SUPPORT FREE SPEECH FOR PALESTINE!
Join us to protest in-person Wednesday, December 22nd, 2021
STAND WITH THE 6!
Take Action Tuesday, December 14th, 2021!
Join us on Tuesday, December 14th, 2021 in showing solidarity with Palestinian civil society groups! We are calling attention to Israel’s anti-human rights move of designating 6 Palestinian civil society groups “terrorist.” Instead of looking at its own human rights abuses and apartheid policies, Israel condemns 6 organizations who stand for Palestinian human rights.
Use this toolkit to take action!
Take Action Tuesday, December 14th, 2021!
Today, December 14th, Stop Line 3 and Defend the Gulf are teaming up to deliver messages to US Army Corps offices from North to South and East to West, holding the Corps accountable for two emergencies we need addressed:
- A federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Line 3
- A regional EIS for the Permian and Gulf South
Here is our map of actions (find or create one!), a couple letters you can deliver to Stop Line 3 and Defend the Gulf, plus a toolkit with more ideas! Events can be simple and small; our superpower is working together. Please share your actions with the hashtags #StopLine3 and #DefendTheGulf (You can watch Line 3 and Gulf South water protectors discuss the issues on last week’s hype call!)
Tune in Tuesday, December 7th, 2021 @ 12 Noon Central!
“U.S., NATO, and Russia: Arms Races, Confrontations, and Common Security Alternatives”:
a webinar by Campaign for Peace, Disarmament, and Common Security, co-sponsored by Peace Action National.
RSVP here!
Join us on Tuesday, December 7th, 2021 at 12 Noon Central for a timely webinar: “The U.S., NATO, and Russia: Arms Races, Confrontations, & Common Security Alternatives.” As recently reported to the Times Radio by Britain’s most senior military officer, “The risk of an accidental war breaking out between Russia and the West is greater than at any time during the Cold War.” CNN – Nov. 14,2021
With tensions and fears of renewed Great Power wars over Ukraine, please join CPDCS, Peace Action, and partner organizations in welcoming Alexey Gromyko of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Kate Hudson of the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and Daryl Kimball of the U.S. Arms Control Association as panelists in this unique, and uniquely important, international webinar.
BLACK FRIDAY Call to Action!
Concerned about climate change? Think banks should stop funding dirty new fossil fuel projects? Join us on Black Friday to tell Chase Bank it’s not cool to be the #1 funder of climate chaos!
JPMorgan Chase is the world’s worst “fossil bank,” contributing $51.3 billion in fossil fuel financing last year alone, and a total of $317 billion from 2016 to 2020. Chase customers will deliver a letter to Chase urging them to stop fueling the climate crisis.
We will meet in Independence Park on Central in Evanston at 10:30 A.M. and then walk over to Chase. There will be cider, songs, and speakers. Bring a mug, a protest sign, and your family!
What: Chase Bank Black Friday Action
When: 10:30am on Black Friday, November 26th, 2021
Where: @2063 Central Street, Evanston IL
Why: To tell Chase Bank to stop funding climate chaos!
Who: You and your friends and family
USPCN leads a call to action on Rep. Schakowsky’s office–CAPA cosponsors.
Join CAPA as we support USPCN’s call to action in response to Israel’s “terrorist” designation of 6 Palestinain human rights organizations. We will be urging her to sign onto two pieces of legislation:
To participate, email us at capa@chipeaceaction.org.
Join CAPA DePaul’s Thrift Swap and Teach-in!
This is an in-person event Monday, November 15th, 2021, 6 P.M. Central, in Arts & Letters Room 104 at DePaul University.
Learn about positive and negative aspects of thrifting, mutual aid, and community resources. Hope to see you there!
Join CAPA and cosponsors as we support the rights of Alex Saab, Venezuelan diplomat.
