[act-ma] [UJP Activist] Out of the Marathon Bombings – A Conversation of Boston Area Peace Activists

Tue Apr 16 19:30:04 PDT 2013

UJP Activist: Out of the Marathon Bombings – A Conversation of Boston Area  
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======== OUT OF THE MARATHON BOMBINGS – A CONVERSATION OF BOSTON AREA PEACE
         ACTIVISTS ===========================================================

-------- UPCOMING VIGILS -----------------------------------------------------

*Wednesday*
* 11:10 a.m. - Emerson College [1], Cutler Majestic Theater
* 6:30 p.m. – Newton City Hall [2], War Memorial steps
* 7 p.m. – Cambridge City Hall [3]
* 7 p.m. - Natick Common  [4]
* 7:30 - Chelmsford Common [5]

-------- MEMORIAL SERVICE ----------------------------------------------------

*Thursday*, 11 am, Cathedral of the Holy Cross. President Obama is to attend.
A group of Boston area peace activists met today to share what we know about  
yesterday’s bombings  and to discern how best to respond to the deadly  
attack against our community and against people from across the nation and  
around the world who came to Boston to participate and enjoy the Marathon.  
Several of us had loved ones or close friends who would have been among the  
attack’s victims, had they not left the finish line area shortly before the  
bombings or who had yet to arrive there. First and foremost our thoughts and  
sympathy go out to family and friends of those killed yesterday, to those who  
injured and maimed, their families and friends.

/Above: //Vigil Tuesday night at Boston Common/ [6]

With much still to be learned about who was responsible for this crime, we  
were clear that it is premature to be issuing statements and initiating  
actions. In a spirit of compassion and solidarity, those of us who can will  
be joining the official interfaith ceremony to be held Thursday in Boston and  
other events that bring the community together in grief and the process of  
healing.  We did, however, conclude that sharing element of our conversation  
may be useful as we all go forward.

Regardless of who was responsible, there is the need to address what has  
become the culture of violence. We celebrated the courage and model of our  
friend Carlos Arredondo, the Gold Star father who has long been active in the  
peace movement, who was present at the bombing site and moved immediately and  
instinctively to save the lives of others.

We understand the attack as one against our common civic life; given past  
national and Boston history, we are encouraged by the ways racial profiling  
in response to the attack has been minimized and respect for the rule of law  
has been maintained.

With the immediacy of suffering and the open emotional wounds, as well as  
uncertainty about who was responsible for the attacks, it feels premature to  
be speaking publicly about the painful ways our community – our lives –  
have joined the increasingly long list of communities – within the U.S. and  
internationally – that have suffered and been marked by domestic and  
international terrorist attacks, have been objectified as the “collateral  
damage” of wars or live in fear of drones. With the outcome of the  
investigation and the narrative that follows, we will be in a better position  
determine if, when and how to bring forward these dimensions of our  
experience.

For now the priority has to be human solidarity.

Concerns were also raised about the possibility and some initial reports of  
racial profiling.
We shared concerns that regardless of who planted the bombs, that uncertain  
and anxious people will accede to increased violation of civil and human  
rights by police, Homeland Security and other such institutions.

We learned that the ACLU has created a hotline to report human rights  
violations, including possible mass police round ups.

*We did identify several things that we can be doing:*

All of us have received inspiring messages and received helpful advice along  
the way. Among them articles about Carlos Arredondo, quotations from Martin  
Luther King, Jr., Rev. William Sloan Coffin, and AFSC staff in Gaza. We  
thought that these might be shared via Facebook and other means

This seems to be a period to begin how to address the media deluge, should  
those responsible prove to be Jihadists rather than domestic terrorists.

We resolved to be in touch with AFSC associates who are now in Washington,  
D.C. for the “If I had a trillion dollars” video contest awards and to  
meet with members of Congress to learn if and how the bombings are impacting  
the Congressional debate over national budget priorities.  We should begin  
thinking about how to push back, should calls for “law and order” lead to  
greater pressure to increase military spending at the cost of meeting real  
human and community needs.

We agreed to publicize the prayer vigil called for Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.  
at Cambridge City Hall by African-American ministers, and at which Brian Corr  
– long associated with AFSC and Peace Action – will be speaking.

We need to think about how we can be most present a month from now when media  
and public attention turns away from those still suffering the consequences  
of the attack.

We agreed to remain in contact on a daily basis and – as possible – to  
bring the perspectives of others who could not be with us into the  
conversation.    

United for Justice with Peace [7] is a coalition of peace and justice  
organizations and community peace groups in the Greater Boston region. The  
UJP Coalition, formed after September 11th, seeks global peace through social  
and economic justice.

/Help us continue to do this critical work! Make a donation to UJP today.  
[8]/

info at justicewithpeace.org [9]

617-383-4857 www.justicewithpeace.org [10] Upcoming Events:  Music for  
Peace: Music of Rachmaninov and Schumann [11] Fri Apr 19 7:30pm  
Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church Cambridge Harvest of Empire (film)  
[12] Sat Apr 20 6:00pm Centro Presente Somerville Regional Anti-Drone  
Conference and Protest [13] Fri Apr 26 5:00pm Hancock Air Base Syracuse, NY  
Plastic, Plastic and More Plastic: Watertown Citizens Annual Meeting [14] Thu  
May 2 5:30pm The Apartments at Coolidge School Watertown Life in Occupied  
Palestine [15] Tue May 7 6:30pm Beverly Library Beverly Mother's Day Walk for  
Peace [16] Sun May 12 8:00am Town Field Park Dorchester Peace Contingent in  
Dorchester Day Parade [17] Sun Jun 2 12:00pm Dorchester
/More Peace and Justice Events [18].    How to Submit Events [19]/ 

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[1] https://twitter.com/BeaconUpdate/status/324249264794501120
[2] http://justicewithpeace.org/node/4437
[3] http://justicewithpeace.org/node/4436
[4] http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/boston_marathon/x987009078/Community-prayer-vigil-on-the-Natick-Common
[5] https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1773138048276&set=oa.495708733817612&type=1&theater
[6] https://www.facebook.com/events/591672960843073/591673067509729/?comment_id=591817490828620&notif_t=event_mall_reply&buffer_share=979a3&utm_source=buffer
[7] http://justicewithpeace.org
[8] http://justicewithpeace.org/donate
[9] mailto:info at justicewithpeace.org
[10] http://www.justicewithpeace.org
[11] http://justicewithpeace.org/node/4285
[12] http://justicewithpeace.org/node/4403
[13] http://justicewithpeace.org/node/4394
[14] http://justicewithpeace.org/node/4425
[15] http://justicewithpeace.org/node/4430
[16] http://justicewithpeace.org/node/4423
[17] http://justicewithpeace.org/node/4421
[18] http://justicewithpeace.org/upcoming-events
[19] http://justicewithpeace.org/posting-events
[20] http://justicewithpeace.org/newsletter/confirm/remove/54b7b5e2b33576t76
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