![\"CA-Dem-lg(1714)(5-16-15)\"](\"https:\/\/peacealliance.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/CA-Dem-lg17145-16-15.jpg\")
<\/a>Mainstream Peacebuilding Poster and CA Leads – Lily Marie (NE CA Lead), Jerilyn Stapleton (So. CA SC), John Viscount (www.peacenow.com), Nancy Merritt (No. CA SC), Jo Ann Gaines (LA Lead), & Brian Gibbs (San Diego Lead)<\/p><\/div>\n
Peacebuilding should be such a part of the fabric of our nation that it is no longer a borderline activity, sometimes recognized as critical, sometimes marginalized, sometimes funded, sometimes tossed into the defunded bin. To build upon our accomplishments with the CA Democratic Party (CDP) over the years, the CA Peace Alliance\/ Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding went to the CDP convention to take peacebuilding from the fringes to the mainstream<\/strong>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Our prior accomplishments with the CDP include endorsement by the Party of 1) Department of Peacebuilding legislation (currently HR 1111\/ DoP) and 2) Youth P<\/u><\/strong>rison R<\/u><\/strong>eduction Through O<\/u><\/strong>pportunity M<\/u><\/strong>entoring I<\/u><\/strong>ntervention S<\/u><\/strong>upport and E<\/u><\/strong>ducation (currently HR 2197\/ YPA or Youth PROMISE Act).\u00a0 The CDP also included our peacebuilding language in its 2012 and 2014 Platforms and adopted our \u201cPeacebuilding\u201d resolution.<\/p>\n \u00a0The CA Peace Alliance Democratic Party endorsement team (CA Dem Endorsement team) and volunteers from throughout the state \u201cmainstreamed peacebuilding\u201d at the CDP convention from May 15 \u2013 17, 2015 in Anaheim, CA, just blocks from Disneyland\u00a0 — \u201cthe happiest place on earth.\u201d\u00a0 Approximately 2,500 attended, including 2,123 registered CDP delegates; CDP officials; local, state and federal elected officials and candidates; exhibitors and observers; and members of the press.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0We came away with new and renewed alliances<\/strong>, 1,075 newly-signed letters<\/strong> urging members of Congress to cosponsor DoP legislation \u2013 which is sponsored by CA Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-13) — and YPA legislation, and we moved forward our <\/strong>UN Peacebuilding Resolution<\/strong> (\u201cResolution Urging The United Nations & All Member States To Support Infrastructures For Peacebuilding Within and Externally Among Nations\u201d). \u00a0During the convention, the Resolutions committee approved our UN Peacebuilding resolution and the Party as a whole will likely endorse it in August 2015. \u00a0In addition to seeking support of CDP delegates<\/strong> for peacebuilding measures, we lobbied Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15) to cosponsor the DoP legislation.<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. KEYNOTE MESSAGES AND ATTENDEES<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n CA Controller Betty Yee (Center) with CA Peace Alliance Supporters and Volunteers<\/p><\/div>\n At the convention, a parade of elected and Party officials spoke about many issues that concern this country.\u00a0 The CA Dem Endorsement team was there to ensure the peacebuilding was part of the conversation.<\/strong><\/p>\n Keynote Speaker Senator Elizabeth Warren<\/u><\/strong> (MA), acknowledging that retired Congressman Barney Frank (MA) was also speaking at the convention, thanked the CA Democrats for convening the MA Democratic convention in CA.\u00a0 Reflecting common themes and concerns, she said, \u201cWe don\u2019t win what we don\u2019t fight for.\u201d\u00a0 Senator Warren asked people if they were willing to fight for a world where the law applies to everyone, including banks; a world that believes in science and fighting to protect the climate; fighting for decent minimum wages; fighting for every kid\u2019s right to an education without being crushed by student loans; fighting for immigration reform, fighting for equal pay for equal work.\u00a0 \u201cIf we fight for our values, we will win.<\/strong>\u00a0 Are you ready to fight?\u201d Senator Warren\u2019s inspiring speech left some of us noting the need to change our national psyche and rhetoric from \u201cfight, fight, fight for\u201d to \u201ccollaborate, work for, empower \u2026\u201d \u00a0\u00a0A challenge of peacebuilding is to transform \u201cfighting\u201d from the connotation of violence and conflict to collaborating and working to find nonviolent solutions.\u00a0 (Often easier said than done.)<\/p>\n Retired Rep. Barney Frank (MA)<\/u><\/strong> said the refrain is for America to lead the world, but if the U.S. leads the world, where are we leading to?<\/strong>\u00a0 He wants the U.S. to advocate for human rights, but said sending the American military into every situation is an enormous mistake.\u00a0\u00a0 The U.S. military does not need to intervene any time, any place. \u201cThe military can stop bad things from happening, but it can\u2019t make good things happen.\u00a0 It can\u2019t bring democracy.\u00a0 It can\u2019t bring respect for civil society or reconciliation of Sunni, Shiite and Kurds.