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Center Hours
Monday-Friday: 10am-6pm
 
Store Hours
Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm
Sundays 10am-2pm

Hours are subject to change. Call 802-863-2345 x2 to confirm.
 
Location
60 Lake Street, 1C
Burlington Waterfront.
(Next to The Skinny Pancake)
 
If you would like an event listed, please email calendar@pjcvt.org  
PJC Events & Registration Info
Nonviolent Activism 101 Thursdays, February 18 & 25 , 5:30-7:30pm . O'Brien Community Center, Winooski. Register online
or call 863-2345 x6.

Screening of The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution Sunday, February 21, 7pm. Room 215, UVM Living/Learning, 633 Main St, Burlington. FREE!

Screening of Welcome to Leith Thursday, February 25, 6pm. Main Street Landing Film House, 60 Lake St, 3rd Floor, Burlington. This is in partnership with VTIFF.

Thursday, March 3, 7-8pm, Kellogg Hubbard Library, Montpelier. For more info email or call 863-2345 x6. FREE!

Fair Trade vs Free Trade Presentation, with a focus on health
Monday, March 7, 5:30 at UVM Medical Center, Burlington, specific space TBA. For more info email or call 863-2345 x3. FREE!

PJC Volunteer Orientation including a Fair Trade vs Free Trade Presentation Thursday, March 10, 3-4pm at the PJC. For more info or to register email or call 802-863-2345 x9. FREE!

Tuesdays, March 15, 22, & 29, 6:30-8:30pm, O'Brien Community Center, Winooski. Register online or call 863-2345 x6. 

Nonviolent Engagement in Conflict
Friday, March 18, 1-4pm. Lyndon State College, Lyndonville. Register online or call 863-2345 x6. FREE!

PJC Volunteer Orientation including a Fair Trade vs Free Trade Presentation Saturday, April 23, 3-4pm at the PJC. For more info or to register email or call 802-863-2345 x9. FREE!

Alexis Lathem Poetry Reading
Sunday, April 24, 1pm at the PJC. For more info email or call 863-2345 x3. FREE!
  
Wednesdays, May 11, 18, & 25, 6:30-8:30pm. Brownell Library, Essex Jct. Facilitated by Francine Serwili-Ngunga and Kyle Silliman-Smith. Register online or call 863-2345 x6. FREE! 

Building Empathy and Addressing Racial Oppression
Tuesdays, September 13, 20, & 27, 6:30-8:30pm, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier. Register online or call 863-2345 x6. FREE!
 
Flynn Tix Vouchers
Pick up a voucher for these specific shows at PJC and redeem it at the Flynn for a $2 ticket. For current PJC members and volunteers. For more information on PJC membership, click here.

GlobalFest Live! "Creole Carnival"

Wednesday, February 24 at 7:30pm 
February 16, 2016
We're excited to support the showing of two powerful documentaries!

Join the screening of The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution   on Sunday, February 21 at 7pm in Room 215 of UVM's Living/Learning Building, 633 Main St, Burlington. This film, explores how more than 40 years after the Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland, California, the group and its leadership remain powerful and enduring figures in our popular imagination. This event is presented in partnership with the Peace & Justice Center, Vermont PBS, UVM's ALANA Student Center, and Partnership for Change. It is FREE and open to the public.


The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, Official Trailer

 
Additionally, we are presenting the eye-opening documentary  Welcome to Leith on Thursday, February 25 at 6pm in partnership with Main Street Landing and the Vermont International Film Festival. This film chronicles the attempted takeover of a small town in North Dakota by notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb. As his behavior becomes more threatening, tensions soar, and the residents desperately look for ways to expel their unwanted neighbor. With incredible access to both long time residents of Leith and white supremacists, the film examines a small community in the plains struggling for sovereignty against an extremist vision. For more info click here.


Welcome to Leith, Official Trailer
Welcome to Leith, Official Trailer
Not Ready for Criminal Justice Reform?
Suzi Wizowaty
 
Last fall, a subgroup of the Vermont Justice Coalition, which is convened by VCJR (Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform) developed several bills for introduction to the VT Legislature this past January.These are savvy people, directors of the ACLU-Vt., Human Rights Commission, Prisoners' Rights, Commission on Women, So. Royalton (VT Law School) Legal Clinic and more, and these are excellent bills. Thoughtful, carefully constructed, moderate. But will they pass?
 
One of them, H.743, includes as a sponsor the chair of House Judiciary, the committee that will take it up, and so has a good chance at least in the House. It mandates training in "fair and impartial" policing and reporting of traffic stop data. Two others, S.206/H.617 and S.207/H.623, would have to be taken up by the House and Senate corrections committees. House Corrections has shown noticeably little interest in criminal justice reform over the past few sessions, but Senate Corrections has at least taken testimony on S.206 and 207. But according to the chair, the bills may not be "ready for prime time" in spite of the best efforts of the lead sponsor, Brattleboro Sen. Becca Balint. 
 
