Dear John,

We have a special invitation for you this week. This Wednesday for the next Local Peace Economy conversation, we invited the co-founders of Art.Coop (Nati Linares and Caroline Woolard) for a conversation centered on the concepts of art, economics, networking, and solidarity. Art.Coop is an artist collective that is birthing an arts/culture movement rooted in the peace economy. Art.Coop is a community of artists committed to building the art worlds they want, rather than trying to jam the round peg of their peace economy work into the square hole of the war economy.

Art, story-telling, and other cultural work is critical as we wade deeper into the troubling times we are in. As Ursula Le Guin said in a lecture about storytelling,

"One of the functions of art is to give people the words to know their own experience.There are always areas of vast silence in any culture, and part of an artist’s job is to go into those areas and come back from the silence with something to say."

The multifaceted perspectives of creatives help spread shared identities, common ideals, and challenge the illusion of power by giving people the words and ideas to expand their experience into social change. Art disrupts abuses of power, mocks the oligarchy and corporations upholding bad actors, and encourages resistance against powerful structures that dominate the war economy. Art and culture building in our communities is crucial work, now more than ever.

A recent and important example of art resisting power is the recent Banksy image painted on the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Painted to protest the courts' criminalization of genocide protests in the UK, this image was quickly erased by the city. But, Banksy being Banksy, painted the mural with an ink that would permanently scar the facade, creating a haunting and powerful ghost image, symbolizing the erasure of protest and free speech. It is now thought that Banksy intended this "erased" image to be the protest symbol all along.

Image: (L) The Mural :"Royal Courts Of Justice. London" (Sept. 8, 2024) after the attempted erasure | (R) Banksy original image before the attempted erasure.

If you missed it, you can listen to our last LPE Meeting, which featured three of our Local Peace Economy interns. They shared their experience working with CODEPINK, what they've learned, and what they hope to do with the experience they've been given as they move into their work and post-intern lives. 

UPCOMING Local Peace Economy Gatherings:

• Anti-Imperialist Campaign Series
• September 24h LPE Meeting
• Register for the LPE Writing workshops from October through the end of the year.

Other supportive resources:

• Local Peace Economy Wiki
• Local Peace Economy Padlet — add yourself and see who is near you!
• Video introduction to the workbook
• Download The Local Peace Economy Workbook (free digital version)
• Purchase The Local Peace Economy Workbook (physical copy)
• The Local Peace Economy website
• CODEPINK Radio Ep. 242: The Local Peace Economy
• CODEPINK Radio Ep. 256: What is the root of peace?

We hope to see you this Wednesday, September 24th!