Peace Works is an annual project of the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice in the form of a lecture, conference, or other event that provides a forum for exploring the meaning and practice of justice and peace as they affect the social, economic, political, environmental, and spiritual aspects of people’s lives. We proceed with the understanding that all people share not only human rights, aspirations, and needs, but also the foibles of fear, aggression, and domination. With this in mind, we encourage Peace Works participants to explore their own hearts first as they connect to the world community. Striving for fundamental social change and a just society, we focus on individuals and groups who work on local, national, and global levels to resist oppression, inequality, and war. We explore racism, poverty, global economic inequality, oppression of women and other forms of injustice. In doing so, we strive to formulate and communicate a hopeful vision of a world community that responds constructively to its inhabitants’ rights, aspirations, and needs.
Through Peace Works, we strive…
- To bridge differences by increasing awareness about the issues that separate human beings.
- To recognize inherent connections across borders and areas of study, and to honor our shared struggle for the peaceful and just world that we deserve to live in.
- To address issues of injustice including war, racism, economic inequality, environmental degradation, and oppression of individuals, groups, and peoples.
- To foster the activism that brings light to the darkness of oppression, learning how each of us can work effectively for justice and peace by educating, advocating, organizing and agitating in our own communities and beyond.
- To affirm values which reflect Rachel Corrie’s spirit, including intellectual and geographical exploration, cross-cultural appreciation, creativity, and willingness to stand up to oppression.
- To celebrate the immense contribution and sacrifice made by those who visualize this better world, and to inspire all of us with the knowledge that one day we will get there.
Learn about past Peace Works events by clicking on the posters below:
Highlights:
Peace Works 2018- Middle Eastern Film Festival (partnership with the Olympia Film Society)
Peace Works 2017 – From Marches to Movements: Turning community members into activists, activists into leaders
Peace Works 2016 – Inaugural Rachel Corrie Memorial Lecture with Professor Ilan Pappe: “Why is Palestine still the issue?”
Peace Works 2015 – From Ferguson to Palestine and First Nations to US Borderlands, a panel featuring Omar Barghouti.
Peace Works 2014 – Mass Incarceration in the US & Palestine featuring a discussion with Angela Davis and Noura Erakat.
Peace Works 2013 – “Rachel Corrie 10 Years: the Person & the Struggle” call to action including Phyllis Bennis & Ramzy Baroud.
Peace Works 2012 – Olympia’s first Shuruq Arab Festival!
Peace Works 2011 – Solidarity in Action conference featuring a keynote by Alice Walker.
