The Vermont Equity Commission needs you to send an email. See Action Highlight below. And congratulations to the Save Our Skies/Stop the F35s Coalition for a triumph at the Burlington polls yesterday! We won a resounding 56% of voters asking for a quieter, safer mission for the Air Guard. More on next steps soon. For now, if you are able to contribute to offset the cost of the campaign, please donate here.
Click here for latest Peace & Justice Newsletter
In This Issue
PJC Educational Programs & Events
Toxic Whiteness Discussion Group Thursday, March 8, noon-1pm, PJC.  This space is for white people to process how white supremacy culture is toxic to white communities and individuals. FREE.

Seeing and Disrupting Racism  Sunday, March 11, 3-4pm, PJC. A rrive at 2:30pm to participate in a New Volunteer Orientation. FREE .
 
Ed Evert's Social Justice Activist Award Celebration  Thursday, March 15, 5:30-9pm, ECHO Center, Burlington. Join us in honoring the inspiring work of Isaiah Hines at So. Burlington and the performance poetry of Muslim Girls Making Change. More info here. 

Agents of Change Screening Thursday, March 22, 6-7:30pm, MMU High School Library, Jericho. Hosted by MMU students and MMU's After Dark Program. Register here  FREE. 

Free Trade vs. Fair Trade Presentation Saturday, March 24, 12-1pm,  PJC. Learn how Free Trade policies have put profit before people and planet. Arrive at 11:30am for Volunteer Orientation. FREE.

Anti-Militarism Game Day Sunday, March 25, 12-2pm,  PJC. Play modified versions of Jeopardy and Jenga to learn about the military industrial complex. Enjoy pizza and prizes while playing. FREE

Wednesdays, March 28th and April 4th, 6pm-8pm, at the Unitarian Church, 130 Main St, Montpelier. Led by Ginny Sassaman. Register.

Nonviolent Engagement in Conflict Tuesday, April 10, 6-8pm,  MMU, Jericho. Explore how addressing conflict nonviolently can be a positive and effective way to support social in many ways. Register. FREE
 
For more info on these events visit Upcoming Events on our website or contact program@pjcvt.org.
Quick Links
Center Hours  
Monday-Friday: 10am-6pm
  
New Store Hours
Monday-Saturday: 10am-6pm
Sunday: 9am-4pm
 
Hours are subject to change. Call (802) 863-2345 x2 to confirm.
  
Location
60 Lake Street, Suite 1C
Burlington's Waterfront.
(Next to Skinny Pancake) 
PJC Job Opening
We're hiring!

The PJC is looking for a Volunteer Coordinator /Assistant Fair Trade Store Manager.
 
Visit our website for the full job description and application information.

PJC is an equal opportunity employer. People of all backgrounds encouraged to apply. 
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Triple Your Impact!

From March 12-31, Amazon is tripling the donation rate on your first smile.amazon.com
purchase!  Go to smile.amazon.com/ch/03-0281472 and Amazon will donate 1.5% of your purchase amount to the PJC!
Flynn Center Vouchers
Pick up a voucher for this show at PJC and pay $2 cash at the door. For current PJC members and volunteers. For information on membership click here. Come to the Peace & Justice Store to pick up your voucher. Limited supply!


Urban Bush Women  Friday, March 9, at 10am and at 8pm
HairStories 3.3 is a multidisciplinary work that addresses matters of race, gender identity, and economic inequality through the lens of hair, primarily that of African American women.

Carnival Caravan Friday March 16 at 9:30am
Nation Beat: a band whose teeming, vibrant rhythms find common ground in the primal maracatu rhythm of Brazil's northeastern region, the Big Easy's funky, hypnotic second-line and strolling Mardi Gras Indians, and the unfettered freedom of big-city downtown jazz.


Zakir Hussain Monday, March 19 at 7:30pm 
Zakir Hussain is India's most celebrated living musician: an innovative percussionist of international renown who's opened channels between East and West via collaborations with George Harrison, the Grateful Dead, etc. Rakesh Chaurasia follows the footsteps of his acclaimed uncle Hariprasad Chaurasia as a bansuri flute maestro.
March 5, 2018
PJC's Ed Everts Activist Award Celebration
Join us in celebrating the work of
these Vermont youth on Thurs day, March 15 at Echo, 5:30-9:00 with a chili dinner, silent auction, dance party, and more. More info and tickets can be found on our website.


Here are a few words from the award recipients:

Muslim Girls Making Change-- Activist Award Celebration

Kiran Waqar on behalf of Muslim Girls Making Change.



