Joliet, IL Becomes a Nonviolent City during Action Week
by Concetta Smart
The Kickoff for the Nonviolent Joliet Cities Project went well on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Before the event, we passed out the fliers and a cover letter at some rallies in Joliet to invite and inform and emailed info to many groups. Doug Casper sent the brochures, cover letter and flier to the mayor and city council members. Our Pax Christi group members were represented. Two candidates for city council came and spoke, Joliet advocacy groups representing BLM, workers, working to end gun violence, and working to stop annexation of more land for warehouses and truck traffic attended. A Will County representative also spoke. We were pleased with turnout and that we got 20 people committed to being on the steering committee. The idea seemed to be well accepted.
We marched from the rally in the Plaza Center of Joliet to the council meeting were we spoke to many and passed out more of the brochures. We are hoping after the election to determine a location and time for the steering committee to meet.
We also have been writing about 800 postcards and mailed them to Michigan and Wisconsin voters encouraging them to vote on the issues: healthcare, good schools, clean water, environmental concerns. We continue to call and email Congress asking for cosponsors for the Department of Peacebuilding, HR 1111.