WILPF of San Jose, California

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
and San Jose Raging Grannies
RAGING GRANNIES
 ABOUT US CAMPAIGNS: Water
Middle East 		WILPF   NATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
PEACE UPDATE magazine

HOLIDAY PEACE FAIR
in past years

              ENVIRONMENTAL GUARDIANSHIPposter

Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom brings the
California Environmental Guardianship Tour to
San Jose Peace and Justice Center,
48 S. 7th St., San Jose
April 12 and 13, 2013 -- Friday 7-9 pm program
Saturday workshop 9 am to 1:30 pm.

Hear about local environmental issues Friday night from Barry Chang, member of Cupertino City Council; Kenneth Rosales, Sierra Club-Loma Prieta Chapter conservation program coordinator; Chris Lepe of Transform, as well as updates on genetically modified food labeling, and electronics toxic pollution.

Nancy Price of WILPF's Earth Democracy Committee will explain how to use the Precautionary Principle (something must be proven safe before it can be used) in our campaigns.  Let’s help Santa Clara County adopt the Precautionary Principle to guide us to a future safe for ourselves and generations to come!

Saturday's workshop, 9am-1:30pm will offer hands-on exercises, group discussions, and plans for next steps related to local concerns.

RSVP for Saturday's session.
408 243-4359 info@wilpfsanjose.org

Come, learn, be empowered - see our beautiful Earth with new eyes.  We are her guardians, working to preserve her beauty and bounty so that our children and grandchildren may live to carry on the work.

Co-sponsors: San Jose Peace & Justice Center, Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter and The Ethical Culture Society of Silicon Valley.

Becoming Beloved Ancestors: Leaving a healthy world to future generations

RaffenspergerCarolyn Raffensperger spoke Thursday, April 19, 2012,
at Cupertino Community Hall, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino

Executive director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, she is at the forefront of developing new models for government that depend on the larger ideas of precaution and ecological integrity. The new models include guardianship for future generations, a vision for the courts of the 21st century based on the precautionary principle, and the public trust doctrine.

The pressing problems of our day call us to new policies, innovative institutions, and imaginative solutions if future generations are going to inherit a habitable planet.  The legacy of climate change, extinct species and toxic sites threatens generations for thousands of years.  We can rise to the challenge and invent new approaches to systemic problems.  The precautionary principle, legal guardians for future generations, and protections for the commons are some of the emerging ideas that have practical applications in government today. Hosted by Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, San Jose Branch (Earth Democracy Committee) & City of Cupertino Sustainability Programs. Co-sponsors: Silicon Valley United Nations Association, Sierra Club (Loma Prieta Chapter & Cool Cities Cupertino)

           GARDEN PARTY RAISES FUNDS FOR INTERNATIONAL WILPF TRAVEL FUND

group     Anne and Phil

Twenty of us gathered May 28, 2011, to listen to Anne and Phil Pflager play, to sing along with the Raging Grannies, and enjoy fresh fruit from the farmers market. We donated $300 to help representatives from South America, Africa
and the Middle East to attend the August 2011 International Congress in San Jose, Costa Rica.

singers     hat   song leader

MADELEINE REES, after 'The Whistleblower'

Madeleine Rees A former UN human rights lawyer in Bosnia, Madeleine Rees now leads the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, an organization with sections in 37 countries. It maintains a presence at the United Nations as an official NGO, monitoring disarmament and human rights activities. Madeleine Rees is portrayed by Vanessa Redgrave in Laryssa Kondracki's film "The Whistleblower," about Nebraska cop Kathryn Bolkovac's experience in Bosnia uncovering sex trafficking. Click on photo to see 14 minute interview.

Report from UN Commission on Status of Women

Shirley Lin Kinoshita shared her impressions of the United Nations' 55th Commission on the Status of Women meetings in NYC in late February 2011 (UNCSW55), UNA, and launch of UN Women, headed by Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile. UN Women combines four separate UN programs for women's advocacy, empowerment and education. This new agency elevates women's issues with Ms. Bachelet's new title as Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women.

San Jose Peace & Justice Center, 48 S. 7th Street, San Jose, CA
Disarming Lunch and Program with MacGregor Eddy


 Our branch hosted a truly disarming talk by leading WILPF disarmament activist, MacGregor Eddy, of Vandenberg Action Coalition. Sing along with the Raging Grannies' disarming songs.
Vandenberg Space Command has been openly testing delivery system for thermonuclear warheads (Minuteman III ICBM) for years. It is the only place in the world these tests take place, in violation of the Non Proliferation Treaty article VI. The protests are drawing attention to the glaring double standard
between holding other countries to this treaty while the US ignores our obligations.MacGregor and seven other protesters were arraigned on May 20 in Santa Barbara federal court. On all of these occasions the protesters were in the designated protest area, but because of a life time "ban and bar" list issued by the base commandant, some of them are arrested every time. For information on the protest, go to MacGregorEddy.org. Bus leaves San Jose at 6 pm.

