By Matthew Hersh
Seeking to make “public witness” of global injustices and current political and global challenges, the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) is planning a Holiday Peace Gathering with three events on Thursday, December 18.
The “Candlelight Vigil for Peace on Earth” will take place on Nassau Street in front of Palmer Square between 5 and 6 p.m., with battery-powered candles and posters available for attendees.
“We wanted to start with a public witness component, and there are always peace issues before us,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, executive director of CFPA, a grassroots citizens organization which coalesces around global abolition of nuclear weapons, a peace economy, and a stop to weapons trafficking.
“We want to make a witness to the entire world,” Moore said. “It’s a challenging time in the world. We are potentially seeing a new nuclear arms race and we’re seeing a lot of saber rattling by Russia and China, so we are standing to see a reverse in these trends and make a path toward peace on Earth,” he said.
A Potluck for Peace will follow the vigil from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Assembly Room of Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street, directly across the street from Palmer Square. The church will be open at 4:30 p.m. for early dinner drop-offs.
Capping the event is “Music for Peace,” presented by David Brahinsky and Friends. Brahinsky is a Princeton-based folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist and is a founder of the Roosevelt Arts Project, a nationally-known arts consortium.
“They’re superb musicians and we’re very fortunate to have them again this year,” said Moore. “One of the things I always say is that music is the soul of the peace movement and to have music nurture our souls is an important part of our evening.”
A centerpiece of the program will occur prior to the concert, Moore said. There will be a brief presentation from organizers of “The Movement,” where participants are running 275 miles from New York City to Washington, D.C., to elevate environmental and climate concerns.
Organizers will also delve into the effort to fund resilience, adaptation, and public-infrastructure projects across the state through a proposed Climate Superfund Act, state legislation that would impose fees on gas and oil companies to increase revenue to climate protection policies.
This follows a recent rally at the New Jersey State House, led by environmentalist Bill McKibben, joined by several key state legislators, for the Climate Superfund Day of Action. The rally was organized by a broad coalition of environmental, labor, faith, and community organizations, said Moore.
More than 30 municipalities have publicly supported the Climate Superfund Act, according to New Jersey Food and Water Watch, with the policy modeled off similar laws in New York and Vermont.
Moore said the vigil builds on a year of public actions held by CFPA and its affiliates, including partnering with organizations like Indivisible Princeton and Indivisible Cranbury to hold other rallies, most recently No Kings.
“What makes any of this a success is that we can come together with other groups in a way that highlights our spectrum and where and how we intersect,” Moore said. “From immigrant rights to peace issues to climate, I think if we communicate and act in an intersectional way, we’re going to start seeing things turn around.”