by Sue Trisler, AFDOP

On Friday, August 10th, in San Diego, California, Americans For a Department Of Peace hosted their first benefit concert.  Voices Of Peace was held at The Unity Center to a crowd of over 300 people, most of whom were new to both to the Department of Peace and to the music presented during this magical evening of exceptional music, a silent auction and the live auction of two distinctive items – a Super Bowl XLI Football signed by San Diego Chargers LaDainian Tomlinson and Reggie Bush of the New Orleans Saints; as well as a one-week’s vacation at a private 4-bedroom estate home in Princeville, Kauai worth $4,500.00, donated by Mr. Larry Day, a member of Unity.

The artists who contributed their precious time and extraordinary talent for this very special evening consisted of Karl & Jeanne Anthony, Cahill & Delene, Joe Rathburn, and Peter Bolland, accompanied by percussionist, Roger Friend.  Prior to the concert, a video was shown to the audience wherein each artist was posed the question, “Why are you doing this benefit concert for the Department of Peace?”

On the video, each artist spoke from their heart to inspire and encourage us all.  Delene St. Clair likened the Department of Peace to a Victor Hugo quote, “An idea whose time has come.”  Karl and Jeanne Anthony, along with Joe Rathburn and Peter Bolland, all expressed their desire for peace and the obligation it will take to get us all there.

After the video, Christine Elliot and John McNeil, the Southern California State Coordinators for the Department of Peace Campaign, along with Jan and John Atkinson, the San Diego AFDOP Coordinators, introduced themselves and the Department of Peace to the audience.  Each gave a brief history of their own personal introduction to the Department of Peace.  They gave an update on the current legislation before Congress, what the bill covers and its current Congressional sponsorship.  Christine and Jan gave a special honor and recognition to Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell for her and Unity’s constant support for the Department of Peace.

Peter Bolland of The Coyote Problem started the concert off with the very familiar Bob Dylan song, “The Times They Are A Changin’.”  His rendition of “Martin King and Coretta” was a beautiful tribute to Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr., who represented peace throughout their lives.  Bolland’s original songs, “Be The Change” and “I Wish You Peace” were written specifically for the Department of Peace.  He originally performed these songs at a prior benefit concert last December that was hosted by Joe Rathburn.  All the artists joined Peter on stage and engaged the entire audience in the chorus singing “I Wish You Peace.”

Next on the bill for the evening were Barry Cahill and Delene St. Clair.  They sang songs from their debut album appropriately entitled, “Songs For Humanity.”  On two of their songs, they were joined by the other musicians.  These songs, which spoke of our connection with everyone, were “Shades Of Brown” and “Everybody Matters.”  The lyrics to the latter echoed through the beautiful sanctuary of The Unity Center, “Everybody matters, everyone wants love, let me hear you say LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.”

Just before intermission, the live auctions took place.  Sue Trisler was the auctioneer for the Motorola-donated football which brought in $350.00 from patron Kevin Monahan.  John McNeil and Jill McManigal, co-founder of Kids For Peace, auctioned off the beautiful Hawaiian Hululani (“Heavenly”) estate vacation.  During the lively bidding process, the winning bid came in from Mr. Joel Selik at $4,000.00 – all to the benefit of the Department of Peace.  After the auction, Jill McManigal promoted the next big event, our Walk For Peace on September 22nd, in Balboa Park in honor of the International Day Of Peace.  All youth performers will provide musical entertainment after the 3K walk through The Prado.

Joe Rathburn, a San Diego music icon, was joined by Cahill & Delene on his opening song.  All the artists joined in the vocals on “A Million Years,” which is a new song for Joe and not even recorded as yet.  Singing a peace song from the 60s, Joe was accompanied by Barry on soprano sax and Delene on vocals with their rendition of “Where Have All The Flowers Gone.”  Joe wrote a brand new song specifically for this concert entitled, “Peace Is Possible.”  The lyrics echoed Joe’s message on the video, ‘Love is the opposite of war and peace is possible.’

Karl Anthony, accompanied by his beautiful wife, Jeanne, who gracefully uses American Sign Language to interpret his songs at all of his concerts, started the final set with a new song, “Got To Do Something.”  They followed with, “I See Good In You” where he was joined on stage by some of the members of the audience.  His song, “One Prayer” is also available as a video on You Tube.  For their final number, all of the concert musicians joined Karl and Jeanne on stage to sing, “Change The World.”   Everyone in the audience was on their feet, singing along with the chorus.

As the concert organizer, I wanted to bring the message of peace and information about the Department Of Peace to all but in a most beautiful way – communicating it through music.  This was my vision all along throughout all the planning stages.  I wanted the evening to be captivating for everyone – artists and audience alike – and to truly inspire people.  It came to fruition on August 10th – the entire evening was a huge success for all.

All of the musicians were thrilled by the entire event.  Karl Anthony noted, “We had an amazing time and were delighted to see the San Diego community pack the house for such an important cause.  The Department of Peace is on its way to becoming a reality and when that happens, we will know the people have spoken.”  Karl & Jeanne Anthony have announced to us that they will donate 10% of their proceeds through the end of the year to AFDOP.

Peter Bolland commented, “I have never played in front of a more focused and generous audience.  That was one of the most gratifying performance experiences I have ever had in my life…the energy was truly magical.  I am very proud and honored to have been a small part of such a beautiful night.”   Joe Rathburn remarked, “I just want to say that it’s this kind of consciousness raising event that could catch on big time and really spread the word about the movement.  Let’s take it on the road!”

AFDOP raised nearly $15,000 that evening through ticket donations and the silent and live auction winning bids.  Net proceeds will be divided between AFDOP and The Peace Alliance to help further spread the word about the campaign to establish a U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence.  Peace and love were definitely in the air that evening.  Everyone left feeling uplifted, exhilarated and sincerely inspired – ready to “be the change” in the world.