NOLA AFSC IN ACTION

NOLA AFSC IN ACTION

Peace by Piece Slide Show

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

"We Are One" Youth Summit

On April 9, 2011 Peace by Peace Nonviolence Youth Group facilitated a nonviolence workshop for local high school youth at the "We Are One" Youth Summit hosted by The American Friends Service Committee and  Project Future For Our Youth  at the  Desire Street Ministries building in New Orleans.

The Peace by Piece nonviolence workshop addressed the connections between violence, the 'school to prison pipeline' and militarism. Check out Peace by Piece leader, Briana O'Neal, presenting a powerful story about the effects of the school to prison pipeline on local youth.




The 'school to prison pipeline' is a system of pushing children out of the school system into the juvenile justice and criminal systems by using "zero tolerance" policies and testing programs meant to improve low performing schools by pushing out children with low test scores, behavioral problems and disabilities.

To find out more information please visit http://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/school-prison-pipeline-fact-sheet-pdf and download the 'school to prison pipeline' fact sheet.

Peace By Piece Train Chicago Youth


Peace by Peace Nonviolence youth group hosted a nonviolence training for 36 high school students from different schools in the Chicago area during their "Social Justice Spring Break" to New Orleans on April 18, 2011. The "Social Justice Spring Break" organizer of the Chicago group,  says that he and his youth were "blown away by the power and enthusiasm of our group." Please take a minute to view our slide show of this nonviolence training for Chicago youth.



Tuesday, March 22, 2011

"Skating for Peace" Youth Event!!



Students came out and got their roll on with the Peace by Piece Nonviolence youth group at our “Skating for Peace” Youth Event on March 25th, 2011 from 9pm until Midnight at Airline Skate Center on 611 Airline Drive in Metairie Louisiana.  Local youth were able to come together and party with a purpose while supporting local nonviolence work in New Orleans.
 We were able to celebrate life by saying “Yes” to nonviolence and “No” to violence in our community. Peace by Piece youth leaders were able to do this by setting up a table and offering peace literature, and a peaceful social environment.  There was also  a “off the hook” performance by Peace by Piece leader, LUCKyLOU,  and the FnS crew.

Poetry for Peace Night was Slammin!!

“Why do you like to see someone you love laying there lifeless?,” is one of the many questions that a sixth grade student at Batiste Cultural Arts Academy(BCAA) in New Orleans asks her peers during her poem “Stop the Killing and Give it a Rest.” Around sixteen other students also performed poems like this to an audience of about 63 of their peers during the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) New Orleans’ Poetry for Peace night held in partnership with City Year New Orleans on Feb. 24, 2011.

This visionary sixth grader began her poem by saying that her brother got caught up in the wrong things and almost lost his life because of it, and this was her response to the life and death situation that he faced. Her simple solution to violence was “Let’s just give it a rest.”

The talent of the students at BCAA crossed age limits. Students from kindergarten through eighth grade stood tall and shared their vision of peace and violence. A five year old student brought it all home when he talked about the power of reading and education through his lyrical poem “Read the Book.” He told his peers to “read the book, read that book, I read the book, It’s your turn.” His beautiful declaration of the power of reading was met by a standing ovation from the crowd.

These poetry pieces were presented as an artistic culmination of a week long look at poetry and was the highlight of our Poetry for Peace night. The event also showcased two nonviolence workshops hosted by AFSC’s Peace by Piece Nonviolence Youth Committee and a Peace Recycled Art Class led by Peace by Piece leader Briana O’Neal and AFSC’s Peace Building Community Activist, Ahmane' Glover.

Peace by Piece youth leaders Domonique Triggs and Rose Gilliam led their interactive workshop by
discussing the 3 levels of conflict and the 4 types of conflict. The Peace Recycled Art Class showed students how to use recycled products to create peace jewelry that reflected their stance as peace leaders combating violence in their community. Young girls could be seen wearing earrings bearing words like “justice” and young men showed their friends their necklaces’ with words like “share and freedom.” Each student used their voice and body movements to help them explore peace and violence in their artwork.

 Poetry for Peace night embraces the power of “the story” and the freedom that our youth feel through telling their stories. It resurrected lost hope and raised new awareness in our community. This event came on the cusp of a weekend where eleven people of color were murdered and three youth were shot in various New Orleans neighborhoods. Poetry for Peace serves as a reminder that: Despite what anyone says, our youth have the power to use art to transform violence.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Visit our new Facebook Page

We have created a facebook page in support of our nonviolence message and donation campaign for our Young Ambassadors for Nonviolence South Africa Trip. Please visit it today and press the "I Like" button to help us raise awareness.  Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&&note_id=145052875553185&id=139206866138771#!/pages/Peace-by-Piece-Nonviolence-Youp-Group/139206866138771

Thanks for Your Support,
Young Ambassadors for Nonviolence