PEACE ADVOCATE

March 2016

Gandhi Alliance for Peace Newsletter

Celebrating Peacemaking:
The 2015 Gandhi Birthday Celebration

obert Archie Archuleta received the annual Peacemaker

Award at the 2015 Gandhi Birthday
Celebration. On September 27, more
than 100 participants gathered at the
Chase Mill amphitheater in Liberty
Park for a program that included
Hindu prayers, music and dance
numbers from India and Mexico,
refreshments, and the traditional
tree-plantingwith all present
invited to turn a shovelful of soil.
Boyer Jarvis, co-founder of the
Gandhi Alliance for Peace, describes
Archie Archuleta this way: For
many years his happy demeanor, enduring optimism, and faith in others
has been the mortar bonding people
of varied interests together for the
betterment of the community.
Mr. Archuleta had humble beginnings in Grand Junction, Colorado,
during the Great Depression. He recalled the monthly box of flour, fruit,
sugar, salt, and rolled oats provided
to his family by Mesa County. In
their poverty, his family took nothing for granted; he told of the enormous pleasure of eating his first
orangea very infrequent privilege!
The family moved to Idaho, where
all labored to harvest food crops.
With hard work and state assistance,
Archie pursued his education and
became a teacher and eventually a
SLC School District administrator.
Archie spoke of his joy with Lois
and their five children, and of some

Archie Archuleta

especially wonderful 15 years teaching 4th, 5th, and 6th graders.

THOUGHTS ON PEACE

Mr. Archuleta talked about the

endeavor of peacemaking. Here is
some of what he said:

I am only part of that universe

of people that struggle for peace,
that insist on peacefor instance,
those that declared they were conscientious objectors; those that
marched against the wars in Korea,
Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan;
those that opposed nuclear testing at
home and on Bikini and Eniwitoc;
and those of you that are here today!
Let us bow our heads in remembrance of those who gave their lives
as combatants and as peaceniks.
Maybe climate change can
bring all the world's people together
in peace in the coming struggle to
save our planet."

Peace is the absence of purposeful violence. The most destructive form of anti-peace and violence
is still war. But the little acts of
war/violence produced by all of us
feed into bigger wars. For instance,
the violence of Racism (now also
anti-immigrant); Sexism (anti-gay
and women's rights); and Classism
(anti-poor and middle class).
Until we all learn to Respect
and Accept each other as human
beings, and until we all automatically work for and insist upon Justice
and Opportunity for all, we will
continue to repeat the mistakes of the
past. So, Gandhi Peace Foundation,
and the rest of us, we have a lot of
work to do. Do not be lulled by fastmoving current events and personal
problems, but continue the struggle
for world peace, and always, always
carry in your heart and actions Love
and Respect for All.

Dancer at the celebration

Prayers and Actions for Peace

by Catherine Kreuter

of friendship bonded by our shared

peace. We have protested in prayeror about a year in the early
yearning for peace. We pray on! We
ful silence at Los Alamos, the Nev2000s a group of people met
have
not
stopped
war
YET.
(Please,
ada test site, and a drone warfare
every Tuesday afternoon at the fedthis
is
a
chuckle
prompt.)
training center. We have supported
eral building in Salt Lake City to ask
The prayer group has become a
our Jane Baker during her two years
the U.S. government NOT to go to
springboard for action. We invited
of Peace Corps service and have
war in Iraq. They carried NO WAR
John
Dear
to
speak
in
Salt
Lake
written letters to people imprisoned
placards and waved to people in the
for peaceful protests. We conbusy downtown traffic. Many
ducted a six-month interfaith
in cars smiled, waved, and
study group called Engage:
honked in support.
Exploring Non-Violent Living.
Once the war began in 2003,
And we joined hundreds of
the group stopped their vigil,
Utah youth to support Invisbut they and others decided to
ible Children, working to end
continue to meet to pray for
Joseph Kony's torture of
peace. At first, the group met
children.
at Our Lady of Lourdes
Not all of us did all of the
church. After several
above, but a few of us were
regulars moved to St.
active at each.
Joseph Villa, we moved there.
Last August, four of us
In recent years, we have met
Catherine
Kreuter
and
Jane
Baker
with
origami
peace
attended
the Campaign Nonat St. Ambrose Church in SLC.
cranes
at
Los
Alamos,
New
Mexico
violence (CNV) national conThrough the 13 years, dozens
ference in Santa Fe. 700
of people have come to pray
Cityco-sponsored
by
the
Gandhi
origami
peace cranes, lovingly made
with us. I believe what has kept us
by Jane Baker and Susan Dillon,
coming was the comfort of prayer in Alliance for Peace (GAP). We have
assisted several groups working for
the face of ongoing war and the joy
Continued on page 4

