Rusty Nelson on Peace and War: Power to the Peaceful! “Power to the Peaceful” is emblazoned upon one of my favorite t-shirts, the one commemorating the VFP National Convention of 2013. Hollis Higgins brought it to me from Madison, Wisconsin, and it’s part of my motivation for attending the convention in St. Paul, this August. […]

Peace and Justice Action Committee needs you! Peace and Justice Action Committee members went all-in for the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival launch with 40 Days of Action during May and June. We began with outreach, coordinated carpools to Olympia for six Mondays of direct action, and co-organized local report back […]

Supporting Immigrants, Racial Justice, and Criminal Justice Reforms Last year’s member survey showed broad member support for supporting immigrants and criminal justice reform and resulted in these two issues being a part of our priorities during 2018-2019. We have recently done some restructuring of our committees to provide better opportunities for our members to get […]

How Anti-Semitism Animates White Nationalism The re-emergence of white nationalism as a movement in our region and nation calls us to deepen our understanding of these issues and deepen our commitment to anti-racism, to fighting anti-Semitism, and to identifying and pushing back against oppression in all its forms. Eric Ward, executive director at Western States […]

Brené Brown, personal growth, and working on structural racism By Liz Moore, PJALS Director What are the ways that structural racism inhibits the personal growth and healthy personhood of white people? And how can we intertwine our inner and outer work to dismantle structural racism? For me — a white woman from a rural, working […]

What’s F.A.B? Fighting Fascism By Ad Astra, FAB member In April this year, some Spokane Valley students organized a pro-guns alt-right protest. The sentiments expressed by one student garnered the attention of contemporary post-Aryan fascist groups. In response, Families Against Bigotry formed initially without a name within two weeks of the alt-right student rally. The […]

By Liz Moore, PJALS Director On a cold and icy day in January, I joined our PJALS Steering Committee at a planning retreat to set priorities for 2018-2019. We discussed your responses to the member survey, the sober realities of the current political landscape locally and nationally, what makes PJALS unique and strong, and how […]