A dozen peacemakers, many dressed in orange jumpsuits, papered the federal building with images of some of the eighty-six men whom the U.S. government has cleared for release but who remain in detention at Guantánamo.

Hundreds of Chicagoans, including a U.S. senator, hear the calls of Colombian women for rule of law and respect for court-recognized land rights. At stake is whether officials will honor their commitments to return ill-gotten land to those displaced from it and protect both people and land from corporate predation.

As NATO war makers gathered for their summit in Chicago, dozens of CPTers and CPT supporters marched with thousands from throughout the city and around the world.  The marchers called for an end to military madness and gave witness to the way of nonviolence that will midwife a just and peaceable society.  Several CPTers played key roles in nonviolence training and as peace guides.  The spirit of the march is exemplified in these photos by CPTer Tim Nafziger.
 

After a successful first run in Pennsylvania, the Peace, Pies and Prophets tour is headed to South Bend, Indiana, Chicago, Illinois and Madison, Wisconsin in the mid-western United States on May 3-6 (See show details below).

“The event was a participatory wonder," said Ted Swartz, describing the first night of the tour last month, "Our show, I’d Like to Buy an Enemy was interspersed with a 'stealth auction,' where an air horn would go off and Tim Reubke and I would don our special hats and auction off handcrafted pies.  It truly felt to us like the beginning of a movement.  A movement around peacemaking, subversive theater and pies."  The first three shows in Lancaster, Philadelphia and Souderton raised over $15,000 for CPT through sales of $140 pies and free will offering.  You can watch a short film of  Pies Promoting Peace on Vimeo.

[Note: CPTer Claire Evans died on the morning of 9 February  2012, five weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  She spent her last days with her twin sister, Sue, in Lansing, Michigan.]

Claire Evans was not the most public personality in the wider CPT organization, but she was one of its most influential workers.  As the Delegations Coordinator, she was often the first person that people who were interested in exploring involvement with CPT met.  Her handling of finances brought her into contact with all of the full-time CPTers who submitted their expenses to her.  Her commitment to Undoing Oppressions within CPT changed not only how delegations were conducted, but also how support team and all the teams in the field functioned.  CPT Reservist Jerry Stein wrote of her,  “She epitomized for me, as I was entering the CPT world, what a member could be and become…”

On 11 January, police arrested ten peacemakers dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods outside the Federal courts in Chicago, Illinois when the group tried to enter the building in a symbolic search for justice on behalf of the Guantánamo detainees and other victims of state-sponsored torture.

Chicago police arrested four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Monday, 19 July on charges of trespass for praying on behalf of displaced Colombian farmers inside The Body Shop during a noon-hour vigil at the downtown store.

Unfortunately, CPT needs to move the current Chicago office and training facilities during this financially troubled time.  However, the current economy provides an opportunity for CPT to purchase a property for less than one-third of what it sold for a couple of years ago.  CPT hopes to manage this purchase without taking a penny away from peacemaking projects in the field.  What will make this possible?