10,000 signatures reached
To: Charlottesville City Council
Put a Peace Pole in Charlottesville
Petition Text
Set aside 1 square foot of space in a prominent public place, on the Downtown Mall or in a park, where a peace pole can be erected.
Why is this important?
A peace pole is a popular means of expressing a desire for peace around the world, including in the United States, where peace poles are found in public plazas and parks in many locations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_pole
A registry of peace sites lists none in Virginia*: http://www.peacesites.org/sites/map
A peace pole can be purchased for $200 with "May Peace Prevail on Earth" written on four sides in four chosen languages:
http://stores.bigwaterhosting.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=peacepoles&Category_Code=peace_poles
One idea would be to have 6 sides including English, Spanish, and the languages of Cville Sister Cities: Italian, French, Bulgarian, and one of the many languages from Ghana. Or 8 sides with some left blank to be filled in later.
Charlottesville's monuments to wars, including the Native American genocide, the defense of slavery, and the slaughter of 3.8 million Vietnamese, dominate public space. Removing them would be ideal.
An easier method of quickly displaying our city's support for peace would be to create a peace pole. Charlottesville's city council has spoken up repeatedly over the years for peace, for reduced military spending, for transition to peaceful industries, and for a halt to particular wars. But a visitor to Charlottesville cannot observe any of that anywhere on the landscape.
Charlottesville has four sister cities, and signs indicating them are visible in Charlottesville. But the motto of Sister Cities International, "Peace Through People," is nowhere to be found. There is no location set aside to celebrate these relationships, as there could be in combination with a peace pole.
Promote this page with this link: http://bit.ly/cvillepeacepole
*There are peace poles in Warrenton, Va., and at the Pentagon (which is of course a travesty that injures the whole project). There is a peace pole at a church in Charlottesville and a small pole reading "Peace" at an elementary school. What we're proposing is a public peace pole.
THIS PROJECT IS ENDORSED BY:
RootsAction.org
WorldBeyondWar.org
Pax Christi Charlottesville
Amnesty International Charlottesville
Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice
A registry of peace sites lists none in Virginia*: http://www.peacesites.org/sites/map
A peace pole can be purchased for $200 with "May Peace Prevail on Earth" written on four sides in four chosen languages:
http://stores.bigwaterhosting.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=peacepoles&Category_Code=peace_poles
One idea would be to have 6 sides including English, Spanish, and the languages of Cville Sister Cities: Italian, French, Bulgarian, and one of the many languages from Ghana. Or 8 sides with some left blank to be filled in later.
Charlottesville's monuments to wars, including the Native American genocide, the defense of slavery, and the slaughter of 3.8 million Vietnamese, dominate public space. Removing them would be ideal.
An easier method of quickly displaying our city's support for peace would be to create a peace pole. Charlottesville's city council has spoken up repeatedly over the years for peace, for reduced military spending, for transition to peaceful industries, and for a halt to particular wars. But a visitor to Charlottesville cannot observe any of that anywhere on the landscape.
Charlottesville has four sister cities, and signs indicating them are visible in Charlottesville. But the motto of Sister Cities International, "Peace Through People," is nowhere to be found. There is no location set aside to celebrate these relationships, as there could be in combination with a peace pole.
Promote this page with this link: http://bit.ly/cvillepeacepole
*There are peace poles in Warrenton, Va., and at the Pentagon (which is of course a travesty that injures the whole project). There is a peace pole at a church in Charlottesville and a small pole reading "Peace" at an elementary school. What we're proposing is a public peace pole.
THIS PROJECT IS ENDORSED BY:
RootsAction.org
WorldBeyondWar.org
Pax Christi Charlottesville
Amnesty International Charlottesville
Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice
How it will be delivered
We will deliver the petition to Charlottesville City Council on a date to be set in future.