CAPA Membership Meeting
Monday, December 7th, 7:00— 8:30 PM
41st Annual Benefit
Thursday, November 12th
6:00 PM— 7:30 PM CST
For the past forty years, we’ve gathered with fellow peace, justice, and climate activists to dine and learn together at CAPA’s annual fall dinner. Due to the circumstances of this unusual year, we, like many other groups, are going virtual. What once seemed like a hindering obstacle, has instead revealed a unique opportunity to rethink our yearly program.
While we may not be gathering together in person this year, the need for peace and justice minded individuals to learn, connect, and activate is greater than ever.
We are thrilled to host the progressive champion, US Representative Ro Khanna to speak on Building Bridges, Not Barriers: Redefining Security. At a time when our nation will still be reeling from the recent election, as the world battles pandemic, climate catastrophe, and widespread war, we must all bring a critical and creative eye to rethink what security really entails.
For too long, our nation has bought into a broken “post 9/11 siege mentality” of amorphous external threats requiring bullets, bombs and intimidation to keep us “strong and safe”. Now, we are seeing more clearly than ever, that true security for all must include: access to healthcare, intentional peace building, attention to the global effects of climate change and the thoughtful dismantling of systemic racism.
No matter the outcome of November’s election, we, as lovers of peace and justice, have a lot of work to do and can not afford to sit on the sidelines. With nearly uncontested bipartisan support of the Pentagon’s $690 billion budget and plans to spend a trillion dollars on modernizing the US nuclear arsenal and delivery systems over the next thirty years, we must be prepared to call for bold steps to redefine security!
Join us to learn what must be done, discuss solutions, and get activated to be the change we want to see in the world!
Wednesday October 7th
Chicago Federal Plaza
12:00 PM— 1:30 PM
October 7 marks the 19th anniversary of the longest war in U.S. history, the 2001 invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.
And Afghanistan is just one piece of a worldwide kaleidoscope of US military violence around the world including:
- occupations of Iraq and Syria
- drone bombings from Africa to Pakistan
- the proxy wars of Saudi Arabia vs. Yemen and Israel vs. Palestine
- threats to invade Venezuela
- devastating sanctions against dozens of countries
- over 500 military bases around the world, many with nuclear weapons — daggers at the throats of the peoples nearby them.
Almost an entire generation of Americans has lived with endless war. Babies not even born at the time of the US invasion of Afghanistan are now fighting in that country. Far worse, however, is the fact that over 1 million Middle Easterners are now dead to avenge the 3000 killed in the 9/11 attacks, and war has spread throughout the Middle East.
As revealed in the so-called Afghanistan papers – government documents released through Freedom of Information Act requests – senior U.S. officials have knowingly lied throughout the war, making optimistic pronouncements of success even while hiding evidence that the war was a disaster.
Despite this, in an effort to turn the tide of the Afghan war in the U.S.’s favor, Presidents Obama and Trump have both launched “troop surges.” Death and destruction were the predictable results while the puppet Afghan regime’s hold on the country, far from being strengthened, remained as precarious as ever.
While people in this country do not feel the direct physical effects of these wars, every bomb
dropped represents millions of dollars less for our schools, health care, affordable housing, public transportation, physical infrastructure, and a myriad of other social services desperately needed in a time of pandemic and severe economic recession. With one-half of the federal discretionary budget going to the US military, and much of the rest given over to subsidizing the already-rich, it’s little wonder that there are only crumbs left for the left of us.
US politicians’ support for war and U.S. domination has been and remains thoroughly bipartisan. The 2020 election will not change that. To establish their “patriotic” credentials, Democrats typically vote for military financing and war with the same frequency as Republicans.
On the 19th anniversary of the United States’ Forever War, and relentless US violence around the world, please join us to denounce these wars that both major political parties continue to finance.
We will be having our event on the Plaza so that we can be socially distanced. Out respect for the health of everyone, please wear a mask.
View the Facebook Event here.
Saturday, September 26th
Stay tuned for more details to come!
Wednesday, August 26th, 6:00— 7:00 PM CST
This is an online event. Please register here to receive a Zoom link.
Join us on Wednesday, August 26th for a discussion with Danny Sjursen on a his new book Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War published by Heydey books. He’ll join us virtually from his home in Kansas to talk about his latest work and take your questions.
This incendiary work by Daniel Sjursen is a personal cry from the heart by a once-model US Army officer and West Point graduate who became a military dissenter while still on active duty. Set against the backdrop of the terror wars of the last two decades, Sjursen asks whether there is a proper space for patriotism that renounces entitled exceptionalism and narcissistic jingoism. Once a burgeoning believer and budding conservative, Sjursen performed an intellectual and spiritual about-face. He now calls for a critical exploration of our allegiances, and he suggests a path to a new, more complex notion of patriotism. Equal parts unsentimental and idealistic, this is a story about what it means to be an American in the midst of perpetual war, and what the future of patriotism might look like.
Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. Army Major and regular contributor to antiwar.com, Truthdig, The Nation, Tom Dispatch, The Huffington Post, and The Hill. His work has also appeared in Harper’s, The LA Times, and Buzz Feed. He served combat tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan and later taught history at his alma mater, West Point. He is the author of a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War, Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge (2015). He co-hosts the progressive veterans’ podcast “Fortress on a Hill.” Follow him on Twitter at @SkepticalVet.
Sunday, August 9th 12:15— 3:30 PM,
4600 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60640
People created nuclear weapons and designed the systems governing their use — and people can work to eliminate them.
