Sometimes I lay
under the moon
and thank God I’m breathing
then I pray
don’t take me soon
cause I am here for a reason
sometimes in my tears I drown
but I never let it get me down
so when negativity surrounds
I know some day it’ll all turn around
because
all my life I’ve been waiting for
I’ve been praying for
for the people to say
that we don’t wanna fight no more
they’ll be no more wars
and our children will play
one day…
Common Ground Awardees. (L to R) Front Row: Julia Bacha, Ronit Avni, Jim Leach, Julie Fisher, Shay Banks-Young, Julia Jefferson Westerinen, Peter Karanja, Dominick Chilcott, Joel Stransky. Back Row: Eboo Patel, Brandon Fisher, David Works, Mijali Proestakis, Igor Proestakis, Richard Soppe, Gary Hall
By Naazish YarKhan
The British government, the descendants of former US President Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings, the Mathare Youth Sports Association in Nairobi and the multi-media organization Just Vision may at not, at first glance, seem to have anything in common. But on 11 November at the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC, it became clear that they have all chosen to build bridges between individuals and communities where barbed wire, darkness or ignorance had divided people.
The non-profit organization Search for Common Ground, itself committed to resolving and preventing conflict by understanding differences and acting on commonalities, honored them for leading by example. read more…
Ring the Bells: World Unity Day and Veterans Day
Image via Steven Cohn at flickr.com
Happy World Unity Day and Veterans Day!
World Unity Day is an as-yet unofficial day dedicated to celebrating “a spirit of unity” that “must be cultivated within the hearts of all nations and people” in order to forge a collective, successful future. You can sign the petition asking the U.N. to officially recognize World Unity Day!
Celebrated on the same day as Veterans day, Unity Day encourages greater cooperation so that the sacrifices of veterans are less necessary in the future. Video after the break! read more…
Guineans supporting presidential candidate Alpha Conde line up outside Matoto's city hall, where some election results are tabulated in Conakry, Guinea. (Jerome Delay / AP)
By Andrew Kessinger
Results from Guinea’s long-awaited election on Sunday are still trickling in. The vote, the West African country’s first free democratic election since it gained independence from France more than fifty years ago, went smoothly, and despite swirling political and ethnic tensions in the run-up to the vote, the streets are calm.
The outstanding question, however, remains: Will Guineans respect the results? read more…
Meet Common Ground Awardee Center Rock, Inc.
Brandon Fisher and Richard Soppe at the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile. (Jorge Saenz/AP)
The Common Ground Awards are this week (November 11)! This is the last in our series profiling the 2010 Awardees.
We are in the final countdown to the 2010 Common Ground Awards, where we honor outstanding accomplishments in conflict resolution, negotiation, community and peace building. Recipients have made significant contributions toward bridging divides between people, finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems, and providing inspiration and hope where often there was none. Center Rock, Inc. embodied this ideal this fall, volunteering their time and expertise to help turn a probable tragedy into an inspiring story of human resilience and cooperation.
Center Rock, Inc. is a small manufacturing company located in Berlin, Pennsylvania. As NPR reported in this story, the company—founded by Brandon Fisher in 1998—reached out to authorities to offer their help when they heard of the 33 miners trapped nearly a half-mile underground in Copiapo, Chile. read more…
By Susan Koscis
Washington, DC – “Hug a Muslim Today” was the first hand-held sign I saw upon arriving at the Rally to Restore Sanity, which was recently held on a beautiful autumn afternoon on the National Mall in Washington, DC. That sign set the tone for what was to come.
I’m a child of the 1960s, which was perhaps why the vibes at the rally felt so familiar. Although the crowd was estimated at around 200,000 people and it was difficult to hear or see what was happening on the stage, people were polite, peaceful and positive. read more…
