International Women's Peace Congress at Simpson College
By Diane Krell

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) 30th Triennial Congress will be held this year on the Simpson campus on June 25-June 29. WILPF is the oldest continuous women’s peace organization in the world, founded in 1915 by Jane Addams and Emily Greene Balch who both went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Nearly 150 men and women members of WILPF from all over the world are expected to attend the Congress. and we are offering two opportunities for the public as well, said Diane Krell, former president of the Des Moines WILPF Branch.

On Friday, June 27th at 7:30 p.m. Amy Goodman, award winning journalist and host of Pacifica Radioâ's daily radio program, "Democracy Now," will be speaking in the Great Hall on the Simpson campus.

Saturday, June 28, Fran Korten, publisher and executive director of YES! Magazine will help celebrate WILPF's Tribute Night, starting at 6 pm with dinner in the Great Hall.  

"We are fortunate to have two outstanding women who are ardent progressives and who have taken time out of their busy schedule to come to our Congress and challenge our membership and our community," stated Mary Hanson Harrison, Congress Coordinator.  

Long-time WILPF Sponsor and author of The Color Purple, Alice Walker commented on Goodman's recent book, Standing Up to the Madness, co-authored with her brother, David.   She stated, "Trust Amy Goodman and her brother David Goodman to find the fierce and fearless voices that must awaken us from sleep." Standing Up to the Madness tells us of the power of everyday people who have changed the political landscape through their activism.

Noted journalist Bill Moyers says of Goodman's work: "Amy Goodman doesn't practice trickle-down journalism. She goes where the silence is, she breaks the sound barrier. "She believes the media should be a sanctuary for dissent, the Underground Railroad tunneling beneath the plantation."

Harrison says that on Saturday evening Korten will share the vision that drives YES! Magazine - that is, "the fierce faith that with enough citizen understanding and action, American can change" that we really can take steps to reverse the threat of global warming; stand up to corporate power; transform our health care system; shape a cooperative role for America in the world; face the legacy of racism; and keep up the long march toward a more perfect union. "Over many years and several countries, Korten has “helped bring about substantial policy and institutional reform by creating common agendas among visionary leaders from the governmental, nongovernmental, and academic sectors."

Saturday's Tribute Night will also honor an Iowa peace activist and author of Unfriendly Fire: A Mother's Memoir, Peg Mullen, with WILPF's first annual Strong Feisty Woman Award.  

"Peg Mullen represents all the mothers who send their children off to serve their country and pray they will be safe.    In tirelessly tracking the truth about her own son's death in Vietnam, she revealed to the nation that  the sacred bond between soldier and nation can be and often is broken.   She helped awaken America to the understanding that its leaders can and do deploy troops for the wrong reasons, for insubstantial reasons and can lie about the real motives for sacrificing our treasure and blood. Peg risked everything to reveal that truth, for parents of her era and for those yet to come. She is an American hero...a  proud Iowa farm wife and mother who dared to confront the Pentagon and won. If there was ever a strong feisty woman, it's Peg Mullen!    

We as a  nation are  in her debt,"  wrote Marybeth Gardam, Des Moines Congress Program Chair.

Reservations, required for both events: phone 515-255-6587 or email wilpf-desmoines@dwx.com.