Stand with students to stop gun violence in schools
Aloha friends,
This is an appeal that wherever you are on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 stand in solidarity with students all over Hawaii and the U.S. who will be walking out of school at 10AM for 17 minutes in protest of gun violence. 17 minutes for the 17 lives lost in the recent Parkland, Florida school shooting.
Here in Hawaii, I will be joining with friends to stand outside the Kea’au High school in solidarity with hundreds of students there expected to walk out in protest of gun violence. We will be standing on the Keaau/Pahoa 130 highway across from the traffic light near the school. We will stand from 9:50 until 10:30AM. Others are welcome to join us or stand with students walking out of a school near where you live. (Below is a peace leaflet I wrote 2 weeks ago “End U.S. Addiction to Killing” that speaks to American violence at home and abroad.)
Solidarity,
Jim Albertini
End U.S. Addiction to Killing!
The latest school shooting in Parkland, Florida is not unrelated to U.S. ongoing wars in multiple countries and the increasing threat of global nuclear annihilation. The U.S. is a killing society that glamorizes violence and appears to put more value on the right to own an assault weapon than the lives of children.
NO MORE
The U.S. empire has become a culture of mass violence that has been building layer upon layer, from the massacres of Native Americans, the killing of unarmed African Americans, to the millions killed in wars for resources disguised as freedom and democracy. Now the chickens are coming home to roost with the killing of our own children. More killing and more weapons of war are put forward as the solution to killing. The U.S. has become a completely militarized society. Look at the size of the U.S. military budget. Look at our militarized police forces. Look at U.S. gun ownership compared to the rest of the world. Signs of military worship are everywhere – at every sporting event, special discounts at stores, even in places of worship and prayer. All of this reflects a very deep societal mental illness – an addiction to killing.
It’s time that we adults listen to the grieving children of Parkland and the world. They are showing us a way forward. Together, we need to join our voices to stop the killing, at home and abroad. Never underestimate the power of nonviolent action. Draw from movements for social change all over the world. Stand with our youth and give each other encouragement to continue and never give up. That’s how we build a world of justice, peace, and security for all. Stand up and keep standing!
Love One Another!
1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties.
4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Contact: Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760 Phone (808) 966-7622. Email: ja@malu-aina.org
Sign up on our website to receive our posts http://www.malu-aina.org/
March 2, 2018 Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet — 858th week – Fridays 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office
