Greetings! Learn about our internal work to fight oppression (especially racism) in order to become a truly anti-racist organization at our Community Meeting and by applying for our Racial Justice Advisory Committee (if you are a POC). We want your feedback!
Click here to for the quarterly Peace & Justice Center Newsletter
October 15, 2019
In this e-news
-Being Held Accountable
-From the Blog: How Racism Hurts White People
-Esai's Table
-Voices for Palestine: International Law
-Action Alert: Milk with Dignity
-Flynn Theater Vouchers
-Out in the Open Jon
-Youth Voices in Healthcare
-Community Calendar
PJC Programs & Events

Community Voices for Immigrant Rights Tuesday, October 15, 5:30-7:30pm, 241 N Winooski Ave.  Our 8th open-community working meeting has opportunities for new and seasoned organizers alike to get involved. This meeting is primarily to organize for the protest on 10/20. No matter your skill-set, introvert or extrovert, there is something for you to contribute and make a difference! Dinner provided. Contact us for childcare. FREE

POC in VT Affinity Group Wednesday, October 16, 6-8pm at the PJC.  This program is led by people of color, for people of color and is a chance to be in solidarity with one another over shared experiences.The topic: Body Image and Self-esteem: How POC manage living in a culture dominated by Eurocentric beauty standards. We'll also look at examples of double standards and the fetishization of POC bodies. FREE

Building Empathy & Addressing Racial Oppression Wednesday, October 16, 23, 30, 6:30-8:30pm at Sterling College.  This program strives to give participants the opportunity to build skills and knowledge to engage in conversations about oppression. Space is limited so advanced registration is required. Register here. Fees vary, no one turned away for lack of funds.

Saturday, October 19, 2-3:30pm, PJC.  This presentation focuses on child slavery and human trafficking in the cocoa industry. It is designed to educate, brainstorm solutions and create tangible action steps that fit each participant. Stick around after the presentation for our New Volunteer Orientation to learn more about how to get involved with our work. FREE

Sunday, October 20, 12pm in Williston.  Act with us against those who condone white supremacist hate. Unite people of faith, unions, anti-racist fighters, climate activists, youth activists, and other progressives to target Trump's anti-immigrant, deportation machinery.

Toxic Whiteness Discussion Group Monday, October 21, 5:30-6:30pm, PJC.  For white people to process how white supremacy culture is toxic to them. We hope by joining this space, they'll let the emotional needs of POC to take priority in multiracial spaces. FREE

PJC Community Meeting Sunday, October 27, 4-5:30pm, Old North End Community Center, 20 Allen Street, Burlington. We'll discuss what it means to be an anti-racist organization and put marginalized and oppressed communities at our work's center. Members will vote for the Board of Directors, but most of the time will be a presentation and discussion. All are welcome. Reception to follow.

For more info on these events visit our website or contact  program@pjcvt.org
Voices for Palestine

International Law and the Rights of Palestinian People -Ian Stokes, VTJP
Despite the Geneva Conventions and UN Security Council Resolutions, the Israeli government blatantly ignores international law in dealing with Palestinian people. In the prolonged military occupation and colonization of Palestinian territories, Palestinian people have experienced egregious assaults on their lives on a daily basis. Actions that that were outlawed after or before WWII have become normal: civilians are subject to extra-judicial killings, collective punishment (curfews and home and infrastructure demolitions), night-time home invasions, arrests of children, torture and detention without trial.
Out in the Open Hiring
Out in the Open is looking for a Programs & Volunteer Coordinator to work as part of a team building a powerful movement of rural LGBTQ folks. Visit their website for more information.
Youth Voices in Health Care System
Vermont RAYS is a group of adolescents and young adults committed to improving adolescent health and well-being in VT. They aim to amplify youth voices in health care systems throughout VT. If you or any youth you know are interested in getting involved, visit their website to learn more and to apply.
Flynn Vouchers

Pick up a voucher for these shows at PJC and pay $2 cash at the box office. For current PJC members and volunteers. For information on membership  click here . Limited supply! 
Circa: Humans
Saturday, Oct. 19, 10am & 8pm
Award-winning contemporary circus ensemble presents a stirring journey of what it means to be human. With minimal equipment on a stripped-down stage, ten acrobats explore the physical limits of their bodies pushed to the extreme, simultaneously navigating their emotional vulnerability.
Isango: The Magic Flute
Friday, Oct. 25, 10am & 8pm
From the townships of South Africa, Isango Ensemble bursts onto the stage in an inspired reimagining of Mozart’s masterpiece opera The Magic Flute. A fairy tale with themes of love and good versus evil, classic arias are enlivened with exhilarating orchestrations of merry marimbas and powerful percussion.
Kinetic Light
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 7:30pm
Kinetic Light—working in the disciplines of art, design, architecture, and social justice—features two dancers in wheelchairs presenting the story of Venus and Andromeda, re-imagined as interracial lovers and brought together by the sculptor Rodin. A work transcending the senses, DESCENT celebrates the pleasure of reckless abandon, obliterating assumptions of beauty and ability.
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Center Hours 
Monday-Friday: 10am-6pm
  
Store Hours
Closed Mondays 
Tuesday-Saturday: 10am-6pm
Sunday: 10am-5pm
 
Hours are subject to change. Call  (802) 863-2345 x2  to confirm.
  
