Nikkita Oliver headlines city's 13th annual International Day of Peace

Bellingham will welcome Nikkita Oliver, an anti-racist community organizer, performance poet, and attorney from Seattle as the keynote speaker for the city’s 13th annual International Day of Peace (IDP) celebration from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, September 21, 2016.

The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center (WPJC) has hosted IDP in Bellingham every year since 2003. The United Nations established the day in 1982 as a worldwide 24-hour cease-fire to envision a world without violence and war.

Held at the Majestic on North Forest, IDP will begin at 6 p.m. with an information fair, baked goods sale, and music of love and struggle performed by Jazz for Justice. Community groups that work on intersecting issues will be on hand to connect with attendees.

The formal program begins at 6:30 p.m. with remarks from Junga Subedar, director of the Whatcom Civil Rights Project and WPJC board member; the presentation of the Howard Harris Lifetime Peacemaker Award and Nikkita Oliver’s keynote speech will follow. Neah Monteiro, WPJC’s executive director since May 2016, will serve as MC.

The recipient of the 2016 Howard Harris Lifetime Peacemaker Award is Darrell Hillaire. Darrell is a tribal member of the Lummi Nation; a producer, writer, founder of the Lummi Youth Academy; and a father and grandfather. He hosted the Dalai Lama’s visit in Seattle, is a Seeds of Compassion Committee Member, and served on the Lummi Indian Business Council for 15 years. He is a storyteller. His works include "What about those promises?" about the Lummi way of life and the broken promises of the Treaty of Point Elliott signed in 1855 that had sold-out performances in Seattle and Bellingham

Keynote speaker Nikkita Oliver is an attorney in Washington State and holds a Masters of Education from the University of Washington with a focus on racial disproportionality and disparate practice in school exclusion. She is a writer-in-residence with Writers in the Schools at Washington Middle School, leads writing workshops with Arts Corp at Garfield High School, and is a teaching artist and case manager with Creative Justice, an arts-based youth diversion program that provides alternatives to incarceration for youth who are court-involved. She is the recipient of the 2015 Seattle Office of Civil Rights Artist Human Rights Leader Award and was the 2014 Seattle Poetry National Team Coach and Grand Slam Champion. She has opened for Cornel West and Chuck D of Public Enemy and performed on The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert.

All people of goodwill are invited to IDP. Solidarity donations will be requested. ASL interpretation will be provided, and free childcare is available onsite. The venue is wheelchair accessible, with a ramp at the main entrance on North Forest Street.

The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center promotes lasting peace, social justice, and a culture of nonviolence at home and worldwide. We accomplish this through partnerships, education, and direct action.

Contact the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center at (360) 734-0217, [email protected], or visit www.WhatcomPJC.org for more information