Peace + Justice

Hi all,

Excited to see this group getting started! Thanks to the organizers for the work you've already put into it, and will continue to do so.

I'm a movement organizer, circle keeper, and peacebuilding trainer based in Minneapolis, MN, but also working internationally. I came into peacebuilding through religious work. Through years of working in vulnerable and disenfranchised urban communities, often with people with very different backgrounds and experiences than my own, my priorities and beliefs shifted from telling people about the heaven that might be waiting for them, to working with them to experience "heaven"—shalom, peace, and reconciliation—in our communities. That shifted my focus to community development, interfaith and intercultural dialogue, community organizing, and social justice activism.

In the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020 and the subsequent uprising in the Twin Cities, my local peacebuilding has focused on different aspects of racial healing and justice work. In my work with Peace Catalyst, I also spend time training people in peace and conflict skills while helping to cultivate a peacebuilding movement in faith communities and neighborhoods.

I'm attracted to the positive, constructive possibilities of conflict—leaning into conflict, welcoming conflict, sometimes even escalating conflict, because we believe there is something better on the other side of it. Conflict is not a problem but an opportunity.

Many traditions embrace this. Peace studies talks about positive and negative peace, the construction of good versus simply ending hostilities. Kingian Nonviolence talks about the Beloved Community, where conflict is present but is handled with love. My peace church traditions understand shalom, peace, as the creation of good in community. Other nonviolence traditions teach the embodied model of "two hands", with one hand extended in invitation, and the other hand held up to stop the harm.

This, I think, is the place where justice intersects with peace. Peace is not peace unless it is a just peace. The work of growing and building peace, of healing hearts and communities and societies, means struggling for justice, equity, and inclusion for everyone, even as we mend relationships and cultivate reconciliation.

Looking forward to connecting more!

I am Trent Batson, a retired professor and environmental advocate, Vice President of Groundwork RI, and interested in the Weavers organization.  I have admired David Brooks for decades, even if I don't always agree, so am very happy he has started this organization that seems to me is spot on in its mission.

I am beyond thrilled and honored to be a part of this incredible group of weavers. Reading everyone’s introduction was truly inspiring.  I am a relationship coach and actress and believe the five peace actions are as applicable to our personal relationships as they are to weaving in the world.  Our relationship with community and the world at large is after all a macrocosm of our experience in our personal relationships.  I am an ardent advocate of  a skills based approach both in my coaching and personal work and look forward to integrating The Five Peace Actions consciously into my practice.  

Though I have participated in several circles and led a few of them, my community weaving is lacking and that is one of the reasons I am here.  I want to learn how I can be more effective and impactful in a broader sense.

Thank you for inviting me, Kate!  And I look forward to connecting with and learning from all of you!

With gratitude,

Katya

Greetings,

My name is CT Ehler, and I am a legal service representative and mediator. Peace and Justice issues always intrigued me, and for a long time I was genuinely interested in Alternative Dispute Resolution before I changed my profession. I long time volunteer and activist, former teacher and clinical healthcare practitioner, I transitioned into the legal and mediation profession during the 2020 pandemic. I also started a podcast to explore these issues as well, but I admit it's not a very popular topic to podcast about peace!

I am drawn to advocacy issues, and learning more about how we can connect people to conflict resolution strategies for empowerment in a supportive way.

I am really open to exploring and learning more about Weavers and the Peace and Justice community. I am excited to learn and grow together.

Thank you for including me in this community.

Hi all,

My name is Carey Seeley and I am an educator, currently the principal at Webster Elementary school in NE Minneapolis.  I am passionate about peace education and social justice.  I'm co-writing a book about peace education with Julie Lillie and we are co-founders of the website, The Peace Pad.  We would love to connect with other like-minded peace and justice enthusiasts!

With peace & gratitude,

Carey

I love the idea of our group. I think it’s so important for us, as people, to express ourselves to one another. I want each of us to understand our peace and justice journey.

I’ve always been quiet and soft-spoken, yet a community person. My father was a people-person, and I followed in his footsteps. I have volunteered within the school system, mobilized neighbors, and we built relationships with one another through neighborhood clean-ups.

In Baltimore, on October 28th, 2008, my son, Dale, was killed in yet another officer-involved shooting. Dale was 29 years old—and the father of two daughters (my granddaughters) who are precious to me.

While this event shattered my world, it also gave me my voice.

Since that time, I have met many family members and mothers who have lost their children in this way. This has also led me to work on the front lines against gun violence in our country. My granddaughters are very supportive of the work I do in community.

I joined Weave because I value stories of why people have passion for community. I have wanted to meet people like me and to share ideas for healing in our neighborhoods. My journey is for health and wellness, and I want to be an inspiration. I want people to know our voices matter! We need to care about where we live before others come into our community to tell us what we need.