See and order video of Keep Space for Peace, featuring MacGregor Eddy on 48south7th.org, a program of San Jose Peace & Justice Center.
Jane Addams prize books go to Grail Family Services children's library

Preschoolers at the Grail Family services previewed some of the 31 new books donated April 28, 2010, by members of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, San Jose Branch.
WILPF member Roz Dean, who remembers the Grail when it was in a small house on San Antonio Street, expressed delight at the way the agency
has developed
Roz Dean presents Si Se Puede to Veronica Goei, [left] executive director of Grail Family Services.

new programs for children and families in the decade since it moved into more spacious headquarters at 2003 E. San Antonio Street.
"It's especially appropriate to give these books to the Grail's program, since these books are past winners and contenders for the Jane Addams Book Award." The 2010 awards are being announced this week at an event in Chicago at the home of Jane Addams, who pioneered community services for immigrants a hundred years ago at Hull House.
The Jane Addams Children's Book Awards are given annually to the children's books published the preceding year that effectively promote the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races as well as meeting conventional standards for excellence. For details, see www.janeaddamspeace.org.


Teacher Maria Frias [left] works with pre-schoolers.

Dwaimy Rosas-Romero [at left], family literacy and volunteer coordinator, oversees an array of programs for children up through age 9 and their parents. The children's library boasts a large collection of books in Spanish as well as bilingual editions in Spanish/English and Vietnamese/ English. The agency's website (gfsfamilyservices.org) and Facebook page abound with photos and articles about the families taking part in the programs.
WILPF San Jose meets at the San Jose Peace & Justice Center, 48 S. 7th St. For information on programs, call 408-294-0981.

Cluster goes statewide!

The WILPF Cluster Meeting on Feb. 27 in Palo Alto, was attended by 54 individuals. Hosted by the San Jose and Peninsula/Palo Alto WILPF branches, the agenda included "What's Happening in WILPF, Internationally, Nationally, and Locally and Where TO From HERE? "
Reports were heard from C.J.Minster and Joan Bazar on the international meeting in India, Sandy Silver acting president, JAPA and Paul Johnson, Treasurer of the Jane Addams Peace Association, Ellen Schwartz, new US Treasurer, and from Nancy Abbey, Nancy Price and others on the WILPF program/issues activities, members of the US WILPF Membership Council, and from the 10 participating branches.

Lois Fiedler chaired the day which included an afternoon process session on What's Ahead! The general concensus was first, concern about the issues working with the national office regarding membership, almost completely without official rosters and information.

Branches agreed to work on program and issues to create "a California WILPF presence," especially with regard to some of the California propositions we will be facing this year.
Each branch will provide a contact on a conference phone call to follow through on the ideas.

Kinshasa's
Street Children

San Jose Peace & Justice Center,
48 S. 7th Street

Gilbert Mulamba's film, Kinshasa's Street Children, documents the street children phenomenon in the context of the current state of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The film presents historical footage of foreign intervention and shows how the exploitation of Congo's resources threatens the country's social fabric.

A Q&A session followed, with attention to Silicon Valley's connection to the crisis in the DRC. Makuba Sekombo of Mobilization for Justice and Peace in the DR Congo answered questions about his homeland. See www.friendsofthecongo.org for info on the DRC.

Pedro and the Captain -- The Psychology of Torture

Adrianne Aron, PhD, will spoke Sept. 18 about survivors of torture, those who carry out this practice and the role of U.S. training. She is co-editor of "Writings for a Liberation Psychology" by Father Ignacio Martin Baro and, most recently, translator (into English) of Mario Benedetti's play "Pedro and the Captain" (the dramatic interchange between a Latin American prisoner and his torturer--Cadmus Editions, 2009). Dr. Aron is a clinical psychologist based in the Bay Area who has documented the torture of refugees applying for political asylum.

 

Converting War to Peace with Ellen Thomas

Ellen Thomas, a national and international peace and justice activist, spoke in San Jose about her cross-country roadshow and efforts to convert nuclear and military funding to human needs, including the Proposition 1 campaign. She has led a peace park vigil in front of the White House since 1984, and she is co-chair of the WILPF Disarm, dismantling the war economy committee. For more on the campaign, go to http://prop1.org. For more info on local work, contact Granny Shirley at 408-255-6559 or grannies(at)wilpfsanjose.org.
   


Lois (in pink) narrated, Katy (in orange) represented the future of WILPF, Grannies Joan W, Shirley (partly hidden), Bonny, Roberta and Essie sang "Peace, Peace, Peace."

94th Birthday Party
Nourished by slices of history and chocolate cake, we celebrated the activism and sisterhood of WILPF on April 18, 2009. Some were surprised to hear that WILPF's parallel congress had decried the 1919 Treaty of Versailles as punitive and laying the foundation for future war, that WILPF in the 1920s sent fact-finding delegations to China, Haiti, Nicaragua and Indo-China to unmask imperialism, warned in 1932 of the growing totalitarian threat in Germany and opposed U.S. entry into WWII. The goal has always been to create conditions for peace with justice. We continue into the 21st Century informed by our international sister-sections in 37 countries and our offices at the UN in New York and Geneva, invigorated by the Raging Grannies and hopeful that the Y-WILPF will flourish with the energy of women under the age of 35.

Shirley, as Marii Hasegawa, waves at infiltrator in the 1970s.


Meg reads dispatch as Emily Greene Balch at 1915 conference.
Dr. Aletta Jacobs called the conference at The Hague.
In the 1920s WILPF condemned anti-Semitism
The '60s and '70s saw protests and efforts to connect with nations designated as enemies.