Year: 2021 - Page 18 - Massachusetts Peace Action

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, kicks off the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate in Washington, D.C., on April 22, 2021. [White House photo by Adam Schultz/ Public Domain]

Biden’s Climate Plan: Unprecedented Yet Insufficient

May 20, 2021 Maryellen Kurkulos

by Maryellen Kurkulos This point cannot be overemphasized: The earth’s climate is changing irreversibly, while the window of opportunity to keep global heating to less than 1.5ºC is closing fast. Droughts, floods, wildfires, and storms are ever more frequent and more intense. Atmospheric CO2 levels […]

US Sanctions and Venezuela’s Economy

May 10, 2021 Tyrin Douangvichit

by Tyrin Douangvichit As of January 22, 2021, the Treasury Department had imposed sanctions on roughly 166 Venezuelan or Venezuelan-connected individuals and the State Department had revoked the visas of more than 1,000 individuals and their families (FAS.org, Congressional Research Service). The current discourse on […]

Mother’s Day Proclamation

May 9, 2021 Merri Ansara

The “Appeal to womanhood throughout the world” (later known as “Mother’s Day Proclamation”) by Julia Ward Howe was an appeal for women to unite for peace in the world. by Julia Ward Howe, 1870 Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that […]

Arlington National Cemetery. Photo: Dudva/Wikimedia

How American Politics Got Troops Stuck—and Killed—in Afghanistan

May 7, 2021 Erik Edstrom

by Erik Edstrom Originally published in Politico Magazine As a combat officer, I watched people die in a dysfunctional war. Then I returned to a country unable to end it. Maybe it was the ketamine talking. Or maybe A.J. Nelson, an 18-year-old private, possessed a […]

Clamshell Quilts made by members of "Sisters of Silkwood"

From the Seabrook Occupation to the New Resurgence of Nukes

April 30, 2021 Hayat Imam

by Hayat Imam On April 30, 1977, 44 years ago, 2000 of us sat in to protest the Seabrook, New Hampshire, Nuclear Power Plant construction site. Trained by seasoned veterans of civil disobedience movements, we were organized into dozens of small affinity groups, committed to […]

Massachusetts House Rejects Distorted Definition of Antisemitism

April 30, 2021 Cole Harrison

by Cole Harrison and Elsa Auerbach The Massachusetts House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected an amendment to the state budget which would have Massachusetts adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, a definition that equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism, within its […]

Yemen Emergency Rally, Cambridge, MA, April 17, 2021

Yemen: Recognizing responsibility

April 21, 2021 Deborah Belle

by Deborah Belle Saturday’s rally in Brattle Square Plaza, Cambridge, MA, to end the U.S.-Saudi blockade of Yemen, began just as the morning’s rain ended and pedestrians returned to Harvard Square. Activists held signs and gave out leaflets urging an end to U.S. support for […]