People and Events

More information at eventbrite.com/e/2020-iowa-city-presidential-candidate-forum-tickets-87279321801

Stand up for Peace! Fridays, New hours: 3:30 to 4:30 pm at the intersection of Iowa Avenue and Clinton Street on the University of Iowa Pentacrest Iowa City

Are you ready to show up for peace? Join us for an hour, or even just a few minutes, to voice your support for peace. We citizens must stand as a reminder that the military option is an unacceptable option. Maybe if we're serious about peace with North Korea, we could start the new year by declaring an end to the Korean War. Come with your friends, your family, your neighbors, or just yourself — all are welcome.
 

A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Riverside Church - April 4, 1967 We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, for those it calls "enemy", for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers. I think of them, too, because it is clear to me that there will be no meaningful solution until some attempt is made to know them and hear their broken cries. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Riverside Church - April 4, 1967 History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Riverside Church - April 4, 1967 »

April 4 marks 52 years since Martin Luther King delivered the most controversial speech in his career, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." For the 4th year in a row, Veterans For Peace #161 sponsored a community read of King's controversial and ever-relevant "Riverside" speech. April 4th also marks 51 years since King was assassinated in Memphis.

 
Martin Luther King's Riverside Church speech
broken into sections for a public reading

Martin Luther King's speech at the Mason Temple, Memphis, April 3, 1968
"I've Been to the Mountaintop"

 

Veterans for Peace 161 gather on Armistice Day, November 11, 2018
 

Dave H, John C, Jim Bradley, Louie, Ron McCall, John Fyotek, and Ed Flaherty participated in the June 16, 2018 Gay Pride Parade.
Thanks to Tom Jacobs for the photo.

Jo Conroy died on August 4th. Her family and friends are left with rich memories. She was a "No Justice, No Peace—Know Justice, Know Peace" kind of person. She frequented the Friday peace rallies on the Pentacrest in Iowa City, and was a friend of Veterans For Peace. She was a woman of many talents, with a sense of humor and a smile that stuck with you. Her obituary ( gayandciha.com ) relates: "She became one of the earliest members of the Cedar Rapids chapter of NOW (National Organization For Women). She sued the Cedar Rapids school district for sexual discrimination, not for money but for equal rights. The decision was on her side. She used to say, 'Civil rights, women's rights, we are talking about human rights.' She continued her fight for justice until she could no longer walk or speak."

Photo by Master Sgt. Joshua Kowalsky

On Friday, March 15, 2019, VFP 161 member, Linda Fisher was handed the baton to direct the U.S. Air Force Concert Band at the Hancher to conduct Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever in a rousing finish to the nights outstanding full house performance. Chief Master Sgt Stacy Newbrough Ascione, an Iowa City native, performed a classy flute improvision.
Linda had been a former member of the Women's Air Force Band, serving with the WAF Band from 1960-1961. She even marched in the Inaugural Parade for President John F. Kennedy!

In 1958, four peace lovers sailed the 30' Golden Rule from California, bound for the Marshall Islands, where another above-ground nuclear bomb test was scheduled. They got arrested in Hawaii, and the boat got sold. It was found in 2010, a wreck. Some VFP folks who knew its story restored it. Here it is, in San Diego bay last week, for the national VFP convention, in conjunction w/the 70 year commemoration of the A-Bomb devestation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Atmospheric nuclear bomb tests were banned world-wide in 1963. The Marshall Islands are suing the nuke bomb holding countries now to make them honor the intent of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to reduce and get rid of all nuclear weapons. Orion Sherwood, one of the 1958 crew, was at the VFP convention, as determined a peace-maker now as then.

 

Rendered for inclusion on website

 

People and Events

A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Riverside Church - April 4, 1967 We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, for those it calls "enemy", for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers. I think of them, too, because it is clear to me that there will be no meaningful solution until some attempt is made to know them and hear their broken cries. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Riverside Church - April 4, 1967 History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Riverside Church - April 4, 1967 »

April 4 marks 52 years since Martin Luther King delivered the most controversial speech in his career, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." For the 4th year in a row, Veterans For Peace #161 sponsored a community read of King's controversial and ever-relevant "Riverside" speech. April 4th also marks 51 years since King was assassinated in Memphis.

 
Martin Luther King's Riverside Church speech
broken into sections for a public reading

Martin Luther King's speech at the Mason Temple, Memphis, April 3, 1968
"I've Been to the Mountaintop"

 

Veterans for Peace 161 gather on Armistice Day, November 11, 2018
 

Dave H, John C, Jim Bradley, Louie, Ron McCall, John Fyotek, and Ed Flaherty participated in the June 16, 2018 Gay Pride Parade.
Thanks to Tom Jacobs for the photo.

Jo Conroy died on August 4th. Her family and friends are left with rich memories. She was a "No Justice, No Peace—Know Justice, Know Peace" kind of person. She frequented the Friday peace rallies on the Pentacrest in Iowa City, and was a friend of Veterans For Peace. She was a woman of many talents, with a sense of humor and a smile that stuck with you. Her obituary ( gayandciha.com ) relates: "She became one of the earliest members of the Cedar Rapids chapter of NOW (National Organization For Women). She sued the Cedar Rapids school district for sexual discrimination, not for money but for equal rights. The decision was on her side. She used to say, 'Civil rights, women's rights, we are talking about human rights.' She continued her fight for justice until she could no longer walk or speak."

Photo by Master Sgt. Joshua Kowalsky

On Friday, March 15, 2019, VFP 161 member, Linda Fisher was handed the baton to direct the U.S. Air Force Concert Band at the Hancher to conduct Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever in a rousing finish to the nights outstanding full house performance. Chief Master Sgt Stacy Newbrough Ascione, an Iowa City native, performed a classy flute improvision.
Linda had been a former member of the Women's Air Force Band, serving with the WAF Band from 1960-1961. She even marched in the Inaugural Parade for President John F. Kennedy!

In 1958, four peace lovers sailed the 30' Golden Rule from California, bound for the Marshall Islands, where another above-ground nuclear bomb test was scheduled. They got arrested in Hawaii, and the boat got sold. It was found in 2010, a wreck. Some VFP folks who knew its story restored it. Here it is, in San Diego bay last week, for the national VFP convention, in conjunction w/the 70 year commemoration of the A-Bomb devestation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Atmospheric nuclear bomb tests were banned world-wide in 1963. The Marshall Islands are suing the nuke bomb holding countries now to make them honor the intent of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to reduce and get rid of all nuclear weapons. Orion Sherwood, one of the 1958 crew, was at the VFP convention, as determined a peace-maker now as then.