In the News

Blessed are the Peacemakers
Albert B. Southwick talks about the Center for Nonviolent Solutions and the history of peace activism in Massachusetts in his column of October 13, 2011 in the Worcester Telegram & Gazetts.

What are the Real Costs of War?
Why do states glorify war?
Paul Ropp, CNVS Board Chair, examines the social, economic, political and moral costs of modern war.

This chart shows comparative military spending among 10 top spending nations. The US and its NATO allies account for over 64% of all military spending.

Work for Peace Spans All Generations
Board Members of the Center for Nonviolent Solutions were featured in an article by Brian Goslow on the website FiftyPlusAdovcate.com

John Paul Marosy, Jeannelle Wheeler, Tim Hutchinson and Mike True at the CNVS Annual Meeting, March 19, 2011.

Fighting the good fight:
Center provides a local base for peace effort
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette announces the March 19, 2011 Annual Meeting and Award Ceremony of the Center for Nonviolent Solutions in a report of an interview with Paul Ropp, Chair of the Board, and Michael True, Vice-Chair of the Board.

Reducing Violence in the Worcester Community
Paul Ropp from the Center for Nonviolent Solutions and Alex Kartheiser from Abby's House are the guests on this episode of Soapbox, recorded March 28, 2011. The topic of discussion is reducing violence in the community. Soapbox is a Worcester community awareness program produced by WCCA TV13 and is hosted by the station Executive Director Mauro DePasquale.
http://www.wccatv.com/node/15493

Misplaced Faith in Military
Michael True, Vice-Chair of the Board of the Center for Nonviolent Solutions, considers whether US politicians' faith in US military is justified. Does it really work as we think it does? Read Professor True's reflections in the "As I See It" article from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, March 10, 2011.

Fighting the good fight:
Center provides a local base for peace effort
See the Telegram & Gazette article about the Center for Nonviolent Solutions that appeared on March 10, highlighting the Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at the Worcester Public Library at 9:30 AM. The article was written by Dave Greenslit after an interview with CNVS Chair, Paul Ropp.

Worcester Activist to Go to Afghanistan
On March 19, 2011, Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, of the Saints Francis & Thérèse Catholic Worker, and 23 other peace activists from the US, Germany, and Australia, in response to an invitation from The Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers, will join 50 Afghan youth from all ethnicities in “celebration of the Afghan people’s wish to live without wars.” Read more.

Gene Sharp, Founder of the Albert Einstein Institute, studies the use of nonviolent action in conflicts around the world.

From Dictatorship to Democracy, Sharp’s book on strategies for nonviolent revolution was an important influence on the protestors in Egypt’s recent peaceful overthrow of Hosni Mubarek. Read about Gene Sharp in the New York Times, February 16, 2011 and from the BBC, an article by Ruaridh Arrow who is writing a book on Gene Sharp.

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Egyptian Protestor Talks with CNVS Board Member, Claire Schaeffer-Duffy
Moroug Badawy, a 24-year old graduate student of engineering, lives in the Egyptian city of Alexandria with her husband, six-month-old son, and their extended family. Claire Schaeffer-Duffy spoke with her Wednesday, shortly after the mostly peaceful demonstrations across Egypt devolved into violence.

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Mediation Training with Worcester Community Leaders, Sat., Feb. 5, 2011
Learning communication skills to use in mediating conflicts, 18 people from across the Worcester community took part in a mediation workshop sponsored by the Center for Nonviolent Solutions on Saturday, February 5. Three experienced mediation instructors, Carol Baldarelli, Michael Langa and Leslie Saffer, led the group in communication exercises and role plays. Worcester organizations represented included Regional Environmental Council, Abby's House, Christian Community Church, Toxic Soil Busters, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Stone Soup, Worcester Youth Center, YOU Inc, and the Columbus Park Neighborhood Association.

Participants sharpen their communication skills.

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WORCESTER MAYOR SUPPORTS NONVIOLENT SOLUTIONS

Letter of support for the Center for Nonviolent Solutions from Worcester Mayor, Joseph C. O'Brien:
"...I strongly support this work because I believe that if we want to build a more peaceful world; we must start by building a culture of peace in all our communities through education, reflection and action......The Center for Nonviolent Solutions has already had a very positive impact on the community and with additional support they will be able to have a continued profound and positive impact on our city."

"Nonviolence in the City"
Worcester Magazine website has an article on The Center for Nonviolent Solutions. Vanessa Formato talked with Tim Hutchinson and Paul Ropp on CNVS activities in Worcester.

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CNVS Board member,CLaire Schaeffer-Duffy, reflects on the tragedy of the shootings in Tucson, AZ in the Worcester Magazine, Thursday, January 20, 2011, Reflections on Arizona Read Claire's letter

The Board of Directors at the Center for Nonviolent Solutions joins with all who are mourning the dead and wounded from the tragic shootings in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday, January 8. We hope this senseless act of a deeply disturbed young man will help us all as Americans to develop a stronger sense of civility, solidarity and mutual respect in our political and social lives. ........

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The Value of Peace
You are invited to visit the website of the Global Peace Index 2010, which measures the relative peacefulness of countries around the world. You will find a wealth of maps, data and vital information about global peace efforts.

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CNVS Board member, John Paul Marosy, is quoted in Clive McFarland's column in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Friday, January 21, 2011, Would MLK agree to fight in a just war? Read McFarland's column

Some are aghast that Jeh C. Johnson, the Defense Department’s general counsel, would dare contend that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would understand why the United States went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. ..........