We will meet in downtown Chicago, Monday, November 15th, 2021, 4:30 – 6 P.M. Central, at Water Tower Park (Michigan Ave. and Pearson St.). We stand in solidarity with Alex Saab, who is being held in U.S. prison. Alex Saab was seized while engaged in acquiring food and medicines for Venezuela, perfectly legal international trade. The US claims this violates the sanctions it imposed on Venezuela. See more details here.
Free US Imprisoned Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab!
End the US blockade of Venezuela, which has killed over 100,000 civilians!
End US Interference in Venezuela elections!
Sponsors: Chicago Area Peace Action, Chicago Anti-War Coalition, Chicago ALBA Solidarity, Cuba Caravan Planning Group, South Siders for Peace, Party for Socialism and Liberation, ANSWER, Latin America Solidarity Group, Peoples Response Network
CAPA Virtual Lobby Visits, November 2021.
Join CAPA as we bring issues to our legislators. We will be addressing the Yemen crisis and Nuclear Disarmament. Make your voice heard! To participate, email us at capa@chipeaceaction.org.
CAPA DePaul Action Week, October 25-29, 2021!
Join CAPA DePaul in a week of online and in-person actions!
To participate, go to: https://www.instagram.com/depaulchipeaceaction/
CAPA’s 42nd Annual Fall Benefit
The Hidden US Empire and Its Cost to Us All
Thursday, October 21st, 2021
6:00— 7:30pm Central
via Zoom
For years, Chicago Area Peace Action has focused its energy on working against the twin existential threats of accidental or designed nuclear war and unsustainable climate destabilization. But this year we choose to pause and shift our analysis inward, in the recognition that it is impossible to plot a path forward without a thorough understanding of what got us here.
Professor Daniel Immerwahr, a historian at Northwestern University and author of How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, provides an excellent recounting of the United States’ drift toward and full embrace of expansionism and global empire while it seeks to minimize the optics of such egregious behavior. Starting with the founding of the original colonies up until the present day, Professor Immerwahr recounts with brilliant clarity the path of imperial growth and the exploitative behavior that we never learned about in school, and consequently are taught to conveniently ignore. This also explains why the United States now operates, almost invisibly, more than 800 military bases in 140 sovereign nations across the globe.
What is the cost of the United States’ ambivalence toward the negative externalities that primarily impact those who we have determined don’t belong? How does this ambivalence impact our work as peace activists, and what can we do about it? Because as George Satayana and Winston Churchill have said, “those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.”
Join us this coming October 21 to learn more about the history of our nation’s imperialism. With this new understanding we can engage in greater solidarity work with people the world over and not repeat the errors of our past. We will strive to articulate a vision for what Martin Luther King called a “radical revolution of values”, and begin to address and overcome the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and abject militarism.
Facebook Event: https://fb.me/e/1np33Lamu
Ticket Link: bit.ly/CAPABenefit2021
Protecting Our Planet
One Pipeline at a Time
Join us Sunday, October 17th, 2021 from 2-4pm
@ Elliot Park, 1200 Lake Shore Blvd in Evanston
for an afternoon of activism and connection!
Want to protect the water and the climate? Come join the
movement to stop two tar sand pipeline expansions in the Midwest!
Enbridge’s Line 3 crosses under the Mississippi, violates treaty rights, and is the
climate equivalent of building 50 new coal plants. Their Line 5 is drilling under the
straits of Mackinac in our very own Great Lakes!
Hear speakers from the front lines, listen to music from Creative Artists and Activists
in Service Together LIVE!, and learn how you can support the Water Protectors Legal
Fund. There will be an open mic if anyone has music or poetry to share.
Bring a chair or blanket, a mask, and a friend.
Hope to see you at the park! (unless it rains)
#WaterIsLife #StopLine3 #StopLine5
20 Years After 9/11: The Empire’s Descent
Wednesday, August 25th
6:00— 7:30pm CST
Buttercup Park Uptown
4901 N Sheridan Rd
2021 Peace Action Virtual Lobby Days Extravaganza
Tuesday, June 15— Thursday, June 16
Join the Peace Action network June 15-17 for our 2021 VLD Extravaganza — a conference consisting of briefings on key peace issues from nuclear disarmament to cutting Pentagon bloat to ending endless wars, along with direct advocacy trainings. Detailed agenda to come, but you can register now!
