TONIGHT!

Vegetarian Potluck

June 12 - 6:30 pm

New Organizer Team

Ed and Sarah Mick and Kristen Klemm

invite you to join us for great food and stimulating conversation.

Program tonight is a thoughtful video on the value of fasting.

March 15 - 24

Goddess Festival 2013

Friday March 15 Opening

5:00 pm - at OMNI Center

On Friday OMN Center will have been tranformed into a sacred space. 

In this space we will seek to restore balance in the world by our exploration of the Feminine Divine ...

through art, music, words, dance, and shared knowledge.
We dare to hope for spiritual wholeness in the world. Blessed be!

6:00 pm - Opening Ritual

Our opening celebration will be a ritual procession throughout the venue to dedicate each of the directional altars of the 2013 Goddess Festival. Festive dress, ritual garb, and Goddess costumes will enhance the joyful spirit of our celebration! All are welcome.

 Complete Schedule of all daily Activities at

www.goddessfestival.com/calendar

 Book Forum

"The Literature of Our Enemies"

February 22 - 7:00 pm

OMNI Center

A distinguished panel reads selections, including

 Jacob George:  "The Poetry of the Taliban" Alex Strick Van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn, eds.  Jacob has also composed and will sing a song based upon one of the poems.

Kaveh Bassiri:  "Forbidden: Poems from Iran and Its Exiles"    Edited by Sholeh Wolpé, who also translated many of the poems.  

Taymour Elkerim:   Reading a poem by a dissadent Syrian author.

Dick Bennett:   Literature of the “Axis of Evil” (and other “enemies”), World without Borders Anthology.

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Music and OMNI people with a passion for a good world. You're invited.

Location: Trinity Methodist Church, corner of Garland and Sycamore

More info coming up

Fayetteville Community Radio holds it next meeting at Omni Center on January 14th at 7:15pm. All welcome to attend. The agenda includes:

Agenda: Fundraising letter review, Studio status and Radio Production Classes, the new FCC rules and how they affect our application, plan fun presentation for Omni Annual Meeting!

More info here: http://www.omnicenter.org/fayetteville-community-radio/

Or on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/533452740006550/

Let's start a new eon together

The Mayan Calendar ends next week, and we say the next round needs to be a lot more nonviolent, sustainable and just.  The annual support letter to you from OMNI went into the mail this week. You should receive yours soon.   Your regular support to OMNI has forever been deeply appreciated, OMNI folks.  And some of you got the jump on us by sending in memberships and donations already.  Thank you folks... you make our hearts sing.

So many things can happen this year -- and this new eon --  with your support.  Educate Youth for a new world, defend the environment, build a green house, start a radio station, train some crack facilitators who you can join... the list goes on.  

When your letter arrives please send in your membership or donation right away and keep these wonderful projects moving. 

If you don't get a letter it might mean we don't have your mailing address.  Drop us a line at omni@omnicenter to get your name on next years list.  Or get your membership at the Annual Meeting in February.   Thank you again, friends of peace, justice and an earth that thrives!

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Peace Hero Sam Totten travels to the Nuba Mountains

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

As many of you know, I am preparing to leave for the Nuba Mountains on December 11th. I will be there through Jan17th. It is an area that has been under siege for the past 17 months as the Government of Sudan (GoS) has carried out a scorched earth policy via ground and aerial attacks, the destruction of farms and villages, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Nuba Mountains people (black Africans who variously are Christians, Muslims and/or animists). For the past twelve months those who sought sanctuary in the sheer mountains looming over their farms have largely been without food. As a result, they have been forced to subsist on roots, leaves and insects. At least since March people have suffered from severe malnutrition and starvation. How many have died is not known.

I am flying to Nairobi on the 11th and from there I shall travel to Elderot, Kenya (the beginning of the Rift Valley) and catch a flight with a nongovernmental organization to Juba, the capital of the new country of South Sudan. There I shall meet with officials of the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement Army-North. On the 21st I hop another NGO flight to the Aida Refugee camp where tens of thousands of refugees from the Nuba Mountains are huddled. My friend and interpreter, Ramadan Tarjan, a Nuba Mountains citizen, and I will either spend Christmas day in the camp interviewing people about what they experienced during the ground and aerial attacks or begin or trek up to the Nuba Mountains.

My plan is multifaceted: (1) to transport at least a ton of food (pluppynut, a highly nutritious food ideal for those suffering malnutrition) up to those who are most desperate for food; (2) stop by each and every field hospital we pass in order to interview the medical staff in regard to their experiences over the past 15 months as they have cared for those injured as a result of the ongoing attacks by the GoS; (3) interview the survivors who are huddled up in the mountains about what they have experienced and witnessed; (4) have the Nuba Mountains children draw what they have experienced the past 15 months. It's simply another form of documentation as to the reality of what is taking place in the Nuba Mountains.

While in the Nuba Mountains I plan, if possible, to issue reports to activists, scholars of genocide studies, and journalists in the U.S. about what I am witnessing and discovering, with the hope that such information will make it into newspapers, onto the Internet, etc in order to help inform the U.S. Government, U.S. citizens and the international community as to what the Nuba Mountains people are facing. Since the GoS has not allowed the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the Nuba Mountains people, the information coming out of the Nuba Mountains is, unfortunately, not reaching the larger public in the U.S. and beyond, and it is my hope that my simple effort will help to ameliorate that situation. In fact, most scholars of genocide have fallen short in addressing this unfolding tragedy in Sudan -- even those who tout their efforts vis-a-vis the prevention of genocide.

