What does peace mean to us? International Peace Day 2022

This week I was back in Geneva - for the first time since having our second baby - attending #Genevapeacetalks event to mark the UN's International Day of Peace 2022. I took the train from our new home in France and cycled to the Palais des Nations.

Outside the gates, the Iranian community were protesting with regards to the JCPOA Nuclear negotiations and the recent death of #MahsaAmini. Being up close to Activists again, feeling their passion for change, was a stark reminder of the gut wrenching emotion of face-to-face activism.

Through security with passport and accreditation and inside the UN compound, I biked my way to Building E40, where the 51st meeting of the Human Rights Council was also in session. I was able to wander the current exhibitions which addressed the issues of gender based violence (She’s Gone) and the theme of the 2022 Peace day : End Racism - Build Peace. For the UN to be acknowledging the urgent need to End Racism, feels like a step in the right direction. I have observed institutional and structural racism across Europe, and met many people who have been victims of an unjust system which evidence strongly suggests is due to the colour of their skin.

As we entered the auditorium for the UN Peace Talks event we were asked ‘What does Peace mean to you?’ There were speakers responding from Palestine, Israel, Sudan, Pakistan, Mali, Yemen, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Ukraine. I quote some of them below:

“I remember my grandmother’s vine tree. I remember the feeling when sand gets between my toes when playing football in Gaza... I only started to think about peace when my first child was born and I was walking the streets with my baby, dodging the bombs.

In the 30 years since Oslo, there is an absence of progress. We need real democracy, social responsibility and activism for youth leadership with fresh ideas and momentum... I hate the phrase history repeats itself. I do not want my children to go through what I went through. I want to be liberated from my fears. We have an intergenerational responsibility to obstruct the status quo, to create co-resistance””

— Wasim Almasri, Palestine, Director of Programs for the Alliance of Middle East Peace

“It is not ‘What does peace mean to you?’, it is ‘What does peace mean to us?’

Peace is something we do together. Peace means hope. Peace means justice. We have a responsibility to bring back hope to the next generations.”

— Eran Nissan, Israeli Peace Activist, CEO of 'Mehazkim' an Israeli Progressive Movement

“I remember the taste of fear, crawling up my throat. Every time we would go out to protest we didn’t know how many would make it back alive.

Radical change is built on new systems of communication. Social media has been a haven for me... how can we tackle fear and misinformation? ”

— Ibaa Abusin, Horn of Africa Social Media Expert, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue

“Until I am able to align my heart, my mind and my tongue, I will never find peace...

Lay aside the burdens of the mind, it was self-worth I was seeking.”

— Amad Mian, Pakistan / UAE / Canada, Founder

I was also reporting back to the Peace Lovers’ Club, a 10k member network on ClubHouse founded by Ella Matheson @PeaceintheCity, London. I have been a Moderator for this Club since its inception in early 2021 and we join together for a weekly meditation and discussion from around the globe. The Peace Lovers group share the view that “Peace is the presence of social, economic and environmental justice”. In acknowledging this fundamental pillar of justice, we believe we can work together to “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible” (a book title from Charles Eisenstein).

I have noted the links shared by Peace Lovers contributors to the International Peace Day 2022 discussion below:

Contributed by @EllaMatheson

https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/29/morocco/spain-horrific-migrant-deaths-melilla-border

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGaxE8ybNWg Playing for Change

Contributed by @Sikuapu Ts’inapu

https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/exploiting-ai-how-cybercriminals-misuse-abuse-ai-and-ml

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/3/12/nagpra-peabody-letter/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6601530/

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01166-x

Contributed by @DoctorErnest Johnson, PHD

https://www.historyvshollywood.com/video/ann-atwater-interview-best-of-enemies/

Contributed by @KaleemUX

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/03/israels-55-year-occupation-palestinian-territory-apartheid-un-human-rights

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/02/israels-apartheid-against-palestinians-a-cruel-system-of-domination-and-a-crime-against-humanity/

humanKINDER Newsletter, Winter 2019

It's been a long time, a long time coming...

