Colorado Springs needs to have some conversations, changes, and healing in the aftermath of the death of De’Von Bailey – shot in the back on August 3 as he ran from two police officers. Community members gathered for dialogue in this “listening session” at the Sand Creek Library on August 19, 2019. The session was guided by Stephany Rose Spaulding, director and associate professor of Women’s and Ethnic Studies at UCCS, senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, and candidate for U.S. Senate. Stephany is also the author of Recovering From Racism: A Guidebook to Beginning Conversations (2015) and Abolishing White Masculinity from Mark Twain to Hiphop: Crisis in Whiteness. LINKS: Stephany Rose website Ebenezer Baptist Church Stephany Rose Spalding for Colorado RAWtools Pikes Peak Justice & Peace Commission   Founded in 1978, PPJPC has served as an alternative voice committed to raising community consciousness regarding the protection of human rights, environmental sustainability, support for those experiencing homelessness, the elimination of oppressive foreign and domestic policies, nonviolent options for conflict resolution, and an end to the proliferation and use of nuclear weapons. The Commission’s consistent effort has been the promotion of peace through justice and nonviolence. We hold the belief that one by one, we can make a difference and create positive change for the betterment of society as a whole.

Active for Justice

3 Gun Violence: Not One More

We make a gun every 3 seconds in the U.S. Three small children die from gun violence every day. Pikes Peak Justice & Peace Commission Executive Director Victoria Stone welcomes RAWtools founder Michael Martin and peace activist/artist Mary Sprunger-Froese into the studio to join her continuing gun violence discussion with Josh Rumple. They discuss a recent shooting in which a mother killed her three children. It’s not a mass shooting, but it is gun violence. Part of the challenge: a belief that guns are a problem-solver, something that gun laws alone won’t solve. Also discussed: the myth of “redemptive violence,” the notion that we need guns to protect us from people with guns. American society tends to think there is some good violence (by police, military, etc.), but of course it is still violence. Also on the agenda: the “wild west” persona. We’re obsessed with having power OVER people instead of power under people and lifting them up. The non-profit Martin founded, RAWtools, turns guns into garden tools, “changing the story from death into life” (with a team of volunteers being taught how to blacksmith). He is also co-author (with Shane Claiborne) of the new book, Beating Guns. The book explores how we got into the place we’re in today with so many shootings. Ten percent of the gun owners are holding this conversation hostage. The hope of the book is that we stop killing each other. Michael is in the midst of a national book tour that stops in Colorado Springs on March 23. There are three ways you can plug in and help RAWtools: Donate, volunteer to turn guns into tools, or be one of the volunteers across the country who disable guns that people want to donate and send to Raw Tools. As artist-in-residence at RAWtools, Mary Sprunger-Froese hosts workshops at RAWtools. Justice activist Josh Rumpel has spent a year studying gun violence. Visit rawtools.org to volunteer, donate, or learn about workshops. Visit beatingguns.com to learn more about the book or see if there is a book tour stop in your area. This episode was recorded several weeks before the most recent mass shooting in New Zealand. We are saddened at this senseless loss of lives.   LINKS: RAWtools Beating Guns (book) Beating Guns Book Tour  Pikes Peak Justice & Peace Commission   Founded in 1978, PPJPC has served as an alternative voice committed to raising community consciousness regarding the protection of human rights, environmental sustainability, support for those experiencing homelessness, the elimination of oppressive foreign and domestic policies, nonviolent options for conflict resolution, and an end to the proliferation and use of nuclear weapons. The Commission’s consistent effort has been the promotion of peace through justice and nonviolence. We hold the belief that one by one, we can make a difference and create positive change for the betterment of society as a whole.

2 Eat, Pray, Peace

Soup and salad, burger and fries, being an American and owning a gun? Justice activist Josh Rumple joins host Victoria Stone to discuss gun violence. On the table: the challenge of having a dialogue about making people safer when one side is just sure you want to take away their guns. What are the indicators that a person has a propensity toward future gun violence? How easy is it to buy not just one gun, but lots of guns, in Colorado? What about elk for dinner? Growing up expecting to experience a mass shooting. What do we do in the time we have before the next mass shooting? Active for Justice is the official podcast of the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission, one of the oldest and most respected social justice, activist organizations in Colorado Springs. Victoria Stone invites guests into the studio to explore many of the most critical issues of our time – human rights, social justice, nonviolence, environmental sustainability, homelessness, foreign policy and nuclear weapons. Founded in 1978, PPJPC has served as an alternative voice committed to raising community consciousness regarding the protection of human rights, environmental sustainability, support for those experiencing homelessness, the elimination of oppressive foreign and domestic policies, nonviolent options for conflict resolution, and an end to the proliferation and use of nuclear weapons. The Commission’s consistent effort has been the promotion of peace through justice and nonviolence. We hold the belief that one by one, we can make a difference and create positive change for the betterment of society as a whole.   LINKS: Pikes Peak Justice & Peace Commission

1 Let's Buy a Gun or Two Before Dinner

Human rights, social justice, and nonviolence – a deep dive with Victoria Stone of the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission.

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3 Gun Violence: Not One More

2 Eat, Pray, Peace

1 Let's Buy a Gun or Two Before Dinner