News Release
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April 18, 2005
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Peace
Activist Kathy Kelly To Keynote 'Will Work for Change: Take Back the Night'
at Boise State April 29
A lecture by international peace activist
Kathy Kelly, a rally on the Statehouse steps and a visual art display on the
Boise State University Quad will highlight “Will Work for Change: Take Back
the Night,” an annual event to raise awareness about violence, hosted by the
Boise State Women’s Center.
Kelly, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace
Prize three times, will speak at 7 p.m. Friday, April 29, at the Boise State
Special Events Center. In her lecture, “Eyewitness to War, Witness
for Peace, ” Kelly will speak about her many
trips to Iraq and the tradition of non-violent resistance to war and
tyranny.
The rally will follow at 9:30 p.m. on the
Statehouse steps, and will focus on prevention, victim services and
education. The rally features a representative of the Boise Police speaking
about victims’ rights and myths vs. facts about violence; a speech by a
survivor of violence; slam poetry; and information on services for victims
of violence. After the rally, volunteers will head out to the streets and
into downtown establishments to hand out violence prevention materials.
A visual art display representing the
statistical probability of sexual assault against Boise State students will
be on the Quad at Boise State April 28 and 29. Volunteers will be available
at the display from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. to answer questions and hand out
materials.
Kelly, who has
been arrested numerous times for non-violent acts of civil disobedience, has
dedicated her life to promoting peace. She is a co-founder of Voices in the
Wilderness, an organization that campaigned against the U.N. sanctions on
Iraq. Kelly has been to Iraq 21 times since January 1996.
She has a
masters degree in religious education from Chicago Theological Seminary and
is active with the Catholic Worker movement. Her essays and articles have
appeared in numerous publications, including The National Catholic
Reporter, The Columbia Journal of International Affairs and The
Washington Report on the Middle East. She won the Pax Christi USA
Teacher of Peace Award and the Newberry Library Free Speech Award.
Kelly wrote Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin, an account of her time in Iraq from the first Gulf War through the 12 years of sanctions to the U.S. invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq. The book also covers her return to the U.S. to face a federal prison sentence for protesting at the School of the Americas in Ft. Benning, Ga. From her cell, Kelly details the conditions inside a U.S. prison.
Kelly will also teach a workshop on non-violent resistance, sponsored by the Idaho Peace Coalition. The workshop will be held from 10-11 a.m. April 30 at the Boise Unitarian Universalist Church, 6200 Garrett St., in Garden City. The suggested donation is $10. Call 424-8541 to register.
Take Back the Night rallies are held to raise awareness of the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors which perpetuate violence. Although the main focus has been on violence against individuals, particularly women, this year’s rally will also address the larger culture of violence that, according to Boise State Women’s Center director Melissa Wintrow, is a system that condones war and perpetuates individual assault.
Take Back the Night rallies have been
held in cities across America since 1978. Marches are also held in Canada,
Latin America, India and Europe. Take Back the Night originated in Germany
in 1973 in response to a series of sexual assaults, rapes and murders.
Other sponsors of the rally are the Women’s and Children’s Alliance, Idaho Women’s Network, Boise State Student Housing, Boise City Police, Planned Parenthood of Idaho, the Boise State chapter of BGLAD and Boise State Health, Wellness and Counseling.
Other sponsors of Kathy Kelly are the Idaho Peace Coalition, St. Mark’s Social Justice Committee, Risen Christ Catholic Community, Benedictine Sisters - Monastery of St. Gertrude, Ilowan’s Children and the Boise Co-op.
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Contact: Melissa Wintrow, Boise State Women’s Center, (208) 426-4256, mwintrow@boisestate.edu
Contact for rally: Ellie Merrick, Planned Parenthood of Idaho, (208) 376-9300, ext. 19, ellie.merrick@ppfa.org
Contact for Kathy Kelly: Camille Thom, 424-8541
Media Contact: Anna Fritz, University Relations, (208) 426-1577, afritz@boisestate.edu
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Last reviewed on Thursday, December 22, 2005