Nonviolence

Kevin Basl served served 2 tours of duty in Iraq and was profoundly changed by the experience. He is among the vets who use the arts for healing. Kevin's work is with Warrior Writers, Combat Paper NJ, and through his music, some of which he recorded in Iraq during his 2nd tour.

Jamila Raqib is executive director of The Albert Einstein Institution, the brain-child of Gene Sharp, leading researcher in non-violent action & civilian-based defense. Jamila was a refugee from Afghanistan at age 4, with a keen and innate sense of the power of non-violence to preserve and obtain freedom and justice, at the least cost.

It's time for a super-charged, profoundly-rooted, sustainable and transformative revolution, and Chris Moore-Backman has an inspired take on the needed way forward. He is the author The Gandhian Iceberg: A Nonviolence Manifesto for the Age of the Great Turning, loaded with thoughts, words, and images which will radically enrich the path of all who read it. Chris has a couple decades experience with nonviolent action and training, most recently with an emphasis on efforts to end the age of mass incarceration.

Ash Kyrie spent 18 months serving the USA as a Wisconsin National Guardsperson sent to Iraq, and it changed him. The road home to fullness includes time with other vets, support from family & community, and a long peace march in Japan, plus lots of subsequent Japanese connections. And art that helps bridge the gap from soldier to civilian, and war zone to back home.

Josette Jackson is an ordained Unity pastor, international speaker, spiritual educator, and peace educator, who helps Unity and the wider world tap into the power of Nonviolent Communication, A Season of Nonviolence: 64 Ways in 64 Days, and Inclusivity 101, and more. As an African-American, Josette can help lead predominantly white groups to wider inclusively and empowerment.

Three strong men among the thousands led to the confrontation with the DAPL (Dakota Access Pipeline) at Standing Rock. Myron Buchholz was born & raised in North Dakota, and both Ash Kyrie & Kevin Basl felt called to join the Oceti Sakowin Camp for a variety of reasons, including as part of the Veterans Stand.

Nelia Sargent is a life-long activist, with decades under her belt doing and teaching nonviolence methods, coming of age with the anti-nuclear organization called the Clamshell Alliance. She's chair of the board of the Albert Einstein Institution, founded by Gene Sharp to advance the study & use of nonviolent action.

Laurie Childers lives out a stunning world of art and activism in Corvalis, Oregon. She performs both solo and with her band, the River Rocks, and her activism takes a number of forms, including her work as chair of the National Council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Beautiful music from a beautiful spirit.

The War Tax Resistance Penalty Fund (WTRPF.org) is a way to help manage the risks of conscientious objectors to paying for war, something to think seriously about as April 15th approaches.

This is an excerpt from Pendle Hill Pamphlet 389: From West Point to Quakerism, by Mike Heller, narrated by Mark Helpsmeet, with music by Mathilda Navias.