The first of two speeches in three days in Hollister on peaceful
resolution will be presented Saturday at 2 p.m. at the YMCA of San
Benito County, 339 Fifth St.
The first of two speeches in three days in Hollister on peaceful resolution will be presented Saturday at 2 p.m. at the YMCA of San Benito County, 339 Fifth St.
Max Elbaum, who will give Saturday’s speech, is on the editorial committee for “War Times,” a magazine that began publishing last fall in response to the U.S. government’s treatment of worldwide political issues since Sept. 11, 2001.
“He has a history of being a progressive activist,” said Joe Navarro, who privately organized the speaking engagement. “War Times” has a national distribution of around 50,000, Navarro said.
Elbaum’s presentation, titled “Revolution in the Air,” will focus on radical activists of the 1960s and 1970s and a historical analysis of politics at the time. He will also speak about world issues, including an opposing view of potential U.S. attacks on Iraq.
“He’ll talk about what’s going on nationally and how to get involved (in anti-war activities),” Navarro said.
Navarro has also worked with an organization called Hollister in Black, a group of 15 to 20 people who perform a silent peace vigil at the intersection of San Benito and Fourth streets each Friday.
“I just decided to do this. There’s no organization behind it… ” Navarro said. “I’m hoping we get a lot of interested people to come and participate in the dialogue.”
Coincidentally, a second, separately organized speech will be presented Monday when Santa Cruz nonviolence advocate Scott Kennedy is scheduled to talk at St. Benedict Catholic Church on Fairview Road at 7 p.m.
Kennedy’s views follow in the spirit of Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. He is co-founder and director of the Resource Center for Nonviolence. He began taking groups to the Middle East region in 1968 and has gone there more than 30 times, most recently in October.
