Dear John,

Join us Wednesday, August 28th at 5:00 PT/8:00 ET for our next Local Peace Economy Community Call as we come together to connect, learn, and nourish one another. We'll be exploring the pivot "from limitation to imagination" together. You enrich us with your presence!

If you weren't able to be with us during our last meeting, we hope you can join us this time. You can catch up on our last call here. You can also watch the recording of our introduction to the Local Peace Economy Workbook during our first meeting here and our introduction to the peace economy website here.

What We're Learning: Planting the Seeds of Our Imagination

As we witness the ways the war economy offers us only limited paths forward—the way it upholds binaries and squelches a more beautiful, caring, loving future that wants to emerge—we are reflecting on the power of imagination and the role it plays in cultivating a peace economy.

We always say that the peace economy starts with art and culture. That's because the artists, the creatives, are daring enough to reach into their wild imaginations and bring their dreams into the material world. That's what we are doing when we create the peace economy.

What creative acts are inspiring you right now to touch into your own imagination? Who is helping you see the outlines of the future more clearly—the future you yearn for, the future you feel in your bones, but are not sure what it looks like yet?

We've been learning from Bayo Akomolafe and Richie Reseda as they invite us into the ways they are turning their imaginations into reality.

We recently attended "Vunja!: A Gathering of Seeds" with Bayo Akomolafe and some of his friends and fellow visionaries. Bayo Akomolafe is a Nigerian "trans-public intellectual" who draws on his Yoruba lineage to foster a more imaginative vision of how we can live together. His offerings often queer even our most radical ideas and open up new possibilities for paths forward together. Jodie will be sharing some learnings from her time at this gathering during our call. You can watch part of the gathering here. What does the wisdom shared in this conversation spark in your imagination?

We also recently attended the third session of the "Call to Artists: Through the Portal Learning Series" with Haymarket Books, Social Justice Initiative (SJI) at University of Illinois (Chicago), Artists for Radical Imagination, and Art.coop. We were deeply moved by Richie Reseda's sharing about what abolition looks like in his life—how he is creating the future he wants to live in through the practice of pods, circular accountability, and art making. His words were a reminder that we are each seeds of the future we want to create, and we can bring it out of our imaginations into our world through intentional practice.

It's tempting to leave our imaginations behind as we work for peace and justice, but this is one way the war economy has taken root in us. The truth is: we need our imaginations to create a peace economy. This Wednesday, we will tap into our imaginations together during our community call. We hope you'll join us to plant the seeds of your imagination into our collective!

How We're Practicing: Pivoting to Peace

From Limitation to Imagination

The war economy only offers us limited ways to be together: transaction, exploitation, domination. It severs us from our free, creative expression. We can come to believe we need to stay narrow to survive. Often we don't realize how narrow our ways of thinking have become.

However, our imaginations never disappear; we just need to wake them up. Think back to when you were a child. How did you connect with your imagination? Where did it take you?

When and how do you feel a narrowness of thought, ideas, and expression? What are some of the boxes or labels you have put around yourself? What purpose do they serve, and how do they make you feel? When you let go of what you think is "realistic" or "possible," what dreams do you have for the future?

Read more about the pivots to peace here.

How We're Tending to Life: The Cycle of (Re)connection

Are you tending to your grief? Are you offering yourself and others care? Are you making space for joy? We have lots of resources to support you as you move through the Cycle of (Re)connection. As we reflect on the power of imagination and the need to pivot to "both/and", we're turning to this panel conversation in which leading activists and culturemakers (including Bayo Akomolafe) reflect on john powell and Judith Butler's opening provocation to build risky bridges across lines of difference, even when facing pushback or ostracization from our own "side."  

Find more resources like this one in our Cycle of (Re)connection library.

Local Peace Economy Community Calls take place every other Wednesday at 5:00 PT/8:00 ET. Newcomers are always welcome. Stay up to date on all of CODEPINK’s events here.

Additional Resources

You can always find more resources for your local peace economy journey on the peace economy website. Here are some helpful links:

• Lean into supported reflection by downloading or purchasing The Local Peace Economy Workbook
• Tend to yourself with The Cycle of (Re)connection
• Find a community of practice with The Local Peace Economy Ecosystem
• Get inspired by The Local Peace Economy Wiki
• Listen to CODEPINK Radio's episodes all about local peace economies - Ep. 242 and Ep. 256
• Read why the local peace economy is an antidote to the weaponized confusion of war

Don't forget to follow us on social media!

Please email Emily at [email protected] with any questions. We look forward to being with you on Wednesday, August 28th!

With care, 

Jodie and Emily

PS: Spread the word about local peace economies in your community—buy CODEPINK's new Local Peace Economy t-shirts and totes!