Isaiah Hines (former So. Burlington High School senior who was instrumental in changing the "Rebel" moniker)
 
Tickets are available online and at the Peace & Justice Center. Suggested donation $25 or more, free for high school students. Please consider contributing extra to offset the cost of another participant. No one turned away for lack of funds.

[Image from mural at Portland State University.]
Buses to DC to March for Our Lives 
On March 24, people across the country will take to the streets to demand that politicians protect the lives of their citizens and put stricter gun control laws into place.

The Peace & Justice Center is organizing two buses to attend the March for Our Lives in Washington DC. 

Tickets are  $125. Scholarships available.  We are hoping that every high school student will be able to get a free ticket. This is in large part due to a generous grant from the Ben & Jerry's Foundation. If you can also help offset the cost, donations are welcome.

For more information, visit our website or contact Wendy at wcoe@pjcvt.org or (802) 863-2345 ext 8.
From the Blog: Toxic Whiteness
by Kit Rees, friend of PJC

 
When I started coming to the Peace & Justice Center's Toxic Whiteness Discussion Group, I wasn't sure what to expect. In my head I even scoffed at the idea of an intentionally white discussion -- what good could that do us in Vermont, where most conversations center around white people anyway?  It never seems appropriate to discuss white pain when people of color are facing threats ranging from constant microaggressions to physical and lethal violence...
A Divided America: What Can We Learn from the Nordics? 


Sweden's and Norway's highly successful movements for economic democracy came out of a deep polarization that existed in these countries during the 1920s and 1930s.  

Scandinavian countries have now out-performed the Anglo-American model for half a century, including the virtual abolition of poverty, more  equality and individual freedom, more economic innovation including start-ups, and an acceleration of climate justice. 

George Lakey, a lifetime activist, sociologist, professor, and author of nine books, will present his research with a talk, A Divided America: What Can We Learn from the Nordics?

Friday, March 16, 7:00 p.m.
First Unitarian Universalist Society in Burlington
FREE. Donations accepted. Childcare provide.
Community Calendar
This is a partial listing. See more events in our public calendar.

March 7, Wednesday
  March 8, Thursday
March 10, Saturday
  • 10am-12pm Caroline Fund Pro Se Legal Clinic at Lawline of Vermont, Burlington. Every Saturday.
  March 11, Sunday
March 12, Monday
March 14, Wednesday
  • 8am-4pm Beyond Bullying Conference. Champlain College, Burlington.
  • 7-8:30pm 350VT Local Group Meeting. Second Congregational Church, Bennington.
March 15, Thursday
March 16, Friday
March 17, Saturday
March 18, Sunday
March 20, Tuesday
  March 21, Wednesday
March 22, Thursday
  • 6-7:30pm Film Screening of Agents of Change at Mount Mansfield Union High School, Jericho.
March 24, Saturday
March 27, Tuesday
  • 6-8pm SURJ-BTV, First UUSociety, Burlington.
Please email events for our google calendar and enews
Action Highlight: Ask Senate Appropriations to Fund S.281
You can help pass a State funded Equity Commission to address Systemic Racism with a simple email or phone call.

Senate Government Operations has voted S.281 out as a funded AND independent body (5-0). Now it is up to Senate Appropriations to approve the funding and they need to do it quick!  They will get the bill on the 13th and Appropriations cross-over is on the 16th of March!  There is little if any time to delay!   

This could likely be the most important bill that the Senate passes this session.  Please ask Senate Appropriations to immediately fund and  pass S.281 out of Committee. Please pass this call to action to EVERYONE on your mailing list.
  1. Call the Statehouse and leave a message for Senators, Kitchel, Nitka, Sears, Starr, McCormack, Ashe, Westman and Balint with S.281 in the subject line, asking that the committee "immediately fund and pass S.281 out of Senate Appropriations Committee.
  2. Please send an email to this address vermont-senate-appropriations@googlegroups.com, requesting that they "immediately fund and pass S.281 out of Senate Appropriations Committee." Make sure that S.281 is in the subject line.
  3. PLEASE submit any statements and testimony NOW! Include your name, your title, your organization, the date and the bill (S.281) on your statement or testimony.   You can send them here:vermont-senate-appropriations@googlegroups.com
Here is the bill as voted out of senate Senate Government OperationsHere is the Coalition systemic  racism research  document and again the   Q&A  to verse you in the bill background and details. 
Peace & Justice Center | 802-863-2345 | info@pjcvt.org | http://www.pjcvt.org
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Burlington, VT 05401