For Immediate Release: August 4, 2016
Contact: Rachel Schmidt, rschmidt@paxchristiusa.org, 202-635-2741 x3311
Pax Christi USA Hosts National Gathering on Racial Justice
Includes Workshops, Public Witness Event, & Teacher of Peace Award
Baltimore, MD—Pax Christi USA will host its 2016 national gathering, “Building the Beloved Community,” August 12-14 at the DoubleTree Hilton – BWI Airport. The theme of the event is racial justice.
“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ‘the aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community,” Sr. Patricia Chappell, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA said. “Especially with recent violence towards people of color in the U.S. – a focus on racial justice and the beloved community is sorely needed.”
Many educational opportunities will be provided. Dr. Lisa Sharon Harper of Sojourners will be one of the keynote speakers with a presentation titled, ““Racial Injustice and the Personal and Systemic Transformation Needed in Creating the Beloved Community.” Workshops include presentations on the intersection of racial justice with militarism, care for the earth, immigration, Islamophobia and criminal justice.
A time for action and communal dialogue will take place with a public witness event on August 13 from 2 – 5pm in partnership with the No Boundaries Coalition of Central West Baltimore. It will include a neighborhood clean-up and block party at 900 – 1000 N. Carrollton St. Baltimore, MD.
The Teacher of Peace Award will be presented to Art Laffin August 14, 10:30am. “We look forward to recognizing Art with this award,” Chappell said. “Art has worked consistently throughout his life for peace with justice. We are blessed to have his example.”
Laffin is a member of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington D.C. For nearly four decades, he has been an organizer, writer and speaker in the faith-based, nonviolent, movement for peace, social justice and the eradication of poverty and war. Laffin is co-author of The Risk of the Cross and co-editor of Swords into Plowshares.
For media inquiries or interviews, contact Rachel Schmidt, Communications Coordinator at rschmidt@paxchristiusa.org or 202-635-2741 x3311.
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Pax Christi USA (PCUSA) is the national Catholic movement for peace. Grounded in the Gospel and Catholic social teaching, PCUSA is a membership organization that rejects war, preparation for war, every form of violence and domination, and personal and systemic racism.