Just reading newspaper headlines can feel like an assault: War,
Ambush, Terror, Lethal Attacks. And television is even worse, with
its torrent of violent and numbing images. The mass media defines
news as events that are happenstance and usually bad, if not
downright catastrophic. This does us all a disservice, fostering an
unnecessary climate of fear and cynicism.
If you feel the need for a different point of view about
international events, you can turn to the independent peace press.
There you’ll find explorations of the questions What can I do? and
Is peace possible?, and you’ll learn about courageous people around
the globe placing themselves in harm’s way every day in service of
peace.
Operating under the premise that peace begins within each of us,
Turning Wheel (Box 4650, Berkeley, CA 94704; $45, $20 low
income; www.bpf.org), the quarterly magazine of the Buddhist Peace
Fellowship, regularly provides engaging stories about peacemaking
at the local and interpersonal level. The Fall 2001 edition of this
‘journal of socially engaged Buddhism’ focused on ‘reconciliation
in the heart and in the world’ with useful material on forgiveness
and restorative justice.
Peacework (2161 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA, 02140;
$20/10 issues, $10 low income; www.afsc.org/peacewrk.htm) advocates
for ‘global thought and local action for nonviolent social change,’
via articles about the spiritual basis for peace and justice,
resource lists, and profiles of people who act bravely and
conscientiously. Now in its 29th year, Peacework is published by
the American Friends Service Committee’s New England Regional
Office.
Active since 1936, the quarterly Peace News (5 Caledonian
Rd., London, N1 9DY; $25; www.gn.apc.org/peacenews), a London-based
project of War Resisters’ International, examines militarism,
promotes pacifist analysis, and supports campaigns such as the
International Network on Disarmament and Globalisation. A recent
issue contained disturbing articles about child soldiers, as well
as hopeful reports on nonviolence training in schools and children
as leaders.
The Toronto-based Peace Magazine (Box 248, Station P,
Toronto, M5S 2S7, Canada; $20; www.peacemagazine.org) is also
international in scope. Recent editions of this quarterly
publication of the Canadian Disarmament Information Service have
looked at connections between poverty and war, reported on the
Global Nonviolent Peace Force, and considered ‘what to do about
Osama bin Laden.’
Also noteworthy: Nonviolent Activist, bimonthly publication
of the War Resisters League (339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012;
$15; http: //www.warresisters.org/nva.htm) and The Oregon
Peaceworker (104 Commercial St. NE, Salem, OR 97301; $15/6
issues; www.oregonpeaceworks.org).
This Just In
Processed World (41 Sutter St., #1829, San Francisco, CA
94104; $10 each; www.processedworld.com), the magazine for
dissident office workers, is back with a special issue after a
seven-year hiatus. The 112-page Fall 2001 edition contains articles
about billboard liberation, distance education, urban gardening,
dot-com labor, radical bikers of the 1890s, and ‘the promise of
leisure in the computer age.’
Below Critical Radar: Fanzines and Alternative Comics from 1976
to Now (Slab-O-Concrete Publications, Box 148, Hove, BN3 3DQ,
England; $19.95; www.slaboconcrete.com) is a slender book covering
several zine subgenres from the viewpoints of Comics Journal editor
Gary Groth, New York Times art director David Kendall, e-zine maven
John Labovitz, and others. Though not an exhaustive history, its
timeline and graphic reproductions give a sense of what the
micro-press is and why it matters.
Speaking of zines, Dream Whip (Box 53832, Lubbock, TX 79453;
$3) is the best I’ve read lately. In issue #11 its editor, Bill
Brown, writes poetically and perceptively about New York City and
other places, describing beautiful things that are decaying, dying,
covered with grime, and often overlooked. Something about it helps
maintain a glimmer of hope in the face of difficult reality.
OnEarth (40 W. 20th St., New York, NY 10011; $12/4issues;
www.nrdc.org) is the new name of the quarterly magazine of the
Natural Resources Defense Council, formerly titled The Amicus
Journal. The redesigned publication will continue to focus on
environmental issues.
Lingua Franca has ceased publication after 11 years. The
lively independent magazine covering academia won a 1993 Utne
Reader Alternative Press Award (and was nominated in five other
years).
