Conference says: Fund human needs, not war

James Kelly

The People’s Peace Conference held its second annual gathering on Jan. 19 at the Rutgers School of Law in Newark, N.J. The Peace and Justice Coalition, a broad coalition of more than 100 organizations sharing the goal of uniting and fighting against U.S. wars abroad and wars against poor and working people at home, sponsored the conference, which the People’s Organization for Progress (POP) initiated.

Larry Hamm

The conference’s main theme was, “The U.S. War in Iraq and our communities—Breaking the silence: The grassroots speak.”

Conference organizer Vickie White told Workers World that more than 250 people from the region attended the event, which included opening and closing plenary sessions, and cultural performances as well as workshops.

Margaret Stevens

Lawrence Hamm, POP chairperson, opened the conference with remarks on how the money going to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should be going to fund human needs at home, especially in the Black and Latin@ communities. Hamm cited hospital closings, based on lack of profitability, in Black-majority Newark, the most populous New Jersey city and one of the poorest. The workshops raised important issues of police brutality, the prison-industrial complex, violence against women, global warming, environmental racism and military recruitment.

Other speakers included Margaret Stevens, who helped to found a New Jersey chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW); anti-war activist James Kelly, whose son died in combat in Iraq in December 2005; Amiri Baraka, a well- known poet and activist; Ray Stever, president, Industrial Union Council; and Paula Rogovin, Military Families Speak Out. For more information, see www.peaceandjusticecoalition.org.

—Report & photos by Monica Moorehead