Alaska Peace Center is a partner organization with WorldBEYONDWar. We enthusiastically encourage Alaskans to sign up for this training: At #NoWar2025, we’re offering abolitionist trainings rooted in history, strategy, and solidarity. Learn how movements to end police, prisons, and war intersect and how collective liberation demands more than reform! https://worldbeyondwar.org/nowar2025/
8 Oct
No Kings Rally Oct. 18, 2025
Join hundreds and thousands of Interior Alaskans joining tens of thousands nationwwide showing our strong objection to autocratic decisions and trends in our country. Dress warmly, bring signs if you have or can make them, and show up along the access road to Pioneer Park (parallel to Airport Way) in Fairbanks 12 noon to 2pm on Saturday, October 18.
Update from No Kings Fairbanks:
The color for our No Kings march is YELLOW. It does not need to be an entire outfit (obviously it is winter here!) – a bandana, a hat, a shirt, a scarf. … For generations people around the world have used color to show collective strength in the face of oppression. Yellow has been a symbol of nonviolent resistance.
12:00 – 2 pm SATURDAY Gather at Pioneer Park where the trailer & microphone for speakers will be. Parking could be a challenge. Going a bit early might be key to finding a place to park. Last time, I parked at Carlson Center & walked to join the crowd.
People will be moving from Pioneer Park all the way to IBEW Hall at 2000 Airport Way. Soup, warm drinks, warm up area, restrooms, available thanks to our electricians who have been quite helpful for sign making. You might wish to hang on to your masterpiece ….just saying..
At each event we target someone in our community who could use a helping hand. We’ve been asked to bring cold weather gear to donate to our neighbors in need. Collection points at IBEW & Pioneer Park lot. Maybe bring a few coins for donations. Alot of effort goes into the planning so don’t be shy about giving a thumbs up in appreciation.
Feel free to forward this to your family of friends
We’re in this together
1 Oct
Alaska Peace Center board mtg 7pm Tues, Oct. 7, 2025
Alaska Peace Center Monthly Meeting Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 7pm
In-person at the office, Suite 203 of the College Mall Building, 3535 College Road, up the stairs at the west end of the building just inside the outer door for the Fuji Steakhouse. Or connect via Zoom:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84389719538?pwd=dDdJVnZzSXM5SWdXd0pWcWdpdUtxdz09
Meeting ID: 843 8971 9538 Passcode: 149078
Agenda Items will include updates and reviews of recent past activities such as our International Peace Day rally, reports from Alaska Peace Center partners, ongoing campaigns including sponsorship of a tree and plaque at the Veterans Park renovation, Future activities including potential celebration of Armistice Day on Nov.11, and more. All are welcome.
12 Sep
Rally to Commemorate the International Day of Peace
Sunday, September 21, 12:30 to 2:00 pm at the corner of Geist Road and University Avenue
The International Day of Peace (“Peace Day”) is observed around the world each year on 21 September. Established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution, Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace. The theme for this year’s Peace Day is “Act Now for a Peaceful World”.
In solidarity with other cities and towns throughout the world, we’ll hold a rally to call attention to this day and its purpose. Bring signs supporting world peace and international co-operation. We can do our small part to encourage world leaders to pursue calmer and more respectful foreign policies with more dialogue and less confrontation.
Sunday, September 21, 12:30 to 2:00 pm at the Geist Road/Univerity Avenue intersection.
8 Sep
Alaska Peace Center mtg 7pm Tues, Sept.9, 2025
Monthly Meeting Tuesday, September 9, 2025, at 7pm
In-person at the office, or via Zoom
The office is in Suite 203 of the College Mall Building, 3535 College Road, up the stairs at the west end of the building just inside the outer door for the Fuji Steakhouse. Or connect via Zoom:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84389719538?pwd=dDdJVnZzSXM5SWdXd0pWcWdpdUtxdz09
Meeting ID: 843 8971 9538 Passcode: 149078
Agenda Items will include updates and reviews of recent past activities such as our booth at the Fair, sponsorship of Alaska Protective Witness, ongoing activities such as the bus ad, Future activities including potential celebration of International Day of Peace on Sept. 21, Armistice Day Celebration Nov. 11, and more.
If you would like to help the movement for peace, please show up.
24 Jul
Meet folks at the 2025 Alaska Peace Center booth at the Fair!
Get a free day pass for day(s) you host our 20th annual booth, interacting with folks on issues of Peace, Justice, and Sustainability, encouraging participation in our Bean Poll in which folks add their “druthers” for how their taxes get spent, and more.
Sign up at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AUysahUpJqM_Z2IAqqHygJISCMMv3MvI/edit, email info@alaskapeace.org, or text or call 907-799-2814 to let us know which shift(s) you would like to take
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Alaska Peace Center (https://www.alaskapeace.org/)
17 Jul
2025 Peace Center Booth at Tanana Valley Fair!
It’s that time of year again! We need volunteers for working the fair booth. It’s a great time to help and we would appreciate it so much. The times are 12-3, 3-6, 6-10 with free admission. Please think about taking a slot or two. Thanks so much for your consideration. Check the schedule for available times and dates. You can sign yourself up directly on the schedule, but please make sure that Heather Koponen has your contact info. Thanks everyone!!
APC Contact: info@alaskapeace.org Heather Koponen 907-479-0981
26 Jun
For Your Calendar: Alaska Peace Center’s Tanana Valley State Fair Booth, in 1 month
Friday, July 25 through Sunday, August 3, the Alaska Peace Center will have a booth at the Fair, as we have for many years! We once again need people to staff the booth and meet the public.
