By Seth Rosen, Daily Progress

The painting and photograph hang on opposite ends of Juhiza Khamis’ Charlottesville living room, solemn reminders of her homeland and the son she left behind.

On one side is a painting of a tranquil, dust-swept street of the Baghdad of Khamis’ youth, a copper mosque glittering in the background. Across the room is a photograph of Khamis’ son Haider, whom she last saw in 2006.

That summer, Khamis fled Iraq with her other son and daughter for the safety of Jordan. Because Haider was a prominent Baghdad pharmacist who kept his store open despite escalating violence, she feared for his safety. » read more »

In 2008 many of us understand that our nation - and even the entire planet - are in a state of crisis. The deep longing for positive, lasting change is the bedrock upon which this conference is based. How do we fix our country and our world? And how can we form one mass movement to address the crisis?

In Radford, Virginia on May 22-25, thousands of activists, academics, journalists, poets, musicians and policymakers will converge at the 2008 "Building a New World" Conference. If you want to participate in building a new world, sign up now. Hotel and dorm rooms are limited.

Learn more about First WPA Summit 2008.

Register now.

Cindy Sheehan, William Blum, Kathy Kelly, Mike Whitney, Alice Lovelace, David Swanson, Gareth Porter, Medea Benjamin, Farid Bitar, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Robert Jensen, Kevin Zeese, Antonia Juhasz, Father Roy Bourgeois and many more leaders and luminaries will join thousands of people from across the country and from other lands as well, for a conference to lay the foundations for building a new world now. » read more »

Here are our tentative plans for a series of exciting actions in March. Help us out by telling us what you are interested in taking part in.

The national peace movement's plans for March 10-19, 2008, can be found at http://resistinmarch.org

These plans include actions in DC on the 10th-12th while congress members are still in town. We'll be organizing carpools or vans or buses to DC and back for those three days and/or just for the 12th. Please read the details at the link above and then post a comment below letting us know if you might be interested in going.

Major events are also planned in DC on the 17th-19th when congress members are back in their districts. The 18th is a focus on impeachment. The 19th is the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. We'll be organizing carpools or vans or buses to DC and back for those three days and/or just for the 18th and/or just for the 19th. Please read the details at the link above and then post a comment below letting us know if you might be interested in going.

CCPJ is planning a series of antiwar films and discussions in Charlottesville (in some cases bringing the directors and stars to lead the discussions) on March 13th-16th. Please post a comment below letting us know if this interests you, if you have suggestions, and if you'd like to volunteer to help out.

The 19th is a weekday, and United for Peace and Justice and other peace groups are encouraging organized nonviolent civil resistance to the Iraq Occupation in every congressional district. CCPJ will work with other local groups to plan activities in Charlottesville. Please post a comment below letting us know if this interests you, if you have suggestions, and if you'd like to volunteer to help out.

To post a comment, you must first LOG IN. To log in you must have first REGISTERED. This is how we prevent SPAM. Your comment may not show up immediately, but if you're not selling anything or advocating violence, it will show up.

Spring Break in Washington D.C. to End the Iraq Occupation

We invite you to invite yourself, your friends, and your peers to come to Washington D.C. to join youth and students from around the nation to

Break the War with Spring Break!
http://www.ourspringbreak.org

Come any time from March 7th to March 23rd to protest the Iraq War as it is forced into its sixth year. This spring our Generation steps up.

Events will include but are not limited to: Sit-Ins, Demonstrations, Marches, Rallies, Civil Disobedience, Music Performed by Head-Roc and Son of NUN and more

Spring break: one usually imagines these words screamed from bourbon filled mouths at a tacky beach resort. Let's use this vacation as an opportunity to take concrete creative action to end this unjust war and show that we care.

Be There

Click facebook.com/group.php?gid=7034243829 to join the Facebook group!

Click groups.myspace.com/ourspringbreak to join the MySpace group!

Click www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7FheS2RFMs to see the YouTube video!

To organize for Our Spring Break, e-mail: contact@ourspringbreak.org

http://www.ourspringbreak.org

Our Spring Break is endorsed by: Artists Against the War, Backbone Campaign, Camp Casey Peace Institute, Campus Anti-War Network, CODEPINK Women for Peace, A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition, United for Peace and Justice, AfterDowningStreet.org, The Critical Voice, Democrats.com, Grassroots America, Gold Star Families for Peace, Kennebunk Peace Department, Not In Our Name, Progressive Democrats of America, World Can't Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime

By UVA Today

January 22, 2008 — Martin Luther King Jr.'s recorded voice filled the auditorium in the University of Virginia Library's Harrison/Small Institute as he explained the reasons for his anti-Vietnam War views, saying he was "compelled to see war as an enemy of the poor."

About 100 students, faculty and staff members as well as members of the local community attended the commemoration of King's birth on Monday, Jan. 21 to hear a panel respond to his speech and his contributions to the anti-war movement.

Introducing the program, "Chiefly About War Matters," U.Va. English professor Deborah McDowell said, "In many ways, King's anti-war positions [against the Vietnam War], outlined in the controversial speeches he delivered at the Riverside Church in New York City and Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, remain remarkably resonant now, 40 years later." » read more »

By David Swanson

These are some of the words of Martin Luther King Jr.:

"The nonviolent strategy has been to dramatize the evils of our society in such a way that pressure is brought to bear against those evils by the forces of good will in the community and change is produced. The student sit-ins of 1960 are a classic illustration of this method.... » read more »

Numerous peace and justice organizations, including student groups taking advantage of Spring Break, are making plans for a week of actions from March 12th to 19th to mark the end of the fifth year of U.S. occupation in Iraq. Events will culminate in a national day of actions on March 19th, the fifth anniversary of the invasion. Congress members will be home on break, and activists hope to organize nonviolent civil disobedience actions in all 435 congressional districts, as well as nonviolent actions in Washington, D.C., focused on war profiteers.

Building up to the 19th, groups are organizing a week of activities focused on Washington, D.C., and beginning with a day of lobbying and nonviolent civil resistance in Congress on March 12th, combined with a rally and lobbying on the 12th opposing the occupation of Iraq and the U.S. military's plans for Africa. » read more »

Calls Congress Out of Step With the Will of the Majority of U.S. Public
www.unitedforpeace.org

New York, NY -- "It's a disgrace," said Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, the nation's largest anti-war coalition with over 1400 member organizations. "Members of Congress who voted to support $70 billion in funding for the occupation of Iraq demonstrated once again how they are dramatically out of step with their constituents. The vast majority of the people of this country want our troops home, safely and quickly." » read more »