Charleston Peace One Day

We started the campaign by raising awareness and education about the ideal of celebrating the International Day of Peace and Ceasefire on September 21st, through school districts, churches, community functions, three local colleges, the local media and even targeting third places in people's lives like Starbucks and small coffee shops. We talked to the Charleston Park & Recreational Department and local businesses to secure the starting capital and securing Brittlebank Park (park in the center of the city). Then we reached out to multiple diverse groups to spread the message of peace: local churches (Circular Congregational Church, Unitarian Universalist, and Morris Brown A.M.E), Boy's Scouts of America, Metanoia Children of North Charleston, Tibetan Society of Charleston, Peace Alliance, etc, and soon people were contacting us about uniting under peace. Whats beautiful about this project is that no matter the type of group, its hard to argue about peace. Eventually we hope to unite our city under one banner, global peace. It is a year later…..and now students, churches, friends, businesses, artists, children, are bringing this celebration to Charleston. In a culture, a city, where violence is experienced every day…isn’t it time we experience community from another perspective, one of celebrating diversity, tolerance, and hope through inter-cultural cooperation. The event was a success as hundreds came to recognize the importance of the day along with the rest of the world. Various groups, from many different cultures, ages, and faiths groups, played music, brought art, and spoke about the importance of peace in our city, Charleston, South Carolina.