"Peace-making takes many shapes and forms," whether political action or even artistic and literary expression, said John G. Duesler Jr., board chairman of Peace Action-Philadelphia, the event's sponsor. It was billed as an ethnic peace festival.
Harry Thorn (left) listens to Mangaliso Ture's peace initiatives in a gathering at the Philadelphia Ethical Society. Billed as an ethnic peace festival, it brought together those interested in forging better relations.
One oft-cited example of literary peace-making is the 1931 poem "Conscientious Objector" by Edna St. Vincent Millay, which Duesler recited by heart as the meeting began. Its memorable opening stirred the group: "I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death."
King sought political solutions to discrimination and war, and had he not been assassinated in 1968 at age 39, he likely would have played a pivotal peace-making role in the world for years to come, said Phyllis Gilbert, Peace Action's executive director.
"I don't think we would be having a war in Iraq," she said. "Dr. King was for peace."
But like war, peace - at least as deconstructed yesterday - has many meanings.
John G. Duesler Jr. (left) leads a discussion during the peace festival at the Philadelphia Ethical Society at Rittenhouse Square. He is chairman of Peace Action-Philadelphia, the sponsor.
Mangaliso Ture, who was born in the United States but who is of Namibian ancestry, said that peace in a country long ruled by Europeans and South Africans comes only through forgiveness, reconciliation, and the elimination of apartheid.
"When we restore our identity, we restore a sense of peace," said Ture, who runs the Pya Kule Design Group.
David Nguyen, who also was born in this country but whose family comes from Vietnam, noted that his country, too, had historically known little peace.
"But we've been at peace with ourselves, even when we were ruled by the Chinese and the French," said Nguyen, of the Vietnamese Hung Vuong Association, a social service agency in South Philadelphia. "We always kept our culture and language."
Other thoughts on peace centered on working locally to bring people together.
Phyllis Gilbert talks with David Nguyen of the Vietnamese Hung Vuong Association, which promotes Vietnamese cultural values and offers social services. Gilbert is executive director of Peace Action- Philadelphia, which sponsored the event at Rittenhouse Square.
"Encourage by example," said Gene Miller. "That's the only way I know."
"Peace really means being at peace," said Ronald Logsdon, citing the sense of calm that being among nature brings.
Peace is "working to improve your community. Roll up your sleeves and get in there," said Ture, who added discipline, sacrifice and responsibility to the list.
"Peace is not a thing. It's an outcome," said Duesler, who cited the need to "put the good of the whole above self." This lesson naturally drives the discussion from local to national to global.
For now, a desirable outcome in Philadelphia is to break down barriers between neighborhoods so all city residents realize that "the stickup at the corner restaurant affects everybody, not just the store owner," Duesler said.
Yesterday's program was part of a push by the local Peace Action chapter to increase membership and visibility. Peace Action evolved nationally in the late 1980s from a merger of the Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy and the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign.
A video with clips of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is shown during the event, which examined the nature of peace.
Contact staff writer Virginia Smith at 215-854-5720 or vsmith@phillynews.com.