\u201d\u00a0 Rep. Frank advocated reducing the U.S. military budget and reducing the military to the level where we can defend ourselves and our legitimate interests, but not sending the military to resolve political situations it cannot handle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Elected officials<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 All CA statewide officers are Democrats, and almost brought their messages to the convention, including: Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Treasurer John Chiang, Controller Betty Yee, and Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.\u00a0 (There were no sightings of Governor Jerry Brown.)\u00a0 At least the following members of Congress attended: House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-12), Rep. Xavier Becerra (CA-34), Rep. Janice Hahn (CA-44), Rep. Mike Honda (CA-17), Rep. Loretta Sanchez (CA-46), Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15), and Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-43). Senate pro Tem Kevin De Leon(SD-24), Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (AD-78, State Senator Isadore Hall (SD35), State Senator Mike McGuire (SD2), State Assembly member Reggie Jones-Sawyer (AD-59) Board of Equalization member Fiona Ma, and other state and local elected and candidates were there.<\/p>\n Exhibitors.<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0 The CA Dem Endorsement team <\/strong>joined a host of others who tabled at the convention, including an Armenian American group, the Brownie Mary Democratic Club (Barnie Frank spent some quality time at the group\u2019s Saturday night party), the Carpenter\u2019s Union, Planned Parenthood, Progressive Democrats of America, SEIU United Long Term Care Workers, Sierra Club, and candidate\/ member of Congress booths.<\/p>\n 2. CA PEACE ALLIANCE MESSAGING & ACTIONS<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n At the Resolution Committee Hearings – Sikhs, Nancy Merritt, Jerilyn Stapleton<\/p><\/div>\n Whether working at our booth, testifying at the Resolutions committee, messaging at the caucus meeting, or talking with convention attendees, we worked to place peacebuilding front and center<\/strong>.\u00a0 We tied the need for a US DoP to the Peace Alliance\u2019s (TPA\u2019s) \u201cBe the Movement\u201d and its five pillars of peacebuilding:\u00a0 1) cultivating personal peace; 2) teaching peace in schools; 3) empowering community peacebuilding; 4) humanizing the justice system; and 5) fostering international peace.<\/p>\n Peacebuilding <\/strong>is a range of measures to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict<\/strong> by strengthening national capacities at all levels for conflict management and to lay the foundations for sustainable peace & development.\u00a0 Peacebuilding is built upon:<\/p>\n CA Peace Alliance volunteers lobbied and networked to mainstream peacebuilding by encouraging attendees to:<\/p>\n A. Our CDP Resolution Supporting Global Infrastructures of Peace<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n At every statewide CDP meeting, there is a cascade of causes and concerns.\u00a0 During the Anaheim convention, that was reflected in 70 plus resolutions that were submitted to the Resolutions committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n Submitted resolutions<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 During the first Resolutions committee meeting on 05\/15\/15, the committee placed on its consent calendar<\/strong> most to the submitted resolutions, including the CA Peace Alliance \u201cResolution<\/strong> Urging the United Nations and All Member States to Support Infrastructures for Peacebuilding Within and Externally Among Nations,\u201d which resolved:<\/p>\n that [the] California Democratic Party urges the United Nations and all Member States to promote and support the establishment of peacebuilding infrastructures in order to facilitate the gathering and creation of best practices and policies, improving communication, cooperation and collaboration to save future generations from the atrocities of violent conflict, poverty and human-induced environmental disasters, advanced by passage of the global resolution.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Other submitted resolutions included \u201cprevention of sexual harassment at secondary school level,\u201d \u201cfully accept Sikhs in the U.S. military,\u201d \u201ca life-preserving approach to wetlands restoration,\u201d \u201crestoring California\u2019s promise of free tuition for all of its residents,\u201d \u201csafe storage for San Onofre nuclear waste,\u201d \u201csupport death with dignity,\u201d and \u201cdesalination as part of statewide water policy.\u201d<\/p>\n Volunteers at CA TPA Booth<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cImmediate\u201d resolutions<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 During its second session on 5\/16\/15, the Resolutions committee selected only its top ten or so most \u201cimmediate\u201d resolutions to send to the Party as a whole for adoption at that convention.\u00a0 The other approximately 60 resolutions will be voted on by the Party at the CDP Executive Board meeting in August in Burlingame, CA.