WashingtonPeaceCenter.org
Title
Washington Peace Center -- Education and Action for Social Justice in the D.C. Metropolitan Area
Description
In 1959, a group of activists led by Quaker Larry Scott began a vigil at Fort Detrick in Maryland to protest the development and testing of biological and chemical weapons there. In 1961 the group moved into D.C. with a mission to expand their work, to include peace education through film showings, discussions and the publication of a local newspaper. With the acquisition of office space at the Friends Meeting of Washington, in 1963 the group formally organized as the nonprofit Washington Peace Center.
Despite its small size and budget, the Washington Peace Center has played a significant role in the development of peace and justice initiatives in the D.C. metropolitan area. The Peace Center was active in the anti-nuclear movements of the 1970s and was a key player in the Central America and Middle East solidarity movements of the 1980s. In the 1990s, the Peace Center played a critical role in organizing regional opposition to U.S. militarism in Iraq. Further, the organization's leadership was working to build the Peace Center's domestic agenda by addressing important race and class issues within the organization and across the metropolitan area.
The local/global nexus continues to shape the Peace Center's work. Early work with the Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression Education Network, the D.C. Statehood Party and the D.C. Citizen Action Network (D.C. CAN) revealed a path toward addressing the concerns of residents and organizers in D.C. Recent work with the Anti-Sanctions and Fair Trade movements also reveal a path toward addressing the concerns of a global economy. In all, the Center's primary goal has been to strategically link local organizing for economic and social justice to national and international struggles toward establishing structures and relationships that are nonviolent, non-hierarchical, humane and just.
Contact
- Washington Peace Center
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- Washington DC
- United States 20091-0032
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- +1.202234200
