$3 before 8:30
$5 after 8:30

with:
Matt Wixon’s Flying Circus (Detroit MI, Rock)
Sweet Clyde (Kalamazoo MI, Funk Blues)
Flashing Blue Lights (Kalamazoo MI, Folk)
Soma-Haoma (Kalamazoo MI, Reggae Rock)

The Peace Center is moving into a new location in the soon to be built Wesley Foundation building on the West side of WMU’s Campus.  This move will help us to be more productive is speading peace throughout the Kalamazoo area and beyond.  Come to our Peace Raiser Fundraiser to help us raise the money we need to make the move possible. Everyone over 18 is invited to the Old Dog Tavern for a night of great food, great people, great music and of course peace. There will also be a public silent auction, all proceeds will benefit the KPC.

Friday Feburary 3rd 7pm
Wesley Foundation on WMU campus

Red Tail Ring is the musical brainchild of two old-time-minded Michiganders, Michael Beauchamp and Laurel Premo. The collaboration blends the loving attention of revivalist fervor with the playful creativity of starting from scratch. Whether rendering a traditional tune or one of their many original compositions, the duo infuses each song with musical imagination, haunting harmonies and instrumental artistry. http://www.redtailring.com/

Since 2001, Andru Bemis has wandered the ends, edges and in-betweens of North America more times than he can count – by passenger train, foot, thumb, bicycle, bus, subway, ski and occasional aeroplane. Wearing a three-piece suit and a derby hat, he carries his beat-up instruments on his back: banjo, guitar, sometimes a fiddle or banjo-ukulele…. Call him a “Folk” musician if you will. Bemis plays music for folks, simple as that. His unmistakable voice, lightning-fast banjo and expressive finger-picked guitar styles, quirky humor, engaging stage presence and exquisitely crafted tunes of travel, love and longing have earned Bemis a dedicated following throughout Mexico, Canada, the U.S. and beyond.  http://www.andrubemis.com/

Room 107 of the Bernhard Center on WMU’s campus

The Really Really Free Market is a national event created by communities which fosters sharing, giving, getting, and using. The market, which acts similar to a free garage sale, allows people to bring what they no longer want, and take what they think they can utilize. It’s about reducing waste, building community, and meeting people’s needs. Feel free to bring clothes, schools supplies, books, music, knick knacks, and small household items.

In order for this event to live on, it needs continuous involvement and support. Please consider volunteering to set up or take down. To do so, please email
nola.c.wiersma@wmich.edu

This event is brought to you by the Solid Waste Reduction Department.

The son of Holocaust survivors, Norman Finkelstein is a strong critic of U.S. and Israeli policy in the Middle East. He says that “It is precisely and exactly because of the lessons my parents taught me that I will not be silent when Israel commits its crimes against the Palestinians.”
He received his doctorate in 1988 from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. For many years he taught political theory and the Israel-Palestine conflict. He is the author of several books, including The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, and “This Time We Went Too Far”: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion.

Sponsors: West Michigan Justice in Palestine, Kalamazoo Non-Violent Opponents of War, Kalamazoo Interfaith Coalition for Peace and Justice.

Hip-Hop has been gentrified. Folk music has been watered down. Punk Rock sold out. In the face of this mainstream betrayal, two of the movement’s most dynamic performers have joined forces to take their respective genres BACK TO THE ROOTS, celebrating the role of music in people’s resistance to oppression around the word.

Evan Greer and spiritchild are revolutionary artists from radically different musical styles who share a common commitment to using their craft as a tool and a weapon in direct support of grassroots struggles for change. 

These two inspiring musicians are as likely to be found at an organizing meeting or a protest as on the stage at a club or festival. They don’t just sing about the struggle, they live it every day through constant work in their communities.

Listen to Spirit child http://www.xspiritmental.com/

Listen to Evan Greer http://www.evangreer.org/

Today I received sad news: Michigan Peace Works (MPW) is closing its doors due to a shortage of donations. (MPW’s mission is listed below this letter) As you can see, both MPW and the Kalamazoo Peace Center work towards the same goals. I received much of my training while in high school in Ann Arbor from the same activists that started MPW. Because of their mentorship and resources, my classmates and I were able to organize a city-wide middle and high school walk-out against the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Six hundred of us left our classrooms, surrounded the Federal Building, and shut down one of Ann Arbor’s main business streets. We were soon joined by our allies at the University of Michigan, and together, we occupied downtown Ann Arbor.

This action inspired teenagers across the city to participate in our democracy and built a network that paved the way for a series of teach-ins, protests and even internships. Now with MPW closing its doors, it will no longer be there to work for justice or inspire youth activists as they have for the past 10 years.

In Kalamazoo, we are fortunate to have many organizations, like ISAAC and K.N.O.W., and of course, the Peace Center, who will continue the struggle. But we need your participation. We need your time, we need your ideas, and we need your financial contributions. Because of my experience in Ann Arbor, I know the importance of training future leaders, and having a strong organizational infrastructure.

Everyday competition, greed, and imperialism are taught to be necessary components of success. This is taught in the classrooms at WMU, KPS and mainstream media. Everyday the Peace Center is out there teaching a different narrative. We are out there organizing for justice, and we are out there training new leaders to recreate this world.

Please, we are in need of your financial donation as well as office supplies, computers, cameras, and books. We need your support to continue as a viable, financially stable organization. Donations are tax deductible. Paypal here make sure in the second window to make note that it is for the Peace Center, checks should be mailed to 2101 Wilbur Ave, Kalamazoo MI 49007. Please make checks out to the Wesley Foundation, with the memo “Peace Center donation.”

Thank you and happy New Year,

Benjamin Ayer, co-director, Kalamazoo Peace Center

Michigan Peaceworks (MPW) is a grassroots organization dedicated to peace, social justice, human rights and civil liberties.  We undertake actions at the local, state, and national levels to achieve these ends.

MPW, in carrying out its purpose, focuses its talents and energies on the following major goals:

• To provide accurate information and analysis about U.S. military activities around the world as well as non-violent alternatives to militarism.
• To develop a viable community organizing model that can generate effective action to influence public policies in favor of peace, social justice, and human rights.
• To recruit and train future social activists through a Youth Activism Program.
• To conduct outreach to build support for Michigan Peaceworks and its mission.
• To build a statewide network of individuals and groups with similar values for the purpose of advancing peace, social justice, and human rights.
• To create and maintain a safe space for dissent from often-prevailing views that support militarism and condone injustice.

Get on the Bridge! is a nationwide action for the National Day of
Action for the 99%.

We Are The People, Michigan Citizen Action and ISAAC are organizing a
Get on the Bridge event in Kalamazoo on Thursday, November 17. The
details are below and the flyer is attached.

WHEN: 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.

WHERE: I-94 Business Loop/E. Michigan Ave. Bridge

Across the street from the Rose Park Veterans Memorial) Parking
located off of King Highway.