Portland Peace Team

Our trainings are now multiple every month with the need for deescalation skills so great. Last night we had a full house at the Multnomah Friends meeting room, with trainers Bridget, Patrick, Elizabeth Rose, Pat, Ron (the primary organizer), Tom, John (and Craig, Kim, and Fred also interspersed in the participants).

We were out again with the Interfaith silent vigil at ICE last evening (10/25/2025). Missing three more of us from the photo, so we had a good crew, mostly Portland Peace Team, but also two Humble Boys, one PSU student activist, and a volunteer from the Interfaith group. We just helped people stay safe and tried to reduce tensions.

Something we should know of and consider when speaking to our charges/allies/friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6XSBeMqSxM

During Nashville's 1960 sit-ins, protesters were instructed to sit straight, face the counter, remain friendly and courteous, and sit quietly without striking back if attacked. They also needed to ask for service, wait for service, sit in their designated seats, and report injuries to their leaders. Crucially, participants should not block entrances, laugh, or hold conversations with floorwalkers or other non-leaders.

Do's

Sit Straight and Face the Counter: Protesters were to sit with proper posture and look directly at the counter.
Be Friendly and Courteous: Maintain a positive and respectful attitude at all times.
Ask to Be Served: The primary goal was to ask for service at the lunch counter.
Remain in Your Seat: Do not get up without permission from a leader.
Report Serious Injuries: Inform your leader immediately if you or someone else is seriously injured.
Send Questions to Your Leader: Direct any inquiries to the designated leader.
Dress Respectfully: Protesters often wore their best "Sunday clothes" to show their seriousness and create a dignified image.

Don'ts

Strike Back or Curse: Do not respond with violence or rude language, even if provoked.
Laugh Out Loud: Maintain a serious demeanor; do not engage in disruptive laughter.
Hold Conversations with Floorwalkers: Only communicate with your leader.
Block Entrances or Aisles: Ensure that your presence does not obstruct store access.
Leave Your Seat Without Permission: Stay in your assigned spot unless instructed otherwise.
Engage in Provocative Behavior: Do not be loud, offensive, or disruptive in any way

Remember the teachings of Jesus, Gandhi, Thoreau, and Martin Luther King Jr.

The Discipline of Non-Violence - John Lewis

Portland Peace Team with interfaith vigil at ICE 8/23/2025. We were clearly nonviolent and this time ICE agents made no appearance. The school next to ICE has shut down and moved from all the chemical warfare used by ICE, but we were silent, perhaps 65 of us, and no issues. We are also bracing for Trump deploying National Guard here.

First annual Portland Peace Tean picnic!

Rev James Lawson passed on today.

He was a hero to me and many many more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lawson_(activist)

A celebration of his life and legacy TBD in Portland.

It was 54 years ago today that we celebrated the first Earth Day. It was 28 years ago today that the late Donna Howard and I offered a Plowshares action in the name of Earth Day--we used hand tools to shut down and partially dismantle a thermonuclear command base. There is no quicker anthropogenic catastrophic act of destruction of nature than nuclear war and each step preparing for such a disaster hurts the Earth. We wanted to call attention to it all. Our time in prison was a small price in the ongoing struggle by humankind to end this threat of self-inflicted apocalypse. On this Earth Day 2024 may we all offer whatever efforts we can toward living as if our grandchildren deserve a beautiful world.

Had a wonderful chance to hang out with Bridget Moix today, Secretary General of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. FCNL has so many valuable programs--can't wait to link up my students with them! Now we have two out-of-state honorary members of the Portland Peace Team, both Quakers--Bridget and George Lakey. Lucky us!

To anyone interested in contacting the Portland Peace Team, please email me: [email protected] for fastest answers.

His work will illuminate our way for a long while.

Remembering Johan Galtung: A Pioneer in Peace and Conflict Studies Johan Galtung, founder of PRIO & the Journal of Peace Research, passed away at 93. His legacy in peace & conflict studies continues to inspire.

Please, seriously, stop with memes that make categorical claims and cite no source. It sounds like three-year-olds engaging in he said she said. Please.