Beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 3, the Columbia River Fellowship for Peace will host a dozen events, including talks by internationally recognized experts on peace, in a 9/11 commemoration entitled "From Ground Zero to Common Ground."
Hood River Community Education and Gorge Ecumenical Ministries are co-sponsors of the commemoration.
Frances Moore Lappe, the author of the 1971 classic book Diet for a Small Planet will give the keynote speech on Wednesday, 9/11, at 7 p.m. at the Hood River Middle School.
Prior to her talk, Lappe will preside over the breaking of a fast for peace by people from throughout the mid-Columbia community, including a three-week fast planned by Rev. David Duncombe of White Salmon.
Rev. Duncombe is a veteran peace activist whose fasts on the Capitol steps in the 1990s helped bring national attention to the issue of third world debt relief.
Lappe, an expert on food issues and how they affect world peace, has entitled her talk "Food, Hunger and the Politics of Hope." Her most recent book is Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet. She will be coming to Hood River from Johannesburg, South Africa where she'll be attending the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
The first event of the commemorative activities will be a talk by David Barsamian at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at the Riverside Community Church.
Barsamian is the founder of Alternative Radio, as well as an author who has co-written books with Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Edward W. Said.
Barsamian comes to Hood River as part of his "United States of Amnesia Tour." He will talk about how mainstream media construct memory and invent history.
David Cortright, one of the world's foremost experts on the use of incentives and sanctions as tools of foreign policy, will come to the Hood River Middle School on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 7:00 p.m. to talk about proposed U.S. military actions against Iraq.
Cortright is the author or editor of nine books on foreign policy. He is a research fellow at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, President of the Fourth Freedom Forum, and has served as a consultant or adviser to various agencies of the United Nations.
Cortright's talk will be followed by a presentation by Dan Handelman of Voices in the Wilderness, an organization dedicated to ending U.S. imposed sanctions on Iraq.
Handelman recently returned from Iraq. He'll talk about what he saw there, and show a video that he took while in that country.
On Thursday, Sept. 5, two representatives of Christian Peacemaker Teams will speak at 7 p.m. at the Riverside Community Church in Hood River.
Linda O'Neill will talk about her experience as a pacifist Christian who went to Columbia to put herself between warring factions to try to save the lives of civilians. Tricia Brown will speak about the training she and others have undergone, and why they take such huge personal risks.
Friday, Sept. 6 is a First Friday in Hood River, and as part of the 9/11 commemoration artists have been asked to create works that honor the events of that historic day. Each of these pieces will be displayed at the business where the artists' work will hang. Half of the proceeds from any sale will go directly to Columbia River Fellowship for Peace.
Saturday, Sept. 7, will see a full day of activities beginning at 9 a.m. with a Peace Walk from Wilson Park to the new rose garden at Overlook Memorial Park.
A nonviolence training will take place at 10 a.m. for anyone interested in learning peaceful means of protest. It will be held at the Riverside Community Church.
Saturday afternoon will be highlighted by children's activities and a Community Concert. Both will be held outdoors at the Hood River Marina.
From noon to 4 p.m. activities for children of all ages will include arts, crafts, and non-competitive games.
The Community Concert will be held from 1 to 11 p.m. It will include a multitude of musicians representing a wide array of musical styles, from blue grass and country to rock and hip hop. Between acts, young people will speak to the audience about their vision for this community and the world.
On Sunday, Sept. 8, at 3 p.m. at the Hood River Middle School, David Leslie, executive director of Oregon Ecumenical Ministries, will lead a panel of speakers from diverse faith traditions as they explore the spiritual themes that unite us on the path of peace and justice.
Rev. Susan Princehouse will be the moderator for the panel. The program will begin with music by the Hood River High School chorus, led by Mark Steighner, who is composing music especially for this event.
On Monday, Sept. 9, the Arab-American novelist, Diana Abu-Jaber will speak at 7 p.m. at the Riverside Community Church about what it is to be an Arab woman activist in a time of war. Abu-Jaber is the author of the
critically acclaimed novel, Arabian Jazz.
The White Salmon library will host a poetry reading and story telling at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 10. All of the work will be about peace. Local story teller and poet Don Shawe will read from his work, as will writers Diane Allen, Leigh Hancock, and Mark Nykanen. The public is invited to bring a poem or story to read.
The Columbia River Fellowship for Peace welcomes everyone to these events in the spirit of learning and mutual goodwill.
Limited childcare will be available for ages 2-12 at the events featuring speakers.
All events are free and open to the public. Donations will be accepted. A $5 donation is requested at the Saturday Community Concert to help offset the costs of the week's program.
For more in-depth information about all of these events, go to: www.columbiariverpeace.org/911_event_descrip.html at the website for the Columbia River Fellowship for Peace.
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