentence of Chelsea
Manning, the Army intelligence
analyst who is to be released
from Fort Leavenworth on
May 17.)
Note: Chelsea may be freed May
17 not at Fort Leavenworth but
at another location, nearer her
home. PeaceWorks may celebrate
the release; details to come.
So that we may better
Love the Earth
and all persons we come in
contact with,
So that we may have the insight
to better know where others and
ourselves hurt and suffer,
So that we may have the courage
to do the tasks of mending
and reconciling this world
and our relations,
I wish you peace.
I share with you hope
For without hope, our love will
never flourish,
For without hope, I cannot let my
guard down and reach for your
arms and heart,
For without hope, I cannot set
aside my self-centeredness and
walk with you or in your shoes,
For without hope,
we cannot aspire
to what you and I could be
or fulfill our dreams.
Editing and Layout: Jane Stoever and Robyn Haas
Printing: S & S Printing
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
P EA CE WO R K S A PR IL 201 7
Mark your calendar …
 Wed., 4/4, At the River I Stand film, see story, p. 6.
 Sat., 4/8, National Bird documentary, see story, p. 1.
 Sat., 4/22, Planting Seeds of Peace, party for the Earth and for PeaceWorks members, see story, p. 1.
 4/27-30, White Privilege Conference, in KC MO: ideas about privilege/oppression, and solutions.
See: whiteprivilegeconference.com.
 Wed., 5/17, Celebrate Release of Chelsea Manning, see poem & info, p. 7.
 5/20-26, DC Days & Meetings, lobbying with Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. Contact Ann
Suellentrop, 913-271- 7925.
 Mon., 5/29, Memorial Day
Walk/Ride/DIE-IN, with walk
from old nuclear weapons parts
plant to new plant. Meet at 8 am
at Bannister east of Troost, or at
11 am at Prospect & Mo. Hwy.
150, to call for a nuke-free world.
The die-in, about noon,
commemorates the deaths of
hundreds of workers from toxins
at Bannister Federal Complex.
 Sat., 6/24, 5:30 pm, Avila U., Honoring Ira Harritt, party to thank Ira for 30 years’ leadership in
AFSC-KC, which will close in July because of national AFSC budget shortfalls.
 Sat.-Sun., 9/23-24, UNplaza Art Fair, PeaceWorks fundraiser with help of local artists, probably
at Southmoreland Park, Oak St. & Cleaver Blvd. Please ask artists, after 4/10, to apply by 7/14
at PeaceWorksKC.org.