Three exciting speakers coming in March and April

The Peace Advocacy Coalition,
including the Gandhi Alliance for
Peace, is co-sponsoring three outstanding speakers.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee of
California has consistently worked
for peace, the elimination of poverty,
safe communities, living wage, just
immigration policies, and more. She
was the only member of Congress to
vote against the use of military force
in response to the terror attacks of
September 11, 2001, and she was an
outspoken opponent of the Iraq War.
Congresswoman Lee will speak on
March 24, 10 a.m., Hinckley
Institute of Politics, Orson Spencer
Hall 255, U of U. Her topic will be
After the Dream: Waking Up to
Racism, Inequality, and Militarism.

Omid Safi is a professor of Islamic Studies at University of No. Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the editor
of Progressive Muslims: On Justice,
Gender, and Pluralism , which offers
an understanding of Islam rooted in
social justice, gender equality, and
religious and ethnic pluralism.
Dr. Safi will speak on Martin
Luther King's Vietnam speech and
death on April 4 at Salt Lake Community College. He will also speak
on April 5, 10 a.m., Library Lecture Hall, Utah Valley University
(UVU), and April 6, noon, Hinckley Institute of Politics. Other
lectures are also planned.
Fania Davis has been a force in
civil rights, Black liberation, and the
women's, prisoners', peace, anti-

racial violence, and anti-apartheid

movements. With a law degree and
Ph.D. in indigenous studies, she is
currently deeply engaged in restorative justice issues.
Dr. Davis will speak on April 12
at 2:30 as part of UVU's 11 th
Annual Symposium on Restorative
Justice and the Death Penalty,
Room CB204, UVU. She will also
speak on April 12, 7 p.m., Calvary
Baptist Church in SLC; April 13,
noon, Hinckley Institute of Politics, and April 13, 4 p.m., Westminster College.
All of these events are free and
open to the public. See our website,
www.gandhialliance.org, for more
information as it becomes available.

Thank you to departing board members

eb Sawyer, president of the

Gandhi Alliance for Peace, has
announced that two board members,
Allan Smart and Joe Watts, have
resigned from the board.
Allan has been on our board for
13 years and has been vice-president
most of those years, she said. He
has been responsible for several of
our important projects, including the
newsletter and the Gandhi Essay
Contest at the Horizonte School. He
has been helpful in many other ways
as well.
Allan had the original idea for the
essay contest and also began the
practice of giving t-shirts to students
who enter the contest.
Allan joined the Gandhi Alliance
for Peace after moving back to Salt
Lake from Montana, where he had
served as the Director of Communication Services, Publications, News
Bureau, and Printing Press at the

University of Montana.
Allan remarked, I really
enjoyed my 13 years on the
board and working with
like-minded people who
think there is a better way
to settle differences.
Joe Watts has been on the
board for four years, Deb
noted. "He has been so
helpful with all our programs and did everything
that was asked of him.
They will both be missed
and we wish them well.
Joe had been the Executive Director of the Utah Allan Smart with Deb Sawyer
Golf Association for 20
hope to return. It is a marvelous
years before joining the board.
organization.
Upon leaving the board Joe said,
Upon Allan's departure, Kristen
I've never been on a board where so
Rogers-Iversen
was recruited by
few got so much done. It was a joy
board
member
Sharon
Odekirk and
to serve and to meet so many good
and
has
assumed
responsibility
for
people, and when my time permits I
the newsletter.

