Bloomington committee hopes to educate locals on how to achieve peace

In today’s world it can be hard for some people to believe peace is within reach, but now the Bloomington Peace Week committee hopes to make changes to promote peace in the world by hosting its first Peace Week.

Peace Week, an event the committee hopes to hold annually, kicked off on Sunday, the same day as the U.N. International Day of Peace, with a community picnic at 4 p.m. at the Courthouse Square.

A variety of free events continue throughout the week to help connect Bloomington peace-lovers and to provide information on what hinders, and how to achieve, peace.
The committee’s motto, “Conflict is inevitable. Peace is possible. And our vision is a world where everyone has tools to make peace,” is what the diverse group of everyday people from around Bloomington hopes to promote during Peace Week.

“Peace Week is about peace in all its dimensions – inner peace, relational peace, community peace and environmental peace,” said Ingrid Skoog, co-chair of the Peace Week committee.

Among the various activities, there will be film showings, workshops and yoga classes, and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Thomas Schelling will give presentations about nuclear proliferation and the greenhouse gas problem. IU will also host some events, including a Student Peace Alliance Event on Friday.

It all ends at noon Saturday with a Peace Festival in Third Street Park.

Part of the inspiration behind Peace Week is the goal of establishing a national Department of Peace, an initiative first brought forth by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.
“(It is important) to put our financial and institutional resources behind what we say we want, which is peace. So let’s start to direct our resources that way,” said Gail Merrill, another co-chair of the committee.

She said she also hopes one day a U.S. Peace Academy will be established. She imagines it being like a military academy, where students will learn how to go overseas and maintain peace.

Skoog agreed with the proposal.

“We believe that if we were to have that cabinet in existence, it would be a statement to the rest of the world that peace is an organizing principle of our nation,” Skoog said. “In a practical way, we would educate the best minds in our nation to understand the roots of violence and to understand ways of avoiding it.”

One member of the Peace Committee is excited to see what Peace Week will accomplish just for the locals of Bloomington.

“All I want is a better way, and I think it starts with the grassroots,” said Lucy Tracy, a two-year committee member. “We cannot form global peace tomorrow, but it starts with the people, the community.”

More information about Peace Week and the schedule of events can be found online at www.bloomingtonpeaceweek.org.