FOR Announces Peace Prize Winners for 2011
Each year the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) awards an international, a national, and a local peace prize to individuals or organizations whose commitment to peace, justice, and reconciliation is recognized as a life-long commitment.
This year, FOR’s Pfeffer International Peace Prize, established in 1989 by Leo and Freda Pfeffer to honor those working globally for peace with justice, is awarded to Sonal Ambani, founder of World Peace 2012 – 2040 (worldpeace2040.com). Ambani’s initiative aspires to have 365 days of peace by the year 2040, achieved through a disciplined and dedicated approach by world leaders. 
The action plan to achieve the goal of world peace is the brainchild of Dr. Ambani of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India; her daughter, Anjali (Yale University, Class of 2014); and teenage son, Amar. Although seemingly a Herculean task, the concept is simple: beginning in 2012, the heads of countries will pledge to declare peace for the first day of each month that year. A day of peace means that all countries at war agree to a ceasefire. The next year, another day of peace will be added per month, and the days will increase each year in progression until 2040, when there will be a full calendar year of peace days.
Ambani has organized an elaborate art installation and a letter campaign urging world leaders to pledge to give peace a chance. Her efforts have collected signatures of support from over 65 countries, including the presidents of China and Chile and the prime ministers of Australia and Mauritius. She has enlisted the support of elders, schools, and other communities, and is pursuing collaboration with the 2012 London Olympics, which has the peace-centered motto “Live as One.”
In September 2011, Ambani will present World Peace 2040 to the U.N. General Assembly, seeking affiliation with the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. The date and place for the Pfeffer Award presentation is yet to be determined.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Award was established by FOR in 1979 to recognize unheralded persons or groups working in the United States in the tradition of Rev. Dr. King. This year the award is presented to Save Our Streets (S.O.S.) Crown Heights (soscrownheights.org). S.O.S. is a grassroots organization engaged in brave and strategic work to encourage nonviolence and eradicate gun violence in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
While consistently carrying the message that, “Our community is putting the violence behind us,” S.O.S. Crown Heights is multi-faceted in approach. The team utilizes community mobilization, public education, case management, faith-based organizing, and live conflict mediations to transform the norms around violence. They provide a 24/7 community watch to insure a constant, reliable presence. Lisa Jones, S.O.S. program director, works to connect with local stakeholders and service providers, as well as to track data. “I believe that we have to be the change that we want to create and I approach my work in the spirit of love and light,” says Jones.
The organization’s four outreach workers and “violence interrupters” walk the streets at night to engage with those who are most likely to shoot or to be shot, which includes stepping into the middle of gang fights to stop violence from escalating, and preventing retaliatory acts when gun violence occurs. In addition, each outreach worker carries a caseload of 15 youth to mentor, check-up on, and help to find jobs and educational opportunities.
“Saving Our Streets is equal to saving my family,” says Marlon Peterson, violence interrupter. Most of the outreach workers were born and raised in Crown Heights and have an empathy and compassion for those they seek to help because they were once, as outreach worker supervisor, Derick Scott, says, “product[s] of the disease of violence.” But now, Scott continues, “I advocate for nonviolence with love, honor, and respect as my shield.”
FOR will present the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Award to S.O.S. at their Art to End Violence event, a multimedia contest exhibition and awards ceremony, on May 26th at Launchpad (721 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn NY), from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
FOR’s Nyack-Area Peace Prize was established in 2006 to honor an organization or individual involved in significant peace and justice work in the community of FOR’s national headquarters. This year’s recipient is the Rockland Immigration Coalition.
The Rockland Immigration Coalition began in November 1999 as a grassroots effort to address the needs and concerns of the growing population of immigrants in Rockland County. Concerned about the availability and accessibility of services for newcomers to the community, Gail Golden, clinical director of Volunteer Counseling Services, and Ron Figueroa, director of the Rockland Alliance for Prevention, organized a meeting to discuss the issues. More than 80 people came.
After determining serious gaps in service – such as the lack of a central immigration office and, therefore, no one place for immigrants and their advocates to get vital information – the group decided to create a directory of immigrant services. They determined what healthcare, education, legal, and mental health services were in place to serve both documented and undocumented persons and developed a comprehensive directory of services, along with a central number to call. In the process, the coalition further identified gaps in services and began to advocate and work for systems changes in hospitals, schools, vocational training centers, health clinics and mental health clinics.
The coalition has since offered its voice to public debates, worked with the department of labor to address the problem of employers who cheat immigrant workers, met with police departments to work for fair treatment, participated in statewide and national advocacy efforts, and collaborated with other groups working on similar issues. One such collaboration with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Spring Valley founded Jornaleros, a safe and humane day laborers’ center.
The Rockland Immigration Coalition has no paid staff; and yet, for more than ten years, the coalition has continued to grow. Grassroots organizers, union organizers, staff from the state attorney general’s office, OSHA, bank representatives, elected officials, lawyers, and many others have volunteered their time and expertise to improve the lives of immigrants in the county.
FOR will present the Nyack-Area Peace Award to the Rockland Immigration Coalition on Tuesday, September 20, 2011, at 12:00 noon, at its monthly meeting at Konbit Neg Lakay, 16 East Church Street, Spring Valley, NY.
For more information about FOR’s 2011 Peace Award winners or award presentations, contact Linda Kelly at lkelly@forusa.org or (845) 358-4601 x35.
