By Bria Anderson

Today, members of the Peace Alliance and Student Peace Alliance Conference traveled through an experience that will forever impact their lives. The morning session was called, “Be the Hero You’ve Been Waiting For.” Mr. and Mrs. Rich and Yvonne St. John-Dutra are the co-founders and the CEO’s of Challenge Day, an organization that has designed and implemented effective bullying intervention programs for the past 24 years. Having both been severely affected by bullying during middle school and high school, Mr. and Mrs. Rich and Yvonne St. John-Dutra decided that they didn’t want their kids to go through what they went through during those adolescent years.

We also heard from Ms. Riane Eisler, a former lawyer turned activist for both peace and women’s  rights. During her speech, she talked to us about the history of peace, and how to talk the language of peace. Meaning, when we talk about the establishment of the Department of Peace and Non-Violence, we have to say “when the Department of Peace is established,” instead of “if the Department Peace is established.” She also talked about the relations between economics and peace, and how businesses tend to profit more when our country is at peace, or if not our country, at least our local communities. 

We also listened and participated in a discussion with representatives from Barrios Unidos, My Sisters Place, and Peaceaholics. Juan Pacheco, the representative from the Barrios Unidos chapter in Virginia. Barrios Unidos is a non-profit organization that works to improve youth violence prevention and intervention and awareness about youth violence inside communities.

 Lauren Zepp, the representative and the Development Associate and Volunteer Coordinator for My Sisters Place, talked about the current issues about women and children and abuse on them, and how My Sisters Place provides a temporary safe-haven for those whom are afflicted by domestic abuse.

We also heard from Ronald L. Moten, the representative and Chief Operations Officer of Peaceoholics, Inc., a DC-area non-profit organization dedicated to promoting conflict resolution, HIV/AIDS prevention, abuse prevention, family wellness, gang intervention and substance abuse issues.

Lastly, we also had breakout sessions, where every person could choose which group they wanted to participate in. The breakout sessions were:

• Expose Yourself! Mastering the Media Interview

• Cultivating Human Generosity: Funding the Dream in Your Area and Beyond

• Grow Baby Grow: Building and Sustaining Your Local Group

• Mobilizing Youth for a Department of Peace: Campus and Community Organizing

• Nonviolent Peaceforce: How Does Unarmed Civilian  Peacekeeping Work?

• Overcoming the My Face Twitters:  Using Social Networking for Grassroots Organizing

• Restorative Justice and Restorative Practices

• Speak Your Peace: Unleashing the Writer Within.