Peace and Justice Vigil

Date/Time
Date(s) - 01/14/2023
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Location
Corner of Main St and Illinois Ave

Categories No Categories

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH – STOP U.S. WARS, REMEMBER MLK,Jr.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 2023 NOON TO 1:00 PM
The Peace Coalition of Southern Illinois will hold the Monthly Peace and Justice Vigil as part of a national campaign led by the United National Antiwar Coalition on the second Saturday, January 14, 2022, Noon to 1 P.M. at the corner of Main and Illinois Ave., Carbondale. For more information see: STOP U.S. Wars: MLK Week of Actions, Jan 13–22 The Next Step – Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad! (notowar.net)
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” MLK. Jr. 4/4/1967
In the last year of his life Dr. King was organizing all around the country against what he described as the “Three Evils” of our society: militarism, racism and poverty. Honoring Dr. King in a meaningful way to build a stronger movement for peace and against social and economic injustice. This must include using society’s vast resources to fund healthcare, housing, education and to save the environment – rather than the bloated war machine.
This year, the Pentagon war budget will soar to $858 billion, the highest on record since the height of the post-9/11 wars. The Pentagon’s corporate contractors will be more than happy to absorb roughly half of that – even while critical programs to end child poverty, address the climate crisis, and relieve student debt go underfunded. The Russian invasion of Ukraine rocked the world, but it also prompted the CEO of Raytheon to hail “opportunities” to “benefit” from increased weapons sales.
In his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave us a roadmap to follow. “America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war”.
Appropriate signs will be provided, but all are invited to bring their own. The next monthly meeting will be held on ZOOM on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, 6pm. For information about joining, contact georgeannhartzog@gmail.com.