Location
60 Lake Street, Suite 1C
Burlington's Waterfront.
(Next to Skinny Pancake)   
Six years ago, the Peace & Justice Center formed a Racial Justice Advisory Committee. T he committee exists to guide the work of the PJC, not just the racial justice programs, but all of our work, to be sure we are working through an intersectional, anti-racist lens .

This committee, made up entire of People of Color, has added tremendous value to the PJC, so we are looking to bring more people on.

The committee meets eight times a year and all members are paid for their time. If you are interested in learning more or applying, click the button below.

If you want to learn more about our commitment to anti-oppression work internally, please join us at our Community Meeting/Annual Meeting on Sunday, October 27, 4:30-6:00 at the Old North End Community Center in Burlington.
I must be very clear: racism does not harm white people the same way it harms people of color. People of color die every day from racism. The harm it does to us, white people, is subtler. It corrupts and limits us. It is a poison that, if unchecked, flourishes in us. It is meaningful to understand how racism benefits white people, and it is also meaningful to unpack how it hurts us.

Racism hurts me culturally, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. It gets in the way of having easy, authentic relationships. It leaves me feeling guilty and full of shame. It ruins me emotionally and fills me with rage and despair.

Because of racism, untold numbers of people might have created beautiful art, made significant scientific discoveries, and so much more had they not been oppressed and struggling for survival. Maybe we would have cured cancer.
Join us at our next Toxic Whiteness Discussion Group on Monday, October 21, at the Peace & Justice Center in Burlington. If you are interested in bringing a discussion to your part of the state, please let us know.
JAG Productions opened their fourth season with the premier of Nathan Yungerberg's play Esai's Table. This show "transports audience and characters on a mystical journey in which we experience the lives of three young Black men, and redefine what it means to be human."

The play follows three young black men who find themselves trapped in a basement after being invited to dinner by a man named Esai. As the story progresses, the truth is uncovered about just how these three strangers ended up there, and what will happen to them once they leave. This tragic yet beautiful story is one that deserves to be heard by all.

The show will be running now through October 27 at Briggs Opera House in White River Junction. After it's run in Vermont, the play will transfer Off-Broadway to the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City. 

Visit JAG Productions website for more information and to purchase tickets.

About JAG Productions
JAG Productions was formed with the mission to produce classic and contemporary African-American theatre; to serve as an incubator of new work that excites broad intellectual engagement; and thereby, to catalyze compassion, empathy, love, and community through shared understandings of the humankind through the lens of the African-American experience.
This is a partial listing. See more in our public  calendar .The PJC is not directly involved in all of these events.

October 15, Tuesday
  • Votes…For Women?: Art Exhibit through Dec. 11. Middlebury College Museum of Art
  • World Premiere of Esai's Table through Oct. 27. Briggs Opera House, Barre
  • 5:30-7:30pm, Community Voices for Immigrant Rights. Rights & Democracy VT, 241 N Winooski Ave, Burlington
  • 6-8:30pm, PJC board mtg. PJC, Burlington.
  • 6-8pm, 350VT node meeting. 179 S Winooski Ave, #201, Burlington
  • 7-8pm, 80 Years of Voting, Cassandra Peltier, Executive Director of Susan B Anthony Birthplace Museum. Bennington Free Library

October 16, Wednesday
  • 6-8pm, Burlington United: Political Solutions. ONE Community Center, 3rd floor, 20 Allen St, Burlington
  • 6-8pm, Families United. The Root Social Justice Center, Brattleboro
  • 6-8pm, RAD Organizing Team Meeting. 423 Main St, Bennington
  • 6-7pm, History of Activist Art in Vermont. Fleming Museum of Art, Burlington

October 17, Thursday

October 18, Friday
  • 5-6pm, F-35 Weekends at Bernie's Senate Office, 1 Church St, Burlington. Every Friday

October 19, Saturday

October 20, Sunday

October 21, Monday
  • 5:30-8pm, Youth 4 Change. The Root Social Justice Center, Brattleboro

October 23, Wednesday

October 26, Saturday

October 28, Monday
  • 5:30-7:30pm, Community Voices for Immigrant Rights organizing meeting. RAD office, 241 N Winooski Ave, Burlington

October 29, Tuesday
  • 6-8pm, 350VT meeting. 179 S Winooski Ave, #201, Burlington

October 30, Wednesday
  • 5:30-6:30pm, The F 35's: Local Noise and Nukes. ONE Community Center, 3rd floor, 20 Allen St, Burlington
  • 6-8pm, Families United. The Root Social Justice Center, Brattleboro
  • 6-8pm, RAD Organizing Team Meeting. 423 Main St, Bennington


Email  us events for our  google calendar  and enews
Action Alert: Tell Hannaford Supermarkets to Support Milk With Dignity
Milk with Dignity is transforming the dairy industry. Across Vermont and New York, farms are benefiting from the program’s premiums and workers are seeing drastic improvements in labor and housing conditions: raises, rest days, new housing, and so much more. 


These letters make it clear that Hannaford can’t hide from the farmworkers responsible for putting the milk on their shelves. Add your name above to join the growing chorus telling Hannaford to get with the program!

It worked for Ben & Jerry's, it can work for Hannafords too.

National religious groups are endorsing Milk with Dignity including: Presbyterian Church USA, T’Ruah, and the National Council of Churches.

Sign the letter to stand in support of Migrant Justice and tell Hannafords that it's time to join Milk With Dignity!
Peace & Justice Store
Peace & Justice Center | 802-863-2345 |  info@pjcvt.org  |  http://www.pjcvt.org
60 Lake St, Ste 1C
Burlington, VT 05401