Whitefeather Peace Community May Events

Dear Friends of Whitefeather Peace Community,

Just some quick notes on upcoming Roundtables. All are on Wednesday evenings, all are started at 6 p.m. with a vegetarian potluck (we start the Roundtable as we finish dinner--you can just come for the Roundtable of course), and we are on the 75 busline. Russet is parallel to Lombard (next block north) and we are about a mile west of the Yellow Line and a mile east of the U of Portland.

May 6: Bill Long on the death penalty. Bill Long is currently a writer and legal consultant living in Salem OR. He helps lead Oregon's effort to abolish the death penalty. From 2003-06 he was a Visiting Professor of Law at Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon. Before Willamette he was a litigation attorney with Stoel Rives LLP in Portland, OR (2000-03), a professor of history and government at Sterling College in KS (1990-96), interim senior pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Portland (1988-89), and a professor of religion and humanities at Reed College in Portland (1982-88). During a sabbatical from Reed, he was a senior editorial writer for The Oregonian (1985), Oregon's largest circulating daily newspaper.

May 13: Inger Easton, originally from the Netherlands, has researched the conflicts of immigration into her homeland and the background of the many bloody clashes between Moroccan youth or Turkish youth and mainstream Dutch society. She approaches very sensitive problems in a very sensitive fashion, examining paths to peace that can help us all understand potential for reconciliation in the context of immigration.

May 20: The Power of Song, an inspiring film about Pete Seeger, whose 90th birthday is Sunday, May 3! The film traces his life, with interviews with Pete, Toshi, his son and daughter, and many musicians young and old who were brought along in many ways by Pete's example. Special documentary footage of the old Weavers and other of Pete's musical adventures--including his run-in with the infamous House on UnAmerican Activities Committee--make for a songfest with real heart and content. Bring your instruments!

May 27: Jonathan Cohen, a solar power user and dealer. This will include a short walk to Jonathan's home with its photovoltaic installation just a few blocks from Whitefeather. With Obama's new tax credits for alternative energy, this is a technology that has arrived and is plug-and-produce-ready. Come get advice from a professional. You will NOT be given a sales pitch, just solid information.

June 3: Ako Yamakawa, on the indigenous rights struggle to get the US military out of Okinawa. Ako is a mainland Japanese and a masters student in the PSU Conflict Resolution program. She has been working with the leadership of the Okinawan nonviolent resistance group and is telling Americans about the Okinawan desire to demilitarize and end the occupation of much of the island of Okinawa by foreign troops.