International Women's Peace Congress at Simpson College
By Diane Krell
The
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) 30th
Triennial Congress will be held this year on the Simpson campus on June
25-June 29. WILPF is the oldest continuous women’s peace organization
in the world, founded in 1915 by Jane Addams and Emily Greene Balch who
both went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Nearly
150 men and women members of WILPF from all over the world are expected
to attend the Congress. and we are offering two opportunities for the
public as well, said Diane Krell, former president of the Des Moines
WILPF Branch.
On
Friday, June 27th at 7:30 p.m. Amy Goodman, award winning journalist
and host of Pacifica Radioâ's daily radio program, “Democracy Now,”
will be speaking in the Great Hall on the Simpson campus.
Saturday,
June 28, Fran Korten, publisher and executive director of YES! Magazine
will help celebrate WILPF's Tribute Night, starting at 6 pm with dinner
in the Great Hall.
“We are
fortunate to have two outstanding women who are ardent progressives and
who have taken time out of their busy schedule to come to our Congress
and challenge our membership and our community,” stated Mary Hanson
Harrison, Congress Coordinator.
Long-time
WILPF Sponsor and author of The Color Purple, Alice Walker commented on
Goodman's recent book, Standing Up to the Madness, co-authored with her
brother, David. She stated, “Trust Amy Goodman and her
brother David Goodman to find the fierce and fearless voices that must
awaken us from sleep.” Standing Up to the Madness tells us of the power
of everyday people who have changed the political landscape through
their activism.
Noted
journalist Bill Moyers says of Goodman's work: “Amy Goodman doesn't
practice trickle-down journalism. She goes where the silence is, she
breaks the sound barrier. “She believes the media should be a sanctuary
for dissent, the Underground Railroad tunneling beneath the plantation.”
Harrison
says that on Saturday evening Korten will share the vision that drives
YES! Magazine – that is, “the fierce faith that with enough citizen
understanding and action, American can change” that we really can take
steps to reverse the threat of global warming; stand up to corporate
power; transform our health care system; shape a cooperative role for
America in the world; face the legacy of racism; and keep up the long
march toward a more perfect union. “Over many years and several
countries, Korten has “helped bring about substantial policy and
institutional reform by creating common agendas among visionary leaders
from the governmental, nongovernmental, and academic sectors.”
Saturday's
Tribute Night will also honor an Iowa peace activist and author of
Unfriendly Fire: A Mother's Memoir, Peg Mullen, with WILPF's first
annual Strong Feisty Woman Award.
“Peg
Mullen represents all the mothers who send their children off to serve
their country and pray they will be safe. In
tirelessly tracking the truth about her own son's death in Vietnam, she
revealed to the nation that the sacred bond between soldier and
nation can be and often is broken. She helped awaken
America to the understanding that its leaders can and do deploy troops
for the wrong reasons, for insubstantial reasons and can lie about the
real motives for sacrificing our treasure and blood. Peg risked
everything to reveal that truth, for parents of her era and for those
yet to come. She is an American hero…a proud Iowa farm wife and
mother who dared to confront the Pentagon and won. If there was ever a
strong feisty woman, it's Peg Mullen!
We as a nation are in her debt,” wrote Marybeth Gardam, Des Moines Congress Program Chair.
Reservations, required for both events: phone 515-255-6587 or email wilpf-desmoines@dwx.com.
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