After the meeting, we’ll push to get one step closer to a sane foreign policy through advocacy meetings with Members of Congress!
If you are able, we ask you consider a $20 donation to help fund this work: bit.ly/2021VLD_Donation
Notes:
– If you are interested in participating in a lobby visit(s) with your Senators and Representatives alongside Peace Action staff or other leaders, we are requiring attendance of our Lobby Visit 101 training.
– Times listed are overestimated to allow wiggle room for folks to join early and stay on a little late to chat.
Defend Courageous Journalism! Defend Julian Assange!
Thursday, June 17th
4:30pm CST
British Consulate, 625 N. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL
Ending the Climate Emergency While We Still Can
Thursday, June 3rd
7:00pm cst
Register via Zoom
Register at bit.ly/StanCoxWebinar
NEIS, Sunrise Movement Chicago, Extinction Rebellion Chicago, CAPA Loyola Student Chapter, Sunrise Chicago, CAPA UIUC Chapter, Etown Sunrise
Community Solar
Thursday, May 27th
7:00pm cst
Register Via Zoom
CAPA will host another webinar with Trajectory Energy Partners on May 27th at 7pm. The webinar will review the Community Solar program that is now underway in the Chicago Area and throughout the State of Illinois. This program will enable you to subscribe to solar energy for your home electric bills while providing the following benefits:
- No roof space required.
- No up-front investment required.
- Lower your present electricity costs from ComEd.
- Your individual and community carbon footprint will be lower. (The more solar panels we subscribe to the less electricity we will be drawing from coal, gas, and oil-fired facilities)
- Conserve energy and reduce transmission losses by putting production where power is consumed.
- Reduce infrastructure costs by reducing or eliminating the need to build additional power facilities to meet increasing power demands or to meet “Peak Demand Requirements”.
In addition, if you subscribe after reviewing the information discussed in the webinar you will be eligible to receive a limited promotional offer of $400 that can be applied to your solar monthly bills. The State of Illinois has placed a high priority on Community Solar to enable a fast transition to renewable energy. Register here to attend: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7N8NxEBqT7WOPYPrVOIOdA
CAPA Student Network Peace Summit 2021
Organizing Towards Peace, Justice, and Conflict Resolution
Saturday, May 22nd— Sunday, May 23rd
The Peace Summit may be over, but you can watch and engage with all the recordings by clicking here!
Chicago Area Peace Action’s Student Network is planning the second annual Peace Summit! This year’s theme is Organizing Towards Peace, Justice, and Conflict Resolution.
After a year that has reshaped so many of our ways of thinking and being, as we exit the Trump era and fend off complacency under a Biden administration, the need for a more organized and more connected peace and justice movement was decided to be one of the greatest needs for the 2021 Peace Summit. New skills are required in this virtual era, and we see the many activists and organizers, old and new, in need of an outlet to stay engaged after a tumultuous year.
This year’s Peace Summit will focus on forging and strengthening relationships, developing our collective skills, and expanding our knowledge base.
Check out some of the featured speakers and workshops:
- Keynote address from Margaret Flowers of Popular Resistance
- Media Strategy Panel with Jerome McDonnell, Leonna McAfee, Hassan El-Tayyab, and Chris Geovanis
- Activism 101 Workshop with Danaka Katovich
- Antiracism + Organizing Workshop facilitated by Beautiful Trouble
- Building a Local Peace Economy with Kelly Curry
- Activism Through Pop Culture with Frank Dorrel, the publisher of Addicted to War, and Emily Dorrel, CODEPINK’s Social Media and Communications Director
- Moving Beyond an Us vs Them Perspective with Peace Journalist Robert C Koehler
- And so much more! Check out the full program by clicking here.
