We here at Peaceworks wish to express our profound thanks to all who participated in "Peace Is Growing!" on Sunday, March 18. Seven hundred mid-Missourians turned out for this awesome rally, march and tree dedication. We thank all the speakers, performers, and volunteers of all stripes. We are especially appreciative of all of you who joined in our recruiting efforts, helping to get the word out and bringing into our peace movement many, many new faces.

For those reading this who did not get to participate, you can get some sense of the event by reading the coverage we got in the Columbia Missourian and the Columbia Tribune. We hope you will be able to be with us for future peace actions, and that you will not wait until a five-year anniversary event. We really don't want to be protesting an ongoing Iraq War one year from now, and we need your participation to help build a broad-based movement capable of bringing our troops home and averting a war with Iran.

Below are some suggestions for further action that we shared at the rally. Please do what you can. We all can play a very significant role:

Peace Efforts Approach a Tipping Point, But Things Could Go Either Way. Your Active Participation Could Make the Difference:

Thanks for being part of the movement to end the war. You are part of a growing majority of Americans who recognize that the Iraq War is wrong and must be ended. Likewise, the overwhelming majority of our people do NOT want war with Iran. Our challenge now is to convince our government—both the Republicans in the White House, and the Democrats and Republicans in the Congress—that they should follow the will of the people.

So Much is at Stake Today.

The stakes are very high indeed. We are making more and more enemies. Attacking Iran could trigger a world war, or at least a major regional war that would last many years. Given the critical nature of this moment, we are calling on each of you to consider how you might up your level of involvement. Some options include:

• Get involved in day-to-day activism. Peaceworks offers many opportunities.

• Make your views heard. Contact Congress regularly (click HERE for contact info).

• Write letters to the editor. (Click HERE for a list of links to Missouri papers)

• Display your concerns (yard signs, buttons, stickers, etc).

• Bring a peace agenda to your house of worship.

• Arrange a peace speaker for your organization. (Contact Peaceworks. We’ll supply someone.)

• Participate in peace vigils regularly. We especially encourage you to come out Wednesdays for the highly visible Rush Hour Peace Demonstration (4:15-5:45 p.m. at B’way & Providence). Come for whatever portion you can.

• Become a Peaceworks member or renew your membership. Click HERE for details.

• View yourself as an activist. Be an agent for progressive change.

• Stay informed. Regularly access the alternative media like Democracy Now!, CommonDreams.Org, TruthOut.Org, AlterNet.Org, TruthDig.Com, etc.

• Also, please sign up for Peaceworks’ Weekly E-Updates. Write us at mail@midmopeaceworks.org.

What this really comes down to is what sort of world we want to leave for our grandkids. Do we care enough to get involved? If so, are we willing to get to the root of the problem? These are the questions we in Peaceworks are asking. Will you be a part of this movement? Can we work together to shape a brighter, more hopeful future? We hope your answer is “YES!”

Contact us about any of the above by stopping at the Peace Nook, sending an e-mail to mail@midmopeaceworks.org or calling us at 573-875-0539.



Hello friends,

Last Saturday was a landmark day in Columbia. Thousands of people came out to express their solidarity; their support for mutual acceptance and diversity. In the face of the ugliness of racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic, red-baiting Nazis, our community rallied and showed its best face.

This coming Sunday, March 18, we have the opportunity to do something similar. We won't get even a tiny fraction of the advanced publicity from the media, but, through the Internet and word of mouth--through each of us making a point to be present ourselves and to bring along a friend or two--we can pull together a massive outpouring for peace. The time is now and each of us has a role to play. Please read on and we'll tell you more.

PEACE IS GROWING! PAINT YOURSELF IN THE PICTURE: On the fourth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the time has come for our nation to say "NO!" to war. The time has arrived to tell our government to end the Iraq adventure, and to not even think about attacking Iran. The time has come for us to be out in the streets marching together for peace, for justice, for a future that works for all of us. We need to grow strong together and this Sunday, March 18, is a real opportunity to come together and share this positive, hopeful vision.

JOIN THE 482 PEOPLE WHO'VE ALREADY SIGNED UP: This Rally, March and Tree Dedication will be really BIG! Our original goal was to turn out at least 500 people. As of Friday, 482 people have signed up and committed to attend. Our hope is that hundreds more will join in. If you haven't yet signed up please do so now by clicking here telling us how many of you will be attending.

