May 1st PEACE FAIR at College of DuPage

COD students join with west suburban peacemakers,

To present day of education, public action and inspiration – for Peace.

On Saturday May 1st, the one year anniversary of Pres. Bush’s declaring “an end to major combat operations in Iraq”, students and community members will join together to call for an end to the War in Iraq and present an action packed day of peace activities in the heart of DuPage County. While local governments and states struggle with budget shortfalls, many here are questioning the exorbitant cost of War in Iraq, both in dollars and in lives.  As the cost of the U.S. involvement in the war soars to $4 billion dollars a month, service personnel are being killed at an alarming rate with no end in sight, many students and community members are feeling it’s time to get involved in working for peace, and calling for an end to the War in Iraq.

COD students from Student Leadership Committee, Campus Greens, Youth for Christ, Latino Ethnic Awareness Assoc, Newman Assoc. and Students for Democratic Foreign Policy will join with peacemakers from the West Suburban Faith-based PEACE Coalition, spanning from Oak Park to Joliet and Aurora, to present a day focused on public action, education, humanitarian relief project, exhibits, music, documentary films – all focused on peace.

The Peace Fair workshops, speakers and exhibits will be held in COD’s Student Resource Center, Room 2800.  The SRC is located at the SE corner of Lambert Rd. & Fawell Blvd. in Glen Ellyn.  The Peace Fair will open at 1:00 p.m. with a keynote speaker.   Workshops will run from 2:00 until 5:00 p.m.  There is a optional catered dinner from 5:30 until 6:30 followed b! y an ope n to the public Peace Concert from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m.  Participants may choose to attend just the Peace Fair or the Peace Concert separately, or may stay for Peace Fair, dinner and evening concert, in its entirety.

EDUCATION:  The Peace Fair will open with a keynote address,  by Rev. Michael McConnell, Director of the American Friends Service Committee, Great Lakes Region, a noted speaker and key leader in the Chicago area regional peace movement.  Twenty five workshops will be presented on a range of peace topics, including: Working for Peace in Iraq, Conscientious Objection to War, Active Nonviolence in Peacemaking, Direct Action, Alternative Media for Peacemakers, Faithful Dissent – a Woman’s Issue in Church and Society, Spirituality of Peace, Songs for Peace, Civil Rights and the Patriot Act,  Raising Nonviolent Children in a Violent Society, Youth and Peace, and many more.  The Workshops will be presented by leaders in the local peace movement as well as major peace organizations from across the Chicagoland region.  In addition, Two documentaries films will be screened: MoveOn.org’s “Uncovered: the Whole Truth About the Iraq War” and a Chicago produced film: “Where We Stood: Chicago’s Resistance to the U.S. War in Iraq” focusing on the mass demonstrations, civil disobedience and legal challenges to the Iraq War.


Humanitarian Relief:  Health Kits are being collected at the Peace Fair.  They will be distributed to war torn areas and areas of natural disasters.  Each kit should include: hand towel, wash cloth, comb, nail file or fingernail clipper, bar of soap, tooth brush, toothpaste, plastic strip bandages.  All Items are to be new, and be sealed in a one gallon plastic zip type bag.

For information about the Health Kits, call 630-665-5109

EXHIBITS:  The exhibit ‘EYES WIDE OPEN’ on the War in Iraq,  will be on display at the May 1st Peace Fair.  Developed by the Chicago office of American Friends Service Committee,   The Eyes Wide Open exhibition is a multimedia, multisensory journey through the words, images, and sounds of the Iraq war. Visitors move through a vivid memorial to the war's soldier and civilian victims, a searing exposure of the statements told to the U.S. public to justify the war.  It is a memorial to those who have died, including both US service personnel and Iraqi civilians, including nearly 600 pair of combat boots, ea! ch tagge d with the name, age and address of each US soldier killed.  The EWO exhibit will be on display in the Student Resource Center’s lower level hallway, between the Bookstore and the Student Art Gallery

Additionally, more than 30 local and regional peace and justice organizations will staff exhibit tables, with displays and information about how to become more actively involved in peacemaking activities.

Public Action:  A standing Peace Vigil will precede the opening of the Peace Fair, from 11:30 to 12:30 Sat. May 1st.  It will be held at the SW corner of Roosevelt Rd. & Park, in Glen Ellyn.  The public is invited to attend.  Participants will present signs and banners for peace to motorists and shoppers passing by.   Then participants will head over to the start of the Peace Fair at 1:00.  This event is a joint initiative of DuPage Against War Now, DuPage Peace Through Justice Coalition, Pax Christi IL, Campus Greens and West Suburban Faith-based Peace Coalition.

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