Prohiting the First Use of Nuclear Weapons
Saturday, May 15th, 11:30am— 4:00pm cst
Register Via Zoom
A nuclear exchange between the US and Russia would incinerate hundreds of millions of people immediately, and lead to a Nuclear Winter which would slaughter an estimated 7 billion of the Earth’s 7.7 billion people, mostly through starvation. Building back civilization would require over 1,000 years [Daniel Ellsberg talk, 12/13/2020]. A U.S. nuclear strike against China would result in a similar catastrophe.
These are the stakes. As a step toward reducing the danger of Nuclear War, a coalition of groups has called upon Congress to legislate – and the President to declare – that the United States will neither initiate nor threaten to initiate the first use of Nuclear Weapons. Register to attend: bit.ly/nfu-register.
Click here to see the full schedule: http://masspeaceaction.org/prohibiting-the-first-use-of…/
Confirmed Speakers (partial list):
Rep. Ted Lieu (California)
Special message from Sen. Ed Markey
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA; video message)
William Perry (Sec. of Defense in Clinton adm.)
Ira Helfand (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War)
Elaine Scarry (Harvard; MA Peace Action; CPDCS)
Zia Mian (Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University)
Tom Collina (Ploughshares Fund)
Tong Zhao (Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy)
Joseph Gerson (CPDCS)
John Burroughs (Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy)
Kennette Benedict (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists)
Max Tegmark (MIT)
Tom Unterrainer (Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation)
Monica Montgomery, John Isaacs (Council for a Livable World)
David Swanson (World Beyond War)
Carley Towne (CODEPINK)
Anna Baker (GBPSR)
Kevin Martin (PA)
David Borris (CAPA)
Erica Fein (Win Without War)
Denise Duffield (PSR)
Jonathan King (MAPA/MIT)
William Hartung (Center for International Policy)
Joshua Bennett (Poet, Dartmouth)
Jillian Hanesworth (Buffalo Poet Laureate)
Breakout Topics:
Why No First Use Will Keep Us Safer
Communications & Messaging
Social Media / Street Theater / Artivism
Congressional Strategy
Recruiting/Organization Building
Back From the Brink
Stopping the Money Pit Missile and Reducing Nuclear Weapons Budgets
Declaring and legislating a No First Use policy would be a major step to help avoid:
A US nuclear attack that escalates
Russia or China attacking the US due to a false alarm
Violating the US Constitution by a first strike act of war
US threats of a nuclear attack which amount to bullying and blackmailing other countries, and which carry unacceptable risk of starting a general nuclear war.
With the support of a growing number of members of Congress, and President Biden’s 2019 statement that he has supported “No First Use” for twenty years, we have a real chance to take an important step toward reducing the risks of nuclear war in the next year by getting a No First Use policy declared and legislated into law!
Join us on May 15 at a conference to discuss and implement “Prohibiting the First Use of Nuclear Weapons.” Register to attend.
The conference is free but we appreciate donations to support this work.
Cosponsors: Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security (CPDCS); Mass Peace Action (MAPA); Council for a Livable World (CLW); CodePINK; Chicago Area Peace Action (CAPA); NY Peace Action (PANYS); Nuclear Age Peace Foundation; Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (GBPSR); Maine Peace Action; MIT Radius; Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR); Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard; Public Citizen; Maryland Peace Action; Institute for People’s Engagement; PeaceWorks Kansas City [list still in formation]
Vigil for Yemen: Remembering 6 Years of War
Thursday, March 25th, 5:30 PM
Federal Plaza, Chicago
Action Corps Illinois
Chicago Area Peace Action
CODEPINK
SWANA Chicago
End the Endless Wars: US Troops Out of the Middle East
Saturday, March 20th, 1:30 PM— 3:00 PM CST
End the Endless Wars: US Troops Out of the Middle East!
