On Monday, April 11, 2022, we will host a screening and discussion of President Kennedy’s 1963 speech at American University.

In 1963 President John F. Kennedy made a dramatic turn toward peace and began an attempt to lead the American people out of the Cold War and toward peaceful co-existence with the Soviet Union. One of the highlights of his efforts was his speech at American University on June 10, 1963, a speech addressed to the American people about peace and what we as a people needed to do to begin moving in that direction.

In that speech the President said,   “What kind of peace do I mean and what kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace — the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living — the kind of peace that enables…  [people] and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children — not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women — not merely peace in our time but peace in all time.”

Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war — The forces that killed President Kennedy  were pursuing a Pax Americana that he had rejected, and with his death they were able to continue pursuing that Pax Americana. The current world crisis centered in Ukraine demonstrates the danger and folly of the US pursuit of world domination.

One thing we must learn from President Kennedy’s death is that it is not enough to have a leader who genuinely pursues peace. We must be organized as a people to demand our nation genuinely pursue peace. And in order to do this we, ordinary citizens, have to understand what genuine peace is and how to pursue it. One place to begin is by returning to the President’s historic speech,  studying it, and extracting from it principles of peace that we can apply today.

This is what we will do on Monday April 11, 2022 at 7PM Eastern Time, when we will have a public showing of President Kennedy’s American University speech followed by a discussion.

This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action, New Hampshire Peace Action, Peace Action Wisconsin, , Peace Action Bay Ridge, World Beyond War, and the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice.