Title
Commemorating the Historic 30th Annual Community Peace Celebration and Declaring a Day of Peace and Unity
Body
WHEREAS, the Community Peace Celebration originated as a response to the loss of a precious young life in the Frogtown neighborhood of Saint Paul in 1996, initiated with a traveling Peace Pole bearing the message "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in four languages, visiting 30 neighborhood sites; and
WHEREAS, in June 1997, the Community Peace Celebration began with neighbors coming together in the wake of grief, finding healing through the words of community leaders and the music and dance of local performers, to foster a shared vision of peace and cooperative relationships; and
WHEREAS, the beloved founder Elder Melvin Giles instilled the values of the Four Agreements and the Seven Generations philosophy, passing the mantle of the "Peaceful Love Warrior" to countless youth, neighbors, and elders-in-training; and
WHEREAS, the Community Peace Celebration has evolved into a network of neighbors, community organizations, local businesses, artists, and youth utilizing their gifts for peace, seeking to disrupt cycles of oppression, violence, and poverty through art, community health, education, youth empowerment, and reconciliation; and
WHEREAS, the vision of the Community Peace Celebration is to create peaceful spaces within the Rondo, Summit-University, Frogtown, and surrounding neighborhoods, where residents have ownership, feel secure, and build a culture of justice and peace; and
WHEREAS, the continuing mission of the Community Peace Celebration is to promote healthy community and cultural values, the enduring symbolism of the Peace Pole, and advocacy for justice and the dismantling of systemic racism and other forms of oppression; and
WHEREAS, at a moment when fear and division are being used as tools against our communities, we respond in the same spirit as those neighbors who came together 30 years ago, asserting love, unity, and collective s...
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