#KidsNotGuns |
If your heart is still aching from the last school shooting and you find yourself bracing for the next one, read on about the #KidsNotGuns Banner of Hope.
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Based on our legacy of honoring the child victims of war and violence on red silk memorial, we have collected the names and photos of all children who have been killed in school shootings in the United States from Columbine to the present day. We have digitized the photos and ironed them onto the red silk panels along with their names in black next to their photographs. Interspersed on the silk panels are black guns evolving into white birds.
After the first unfurling of this poignant work at a press event, we will tour the United States with the #KidsNotGuns banner to powerfully demonstrate—to citizens and lawmakers—the tender ages of these child victims of school shootings. We want to make it REAL as people look into the clear eyes of those children smiling from a long-ago picture, to resist becoming numb to it all and to refuse to let it continue! Although we are not affiliated with any political party, we stand united with the young people of Parkland and other schools who stood up to elected officials and the NRA—demanding bans on assault rifles and changes that limit access to weapons that can be used against ordinary citizens, let alone children. Ultimately, the banner incites emotion that compels people to ACTION: 1. Contact your senators and congress people. 2. Vote in the general and national elections. If you’re not registered, please act on one of your greatest American rights and get registered now! 3. Tell us how you’d like to be involved. We need you for this project! |
Peace Projects in Schools and Communities around the World
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Peace to the Planet (formerly Children As The Peacemakers) has a long history of empowering children to respond with courage and vision to what would otherwise seem like a disempowering climate of violence and despair, be it global, national, or right within in our own communities.
Our work began during the Cold War era of 1982 and spanned decades, during which we took children on International Children’s Peace Missions to convene with world leader leaders, awarded Children’s International Peace Prizes to kids from around the globe, and unfurled our Banner of Hope, a memorial to children killed in war, from the Great Wall of China to Checkpoint Charlie the week the Berlin Wall came down. We went on to develop the Peace Kids Peace Clubs curriculum, facilitated in classrooms and organizations around the globe, teaching kids the importance of peaceful dialogue and giving them the skills they need to resolve interpersonal conflict with confidence, compassion and communication. Our work continues—because kids are being killed by guns in schools and on our streets every day and we just can’t stand by and watch it happen. Can you? |
Peace to the Planet Founder, Pat Montandon, receives a lesson in forgiveness from Mother TeresaIt is the greatest poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish. |