PEACE HOUSE-TULSA MISSION STATEMENT

We pursue justice through education and nonviolent action, practicing kindness and compassion for all beings, so that peace may prevail on earth.

Moderation, unfortunately necessary

As the person responsible for this blog, I have come to the sad conclusion that posting to this list must be moderated, meaning I will be able to delete inappropriate posts. I will make every effort to delete very judiciously and only when truly necessary.
May I remind all readers of the Peace House-Tulsa blog that this blog exists for communication to and among SUPPORTERS of the aims of Peace House. Those wishing to hold discussions on other topics can find many other places to have those discussions.
There is so much work to be done to bring about justice. We have no time for distractions from the necessary and important work before us.
Please be reminded that all posts to this blog need to be signed with a real name within the text if your screen name doesn't reveal that information.
THANK YOU,
Rev. Valerie Mapstone Ackerman, director of Peace House-Tulsa

Grand Opening was...GRAND!

Thanks to all who prepared the space and spread the word and played music and shared poetry and attended and donated and bought stuff and ate delicious food! A REALLY BIG thank you to Terry Aziere for being the recruiter, booking agent, tech person and MC! WOW!
I think Cater 2 U sold every morsel of food they brought: red beans & rice, jambalaya, veggie pasta, hot dogs with all the fixins. AND they supplied a Jupiter Jump to keep the little ones happy. We are so happy to support young entrepeneurs who care about justice. Next time you need entertainment and authentic Louisiana food, book Stefanie and Lavelle Cole. (I'll post their number at a later date--after getting permission).
Thanks to the door prize donors (mostly recruited by the incomparable Nancy Moran): Dwelling Spaces for a donated framed print and Veterans for Peace for the movie poster of Sir, No Sir and the cuban art gallery's Che Guevara poster, and three beautiful Japanese calligraphies of "peace" by Nancy's exchange student and a Camp Casey T-shirt donated by Diane Bostic and the sweet little handmade gift baskets from Janet Hutto's collection of crafts made by her late mother. And gosh, who donated that "I 'heart' Tulsa" T-shirt?
Poets Mary McAnally and Deborah Hunter kept the crowd spellbound and inspired. And there was a surprise appearance by Bill Zischang who shared a 3-page poem he wrote for the occasion: "How to End War Forever (in one sentence)" (I hope to post that later too.)
The music was awesome! Deborah Hord, Susan Herndon, Brian Parton, Mothers Brothers & Others, Lon Bartlett, Tiphany, Mike C., Terry Aziere, JT Gentry, Jonas Adrian, Timbre Wolf and oh no I'm forgetting names!!! Non-stop music from 1:00 to 8:00---our own little Woodstock of wonderfulness.
Several neighbors stopped by, their curiosity finally satisfied as they got a chance to check us out. And the Tulsa PD cruised by slowly more than once. Fox 23 showed up, but I don't think we got any airtime. Channel 6 came and filmed but had too many pro-military stories to air--including a truly nonsensical one about an OK quartermaster company (#172) retiring their flag and adopting a new number (#165?) with lots of shots of men in fatigues. And there was another OK funeral for yet another dead soldier--airtime none of us would be-grudge as we who love peace mourn along with the families of the dead. Peace-making just isn't as important as a military unit getting a new flag to carry into battle--or maybe it was something I said. Perhaps we need a different spokesperson. (NOTE: KOTV-6 did air a short piece about PH opening late on Sunday and early on Monday.) Urban Tulsa reporter Holly interviewed some of us earlier in the week and sent a photographer to snap some pictures of two of the old lady founders---Jeremy trying really hard to make us look not quite as frumpy as we really are in real life---we'll see how it all turns out.
AND we rescued a small poodle which had escaped from his human companion's truck early in the afternoon---all in a day in the life of peace-makers.
Whew! Now the real work commences: building the culture of peace.
Those of you who signed up for classes, activities actions, etc. will be hearing from us soon!

Press release

Tulsa, September 10, 2006: The public is invited to the Grand Opening Celebration of Peace House - Tulsa from 1-8 p.m. Saturday September 23, 2006.
Peace House is Tulsa’s newest organization devoted to supporting peace and justice. Located at 306 South Phoenix Avenue, Peace House was established by local nonviolence activists to be an incubator for building a culture of peace through justice.

Children’s activities from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm will include folding of peace cranes to remember 12 year old Sadako’s efforts to fold 1000 cranes before she died from the effects of radiation from the bombing of Hiroshima; making “pinwheels for peace” as part of the celebration of International Peace Day, September 21st, and just for fun, a space jump ride.
Performers donating their talent for the day: Singer Susan Herndon; Singer/songwriter Terry Aziere; Guitarist Lon Bartlett; Spoken word performer Deborah Hunter; Band Mothers Brothers and Others, Jazz keyboardist Gayle Williamson; Writers in the Round song writers circle and several others.
Former New Orleanians and Katrina survivors Lavelle and Stefanie Cole’s new catering business: Cater for You will sell Cajun delicacies from 4 - 8. Vegetarian options will be available.

Peace House Tulsa provides meeting space for Tulsa Peace Fellowship, Pastors for Peace, Poets for Peace, Veterans for Peace. Peace House; holds a library of peace and justice-related titles donated by the Hodge Podge collective; houses the Tulsa Peace Fellowship video library as well as a magazine exchange.

Peace House can be reserved for retreats, meetings, musical events and film screenings by contacting the director, Rev. Valerie Mapstone Ackerman at 918-231-2514.