Montclair Resident, Donald Leich, to Introduce Chris Hedges at NJPA's 60th Anniversary Dinner

New Jersey Peace Action (NJPA) Presents Pulitzer Prize winning Journalist, Author and Activist Chris Hedges Speaking about “Resisting American Fascism”

at its 60th Anniversary Dinner on Sunday, April 2nd.

Chris Hedges to be introduced by Montclair Resident, Donald Leich.

NJPA will also Honor the First Friends of New Jersey and New York

Peace Action Person of the Year, Millburn Resident Betty Levin

March 17, 2017

For More Information Contact: Madelyn Hoffman, Executive Director, New Jersey Peace Action (973)259-1126 or (973)876-1023

The Bloomfield-based New Jersey Peace Action (NJPA) is holding its 60th Annual Dinner on Sunday, April 2, 2017 at the Hasbrouck Heights Hilton, 650 Terrace Avenue, Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey.

This year’s program features noted journalist, author and activist Chris Hedges speaking about “Resisting American Fascism.” In Chris Hedges’ September 2015 article titled “The Real Enemy is Within” he writes, “Militarists and war profiteers are our greatest enemy. They use fear, bolstered by racism, as a tool in their efforts to abolish civil liberties, crush dissent and ultimately extinguish democracy.…War is a business….War never stops. Whole sections of the earth live in terror...The war machine is not, and almost never has been, a force for liberty or democracy. It does not make us safe. It does not make the world safe. And its immense economic and political power internally…has turned it into the most dangerous institution in America.”

Montclair's Don Leich didn't think much about politics until witnessing the continuing loss of blood and treasure during the invasion of Iraq, a country that never attacked us, and the subsequent failure to find the weapons of mass destruction. He has been a regular reader of Chis Hedges columns on TruthDig web site and will introduce him at NJPA’s 60th Anniversary Dinner.

"Hedges, in my mind,” said Donald Leich, “is one of the most astute critics and analysts of our times. Among other attributes, he is completely unafraid to present what he believes to be uncomfortable truths. The things that we need to confront and not look away from."

NJPA will also honor First Friends of NJ and NY, an organization that works on behalf of detained immigrants and asylum seekers. Volunteers visit and write to detainees, distribute writing materials so detainees can stay in contact with their families and raise awareness about immigrant detention. In addition, they advocate for improved living conditions for all detainees and immigration reform, while assisting with resettlement for those either granted asylum or out on bond.

“Donald Trump’s recent proposal to lift the sequester on the military budget and allow for increases in military spending will hit our communities and hit them hard. His proposed $54 billion increase in the military budget is the largest since the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at almost 10%,” said Madelyn Hoffman, Executive Director of NJPA. “This country would be much better off if we took that increase plus the cost of building a $21.6 billion wall between the U.S. and Mexico and spent it instead on improving public education, creating jobs, protecting the environment, lowering the costs of health care or improving crumbling infrastructure.”

E. Betty Levin, Millburn resident and the NJPA Person of the Year, has been a peace educator for many years and a member of NJPA for most of that same time. She and the Maplewood-based Ethical Culture Society of Essex County became NJPA’s first Peace Site in 1980. She remains committed both to peace education and non-violent ways of resolving international conflict.

“The privilege of being a Peace Educator brings deep satisfaction as I activate Mahatma Gandhi’s words: ‘If we are ever to have peace in this world, we must start with the children.’ I strive for Peace as a way of being where we all become agents of change,” said Ms. Levin.

Those interested in attending the Annual Dinner can do so by making reservations at our website: www.njpeaceaction.org or by calling 973-259-1126.

NJPA has worked since 1957 for a nuclear weapons free world in which all are free from violence and war. NJPA works to raise awareness about current nuclear threats and the negative consequences of spending more money on the military than on all other community needs combined, needs that include education, the environment, health care, jobs creation, veterans’ benefits and more.