Books and peace for Rolling Hills Elementary

n 2015, the Gandhi Alliance for

Peace gave books about peace to
West Valley City elementary school
Rolling Meadows. Every year, GAP
donates books to one deserving
school, including books about Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Cesar
Chavez, and diverse peace topics.
The teachers at Rolling Hills
wanted each 6th grader to read I Am
Malala the book by the young
Nobel Laureate/education activist
Malala Yousafzai. So they asked for
enough copies of this book for the
entire 6th grade.
Using these and other donated
books, they have taught the children
about champions for peace. On
January 29, the school asked Mr.
Kumar Shah, who grew up in Agra,
India, to speak to the 6th graders
about the life of Mahatma Gandhi.
The school invited members of the

Gandhi Alliance for Peace board to

attend.
Students of many cultural backgrounds gathered to hear Mr. Shah.
As the students listened respectfully,
Mr. Shah told them how Gandhi
taught that everyone on earth is
equal; that everyone is loved by
God; and that differences among
people are good.
Mr. Shah talked about the Salt
March that Gandhi organized, and
how Gandhi tried to change his enemies through his nonviolent approaches. He made his point that
nonviolence is the better wayand
you can make that point too. If
someone hits me and I hit him back,
what's the difference between me
and him? he asked the students.
When we don't respect others, we're
saying to the world we don't respect
ourselves.

Kumar Shah and students hug after his

presentation

The teachers reinforced his

message. Violence doesn't solve
anything, they said.
The curious students had many
questions for Mr. Shah!
The Gandhi Alliance for Peace
salutes Rolling Meadows, and is
proud to work with a school that is
so committed to educating about
peace.

Gandhi Alliance for Peace

549 Cortez Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
return service requested

Prayers and Actions, from page 2

traveled with us to join the curtains

of 69,300 cranes hanging in a park at
Los Alamos.
The conference involved silent
protest vigils at Los Alamos, peacebuilding activist speakers, and
nonviolence training.
Campaign Nonviolence evolved
from Pace e Bene Nonviolence
Service and is dedicated to building
a culture of nonviolence. Its website
describes it as "a grassroots movement for a culture of peace and nonviolence free from war, poverty,
racism, climate destruction, and the
epidemic of violence."
To this end, CNV sponsors in September an annual week of actions in
all 50 states. During this week CNV
calls attention to the diversity and
numbers of people working for
peace and the common good of all.

The CNV staff, Rev. John Dear

among them, is available for leading
workshops. For more info, see
www.campaignnonviolence.org.
Some readers may doubt
the utility of prayer. A prayerdubious friend of mine generously
suggested that perhaps when we
pray we are consulting the Wisdom
of the Universe. I like that! Gail
Blattenberger (2014 Gandhi Peacemaker awardee) describes herself as
a foot soldier for peace. We of
peace prayers want to march in that
army with Gail and all who work for
peace! Trudging along, humbly and
hopefully, weapon-free and singing!
War, beware.the disarming power
of prayer! (Smile prompt!)
CLOSING

Please call 801-483-2245 for the

current day and time for the peace
prayers group.

Buzz from the board

The board of the Gandhi Alliance
for Peace (GAP) is seeking your
input on two important matters!
First, it is time for GAP to take on
a new initiative. We have been exploring different possiblilities.
If you have any thoughts about
peace endeavors where GAP could
make a difference, please share your
ideas with us!
We are also looking for new board
members willing and able to work
with GAP on our initiatives. If you,
or someone you know, are willing to
bring perspective, skills, and dedication to this work, please let us
know!
But you don't have to be on the
board to work toward peace. If you
would like to join with us as a
volunteer, we welcome you!
Please contact Deb Sawyer on any
of the above: 801-364-2971.

GANDHI ALLIANCE FOR PEACE - MISSION STATEMENT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

To increase public awareness and understanding of Mahatma Gandhihis unique

role in world history and his commitment to truth, nonviolence, service
and justice; and
To encourage nonviolent resolutions of conflict among individuals,
communities and nations.

Deb Sawyer, president

Boyer Jarvis, treasurer
Sharon Odekirk
Ken Roach
Kristen Rogers-Iversen