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been running ev'r since
It's been a long time, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Sam Cook lyrics, performed by Brian Owens Soul

The Black Lives Matter protests we are seeing across the globe are a pivotal turning point in our history. Black bodies have been at the front-line of injustice around the world for over 400 years. This moment, an opportunity presented to us, is a chance to save our planet, by embracing unity and building community. 

I think of our current system like an apple tree. As the protests shine a light on the rotten foundations of our global system, it is as if they are the rotting roots of an apple tree. This system of oppression, set up 400 years ago on the backs of slaves and powered by the Western World’s shameful colonial history, has been working exactly as it was designed: imposing divisions and hierarchy based on skin colour, gender, birthplace etc, generating wealth for “the haves” through exploitation of “the have-nots” (Marx).

It is almost impossible to save a tree which is dying from the inside. We can learn lessons from eating its fruit, but there is only so long we can trim or whittle away at dead wood. Some people may suggest to spray it with fungicide or insecticide, try scraping out the rot, or even fill the holes with concrete. Not me. I believe it is time to plant a new tree.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done”, Nelson Mandela. I N T H E S E H A N D S by Emma Barrett Palmer | Parliament Square - London | 2016

Those of us with white skin have been beneficiaries of this system - with enough privilege to be able to ignore the rot. But now we must use our privileged positions to root it out, by dismantling all processes and procedures which perpetuate white supremacy in all its forms.

As white people we must stop placing labour expectations for solving systemic racism on Black and Brown communities: it’s our turn now, it’s on us. First and foremost, we must listen and learn from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) and be humble as we are guided towards a new way which is fair and just for everyone.

This is not easy work and there are no quick fix solutions - it requires inter-generational lifetimes’ of work which can only be achieved by working together beyond our present realities. It requires a transformation of leadership to embrace humanitarian, ecological and spiritual aspects of the whole system. Most importantly, we must not make the same errors in the rebuild that have dominated the last 400 years.

The “Me and White Supremacy” Instagram Challenge was a profound turning point in my own personal learning in the summer of 2018 and is now powering a global movement. As the visionary author @laylafsaad said a few days ago:

The revolution will not be colonised

Layla F. Saad

We need a common language to bring us all to the same page. After a 16,000 mile journey, cooking and sharing food with uprooted and displaced communities across Europe, I conclude this is Food, a global language of love, life, justice and survival. Seeds will be our new currency.

Using principles from the circular economy model, we could transform access to food, production, distribution and consumption, ensuring ethical, transparent and inclusive processes at every stage of the supply chain. We must turn our attention from monetary banks and markets to food banks and markets which focus on true-cost accounting. This approach has the potential to be a health and wealth generator, reconnecting whole communities and enabling everyone to participate, with a bellyful.

“The tried to bury us - they didn’t know we were seeds”, Dinos Christianopoulos — P A Z by Emma Barrett Palmer | Exarchia - Athens | 2018

As we decolonise our white mindsets, conditioned over centuries, we must really listen to people’s truths in whichever form they choose to share them. The truths of creativity, in ally-ship with Mother Earth; of art, song, poetry, music, which tell us so much more than ticks in boxes. Truths enabling equitable representation of voice, from which we can work towards an evidence based systems rebuild, prioritising humanitarian and ecological protection and recovery.

So let us keep planting seeds and grafting our rootstocks, so that our collective future becomes an orchard of apple trees, healthy roots digging deep, while branches stand tall, proud, strong and defiant in the storms, leaves shining as they reflect rainbows across the sky.

“Your pilot light … that is the torch that you are going to bring to the battle”, Desiree Burch, a New York-based solo performance artist, comedian, writer, actress, and educator.

This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine

Gospel Song written by Harry Dixon Loes; civil rights context explored by Eric Deggans here.

Thank-you to Ella Matheson, Founder of Peace in the City, for sharing this version of A Change Is Gonna Come.

Thank-you to Christine Davies for sharing Desiree Burch at TedX and other members of the Happiness All Around crew.

Thank-you to Sophie Okolo, Founder of Global Health Aging, for believing in Recipes of HOPE.

All contributions towards the publication costs of our forthcoming book gratefully received at www.paypal.me/humanKINDER

Emma Barrett Palmer, Founder. Contact emma@humanKINDER.UK