18 years after President Bush invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003, the US remains at war in Afghanistan and Syria. President Biden bombed Syria on February 25. The US continues to support the wars in Yemen and Libya, stations troops in Iraq and Somalia, and is selling arms to its allies Saudi, UAE, and Israel as they prepare to confront Iran. Syria and Iran are heavily sanctioned, including new “Caesar Act” sanctions which are devastating Syria’s civilian economy, and President Biden’s team is moving much too slowly to rejoin the Iran Nuclear Deal. Presidents change but the endless wars continue and escalate. Get full speaker line-up here.
Endless Wars = Few or No Gains for Working People
Saturday, March 20th, 12:00 PM
Federal Plaza, Chicago
Every new Presidential administration starts with attractive promises made to working class people: Good jobs, healthcare, prosperity for all.
If the economy does well, working people may make modest gains – these are pennies compared to the unimaginable wealth shoveled into the pockets of America’s richest people. More often, there’s stagnation and, for the poorest, outright regression. Rightwing populists build their careers and dangerous movements – blaming immigrants, Blacks, Muslims, and Jews for the nation’s problems. They inflame bigotry against LGBTQs, women and others.
Few Americans realize that, compared to other industrialized nations, the richest country in world history has by far the WORST public benefits for working parents and their children.
The reasons are not hard to find. Since the end of World War II, U.S. rulers have dominated the world with a huge military apparatus designed to intimidate other nations into doing its bidding or, failing that, brutally punishing them. Like police forces on the local level, the U.S. military eats up an enormous part of spending: 50% of the federal discretionary budget.
Meanwhile, much poorer nations suffer wholesale death and devastation unimaginable to people in the U.S.
For all the U.S. soldiers killed, traumatized or otherwise disabled by war, there are many more times that number of Iraqis, Afghans, Syrians and others with destroyed homes and shattered lives. Thanks to the U.S. conducting constant drone bombings, its support for brutal dictators, sanctions, threats of invasions and coups, the working people of these violated countries have far fewer resources to recover from wars and climate disasters. Many are forced into desperate migrations from their homes and communities in Central and South America, northern Africa, the Middle East, southern Asia and elsewhere.
In addition, the U.S. military is the world’s biggest polluter. It is the #1 contributor to the growing climate catastrophe. While politicians debate the proposed $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, none mention the U.S.’s projected $3 trillion nuclear weapons “modernization” program.
We must end this death spiral. At best, the leading politicians of both parties have tinkered around the edges of these massive, deadly problems. At worst, they’ve thrown more gasoline on the fire. Either way, their measures fall far short of what working people need, especially Black, Latinx and Native American people.
For all the “change” they promise, both parties stay committed to preserving and extending U.S. domination of the world. They each have an iron-clad commitment to funding its massive nuclear and conventional arsenals with a devastating cost to working people here and abroad.
History has shown that the only times we get changes of the magnitude we need are when masses of working people, organized and with clear strategy, take matters into their own hands. This was the power behind the union struggles of the Great Depression, the struggles of Black people and their allies in the Civil Rights Movement, and the anti-war, Black Power, Chicano, feminist and LGBTQ movements of the late 1960s.
In the spirit of those earlier movements, on Saturday, March 20th – the 18th anniversary of the United States’ second longest Forever War, the invasion and occupation of Iraq – please join us as we demand:
** End State Repression & Institutional Racism
http://ccawr.org/end-state-repression-institutional-racism/
** Promote an Economy That Serves Working Class People
http://ccawr.org/promote-an-economy-that-serves-working…/
** Housing, Food, Education & Healthcare are Human Rights
http://ccawr.org/housing-food-education-healthcare-are…/
** We Have the Right to Control Our Bodies
http://ccawr.org/we-have-the-right-to-control-our-bodies/
** International Peace & Human Rights
http://ccawr.org/international-peace-human-rights/
** Protect the Planet, Protect Us All
http://ccawr.org/protect-the-planet-protect-us-all/
CAPA Open Membership Meeting
Friday, March 19th, 6:30— 8:00 PM CST
Defund The Pentagon, by 10% in 2022
Nuclear No First Use
No New Cold Wars
Palestinian Civil and Human Rights
Climate Group Campaign Updates
The Doomsday Machine- Talk with Daniel Ellsberg
Thursday, March 18th, 6:00— 7:00 PM CST
As part of an ongoing series of of events this year addressing the dire nature of U.S. nuclear weapons policy, CAPA and other Peace Action affiliates are pleased to invite you to a conversation with Daniel Ellsberg about his blockbuster book, The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. In Edward Snowden’s words, “The father of American whistle-blowing” has written an urgent chronicle that “is both an urgent warning and a call to arms to a public that has grown dangerously habituated to the idea that the means to our extinction will forever be on hair trigger alert.”
