The 3rd annual Midwest Peace Summit held April 13th and 14th on the IUPUI campus of Indianapolis, Indiana came off exceedingly well this year. Two keynote speakers were hosted at the summit. Cindy Sheehan, peace activist and humanitarian, addressed a crowd of nearly four hundred on Friday night and James Yee, former U.S. military chaplain at Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba, spoke on Saturday night.
Sheehan addressed her concerns about the war and misrepresentations concerning her image in the media. Her call for George Bush’s immediate “impeachment, indictment, and imprisonment,” drew wild applause from the crowd and was one of the highlights of the evening. Sheehan’s appearance was surprisingly met by no protest in Indianapolis, spreading a new light on the possibilities within this wholly conservative, red state.
James Yee delivered a stinging account of the abuses he witnessed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as a military chaplain. His damning portrayal of U.S. policy at Guantanamo (which included a slideshow) had a grim effect on the Hoosiers assembled and brought a new level of awareness concerning the atrocities being committed by the U.S. government in the name of its citizens. Outside of the two main events, there were dozens of workshops open to the public, from sessions on Zen Buddhism to daily workshops on the health care and social services crisis in the state of Indiana and a direct action workshop led by Code Pink.
The event closed with a sight and sound performance by singer Kristin Lems and artist Peggy Lipshultz. Organizations participating in the summit included the Society of Friends, the Indiana Peace and Justice Network, the Indiana Peace and Justice Center, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, SAGE (Students Advocating Global Equality, the student peace group at IUPUI), peace studies programs from around Indiana, and local peace groups from Indianapolis, Lafayette, Terra Haute, South Bend, Gary, and other towns and cities around the state. Those states represented included Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Kentucky.
