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Announcement :: Iraq : Peace |
|
Illinois Coalition for Peace and Justice |
Current rating: 0 |
by JAN K
Email: jandurl (nospam) insightbb.com (verified) |
07 Mar 2006
|
State-wide Illinois Coalition For Peace and Justice
April 1
All Day Conference to be held at McKinley Foundation Champaign, Illinois
www.ilcpj.org |
A Call to Create a Coalition of Illinois Peace and Justice Organizations.
An Invitation to Community, Labor, Faith-Based
and Student Peace and Justice Groups
Throughout Illinois, dozens of groups working on peace and justice issues struggle, often on their own, to promote goals we all support. In November and December 2005, several Northern Illinois peace and justice (P&J) groups met to discuss the idea of creating a state-wide network of P&J organizations. We are at a critical point in the struggle against the militarism that drives U.S. foreign policy in Iraq and elsewhere as well as in our efforts to promote justice-based policies in the U.S. and around the world. United, we can speak with a greater voice. All of us can be stronger and our efforts more effective by association with other groups.
The Goals of a State-Wide Coalition:
1) To strengthen our individual efforts: A state-wide organization will help us to plan coordinated campaigns, rallies and other events. Where a single action in one locale may get little media attention, regional or state-wide actions will garner far more.
2) To share resources and ideas: Groups can learn about tactics that worked for other groups, instead of learning by trial and error. Members may also have access to speakers and performers that other groups would be eager to invite to programs in other places.
3) To provide technical assistance: One member may have already created a community newsletter, hosted a film series or created a great web site and can pass on suggestions to others.
4) To remind all of us that we are not alone: You have many friends with similar goals.
The Plan – A One-Day Founding Conference
We are planning a one-day conference for representatives of Illinois P&J groups to be held in early April – site and date as follows:
April 1, 2006, 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
McKinley Church and Foundation
809 S 5th St., Champaign IL 61820
There will be a concert the night before, March 31, 8:00 PM at the same location. The concert is for registered conference attendees only to network and socialize prior the actual conference. No one who is not registered for the conference will be admitted to either the concert or the conference – no walk-ins.
Conference planning is already underway with an agenda that will include both plenary and break-out sessions. The working title of the state-wide organization is the Illinois Coalition for Peace and Justice (ICPJ).
Draft Conference Agenda
8:00 - 8:45 Registration, Coffee, Doughnuts
9:00 - 9:30 Welcome and Conference Overview
9:30 - 12:00 Plenary: Ideas for Action – What should ICPJ member groups be doing in concert over the coming months? Previously submitted proposals for action (see below) will be discussed and voted on in this session.
12:00 - 1:45 Lunch
12:45 - 1:45 Break-out Sessions - Workshops and discussions
2:00 - 4:00 Plenary: ICPJ Structure – How should we be organized? Issues to be addressed include (but are not limited to)
(i) leadership
(ii) decision-making process
(iii) levels of participation
(iv) funding
Previously submitted proposals for action (see below) will be discussed and voted on in this session.
4:15 - 5:45 Implementation of Structure Decisions – Elections, committee composition, etc.
5:45 - 6:00 Close
Solicitation of Proposals for Conference Agenda
Your group’s willingness to participate in this founding conference is obviously important to us. Equally important, however, we are asking for proposals that will define the content of the conference. These proposals fall into the three areas of the conference agenda: action, organizational structure, and break-out sessions.
(1) Ideas for Action – This group of proposals should (i) identify the weakest links in the militarization of U.S. foreign and domestic policy, (ii) propose campaigns, projects, and actions that ICPJ members should take in concert over the coming months, and (iii) address how centralized or decentralized these can/should be, what levels of participation can be encompassed within the larger ICPJ framework, etc. Note that these must be proposals for action, not suggestions of political positions the organization should endorse, expressions of solidarity, etc.
(2) Organizational Structure – This group of proposals would cover how ICPJ is to be structured, for example, what kind of working bodies should there be to keep the organization functioning between meetings, how should decisions be taken with respect to ICPJ work, do we need to consider funding for the organization, etc.
(3) Break-Out Sessions – Time constraints and political imperatives require U.S. militarism and Iraq to be the primary focus of the founding conference. However, many groups are also working on other P&J issues. The break-out sessions are intended to allow discussion, idea interchange, and resource sharing on the broader array of P&J issues represented by the work of participating organizations.
The Format of Proposals
Proposals should (i) be clearly labeled as “structure,” “action,” or “break-out”; (ii) limited in length, no more than three (3) pages; (iii) focus on the substance rather than motivation for the proposal (you will have the opportunity to provide a rationale for your proposal at the conference); and (iv) be nonviolent in intent and execution (this does not preclude civil disobedience). Groups submitting proposals will have the opportunity to provide their rationale to conference attendees during the appropriate conference session. If similar proposals are submitted from more than one group, the conference planning committee will work with the two (or more) groups to determine if a single, combined proposal can be achieved for presentation at the conference.