“It was totally outrageous,” John Paul Marosy, a board member with the Center for Nonviolent Solutions in Worcester, said of Mr. Johnson’s remarks. “It is a total contradiction to everything the man stands for.”

I, too, disagree with Mr. Johnson, even if his job as general counsel is to make the Defense Department’s case, no matter how irrational it is. ........

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This letter to the Editor by CNVS Board member John Paul Marosy appeared in the Sunday, October 31, 2010 edition of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Dear Editor,
The tragic headline “Teen Shootings Spike” (T&G, October 22, 2010) tells a story of unacceptable injuries and deaths of young people in our city and begs the questions: “Why are our children killing other children?”  And “What can I do about it?” 
The answers are clear. We live in a culture of violence in which the mitigating social institutions of family and neighborhood have, in some instances, broken down due to poverty, lack of jobs, and poor parenting.  Law enforcement is in the position of picking up the pieces of tattered relationships and economic hardship.
We can do something about it. The Worcester Violence Prevention Coalition, led by co-chairs Jesse Edwards, the city’s youth opportunity director, and Rosa Fernandez of UMass Memorial Healthcare, is creating non-violent solutions to resolving conflict among teens, thus limiting youth violence today and paving the way for a safer future – a culture of peace in Worcester.  We can contribute our volunteer time and money to help Coalition members like the Mosaic program of the YMCA, the Youth Empowerment and Support (YES) program of the Martin Luther King Empowerment Center, and the ICC Kids Club at the Christian Community Church.
Those on the front lines of the campaign to end youth violence deserve our support. What will you do to help?
~John Paul Marosy

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Bill Densmore, CNVS Board Member and Gene Sharp, "Godfather of Nonviolent Resistance," at the annual meeting of the Nonviolent Peace Force celebrating the birthday of Mahatma Ghandi on October 9, 2010.

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September Rally Calls for Solidarity and Peace

A Rally for Solidarity and Peace took place on Friday, Sept. 10, 11 a.m. on the quad at Quinsigamond Community College (Worcester campus / West Boylston St).  The event was co-sponsored by QCC,  the Worcester City Manager's Community Coalition on Bias and Hate and Center for Nonviolent Solutions. The purpose was to honor the victims of 9/11, to celebrate and promote respect of different faiths and interreligious dialogue, and  to encourage non-violent approaches to conflict resolution.

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The first annual WORCESTER PEACE FESTIVAL took place at YMCA Park in Worcester, Massachusetts on July 17, 2010 from 12 PM to 8 PM.
http://www.worcesterpeacefestival.org
Participants learned about promoting health, getting jobs, preventing violence, and met people from the Worcester community working for peace and justice.

Many people stopped by the Center for Nonviolent Solutions display and talked with Libby, Tim, John Paul, Claire, Michael, Marjorie and Paul.

Neighborhood children enjoyed the children's activities, including making "stress balls," small balloons filled with sand.

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Remembering Irving Wolfson.

We were sad to learn of the passing of CNVS member and supporter Dr. Irving Wolfson, a longtime supporter of progressive causes in Worcester County, and a civil rights and anti-Vietnam war activist.  Irving was married for 37 years to anti-conscription activist Annabel Kreider Wolfson, who is memorialized at the Peace Abbey in Sherborn.  Her memorial plaque reads:   "It seems that it would be apparent to anyone who gave the matter a thought that money spent for cooperative peacekeeping is a better investment than money spent for deterrence by mutual and ever-increasing terror, yet the great powers of the world continue to lavish their resources on the latter."  We appreciated Irv's support and will miss his bright spirit.

Remembering Elise Boulding.

We were sad to learn of the passing of peace activist Elise Boulding on June 24. She was prominent in founding and legitimizing the field of peace studies in the 1960's. She helped found the scholarly organization, International Peace Research Association and was a leader of the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom, the antiwar group whose first president was Jane Addams. She wrote several books and was married to Kenneth Boulding, an economist, poet and peace activist. She will be greatly missed.

HAVE YOU HEARD FROM JOHANNESBURG
A Groundbreaking New Documentary Series About the International Movement to End Apartheid in South Africa
Produced and directed by two-time academy award nominee Connie Field
at the Main Branch of the Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston
Watch the trailer online here
Free and Open to the Public

JADE BUDDHA for Universal Peace
May 22- June 5, 2010
The Jade Buddha for Universal Peace is the largest Buddha carved from gemstone quality jade in the world.
The purpose of exhibiting the Jade Buddha around the world is for everyone, irrespective of their religion, to take a moment to reflect upon peace; peace for the world; peace in their relationships; peace for their families and friends; peace at work; peace in their mind.
http://www.jadebuddha.org.au/en/

Worcester Telegram and Gazette article by Michael True

Giving peace studies a chance, by Michael True, Professor Emeritus at Assumption College and Chair of the Board, Center for Nonviolent Solutions
Telegram & Gazette op-ed article, “As I See It,” Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Worcester Telegram and Gazette, October 16, 2009 regarding CNVS Launch

http://www.telegram.com/article/20091016/NEWS/910160399

Pictures, audio and video files of the Launch Event
(with gratitude and thanks to Mike Benedetti mike.benedetti@gmail.com )

http://www.pieandcoffee.org/2009/10/17/worcester-center-for-nonviolent-solutions-kickoff/

InCity Times, Worcester, MA, Sept. 25-Oct. 8, 2009

http://www.incitytimesworcester.org/?p=2962