WHY SIGN UP? You don't have to sign up in advance, but it really helps us to demonstrate momentum and we can hopefully get better coverage by letting the media know that this will be a really big event. Please tell your friends. Encourage them to attend, and urge them to sign up too.

WHAT'S THE PLAN? We will gather between 1:30 and 2 p.m. at Courthouse Sq. by 8th & Walnut in Downtown Columbia. Universal Drum Appeal will perform while the crowd gathers. We hope for excellent weather, as is currently forecast, but in the event of rain, we will gather indoors in the Fellowship Hall of First Christian Church, just one block east of the square.

At 2:00 p.m. we will kick off a short rally. We have two excellent speaker, Rev. Maureen Dickmann, pastor of Rock Bridge Christian Church and John Betz, a decorated Vietnam War combat veteran and a Veteran for Peace. By 2:30 we will commence a march through downtown Columbia.

MAKE YOURSELF HEARD--We encourage you to be ready to chant, to sing, to drum, to clang and bang. Please bring tambourines, bells, drums, pots and pans. We will aim for a cacophony of joyous sound for peace.

PEACE IS GROWING AND SINKING ITS ROOTS: When we get to Douglass Park we will gather for a tree dedication at the Peace Tree that the Peace Coalition has had planted. This tree symbolizes life and also our movement, growing stronger by the day, rooting itself in place, filling out with life force. It represents our hopes for a greener, more peaceful future. Larry Brown, Chair of the Interfaith Peace Alliance, will share his thoughts as we dedicate the Peace Tree. So will John McClure, an educator and resident of the Douglass Park neighborhood. We will also have a little music shared by Larry Brown and Steve Jacobs.

STAY FOR A PICNIC, IF YOU CAN: For those who have time to stay to visit, following the tree dedication there will be an optional potluck picnic at Douglass Park. If you plan to bring food for this, you can bring your dish to Courthouse Sq. We have arranged a shuttle to get the food over to the park so folks don't have to walk with it. Just bring your food to the rally and ask for the food shuttle. We also ask that you bring your own table service, if possible.



As almost everyone in Columbia has heard by now, a neo-Nazi hate group that calls itself the National Socialist Movement (NSM) is coming to town this Saturday, March 10. They have a permit to march on streets adjacent to the MU campus between noon and 5 p.m. Peaceworks is joining with other progressive groups as well as city officials in encouraging all to oppose these hate-mongers, but also not to play into their hands by confronting them. Working with others in the community we are participating in the following (note some of this is tentative or in the process of being finalized):

1) Declaring Saturday "Tolerance Day" in Columbia. A news conference will be held Thursday at 8:30 a.m. at the Boone County Courthouse attended by a broad cross-section of our community leadership. They will issue a declaration that hatred is not welcome in our town and will encourage all in our community to reject the vile racism, homophobia and bigotry of the NSM. They also will encourage Columbia citizens not to play into the hands of the NSM by attending their march and confronting them. Rather, they will encourage the citizens to attend a Diversity Celebration to be held in Douglass Park during the time the Nazis will be marching (see below).

2) Help raise money to support diversity and oppose bigotry. The Columbia Acceptance Project has set up a website (click here) where community members can make pledges to contribute a set amount for each minute the NSM marches. The funds will go to benefit groups including:
Centro Latino, the "Blind" Boone Community Center, the Columbia Trust J.W. Blind Boone Home, the Center Project, the NAACP and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

3) Distributing signs for posting in store and office windows throughout downtown declaring "No Hate in Our Town." This effort has been endorsed by the Downtown Columbia Associations. Peaceworks is coordinating printing and distributing these signs. The signs should be printed by Wednesday mid-morning, and we are looking for volunteers to help distribute these on Wednesday and Thursday. If you can help with this, please give us a call ASAP at the Peace Nook (573-875-0539).

4) Diversity Celebration at Douglass Park: the aforementioned gathering will take place from noon to 5 on Saturday. There will be music, booths, activities free food and much more for people of all ages and all backgrounds. Coming together we can make a strong statement of our solidarity and our shared opposition to hate-mongers like the NSM


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