If, perchance, any of you are affiliated with a religious organization (church, synagogue, etc.), an activist organization focused on civil and/or human rights, or helping organizations such as Rotary, Lions Club, etc., please inform them, if you would, that any donations to help offset the cost of this venture would be greatly appreciated. The funds will primarily be used to purchase food for the Nuba Mountains people, the payment for petrol (which I will need to purchase for any vehicle we use to transport the food), water, and local travel. My address is: Samuel Totten, 18967 Melanie Road, Springdale, Arkansas 72764. I think you in advance for approaching those organizations with which you are affiliated.

I AM NOT -- AND I WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT THIS -- ASKING YOU TO DONATE A PENNY OUT OF YOUR OWN POCKET. I APPRECIATE THAT TIMES ARE THOUGH AND THUS I DO NOT EXPECT A PENNY OF YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY. RATHER, I AM SIMPLY ASKING FOR ANY HELP FROM ORGANIZATIONS THAT MIGHT BE INCLINED TO HELP THE LESS FORTUNATE OF THE WORLD. I

Also, if you have any key contacts with media outlets, please inform me of such such contacts could prove invaluable in helping to get out the word re the ongoing crisis in the Nuba Mountains. For the past seventeen months the media has largely ignored the crisis in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile (granted, there were plenty of other critical issues to cover, including but not limited to the mass killing in Syria, the the Israeli/Gaza nightmare, the rebels takeover of Goma and beyond in the DRC, the tragedy of the murder of Ambassador Stevens and other men in Libya, Iran's frenzied effort to develop a nuclear "option," the ongoing fiasco in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan) and thus I consider it critical to do all I can to help ameliorate that situation as well. (FYI, I have included various journalists this mailing just in case they may have leads re free-lancing/stringer opportunities I should pursue. ) Thank you.

I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas.
Most appreciatively,
sam

PS. Below is information about some of the recent events in the Nuba Mountains.

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OMNI Center is proud to support the DREAM Act, and the fine young people who it benefits.  The OMNI Board adopted this letter of support at its June 2012 meeting.

Support for the Dream Act

OMNI Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology expresses our congratulations - felicitaciones - to DREAMers across our state and country for the support by President Obama for the DREAM Act. This announcement from DHS and the White House grants relief to approximately 1 million DREAMers from removal from the country or entering into removal proceedings. This success is a direct result of work by DREAMers and their friends across the country, including individuals who recently visited Fayetteville and were featured in the May panel discussion at the University of Arkansas, "Undocumented: Living in the Shadows". These dedicated young people have been front and center in White House conversations on administrative relief the last several months, and we are truly grateful for their service to our state.  

We also express deep appreciation for the support of Dr. Gearhart and other fine UA officials who supported “Living in the Shadows”, and exemplary students from our area who will benefit our country because of this new chance for an education and a life not hiding in the shadows.

There is still a need for the DREAM Act both at the national level (for a pathway to citizenship) and at the state level (for in-state tuition) if we want to ensure that ALL Arkansas students have access to the higher education that they need for our state to achieve its real potential.

Thank you to all Arkansans who have ever cared about and/or actively supported the DREAM Act. Fear and hate are not the way forward. There is a better way - si se puede!

To stay abreast of developments on administrative relief for DREAMers, please "Like" them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arkansas-United-Community-Coalition/184442584967912#!/pages/Arkansas-United-Community-Coalition/184442584967912

 or follow on Twitter at ArkansasUC_Coalition.  And see Arkansas Coalition for Dream at http://arkansasdreamers.org/, facebook http://www.facebook.com/ArkansasCoalitionforDREAM

In solidarity for a better Arkansas,  

Gladys Tiffany,

OMNI Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology

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Tree Art by Donna Stjerna and local artists

These lovely creations started out as paper boxes that Donna hand-crafted out of her own recycled junk mail.  She distributed them among artist friends, asking each to create art honoring trees.  The resulting treasures were auctioned off on April 21 at the "Speak for the Trees" gala event, sponsored by OMNI-UA, with proceeds benefitting the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation. 

Photos by Kirk Lanier

"Speak for the Trees" Art Show and Concert by Still on the Hill and friends

This high-energy concert, sponsored by OMNI-UA, honored all trees and especially the Ozark Chinquapin, a magnificient species common in this area until chestnut blight nearly caused its extinction in the 1960's.  A handful of these trees scattered in different states have survived and appear to be resistant to the blight.  The Ozark Chinquapin Foundation is cross-pollenating those remaining trees, harvesting the resulting seeds and nurturing new seedlings in an effort to create a blight resistant strain that can be reintroduced to the Ozark region.  Since Ozark Chinquapins deliver more nutritional value to forest creatures than any other tree, their return to the ecosystem will have a positive ripple effect on almost every species in the region.  Proceeds from the concert and art auction benefit the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation.

Photos of concert and art show by Kirk Lanier

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Youth Program Web pages have resources worth watching!

We've been working long and hard to make them amazing. 

We still have a long way to go, but many of them are up and viewable right now!

Learn more about how the OMNI Center is empowering and inspiring youth!

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