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Johan Galtung

In Pursuit of Peace and Justice: 100 Peace & Justice Leaders and Models

29 Jan 2018

By Anthony J. Marsella and Kathleen Malley-Morrison

Introduction

26 Jan 2018 – The annual memorial holiday on January 15, 2018, celebrating Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s enduring contributions to peace and justice, has passed.

The events of the day linger in our minds, eternally grateful for Reverend King’s efforts to free people and nations from the brutal oppressions imposed by governments, nations, societies, organizations, and individuals, who willfully continue to support and sustain the evils of racism, prejudice, violence, and war.

Reverend King’s commitment to freedom from oppression and abuse compel us to continue his efforts far beyond the words, songs, and promises of his day.

To this end, we, (i.e., Kathy Malley-Morrison & Anthony J. Marsella), the authors of this article, have chosen to demonstrate our responsibilities to continuing the work of Reverend King, by identifying 100 living peace and social justice leaders and models.

The number is arbitrary for there are tens of thousands more who deserve citation. Many are not listed, but will be listed in future efforts. Do not be dismayed! Patience! We believed it essential to create a dynamic list of living peace and justice activists and advocates to encourage peace and justice work.

The individuals included on our list are from all genders, ages, roles.  They are from many nations, ethnocultural groups, and “races.”  We sense a rising tide of commitment to peace and justice, and an intolerance of the corruption, cronyism, and asymmetric power sustaining current abuses.

We consider our efforts a beginning, and we will continue to publish new lists. This is because the struggle for peace and justice is endless, and each day new people are rising to the call.

This is as it should be, and must be, until such time the forces of oppression yield to the forces of good; evil will continue, but human virtue, endowed in conscience will triumph! While the work of many included will be recognized, some of those listed may not be apparent. We have attached website information after each name to offer insight into their efforts.

Before sharing our list, however, we wish to include two charts offering graphic displays of essential material for understanding and appreciating living leaders.

 

CHART 1: PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PEACE AND JUSTICE LEADERS AND MODELS

 

 

CHART 2: ROLES AND STATUSES OF LIVING PEACE & JUSTICE LEADERS AND MODELS

 

TABLE 1:

One Hundred Living Peace and Justice Activists, Advocates, Models

  1. Abdul-Jabbar: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  2. Adams: David Adams
  3. Albertini: James Albertini
  4. Assange: Julian Assange
  5. Atzmon: Gilad Atzmon
  6. Avnery: Uri Avnery
  7. Bacevich: Andrew Bacevich
  8. Baroud: Ramzy Baroud
  9. Benjamin: Medea Benjamin
  10. Berrigan: Frida Berrigan
  11. Binney: William Binney
  12. Blum: Willam Blum
  13. Burrowes: Robert J. Burrowes
  14. Caldicott: Helen Caldicott
  15. Castro: Gustavo Castro
  16. Chiponda: Melania Chiponda
  17. Chomsky: Noam Chomsky
  18. Coates: Ta-Nehisi Coates
  19. Cole: Juan Cole
  20. Cook: Michelle Cook
  21. Dalai: Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso)
  22. Davis: Angela Davis
  23. Ebadi: Shrin Ebadi
  24. Eidelson: Roy Eidelson
  25. Ellsberg: Daniel Ellsberg
  26. Engelhardt: Tom Engelhardt
  27. Falk: Richard Falk
  28. Feeley: Tom Feeley
  29. Fonda: Jane Fonda
  30. Galtung: Johan Galtung
  31. Garza: Alicia Garza
  32. Giroux: Henry A. Giroux
  33. Goodman: Amy Goodman
  34. Gorbachev: Mikhail Gorbachev
  35. Greenwald: Glen Greenwald
  36. Guevara-Rosas: Erika Guevara-Rosas
  37. Haugen: Gary Haugen
  38. Hedges: Chris Hedges
  39. Hersh: Seymour Hersh
  40. Hightower: Jim Hightower
  41. Ikeda: Daisaku Ikeda
  42. Jamail: Dahr Jamail
  43. Jones: Van Jones
  44. Kalaygian: Ani Kalayjian
  45. Karman: Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman
  46. Kelly: Kathy Kelly
  47. Killelea: Steve Killelea
  48. Kiriakou: John Kiriakou   
  49. Klein: Naomi Klein
  50. Knox: Michael Knox 
  51. Koehler: Robert Koehler  
  52. Kohls: Gary G. Kohls 
  53. Lakey: George Lakey
  54. Leonard: Annie Leonard 
  55. Lerner: Rabbi Michael Lerner
  56. Lifton:   Robert Lifton
  57. Lindorff: David Lindorff
  58. Manning: Chelsea Manning
  59. McCoy: Alfred McCoy
  60. McGovern: Ray McGovern 
  61. Maguire: Mairead McGuire  
  62. Menchu: Rigoberto Menchu 
  63. Miles: Stephen Miles
  64. Monbiot: George Monbiot 
  65. Nader: Ralph Nader
  66. Oberg: Jan Oberg 
  67. Okon: Emen Okon  
  68. Ono: Yoko Ono
  69. Peled: Miko Peled
  70. Petras: James Petras
  71. Pilger: John Pilger
  72. Pilisuk: Marc Pilisuk  
  73. Qumsiyeh: Mazin Qumsiyeh
  74. Ragbir: Ravi Ragbir 
  75. Reich: Robert Reich
  76. Risen: James Risen 
  77. Roberts: Paul Craig Roberts 
  78. Rosa: Antonio C. S. Rosa
  79. Roy: Arundhati Roy 
  80. Satyarthri: Kailash Satyarthi 
  81. Sharpton: Al Sharpton 
  82. Sheehan: Cindy Sheehan
  83. Shoman: Samia Shoman 
  84. Soetoro-Ng: Maya Soetoro-Ng 
  85. Staub: Ervin Staub  
  86. Swanson: David Swanson
  87. Taibibi: Matt Taibibi 
  88. Tamimi: Ahed Tamimi 
  89. Thich: Thích Nhất Hạnh 
  90. Trask: Haunani-Kay Trask 
  91. Turse: Nick Turse  
  92. Tutu: Desmond Tutu 
  93. Vandeman: Mike Vandeman 
  94. Walsh: Dot Walsh
  95. Weir: Alice Weir 
  96. Whitehead: John W. Whitehead
  97. West: Cornel West 
  98. Wilkerson: Colonel Larry Wilkerson
  99. Williams: Jody Williams 
  100. Yousafzai: Malala Yousafzai

