Where the Mind is Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
~Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941,)
Interesting take on the recent tensions between China and Japan from solved by a fighting ninja and Panda bear….something for the SFCG toolkit perhaps?
Today is International Peace Day. It was made a reality largely by the efforts of one man, filmmaker Jeremy Gilley. Gilley launched Peace One Day and set out to find a starting point for peace. He had a mission: to document his efforts to establish the first ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed calendar date.
In 2001 his efforts paid off when the United Nations unanimously adopted September 21st as an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence on the UN International Day of Peace.
Gilley’s story is a powerful example of what one person can achieve.
Watch his excellent call for peace:
Anna Schuster is studying for her masters in International Public Management at Sciences-Po. She has also studied International Relations and Genocide Studies while on exchange at the Australian National University, in Canberra. She grew up in Cote D’Ivoire, Madagascar and Benin and her internship with Search in Burundi has brought her back to Sub-Saharan Africa. Working with our Burundi office speaks to her interest in both international development and understanding of how a society can overcome a genocidal history.
- Drumming Performance
By Anna Schuster
In my estimation a good gig consists of an exciting location, a fun group of friends, a seething crowd singing and dancing to pulsating rhythms, and—the cherry on the cake—the lead-singer’s sweaty t-shirt as a souvenir.
I went to a gig in Bujumbura last Friday.
It was organised by SFCG with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and USAID. The aim was to promote dialog amongst youth and encourage their participation in public life. Politically-engaged singers were invited, and the event included three bands, drummers and participatory theatre.
It wasn’t what I expected. read more…
Pro Park 51 demonstrators (from judi-mindovermatter.blogspot.com)
by Mona Eltahawy
New York, New York – I have developed an overwhelming urge to tell everyone I meet I’m a Muslim.
As a Muslim woman who doesn’t wear a headscarf, I’m often mistaken for a Latina and other ethnicities that my features match. But as anti-Muslim sentiment has risen across the United States, so has my urge to say: “Hey America: I’m a Muslim. Let’s talk.”
That urge took me to the sidewalk in front of Park51, the proposed community centre and mosque near Ground Zero, over Labor Day Weekend. I spent four days with a small but dedicated group of sidewalk activists who for more than three weeks have stood in front of Park51 with signs reading “Peace Tolerance Love” to support its right to build. read more…
Save the Date – SFCG Annual Fundraising Reception
Search for Common Ground – Annual Fundraising ReceptionSan Fransisco – Sunday, December 5thTransforming the way the world deals with conflict |
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| Mark Hopkins San Francisco One Nob Hill San Francisco, CA 94108 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm – Reception Light hors d’oeuvres will be served.
Click here to register
For additional information, contact Philip Hellmich at phellmich@sfcg.org or 202.777.2202. |
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