When we gain peace, we gain wellness together that boosts our health. We develop a spirit of forgiveness, and we find a way to move forward. We understand the things we can’t change. When we become a mirror for change, people can look at our example and adopt our healthy choices.

I want us to share our stories, to let one another know we’re not alone in our struggle. Being peaceful helps us on our path to healthy thinking and living. I want to get to know people in our community so that we can motivate each other and build a stronger world. #LoveWins

@Darlene Cain

What is peace?

What kind of person should I be?

Keep pursuing answers to these questions.

These were the words of Sachiko Yasui, Nagasaki atomic bomb survivor, peacemaker, mentor and friend. I had an unusual opportunity to meet Sachiko in 2005 and learn of her story. Over time, we shaped her memories and reflections into a book for young adults, that when published, was longlisted for a National Book Award. The experience listening to Sachiko brought me face-to-face with the apocalyptic nature of war and the extreme trauma one must overcome to recover, heal, and become whole. Knowing Sachiko helped me understand my father, a WWII veteran, who came home with PTSD along with a deeper knowledge of the human spirit. Knowing Sachiko helped me better understand how trauma impacts a family system, how it impacts children, how it impacted me. Because of Sachiko, I thought deeply about war, trauma and healing and embarked on a journey to reflect on the questions she posed to our readers: “What is peace? What kind of person should I be? Keep pursuing answers to these questions.” Journey is the right word because the work of peace is never done—the path to peace never really ends—the person you want to be and become keeps growing.  With Sachiko’s story in mind, I’ve learned war comes in many forms. War between nations. In our cities. Our neighborhoods. Our families. Even within ourselves. Healing is part of peace. When we can heal ourselves, we help heal the world. When we help heal the world, we can help ourselves. Healing and peace are courageous companions. In our WEAVE Peace and Justice group, I hope we go deep and talk about what peace and justice means to us.  I hope we inspire one another, learn and grow together, and pursue answers to our questions.

I am a peace and justice centered educator, writer, leader and learning designer who cares deeply about helping to evolve our education systems and humanity. I have been connected with the tenants of peace throughout my teaching and life experiences. When I was first introduced to the peace actions, I knew right away that I wanted to dedicate my life and work to peace education and to create, lead and collaborate with others others. Peace education is truly for everyone.

When I reflect on my many stories of self,  many connect back to the peace action, 'seek peace within'. I navigate the world with a connective tissue disorder, which has been such a huge part of my journey of seeking peace within. I truly believe that when humans seek peace within themselves (inner peace), it opens up a way of being in the world that honors and facilitates the sustained creation of peace with others and the environment. Inherently part of all human beings, when living in peace, we come to a greater understanding of our creative power and connectedness in the universe.

Much of my weaving for peace + justice occurs virtually.  I am leading, collaborating and coordinating to bring together peace and justice centered people and organizations from across the global together, in order to make an even deeper impact. I envision I am one in a flock of geese. As we fly in the 'V' we move in harmony, shifting positions when another tires, covering more ground in community than we could accomplish as individuals.

As a self-identified "community weaver,” I've been excited about Weave’s impact and potential since becoming a member in January 2022. I have served as a “Welcome Weaver,” to orient new members; as a co-facilitator of our Weave's Weekly Community Hour; and as a founding organizer of Twin Cities Weave. I’m the author of a novel about building humanity through interracial friendship (Sweet Burden of Crossing) and a community educator/facilitator. Above all, I’m a “quilter of relationships and perspectives.”

Twelve years before George Floyd was killed, I worked with my daughter and her friends to build an award-winning, after-school circle for youth to talk about race at South High School in Minneapolis (just blocks from where Police Precinct 3 would be burned down during the 2020 racial unrest). We’ve brought the approach to many spaces, including a graduate program in culturally responsive teaching at Saint Mary’s University in Minneapolis, and a community-building initiative, Sweet Potato Comfort Pie. Inviting young leaders to share their stories in the community grounded me in their real-time experiences and challenges. Hearing about their trauma inspired me to work with international peace educator, Paul K. Chappell, to spread practices of Peace Literacy as a developmental, skill-based process.

I love to offer learning spaces where we can share the unique cultural gifts that support our wellness, but also to talk openly about where healing is needed. As humans, we have been wired to feel great empathy. How can we cast our collective vote to extend the ripples and muscles of humanity? How can we stretch toward peace and justice—face the truth of our reality, bravely name the emotions that surface in us, sit with them as they inform us, then take bold, compassionate action to ignite our future?

My life has been transformed by learning that community-building can also bring dignity and hope in seminal moments of stretching personal capacity, as when I tended to my brother with complications from HIV-AIDS in the last few years of his life.

I feel grateful to be part of a group of passionate, skilled peace-builders who approach the work with reverence, wonder, and deep commitment. I’m eager to learn and grow with you as we stitch together a quilt with squares that reflect a strong vision of peace and justice.