1:00p – Speakers in Staples parking lot before send-off of car procession (Route to be provided to those who RSVP)
Roughly 2:45-3p – Procession arrives at the Henry Moore sculpture, 5625 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, for additional speakers, a memorial and acknowledgement of the lives lost.
Tuesday, August 4th 6:30— 8:00 PM CST
This is an online event. Register to receive Zoom link here.
Wednesday, July 15th
This is an online day of action. See more details here.
HOW: People HAVE power! ON the Day of Action (July 15th)
Use your social media platforms (FB, Twitter, IG, etc) to share our graphics, record a short video and tag your Member with a script that we’ll provide AND donate to Yemen:
Message us or email: yemenialliancecommittee@gmail.com
SPONSORS:
Tuesday, July 14 5:00 PM- 6:00 PM
Federal Plaza
219 S Dearborn
Chicago, IL
July 14th marks the 5th anniversary of the Iran-EU-US nuclear agreement that was to pave the way for lessening economic sanctions against Iran. But Trump nixed that agreement and imposed more sanctions that, during a pandemic, make supplies urgently needed to protect public safety more expensive and often impossible for Iran to obtain.
Tuesday, May 26th, 6:00— 7:00 PM CST
Online Event. Register here to get Zoom link.
Cavan Kharrazian
Researcher @Center for Economic and Policy Research
Cavan Kharrazian is an Iranian-American researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC, where he has studied humanitarian impacts of US economic sanctions, along with their legal implications both domestically and internationally. He co-authored the Jacobin article “US Sanctions Are Designed to Kill” See https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/09/us-iran-sanctions-donald-trump-iran-deal-oil-bank
@Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
Minju Bae is an educator and historian of Asian America. She is a member of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, a New York City-based organization of diasporic Koreans and comrades that organizes to advance peace, decolonization, and self-determination in Korea and Turtle Island.
Director of Policy and Strategic Engagement @MADRE
Diana Duarte is the Director of Policy and Strategic Engagement at MADRE, leading the organization’s policy, public education and communications work, and designing and implementing campaigns to advance women’s human rights. She directs MADRE’s Feminist Foreign Policy Jumpstart initiative, bringing grassroots women’s perspectives and analysis into US policy making. For more than 14 years, she has worked in policy analysis and communications to advocate for human rights, gender justice, and progressive change. She has served as a board member of Women, Action and the Media: NYC and currently is the board chair of ActionAid USA.
Thursday, February 27th 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
DePaul University- Lincol Park Campu
Room TBA
CAPA DePaul will be joining DePaul Islamic World Studies for this event.
Being young and Muslim in the United States has only gotten more complicated since the terrorist attacks of 2001. From warrantless government surveillance to rising incidents of hate crimes, Muslim Americans have had to deal with their new reality in many different ways, ways that are sometimes heartbreaking and just as often inspiring. In this lecture, author Moustafa Bayoumi will survey what being young and Muslim has meant since 2001 and ask if and how Muslim American life has changed under the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations. Bayoumi will also focus on how we, as a nation, must think beyond our perceived conflicts and look instead through the long lens of justice as a means of securing our country and our shared humanity.
Facebook Event can be found here.
Thursday, February 20th 6:30 PM- 8:00 PM
DePaul University – Lincoln Park Campus
Student Center
2250 N. Sheffield Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
The Trump administration, and their predecessors, love to blame immigrant families just looking for a better life for themselves and children, but who really caused the need for people to flee from their homes?
Presenters Victoria Cervantes and Laura Nussbaum, of La Voz de los de Abajo, will share and discuss the impact of U.S. policy and actions in Latin America, and how military and economic violence in the region is the underlying cause of the immigration crisis.
We must not let the U.S.’s violent imposition continue to destroy an entire region, while criminalizing the victims of our actions. We’ll learn what it means to oppose U.S. interference in Latin America and begin taking the very important steps towards change.
This is a free event, but please let us know you are coming by signing up through this ticket link!
Facebook Event can be found here.
January 21st 7:00-8:00 PM
DePaul University
Room TBA
Chicago, IL 60604
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. What is it? How does it work? Who do they target? Who is in charge? What are my rights? What does Abolish ICE mean? Join Chicago Area Peace Action DePaul for small group discussions about how ICE has changed under Trump, ICE Methods, Trial & Rights, ICE Detention Centers, and more.
Facebook Event can be found here.
January 13th 7:00 PM
Evanston City Council
2100 Ridge Ave.
Evanston, IL 60201
Residents of greater Evanston are urged to come to City Hall Council Chambers for the beginning of the City Council meeting at 7pm to stand in support as Evanston residents speak to Resolution 136 R 19 which calls for the US to ratify the International Convention on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (“ICAN”) that has already been approved by 122 nations at the UN, signed by 79 countries, and ratified by 33. The Evanston resolution, similar to those adopted by 43 other US cities, will be proposed as part of the Consent Agenda at the beginning of the meeting.
If the City Council passes this resolution, it will be the first Midwest city to join the campaign to convince the US government to sign the ICAN treaty.
See the resolution here.
We will not be forced into another war. CAPA will join with Indivisible Evanston and others in the anti-war majority in this country will get visible to oppose Trump’s war and say #NoWarWithIran.
Evanston – 5:00pm – Church and Benson
Chicago – 5:30pm – Wabash and Wacker
CAPA joins with CCAWR, ANSWER, VCNV and many other Chicago area peace groups to say, We will not be forced into another war.
5:30pm Corner of Wabash and Wacker, Chicago
CONTACT US
If you would like more information about CAPA, or would like to volunteer or intern for CAPA, please contact us by email or phone.
