Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice 202 Harvard SE Albuquerque, NM 87106 505-268-9557   Updated: 7 February 2010 Newsletter February 2010
February 2010 Newsletter Contents Peace Center Noticias Membership Application	Peace Center Noticias ACP&J's request for persons interested in joining the Coordinating Committee has brought us two candidates: Jim Mackenzie, long-term activist, and Ben Abbott, Food Not Bombs coordinator. (See bios below.) We look forward to their perspectives, both experience and youth. We also thank John Scrocco, Hamish Thompson, and Judy Kaul for their interest and input, although they are not able to join the CC at this time. Our candidates will be voted onto the CC for 2010 by acclamation at the annual membership meeting on March 13. (An election is not needed since we still have open slots for the CC. We will continue to invite interested members to share this task on an interim basis.)
Jim Mackenzie's involvement with the Peace Center dates to the mid-1980s when he served his first term on the board. His activism dates back to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., made a deep impression on Jim when he heard King's "I Have a Dream" speech in person at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. Before moving to New Mexico in 1971, Jim was active in a campus civil rights group, as a draft counselor, and as publisher of an anti-war underground newspaper. In New Mexico, Jim helped found the Sandoval Environmental Action Community (SEAC), which stopped uranium mining and milling at Union Carbide's mine near Placitas and Bokum Resource's mill near Marquez. Jim also helped found the NM Construction Brigade to Nicaragua, which was active during the U.S.-sponsored Contra War during the Reagan administration. The brigade sent about 200 volunteers to help with construction projects, observe national elections, and build friendships with the Nicaraguan people. Jim, a Vietnam-era vet, is currently a counselor for the G.I. Rights Hotline. Jim's business experience includes ownership of the Mack Electric Company and work as an engineer and board member for VAWTPower Management, Inc., which makes wind turbines. Benjamin Abbott: Reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States as a teenager inspired Ben to study history at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. His radicalism steadily increased during his undergraduate college career there, notably heightened by interaction with the local queer anarchist scene and a Witness for Peace trip to Mexico to see the effects of NAFTA. In August 2008 he moved to Albuquerque to establish residency before starting in a graduate program at the University of New Mexico. He quickly became involved with activist groups such as Food Not Bombs and Trinity House Catholic Worker. Early on, he volunteered at a fundraiser for Zapatista clinics and stood beside Mike Butler shouting anarchist slogans at John McCain rallies. Despite legal and other troubles, Food Not Bombs continues to serve a free lunch three days a week as well as provide meals for special events like the recent Iraq Veterans Against the War retreat. Ben plans to maintain his role in Food Not Bombs as he pursues his academic work studying the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Thanks to Jim and Ben for your interest in the Coordinating Council!! ACP&J thanks RESIST for its recent grant award. We have just been awarded $2,800 by RESIST, Inc. -- a national progressive foundation located in Somerville, MA - to link individuals and organizations concerned with peace, social justice, and economic issues. We are very thankful for the much-needed support. RESIST began in 1967 in support of draft resistance and in opposition to the Vietnam War. The group's small but timely grants are made to grassroots groups engaged in activist organizing and educational work for social change. RESIST defines organizing as collective action to challenge the status quo, to demand changes in policy and practice, and to educate communities about root causes and just solutions. It supports strategies that build community, encourage collaborations with other organizations, increase skills and/or access to resources, and produce leadership from the constituency being most directly affected. In fiscal year 2008, RESIST gave over $26,000 to 138 organizations across the country. Board Chair Kay Mathew says, "our mission is to support people who take a stand about the issues that matter today, whether it's to resist corporate globalization, promote a woman's right to choose, or develop activist leaders. And we believe it's especially important to help grassroots organizations that might be too small or too local - or too radical - for mainstream foundations." www.resistinc.org Art Against Violence: A Prayer for Juárez Initiated by local artist Deborah Gavel, this project will honor the women of Juárez and will also include a remembrance of the women found on our West Mesa. Groups and individuals are invited to create life-sizeforms -- usingand recycled materials including mud, leaves, and branches -- whichbe installed in outdoor sites throughout Albuquerque in the first week of March. installations will coincide with a series of events in Mexico City, Los Angeles, and other cities meant to be a ritual of mourning for the femicides in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. In Albuquerque there will be a public ceremony on the first day of spring, March 21st. You are invited to help create a Peace Center installation.to a planning meetingSaturday, February 20 at 1 pm. Deborah Gavel will attend. Info: Judith, 243-6174. Call for help Do you have skills you would like to donate to the Peace Center? Right now we really need someone who can do handyperson work. Please call Mary or Cecilia at 268-9557. Needed A bookcase for ACP&J overflow library books. If you have one you can donate to the Center, please let Ann know, 503-7236. "I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color." Quote by Malcolm X http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/malcolm_x.html
Please send calendar items, comments, and questions concerning this Web document to Web@abqPeaceAndJustice.org .