This is an opportunity to be Present for Peace at the biggest social gathering in interior Alaska. It is a remarkable opening to interact and gain insight into other people’s understanding of world affairs, deepen our own understanding of what we mean by “Peace”, and to exercise our ability to be people of Peace. Help with the interactive Bean Poll.
We need at least one person per shift. The Peace Center will provide a ticket to the Fair for the day you volunteer. Send an email to info@alaskapeace.org, Subject: Fair Booth. Volunteer for one, two, or three shifts, meet people, ask folks their opinions and experiences on current and historic issues. Be amazed!
Dates: Friday July 25 – Sunday August 3 Shifts: noon-3pm; 3-6pm; 6-10pm
Thanks so much to those who have already signed up! Heather Koponen, shift coordinator
Alaska Peace Center booth staffing schedule for Tanana Valley State Fair, 2025 – draft (b) – June 25
6-23, 6-25-25 hk
APC Contact: info@alaskapeace.org Heather Koponen 907-479-0981
24 Dec
Armistice Day Commemoration 2024
Around 25 people gathered together on November 11 to commemorate Armistice Day with songs and bell-ringing. After an eloquent introduction by Maia we rang our bells. Then the Fairbanks Peace Choir led us in songs of peace and hope. Finally we went around our circle with everyone giving a concise statement of what Armistice Day means to them. We were all inspired to follow the original meaning of Armistice Day and rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of peace.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner front page article about the event is reproduced below:
Bells rang out at 11:11 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park as two dozen people gathered to celebrate Armistice Day and hope for peace.
Hosted by the Alaska Peace Center and Veterans for Peace, people bundled up in the 1-degree weather to rededicate themselves to work toward peace in the world. They assemble every year on Nov. 11 to ring bells for a full minute.
Bells rang out to announce the armistice between Allied nations and Germany to end the fighting during World War I on 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2018. Armistice Day was celebrated on Nov. 11 for many years until it was renamed to Veterans Day in the U.S. in 1954.
Maia Genaux, of the Alaska Peace Center, led the ringing, stating, “Let our bells today call out to the beauty, the harmony, the relationships and all that thrives in peace. Let our bells call us now and lead us in our work for healing.”
The Fairbanks Peace Choir led participants in singing “Dona Nobis Pachem,” which means “Give Us Peace” in Latin, and “This is my song (Finlandia)” by Jean Sibelius.
Residents shared their hopes for peace in the future. They encouraged one another to love and talk to their neighbors.
One woman said that she is transmitting her rage into art and love for Fairbanks. “Now is the time of artists,” she said.
“One of the strangest stories that we tell ourselves is that war is inevitable. It’s not,” one man said.
“Peace is possible,” one woman said.
Contact Haley Lehman at 907-459-7575 or by email at hlehman@newsminer.com.
7 Nov
Ring in Peace on Armistice Day, Monday, November 11, 2024
Ring Bells for Peace! 11:00 am at Veterans Memorial Park
Alaska Peace Center and Veterans For Peace North Star Chapter 146 invite the Fairbanks community to ring bells at 11:00 am at Veterans Memorial Park, 700 Cushman Street in Fairbanks, in celebration of Armistice Day on Monday, November 11. Bring a bell if you have one (we’ll have extras if you don’t), in any case bring a friend. The Peace Choir will be present to lead us in some songs.
Bell-ringing has been a traditional way of celebrating Armistice Day ever since the end of World War One (known at the time as “The Great War”) 106 years ago. It signifies the relief and joy felt around the world when the Armistice was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Bells were rung to celebrate peace and the end of four years of war that killed or wounded more than 21 million people. In the wake of so much carnage, it was then clear to millions of people that wars were not about valor or romantic ideals, but about empire, which benefits a few at the expense of many. A tradition of observing the anniversary of the Armistice by ringing bells to honor veterans and promote peace spread throughout the world.
Armistice Day was first officially recognized by Congress in 1926 as a day that “should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations,” and “with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.” It became a legal holiday nationwide by an act of Congress in 1938, dedicated to the cause of world peace. In 1954 Congress changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day. In his proclamation on the first Veterans Day in 1954, President Eisenhower admonished Americans to “reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.” However, in contrast to Eisenhower’s intention, rebranding Armistice Day as Veterans Day has led to a change from celebrating peace to celebrating the military and glorifying war. Armistice Day has been flipped from a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism.
According to Wikipedia there are currently 56 separate armed conflicts going on in the world, with a combined death toll of 176,993 men, women, and children so far this year. Chief among these in our current consciousness is the horrific ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. For over a year, unspeakable atrocities have filled our screens and haunted our consciences. The US government is complicit in Israel’s merciless campaign of ethnic cleansing. The bombs that Israel drops on Palestinian children and their parents are made in the USA and provided by the US government. Israel’s US-backed war has now expanded to the West Bank, to Lebanon and to Iran, risking a wider war that could even go nuclear.
The Alaska Peace Center, along with Veterans For Peace nationally and locally, celebrates the original intent of November 11th – as a day to rededicate ourselves to work toward peaceful solutions to the world’s problems. Peace, not war, is the best way to honor the sacrifices of veterans. We are not free until we are all free!
Veterans For Peace 2024 Armistice Day Statement
Essay by Skip Oliver on an earlier Armistice Day
Alaska Peace Center 