- Republican
National
Convention « People's
Justice & Peace Convention
People's Justice & Peace Convention
Twenty-plus
groups
started
working together in January to bring people together who
are very different from the Republicans coming to Cleveland in July. We
all knew that the Republican convention wouldn’t include the most
vulnerable people in their plans. We knew that their solutions would
not bring people together and would not address many crucial issues.
We gave ourselves very little time to bring a large project together.
Collectively, we work on a vast array of issues. Some of us are meeting
each other for the 1st time. Some of us have known of the others, but
never worked together before. Some of us are long-time allies.
Our goals -
- Promote just, nurturing, nonviolent solutions to our problems
- Identify resources that could be re-directed to implement our policy
recommendations
- Educate ourselves about immediate steps we can take to change the
direction this country is headed
- Develop and share these ideas with both political parties, with
individual politicians, and with media outlets
Who we are -
Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake Counties Farmers Union
Black-On-Black Crime
Carl Stokes Brigade
Cleveland Catholic Worker
Cleveland Nonviolence Network
Cleveland Peace Action
FaCT
Immigrant Support Network
Inter-Religious Task Force on Central America
NEO American Friends Service Committee
NEO International Workers of the World
NEO Sierra Club
Peace in the Hood
SPAN Ohio
Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor
facebook
post
May 14, 2016
Dear representatives of national peace, justice & environmental organizations:
Your
organization
is
invited
to
be represented at the People’s Justice &
Peace Convention, July
15 -17 in Cleveland, Ohio!
The
Republican
and
Democratic
parties
both promote policies that benefit
the wealthiest
individuals and corporations and promote and expand U.S. militarism,
while the concerns of the
vast majority are ignored, distorted and/or manipulated for political
gain. Join us in Cleveland
the weekend before the Republican National Convention (“RNC”) for the
People’s Justice and
Peace Convention. We hope to challenge both parties to propose real
solutions to the often
ignored hurting in our world and call upon them to implement a
political climate, foreign policy,
economic approach, and environmental policy that is neither
imperialistic nor militaristic, that
protects the environment, and that nurtures inclusion, genuine
security, nonviolence, and peace
and prosperity for everyone.
The
People’s
Justice
and
Peace
Convention will bring together at least
several hundred citizens
and representatives of local, state, and national organizations
dedicated to sharing information
and strategies for implementing real justice and peace. The Convention
will feature keynote
speakers, committees/panels dedicated to addressing specific issue
areas, films, and cultural
performances. A major component will be developing a “People’s Justice
& Peace Platform”
that articulates policy preferences that affirm the dignity and value
of all humans and the earth.
The platform will be presented to both the RNC in Cleveland and the DNC
in Philadelphia.
While we hope the People’s Platform will be a finalized product
emerging from the convention,
we believe the process of working together on the convention and
platform will be invaluable.
We
hope
to
use
the
Convention as an opportunity to learn from and work
with one another and to
create a diverse network connecting issues, groups, and movements that
are working to achieve
justice and peace.
The
five
broad
issue
areas
of the Convention are:
• Economic justice
• Social and racial justice
• Political justice
• Environmental justice
• International relations
You
are
invited
to
send
one or two official representatives from your
organization to actively
participate in the Convention. To defray costs, we respectfully request
participating
organizations to make a financial contribution ($500 would be grand,
but whatever you can
afford will be greatly appreciated!). Make your check payable to St.
Paul’s Community
Outreach with CNVN People’s Convention in the memo line and mail to
Cleveland Nonviolence
Network, P.O. Box 14418, Cleveland, OH 441140418. In exchange,
participating
organizations are offered the opportunity:
√
To
facilitate
a
committee/panel
discussion that addresses one or more
of the abovementioned
issue areas that is both educational and actionoriented.
√ To present one or two specific draft “planks” or proposals to be
discussed, refined and agreed
to in your committee to be then presented to the larger plenary for
inclusion in the final People’s
Platform which will be agreed to at the final plenary Sunday, July 17.
√ To have a table throughout the Convention for your organizational
materials.
√ To enjoy home lodging for the duration of the People’s
Conventionand possibly beyond
based on your desire to remain in Cleveland once the RNC begins and the
willingness of your
host(s).
Our
planning
coalition
includes
representatives
from the Cleveland
Nonviolent Network, the
InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Cleveland Peace Action,
the Cleveland Human &
Civil Rights Coalition, the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service
Committee, Organize Ohio,
and representatives of several religious congregations, among others.
Feel
free
to
contact
me
with any questions or concerns. I will followup in
the next few days to
discuss whether your organization is interested in participating in
this event.
Thank
you
for
your
consideration.
Respectfully,
Don Bryant,
On
behalf
of
the
People’s
Justice & Peace Convention Planning Committee
clevelandnonviolence@gmail.com
P.S. You may also be interested in participating in and/or sponsoring
two other events directly
related to the Republican National Convention with which we are
affiliated. The first is our RNC
“Real Neighborhoods of Cleveland” tours that will highlight the failed
policies that have brought
violence, disruption and inequality to our neighborhoods. The second is
the “End Poverty Now:
March for Economic Justice” to take place Monday, July 18.