Dear John,

You're invited to join us this Saturday, May 24 for an alternative Memorial Day celebration for peace at The Ellipse in front of the White House in Washington, DC.

The first Memorial Day occurred in 1868 when two women placed flowers on graves from both sides of the U.S. Civil War. In a sense, that was an effort to unite the children of the two sides in mourning the tragedy of war, and to honor the dead and by implication not create any more of them. But like many a holiday originally for mourning the dead of both sides of a particular war, Memorial Day was gradually turned into a holiday for celebrating the dead on only one side (the U.S. side) of many wars. 

This Saturday, we'll honor the original intention of Memorial Day by coming together for an event focused on peacebuilding and global solidarity, which will feature the Global Peace Flag. The Global Peace Flag showcases artwork and messages of peace from around the world. It was exhibited at the United Nations this fall and now we're bringing it to Washington, DC. 

WHAT: Global Peace Flag Exhibit + fashion show, speeches, poetry, and music!
WHEN: Saturday, May 24 at 1:00pm
WHERE: The Ellipse, 15th St NW & Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004

We'll have music and speeches from notable anti-war voices, including:

• World BEYOND War’s own Executive Director David Swanson
• Fashion designer Runa Ray, founder of Fashioning for Social Environmental Justice and the Global Peace Flag Project
• Spoken word poet Marjan Naderi, former D.C. Youth Poet Laureate (2020)
• Eli S. McCarthy, Director of Programs at DC Peace Team
• Dr. Steven Nabieu Rogers, Executive Director of the African Justice and Faith Network
• Notre Dame de Tous Les Peuples, a powerful choir ensemble that brings us songs of peace inspired by the African continent

Global Peace Flag Exhibit at the UN in New York

Greta Zarro
Organizing Director
World BEYOND War
[email protected]

World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war.
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