Neither is particularly radical. S.206 would prohibit re-incarceration for a technical (non-criminal) violation of conditions of release, i.e. for having a beer or missing an appointment. (Yes, this happens frequently, depending on the probation/parole officer). It does allow exceptions to protect victims' safety. S.207 institutes compassionate release for people who are seriously ill or dying, based directly on the federal model, and also allows older inmates who haven't reached their minimum sentence to petition for early release. ("If the risk is low, let them go.") Less incarceration leads to less crime, not the other way around. These bills would reduce incarceration and crime. Only when we want to prevent crime more than we want to punish it will we see real change. For updates and action alerts please join VCJR's mailing list.
Fair Trade vs Free Trade
For over two centuries, Capitalism and "Free Trade" have been the only way to "do business" in this world. Characterized by little to no tariffs, environmental restrictions, and protections to workers' rights, "free trade" has allowed powerful corporations to exploit people living in the global south by paying ever decreasing wages, lowering safety standards and working conditions, and in many cases utilizing forced or child labor. These workers are trapped in poverty while the corporations that employ them enjoy record profits. The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a massive trade deal between the United States and 11 other countries, totaling 40% of the world economy. This deal was negotiated entirely behind closed doors and gives corporations greater power to, among other things, move jobs offshore and raise life-saving drug prices dramatically. For more information about the TPP, see this interview with Lori Wallach on Democracy Now.

Fair Trade, on the other hand, is based on a relationship of respect, dignity, and accountability between producers and consumers. Fair trade changes the terms of trade so they are more equitable and just. The principles behind Fair Trade promote and ensure fair labor practices, including payment of a fair price, good working conditions, and freedom of association, and completely ban forced or child labor. Through fair trade organizations, women, indigenous peoples, and other groups who are systematically discriminated against through current "free trade" practices are able to support themselves and their communities. Farmers and producers also receive Fair trade premiums, which is an additional price above the cost of goods that go directly into a fund that farmers and artisans can reinvest in their communities as they see fit. For example, the Ghana-based Kuapa Kokoo cooperative, which supplies the raw cocoa in Divine Chocolates, invests their premiums in their children's education. Choosing to purchase Fair Trade products is a simple, but attainable way to take a stand for just partnerships and fair principles between farmers, artisans, and ourselves.
Other Community Events

Thursday, February 18 
  • 7-8pm Merchants of Doubt Film Showings at the Ascension Lutheran Church, 95 Allen Rd, South Burlington. Two showings of the documentary Merchants of Doubt are now scheduled. If you'd like a showing in your congregation or community, contact VTIPL: info@vtipl.org. Click here to watch the trailer and find out more.
Tuesday, February 23
  • 6-8:30pm Peace & Justice Center Board of Directors' meeting at the PJC, 60 Lake St, Burlington.
  • 6-8pm Know Your Rights: Tenants' Rights in Burlington at the Pride Center of Vermont, 255 South Champlain St, Suite 12, Burlington. Join Vermont Tenants and the Pride Center of Vermont for a 2-hour workshop about getting your landlord to make repairs, getting your security deposit back, identifying and dealing with housing discrimination, and more. Contact Julia at 802-860-7812 or julia@pridecentervt.org or click here for further information and resources.
  • 6:30-9pm Central VT: The State of Marriage Film Screening and Discussion at Pavilion Auditorium, 109 State St, Montpelier. The State of Marriage is the untold story of how legal pioneer Mary Bonauto partnered with Vermont lawyers, Beth Robinson and Susan Murray, in a two-decade long struggle that built the foundation for the marriage equality movement.Screening to be followed by discussion panel with director Jeff Kaufman,State Rep Bill Lippert and others. Click here for more information.
Saturday, February 27
  • 2-3:30pm March to End Racism in Vermont Schools at Main Street, St. Albans City Hall. Black Lives Matter VT invites you to this event. It is a peaceful freedom of speech march. We will unify in a public way to protest racism in Vermont schools! Please come out to show your support! We are also looking for volunteers Click here for more information.

Monday, February 29

  • 7:15-9:15pm Plainfield: This Changes Everything Film Screening and Panel Discussion at Goddard College in the Haybarn, 123 Pitkin Rd, Plainfield. This Changes Everything is a documentary inspired by Naomi Klein's book by the same name. It presents the impacts of climate change on communities around the world, and Klein's ideas about how we can use the climate crisis to transform our economic system. The panelists will include Brittany Dunn from 350VT and Henry Harris from Rising Tide VT.
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Peace & Justice Center
(802) 863-2345 | info@pjcvt.org | http://www.pjcvt.org
60 Lake St Ste 1C
Burlington, VT 05401