From July 9 to 11, 2011, Michael and Linda were in Little Rock, Arkansas to attend a symposium focusing on the civil rights activism of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Arkansas. The symposium was the official launching event for a new book on SNCC activism in Arkansas, Arsnick: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Arkansas. The book includes a chapter authored by Michael about his experiences in Arkansas, which is where he began his work with SNCC.
Michael addresses the symposium on SNCC in Arkansas
The C-SPAN network filmed most of the symposium, so to see Michael's speech, see the video of the second panel discussion. (The link to the video should take you directly to Michael's segment. If you are viewing the full video of the panel, Michael's segment begins at about 2:35 minutes into the recording, and lasts about 12 minutes.)
In additon to the symposium, we attended a wonderful public commemoration event of the first Freedom Riders bus to arrive in Little Rock, Arkansas, 50 years earlier, to the day, on July 10, 1961. There is excellent coverage of both the symposium and the anniversary events on a website dedicated to the events at http://www.lrfreedomriders.org/.
To commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, the "Documentaries and Discussion" series at the Greene Street Friends Meeting in Philadelphia invited Michael to host a screening and discussion of an episode of Eyes on the Prize. This documentary, the seminal account of the civil rights movement filled with contemporary archival footage and in-depth interviews with numerous activists and participants in the movement, has been a Ráday Salon staple since our inaugural event -- see our Eyes on the Prize category for all our previous posts on the documentary, which include links to more information about the series.
Much of the discussion following the film focused on the work that still needs to be done to fight discrimination in the United States, and on the challenge of continuing to motivate young people to social and political activism today. For an excellent overview of the event, see the article published by local writer and photographer Jenny Swigoda, Eyes still on the prize in Germantown, on Newsworks.org, a new source of Philadelphia area news produced by the public broadcaster WHYY.
Michael Simmons delivering a speech at a rally of the Citizens Against the Far Right Movement in Hungary, protesting against planned neo-nazi demonstrations on August 15, 2009. Credit for the beautiful photo goes to our good friend JD.
Today, September 4, 2009, marks a 40 year anniversary in a life devoted to fighting for human rights. On September 4, 1969, Michael Simmons began a 30-month prison sentence for his conscientious objection to the Vietnam War. As a Black American, Michael faced a longer prison sentence than white conscientious objectors, because not only did he express a personal opposition to the war in Vietnam, he also fought hard against the oppression of Black Americans in the United States, and actively organized African American opposition against the war.
On this important anniversary, I invite Ráday Salon friends and fans to join me in commemorating Michael's commitment and courage
On Friday, June 19, Linda and Michael joined some of our friends in a demonstration organized by Iranian students in Budapest to show support for those protesting the recent election in Iran. The Budapest demonstration took place at Heroes' Square -- a quiet gathering with photos and signs and folk songs.
Beginning in 2004, activists of the Humanist Movement in Hungary have been marking the anniversary of the Iraq War with a "living peace sign" in Budapest's Heroes' Square, made up of hundreds of people holding up candles as the light fades and evening begins.
(Click to see photos and video of the 2007 peace sign.) Every year, the event has grown, with peace signs appearing in dozens of cities around the world. This year the symbol, which will celebrate nonviolence, will be held on Sunday, March 22. The event begins at 6pm and participation requires a small participation fee (800Ft) to help cover the costs. Hungarian speakers can find more information at http://www.vilagbekemenet.hu/.
Back at the end of October/beginning of November, Michael and Linda traveled to Amman, Jordan for a conference sponsored by the United Nations University -- International Leadership Institute. The conference was actually a 5-day course, entitled Nonviolent Approaches to Conflict Resolution, Peace-Building, and Reconciliation; Michael participated as a faculty member, giving two presentations on the antecedents of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s non-violent philosophy, and its impact. We met passionate and committed leaders and activists from all over the globe -- people of all different ages and backgrounds, many from the Middle East, especially Israel and Palestine, but also from Africa, South America, Asia and Russia. They all had wisdom and experience to share, and were equally willing to hear and learn from others, and work together in the pursuit of non-violent solutions to seemingly "intractable" conflicts.
The course was a wonderful experience, bringing together such a diverse, talented, energetic, and truly dedicated group of participants, that the momentum built up during our time together continued well after the gathering. Although Michael and Linda talked much about the conference with our Budapest friends after our return, we haven't yet gotten around to putting anything on our blog about it. However, you'll soon be hearing and reading a lot more about it from us, as the success of the course led to the creation of a new organization -- the Global Network for Non-violence. A steering committee has officially been formed (of which Michael is a member), and Michael and Linda will be responsible for mainitaining a soon-to-be-launched website for the organization.
So we just wanted to give you a little preview. The video linked above was the brainchild of an amazing Israeli activist named Hagit (she's the last one to speak in the video) who thought through the concept, managed to corral all the participants (no small task, that), and enlisted a local cameraman to do the shooting.
We'll have more links and information in the weeks to come... In the meantime, you can check out:
This
Wednesday, March 21, at 7pm, our Salon will welcome Ciaron O'Reilly, a
peace activist and war resister. He was born and raised in Australia
and lives today in Dublin, Ireland, where he works for a homeless
shelter.
Ciaron has been an activst for the Catholic Worker Movement,
which has been described as both Christian and Anarchist and fiercely
pacifist -- there are many "non-believers" involved in the movement,
attracted by its non-ideological direct action approach to activisim
and way of seeing the world.
Ciaron has been involved in a number of "Ploughshares Actions" that
non-violently attempt to "disarm" military hardware around the world.
In one such action, Ciaron and other anti-war activists damaged US
military equipment held at an aiport/hangar in Ireland, in an effort to
impede the mission of US war planes headed to Iraq. The activists were
arrested and tried. In their defense, they argued that their actions
were legally permissible according to Irish law, which allows for
actions that are done to prevent harm to life or property of others.
All the activists were ultimately acquitted of the charges. (For more
on the action and the subsequent trial, see the extensive coverage on Indymedia Ireland.)
For his non-violent activities and "disarmaments" of US military
planes, Ciaron has served time in jail in the USA and has been in and
out of the courts of Australia, USA, Ireland, and the UK for many years.
[You can also read more about Ciaron on Wikipedia.]
Ciaron will be joining us on Wednesday to talk about his experiences
over a lifetime of activism. We hope that you will be able to join
us.
Last night, Michael and Linda and many of our friends joined with hundreds and hundreds of others to build an enormous human peace sign in Budapest's grand Heroes' Square. People began gathering long before nightfall -- when we arrived at 5:30pm, the peace sign had already begun to take a clear shape. We walked all around the outside of the circle, marvelling at the sheer numbers of people who had come to join in the event. We found our section and met up with several friends already there. (Our friend JD was our "section" leader, responsible for filling one segment of the peace sign with eager volunteers.) People continued to arrive as darkness approached, and soon it was time for the official program to begin. After some words from the organizers, the moment had arrived to light the torches. Though we had to fight a brisk wind at first, the flames grew stronger and the mood of the crowd more and more festive. Together we created an enormous and moving visual symbol of our wish
for peace.
The idea for this demonstration came from a friend of ours, Tibor Varady (Jr.) (whom
some of you will have met already at our salons) several years ago as a
protest action against the war in Iraq. The first peace sign was held in Budapest in 2004. Since then it has grown every
year in size and scope, and now it is an international demonstration
opposing war and other forms of violence, with around 50 live peace sign demonstrations held this year around the world!!
We've got lots of links and media to share with you about this event.
