A group of men and women gathered for poetry, music and readings Sunday to celebrate Women For Peace and honor one local peacemaker at the Rotary Club West Community Center.
Carolyn Keys of the Community Peace Center and Opal Palmer Adisa of the Moving Women Theatre Ensemble hosted the program to give women and others who are actively working to establish peace in the community a platform to share ideas.
Before the event, Adisa worked with a group of people in a series of free workshops to explore what peace means to them.
“We are wanting to spread the notion of peace. Reflect on it. Think about it,” Adisa said.
In one exercise, participants finished a poem that began “I am peace,” and in another they wrote what they believe are the demands of peace. During the third class, a poem, “Ode to Peace” was written and recited at the event by the class members, including Lenny James, Barbara Knight and Marlon Williams.
Those who took the workshop shared their thoughts and poetry. Peace meant such things as a “warm space” that “unites hearts, minds, spirits” and “has a voice and demands to be heard.”
Keys had selected seven women from around the world to honor as “peacemakers,” including St. Croix resident Gloria Joseph, a “radical feminist,” who is credited with founding the St. Croix Women’s Coalition in 1981. With a master’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in educational psychology from Cornell University, Joseph has written several books and taught at Cornell, Amherst College and other learning institutions.
“My role as an activist is to be active in confronting forces and situations that prevent people from having peace,” Joseph said while accepting flowers and a plaque from Keys and Adisa. “Change is through action, not meditation and prayer alone.”
The other six “peacemakers” Keys spoke of were Celina Garcia of Costa Rica; Wangari Maathai, Kenya; LeMah Gbowee, Liberia; Spes Manirakiza, Burundi; and Elise Hansen Boulding and Jane Addams from the U.S. All are or were involved in peace organizations or peace movements. Maathai and Addams won Nobel Peace Prizes.
“I’ve always had a strange sense we need to learn more about women peacemakers,” Keys said. “We need to honor women of peace.”
Adisa and Keys said they hope to make Women For Peace an annual event.
The Community Peace Center is a program of the Interfaith Coalition of St. Croix, Inc., and provides workshops in conflict resolution and conflict transformation. The center hosts round table discussions and functions and leads advocacy for peace. Membership is open to the public.
Moving Women Theatre Ensemble a performance collective with the goal of exploring social and cultural issues that impact the people of St. Croix. They use the theater to educate and promote dialogue on important social issues. The ensemble is a training ground for women, men, youth and children of all ages who are interested in theater, performing and socio-cultural commentary.
