Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu addresses members of the media during a news conference in New York. Archbishop Tutu announced the next phase in the creation of the historic Desmond Tutu Peace Center. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
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In Our Opinion...
Profiles
Archbishop Desmond Tutu: A Hero Worth Celebrating
By Beth Midanik-Blum
It’s been a month since a U.S. Airways jetliner crashed into the Hudson, yet pilot Chesley Sullenberger is still being celebrated for his heroic actions. Although Sullenberger is responsible for saving 155 lives, the unbelievable amount of media attention that he has received seems out of balance when compared to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A Nobel laureate, Tutu is well-known for his facilitation of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which helped to end apartheid. A tireless peace-maker whose work has possibly saved thousands of lives worldwide, Tutu deserves as much of a heroic standing in the eyes of Americans.
An Afghan music instructor, center, teaches Afghan boys and girls at Afghanistan's Children and New Approach center in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
Spreading the Joy of Music
By Sarah Lowndes
The Playing for Change Foundation is not your typical charitable organization. The foundation’s mission is to inspire and connect the world through music, and it is taking remarkable steps to do just that. Playing for Change directs films and is a record company on top of running a charity that raises money for musicians and their communities across the globe. The organization supports impoverished areas by providing facilities, supplies, and other resources to further music education. Currently, Playing for Change is at work rebuilding refugee centers in South Asia and building an arts center in two locations in South Africa.
If Not a Department of Peace, How About an Institute of Peace?
National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley delivers remarks at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
By Gelsey Hughes
The United States government lacks a department of peace, but USIP may be the next best thing. The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan organization, established by Congress in 1984 to support peacebuilding efforts worldwide. Recently, the Institute has looked to the media as a peacebuilding resource. At the Institute’s Center for Innovation, research is being conducted to determine the role of media in conflict management. New media strategies are being developed not only to resolve conflict abroad, but to promote tolerance at home. Given the success of its past programs, the Institute may soon bring peacebuilding to the forefront of public attention.
Meaningful Movies for Peace
Fourteen-year-old Puja Mukherjee, left, a sex worker's daughter and one of the characters of Zana Briski's Oscar-winning documentary, "Born Into Brothels," poses with a camera as other sex workers look on at Calcutta's red-light district. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
By Jacquelyn Allen
Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War (SNOW) is a Puget Sound coalition of neighborhood groups and organizations who maintain a commitment towards nonviolent methods to end the military occupation of Iraq. One SNOW member, Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice, employs the power of film in its effort to promote peace. Every Friday a ‘Meaningful Movie’ -- typically a social justice documentary -- is shown and followed by community discussion. The evenings are not just thought provoking, but free! Weekly film listings are at the website and printed in local papers including the Stranger and Seattle P-I.