Community

KEEPING OUR BALANCE IN THE WHIRLWIND! After the #BuffaloMassacre – we are flattened, angry, overwhelmed, fearful, grieving, and enraged! After so many have suffered centuries of trauma from White Supremacy, Patriarchy, economic oppression, war, violence, and more, comes another shooter, comes another tragedy, comes another assault on our children, our beloveds, and our safety. How can we continue functioning, parenting, nurturing, and caring for each other? Of course, how can we not? We know our beloved children, families, friends, neighbors, and all our relations – need our support. So we must continue to Stay Strong! We must act for real change regarding gun violence, White Supremacy, hatemongering, and more…  — topics we’ll pursue!! However, to make any progress, we must also practice self-care. Remember, in an airplane, the flight attendant says, “If you are traveling with children or other dependents, please take care of your needs first, so you are better able to assist.” If we struggle to get another’s mask on while losing oxygen ourselves, disaster looms. The Wonderful and the Terrible are so very present in our world and indelibly intertwined. We have seen – and continue to see – the Terrible. However, the responses include the wonderfully loving generous, and even heroic actions of so many. The s/heroes on the scene, the s/heros in the back rooms, organizing community support – in crises as well as in attending to every day often desperate needs. The natural community leaders; the natural nurturers, comforters, and defenders…. They persist. Often in shifts, spelling each other off – sharing inspiration, energy, and strategies for coping and acting for the community. We must pace ourselves, take breaks when feasible, and above all put some joy and beauty in every day. We each know what renews our strength – music, laughter, children, community, nature, the Creation, the Creator – and we owe ourselves – and each other – those activities and sources of renewal!! That’s how we can continue, stronger together, Juntos – Si, Se Puede! Don’t forget to: Deep Slow Breathing. It brings more oxygen into our bodies, a known and proven stress reducer. Even mere conscious breathing relaxes us – just the mention of our breath puts us on a different wavelength. (Didn’t it?) And if we develop a certain comfort with focusing on our breathing, we can pick our saying, akin to a mantra – a short prayer, affirmation, or saying that makes us feel the way we want to feel – and use it to time our breathing. We repeat it to ourselves as we breathe in; again, as we hold our breath; and then twice as we breathe out (sometimes called square breathing). The repetition allows us to feed our spirit, as we are feeding extra oxygen to our bodies. And the more we practice it, the more it helps. It can be practiced virtually anytime, anywhere. Above all, we must turn to the sources of our strength, our faith: Truth and Love, as Rev. Dr. King said. And the Beloved Community. Siempre: Juntos – Si, se puede! Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics A TRAGEDY July 4, 2023/No Comments LEADING TO AN ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN (a Community Responders Pilot and a Peace Ship for a Nuclear-Free Future) Hola, mis Amigos!!  Read More CAMP PEACEPRINTS 2023: HEALTHY LIVES MATTER June 4, 2023/No Comments ¡Hola, Amigos! Pronto sera el tiempo por los ninos para ir a campamentos de verano. We are excited to present Read More EMBRACING BUFFALO / HEALING MOMENTS May 10, 2023/No Comments EMBRACING BUFFALO / HEALING MOMENTS “No podemos dejar que la gente abra brechas entre nosotros… porque solo hay una raza Read More Load More End of Content.

MOMENTO JUSTO: El Pueblo de CUBA Many of you will already know the strength, hard work, and communal spirit of the Cuban People. You’ll know of U.S. brutal economic sanctions against Cuba. You may also know that Cuba is the only country the US government requires its citizens to get a license to travel.  You are likely to know that despite the vengeful tack the US has maintained against Cuba after the revolution in 1958, the Cuban people have been at the forefront of medical advances and have generously helped countries around the globe deal with health emergencies, which led to nominations for a Nobel Peace Prize. You may know about IFCO/Pastors for Peace, and the opportunity to visit Cuba this summer July 16-30, which includes orientation. IFCO is a multi-issue national ecumenical agency, founded in 1967 — the same year as the WNY Peace Center, and (like the WNYPC) by progressive church leaders and activists.  One of IFCO’s most vibrant efforts is its support of the People of Cuba. Indeed, the group has organized 31 Friend shipment Caravans to Cuba – with Caravanistas bringing medical, technical, and other tools and resources. Each trip is a lesson in solidarity, including the fact that all traveling in the “Caravan” is committing civil disobedience by not getting a license to travel there, despite the US government’s requiring the same. I was one of those Caravanistas in the 30th Friend shipment Caravan in 2019. It was a wonderful eye-opening, inspiring experience.  Our group was diverse in every way – age, race/ethnicity, gender(s), and more. What we had in common was a sincere interest in learning and sharing: about Cuba; the compassion and collective action of the Cuban people; and the deep suffering the US extreme sanctions/effective blockade has caused. When we arrived in Cuba, President Miguel Diez-Canel invited us to meet with him! His humility and generous spirit were impressive. We went on (as front-page news) to meet with countless individuals and groups eager to thank us (for our solidarity and civil disobedience), and to convey to us the harsh toll the US sanctions take on them and their efforts to care for all. At a school for children with autism, the parallel bars there resembled those used by my sister (a paraplegic) in the late 1950s/60s – and probably dated back to that time.  The frank, expansive adventure included a wide array of experiences – interfaith, the arts, housing, museums, government, street fairs – a broad expanse that, for me, included a peak experience at the sacred Ceiba tree! The trip was tremendously uplifting and illuminating! Don’t miss the opportunity! Apply by April 1. The trip starts in Miami with orientation 7/16-18, leaving 7/19, and returning 7/30, all for $1800. Fundraising help may be available as well.  Info: IFCOnews.org or victoryross9@gmail.com. Read More From This Writer All Post Food Health Interviews Lower West Side Business & Economic Development Peace People MOMENTO JUSTO: El Pueblo de CUBA March 16, 2022/No Comments POST TITLE (CAPITAL) Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus Read More WNY Peace Center – Interfaith Peace NetworkUN MOMENTO JUSTO POR LA PAZ February 16, 2022/No Comments WNY Peace Center – Interfaith Peace Network UN MOMENTO JUSTO POR LA PAZ Feliz Cumpleaños, TPNW! – Happy Birthday, Treaty Read More