This is our continuing contribution to the legacy of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

His work continues in the lives of those who share his commitments.

______________________________________________

Kathleen Malley-Morrison, Ed.D., Director of the Group on International Perspectives on Governmental Aggression and Peace (GIPGAP), is Professor Emerita of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University. She is the author or coauthor of several books, including Family Violence in a Cultural Perspective, and Family Violence in the United States, as well as editor of the four volume series: State violence and the right to peace: An international survey of the views of ordinary people. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters on violence within relationships and nations. Her current efforts to advance peace and social justice are centered primarily in her blog, Engaging Peace. http://engagingpeace.com. She can be reached at: kathiemm@engagingpeace.com

Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment, is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Emeritus Professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii’s Manoa Campus in Honolulu, Hawaii, and past director of the World Health Organization Psychiatric Research Center in Honolulu.  He is known internationally as a pioneer figure in the study of culture and psychopathology who challenged the ethnocentrism and racial biases of many assumptions, theories, and practices in psychology and psychiatry. In more recent years, he has been writing and lecturing on peace and social justice. He has published 21 books and more than 300 articles, tech reports, and popular commentaries. His TMS articles may be accessed HERE and he can be reached at marsella@hawaii.edu.

 

Originally published at the Transcend Media Service, TMS, here

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One Response

  1. Uhm… so this is supposed to be non-violent? “I’m not going to say whether it is right or not to burn down a synagogue, I can see that it is a rational act.” Hahaha you compare this guy to Martin Luther King. He believes that the narrative of the holocaust is misleading and should be revised. “At a talk by Richard Falk at LSE in March 2017, Atzmon shouted “rauss”, the German word for “out”, at a group of students in the audience, telling them that Jews had been “expelled from Germany for misbehaving” and recommending that they read Holocaust Denier David Irving” (Irving believes Hitler knew nothing about the extermination of Jews) Kahn-Harris describes Atzmon as “deliberately apathetic about the Holocaust and other atrocities against Jews, nodding towards without completely embracing both justification and denial” Liberation is about compassion for ALL people. I think this is some privileged, whitey academic biases perhaps? Like I get it your anti-zionist, that doesn’t mean you have to idolize holocaust deniers and place them on the same status as MLK.

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