advocating peace and nonviolent social change in South Carolina and beyond
2015 Year in Review
Organized Simple Justice #BlackLivesMatter, facilitating meetings, organizing educational events (Teach-In on Mass Incarceration), and helping develop leadership. This past fall Simple Justice #BlackLivesMatter became an official Black Lives Matter chapter.
Mentored 5 interns during the Spring and Fall to develop the next generation of activists.
Continued building on our statewide organizing, working with and supporting our local chapters Lowcountry Peace, Upstate Peace Network, Rock Hill for Peace, Aiken Peace and CSRA Peace Alliance.
Pushed to pass the S.3 Domestic Violence Bill in the SC Statehouse with action alerts, lobbying and letter campaigns along with a coalition of groups …and we won, giving SC a better DV law.
Supported the Iran Deal: Carolina Peace President’s letter to editor “Congress Must Not Sabotage Iran Deal” published Feb 3rd in Charleston Post & Courier and held a vigil outside of Rep. Wilson’s office.
Screened “MLK : A Call to Conscience” at Conundrum Music Hall.
In February, we organized a Rally to Repeal Stand Your Ground at the SC Statehouse on the 3rd anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s death.
We blew the whistle on SC legislators visiting illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank as well as an unconstitutional anti-BDS law passed by the the SC Statehouse, both the work of Rep. Alan Clemmons.
Peace Potluck & Talk with Tom Clements of Savannah River Site Watch on nuclear waste in April.
Helped mobilize the effort to take down the Confederate flag on the Statehouse grounds.
Held a Veggie Potluck with past Carolina Peace director Michael Berg in July.
25th Annual Hiroshima Vigil co-sponsored with the Columbia Friends meeting featured a string quartet directed by Morihiko Nakahara of the SC Philharmonic at the Columbia Museum of Art.
Mobilization to the Days of Grace march/conference in Charleston and support and presented on militarism at the Carolinas Human Rights Organizing Conference (CHRONIC) in Greenville.
Organized a SC delegation to the Advancing a Mass Movement on Palestine Conference in Atlanta.
Organized talk by Nadín Reyes Maldonado on forced disappearances in Mexico at USC.
Presented on Nuclear Waste & Economics to an African-American faith group in Augusta, GA.
Helped organize a candlelight vigil in Aiken in opposition to an anti-Syrian refugee county council resolution. Local chapters are also working against this anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim sentiment.
Monthly organizing meetings at the historic Modjeska Simkins house in Columbia, SC.