In order to have productive discussions and to reach informed decisions, proposals will be shared in advance with other conference attendees. Therefore all proposals must be submitted via email to info (at) ilcpj.org and received no later than March 15th.
Registration for and Decision Making at the Conference
There are P&J groups of various sizes in Illinois. In order to maximize participation while insuring that decision making is not dominated by a few large groups, we suggest the following rules for the founding conference:
(1) Groups can send as many representatives to the conference as they wish.
(2) Each attending group will be allocated 2 votes for any decisions that must be made at the conference.
(3) No individual may vote on behalf of more than 1 group.
(4) All attendees may participate in the discussions at both the plenary and break out sessions.
(5) Individuals who do not represent groups are welcome to attend the conference but, because of space limitations, will be accepted on a space-available basis only, after all group registrations have been reviewed and accepted.
(6) If a group wants to provide information about their work, projects, plans, etc., to others attending the conference, please bring brochure or flyers to display at the tables located at the entrance to the conference sessions.
(7) All conference participants, whether group representatives or non-affiliated individuals, must be pre-registered. No on-site registration will be available.
Please respond to this call letting us know if your group is interested in sending one or several representatives to this founding meeting. In addition, please visit the web site www.ilcpj.org and let us know if you have contacts with other P&J groups that we have not listed, so we can invite them as well. Please feel free to distribute this invitation widely among your own P&J contacts. Also, please let us know if you are interested in the coalition but are unable to send representatives.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Registration
Conference attendees must register for the conference. Registration can be done either by phone, email or online. A registration fee of $15 will be charged for all registrations received prior to March 15th. Registration after March 15th will be on a space-available basis and will be $25 per attendee. Lunch may be purchased for $10 when registering for the conference.
All registrations must be received by March 26th – no registrations received later than this date will be accepted.
The registration fee will offset the cost of producing the meeting (including hall rental) and providing coffee, doughnuts, and snacks for conference attendees. A Registration Form is located here.
This call is sent from the following supporting organizations.
AWARE (Anti-War-Anti-Racism Effort)
Chicago World Can't Wait
Chicagoans Against War and Injustice
Chicagoland Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights
Citizens for Immigrants
Code Pink (Chicago)
Community United Church of Christ
Dekalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice
DuPage Peace through Justice Coalition
Evanston Neighbors for Peace
Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice
Greater Aurora Peace and Justice
Illinois Disciples Foundation
Jobs with Justice
Logan Square Neighbors for Peace and Justice
Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice
Northbrook Peace Committee
North Shore Anti-War Coalition
North Shore Women for Peace
North Suburban Peace Initiative
NOWAR (Northwestern Opposing War and Racism)
Peace
Peace Committee, 1st Presbyterian Church Macomb
Peace and Justice Committee of Lake Street Church
Potluck Democracy
Rockford Peace and Justice Coalition
Oak Park Coalition for Truth and Justice
Sauk Valley Interfaith
Students For a Democratic Society, Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Ctr, Graduate Employees Org
Third Unitarian Church Social Action Committee
Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Champaign-Urbana Chapter
Waubonsee Community College chapter of Amnesty International
West Suburban Faith-Based Peace Coalition |
This work is in the public domain |
|
Re: Illinois Coalition for Peace and Justice |
by JAN K
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
07 Mar 2006
|
A Call to Create a Coalition of Illinois Peace and Justice Organizations.
An Invitation to Community, Labor, Faith-Based
and Student Peace and Justice Groups
We are at a critical point in the struggle against the militarism that drives U.S. foreign policy in Iraq and elsewhere as well as in our efforts to promote justice-based policies in the U.S. and around the world. United, we speak with a greater voice, our actions are stronger, and our efforts more effective.
The Goals of a State-Wide Coalition:
1) To strengthen our individual efforts: A state-wide organization will help us to plan coordinated campaigns, rallies and other events. Where a single action in one locale may get little media attention, regional or state-wide actions will garner far more.
2) To share resources and ideas: Groups can learn about tactics that worked for other groups, instead of learning by trial and error. Members may also have access to speakers and performers that other groups would be eager to invite to programs in other places.
3) To provide technical assistance: One member may have already created a community newsletter, hosted a film series or created a great web site and can pass on suggestions to others.
4) To remind all of us that we are not alone: You have many friends with similar goals.
The Plan – A One-Day Founding Conference
We are planning a one-day conference for representatives of all interested Illinois P&J groups:
April 1, 2006, 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
McKinley Church and Foundation
809 S 5th St., Champaign IL 61820
There will be a concert the night before, March 31, 8:00 PM at the same location.
For more information on the conference, please take a look at our Call for Participation.
All conference attendees must preregister. No on-site registration will be available. Please take a moment to Register Now.
www.ilcpj.org |