\u00a0<\/p>\n To determine the most \u201cimmediate\u201d resolutions<\/strong>, the Resolutions committee allowed one representative of each resolution one minute to make the case for their resolution.<\/strong>\u00a0 Speaking on behalf of the CA Dem Endorsement team, Jerilyn Stapleton (Los Angeles TPA) said peacebuilding and creating infrastructures and departments\/ ministries of peacebuilding within and among all member states of the United Nations are crucial and urgent:<\/p>\n \u201cJust two days ago, on May 13, 2015, the House Appropriations Subcommittee \u00a0proposed to defund juvenile justice programs! This means: 1) no federal dollars for prevention programs; 2) no resources for evidence-based interventions for at-risk youth; and 3) no core protections for kids in the system,\u201d Jerilyn said.\u00a0 \u00a0The cost of violence in lives and money is enormous.\u00a0 Conflict prevention and violence prevention are up to 60 times more cost effective than intervening after violence erupts.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 That is why peacebuilding is urgent and should be prioritized.<\/p>\n While the Resolutions committee did not send our UN Peacebuilding resolution to the floor during this convention, it was approved, will go before the Party in August and will very likely be adopted at that time<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Adopted resolutions<\/u><\/strong>.<\/u>\u00a0 At the convention, the CDP adopted a resolution reaffirming CDP opposition to \u201cfast tracking\u201d of the Trans Pacific Partnership<\/strong>, and also adopted resolutions relating to:\u00a0 \u201cmake California work better for working women by advancing workplace equality and modernizing Worker\u2019s Compensation laws<\/strong>,\u201d \u201crepeal CA\u2019s personal beliefs exemption to mandatory vaccinations<\/strong>,\u201d support \u201cdivestment from fossil fuel companies<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t breathe resolution: medical aid and transparency in police encounters<\/strong> and investigations,\u201d and \u201cCA Senior Bill of Rights<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 See www.cadem.org<\/a> for more details.<\/p>\n B. MOC Letters<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n At the CA Peace Alliance booth, and moving throughout the convention, we collected 1,075 newly-signed letters, <\/strong>including 1,056 urging members of Congress to co-sponsor DoP legislation and 19 urging members of Congress to cosponsor YPA legislation.\u00a0 <\/strong>Further, Jo Ann Gaines (Los Angeles area TPA), added 222 letters from prior events in Southern CA, including 100 related to DoP and 122 related to YPA co-sponsorship.\u00a0<\/p>\n DoP letters.<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0 At the convention, the DoP letters were addressed to six members of Congress from CA, asking them to cosponsor DoP legislation:\u00a0 Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37), Rep. Ami Bera (CA-7), Rep. Tony Cardenas (CA-29), Rep. Susan Davis (CA-53), Rep. John Garamendi (CA-3) and Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-43).\u00a0 In the batch of letters from Jo Ann Gaines were DoP letters to many other members of Congress.<\/p>\n YPA letters<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 The YPA letters were written to Senator Boxer and to various CA members of Congress, including Rep. Bass, (CA-37), Rep. Becerra (CA-34), Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24), Rep. Tony Cardenas (CA-29), Rep. Janice Hahn ((CA-44), Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-33), Rep. Alan Lowenthal (CA-4), Rep. Mimi Rogers (CA-45), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA-48), Rep. Lucile Roybal-Allard (CA-40), Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA-38), Rep. Loretta Sanchez (CA-46), Rep. Brad Sherman (CA-30), and Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-43).<\/p>\n C. PEACENOW Petition<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Letter Signers<\/p><\/div>\n Part of the inspiration for our \u201cUN Peacebuilding Resolution\u201d at the CDP convention was the online petition to the United Nations General Assembly being circulated worldwide calling for passage of a resolution urging \u201cEstablishment of Infrastructures to Support a Culture of Peace\u201d in all nations. \u00a0At our booth, we promoted this.<\/p>\n The online petition is evolved from ideas that have been brewing over many years and related actions, including: 1) work at the United Nations, its 1998 UN Resolution for a Culture of Peace and the 1999 UNESCO Resolution for a Decade of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World; 2) collaborations at various summits over the years of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures of Peace (GAMIP); and 3) a connection between John Viscount (www.peacenow.com<\/a>) and some in the GAMIP<\/a> \/ National Peace Academy<\/a> \/ Peace Alliance<\/a> community such as Mike Abkin, Anne Creter, Maggi Koren and Dot Maver. That connection with John began when his film Admissions<\/em><\/a> received its world premiere showing at the 2011 GAMIP summit in Cape Town, South Africa.\u00a0 To sign the petition and watch Admissions<\/em>, go to www.PeaceNow.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>\n
\n
<\/a>\n
<\/a>