Please join us for an important evening that will offer you insight into what you can do as a private citizen to shine a bright light on a frightening under reported unstable architecture and help move us one step closer to the dream of abolition .
CAPA is a cosponsor of this event. Learn more here.
International Day of Action for Yemen
Monday, January 25th, 5:00 PM CST
Chicago Federal Plaza
Over 115 organizations from the US, UK, Yemen, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, France, Germany, India, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and across the world, are coming together to call for an end to the war in Yemen and solidarity with the people of Yemen.
– Restore all humanitarian and food aid to Yemen, including USAID that was cut by President Trump at the beginning of the pandemic
– Stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
– Stop all US involvement in the war in Yemen including intelligence and logistics support.
– Pressure Saudi Arabia to stop the blockade that is starving Yemen.
– lift the designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization
° Danaka Katovich of CODEPINK
° Grace of CAPA DePaul
° SJP Chicago
° Nancy of SWANA Chicago
° Nadiah who will be sharing a poem
Action Corps Illinois
Chicago Area Peace Action
Chicago Area Peace Action— DePaul Chapter
Chicago Committee Against War and Racism
Chicago Democratic Socialists of America
CODEPINK
SJP Chicago
Ban Nuclear Weapons Car Caravan
Friday, January 22nd
12 PM
Around Federal Plaza, Chicago
– Declare a no first use policy on nuclear weapons
– Renew New START for 5 years
– Reengage in the INF and Open Skies treaties
Panel: Is this the end of nuclear weapons?
Thursday, January 21st
6:00 PM
Join a panel of nuclear weapons experts to learn more about the significance of the ban treaty entering into force, and what the U.S. can do to move toward nuclear weapons abolition. The United States has not yet signed the ban treaty, but substantial reforms are possible in 2021 including renewed international agreements, reductions in nuclear weapons spending, and bold policies like a No First Use position.
Inauguration Eve: Demand REAL Change
Tuesday, January 19th
4:00 PM
Chicago’s Federal Plaza
http://ccawr.org/end-state-repression-institutional-racism/
http://ccawr.org/promote-an-economy-that-serves-working…/
http://ccawr.org/housing-food-education-healthcare-are…/
http://ccawr.org/we-have-the-right-to-control-our-bodies/
http://ccawr.org/international-peace-human-rights/
http://ccawr.org/protect-the-planet-protect-us-all/
http://ccawr.org/poner-fin-a-la-represion-estatal-y-el…/
http://ccawr.org/promover-una-economia-que-sirva-a-la…/
http://ccawr.org/vivienda-alimentacion-educacion-y…/
http://ccawr.org/tenemos-el-derecho-a-controlar-nuestros…/
http://ccawr.org/paz-y-derechos-humanos-en-todo-el-mundo/
http://ccawr.org/proteger-el-planeta-protegernos-a-todos/
Webinar: Stop the War on Yemen!
Thursday, January 14th
6:00 PM CST
> Hassan El-Tayyab, Friends Committee lead lobbyist on Middle East policy
> Danaka Katovich, Yemen campaign coordinator for CODE PINK.
> Haig Hovaness, Secretary of Green Party Peace Action
CONTACT US
If you would like more information about CAPA, or would like to volunteer or intern for CAPA, please contact us by email or phone.
