Featuring Keynote Speaker, Leah Penniman, Author, Founding Co-Director and Farm Manager of Soul Fire Farm
Leah Penniman (Li*/Ya/She/He) is a Black Kreyol educator, farmer/peyizan, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY. Li has over 20 years of experience as a soil steward and food sovereignty activist, having worked at the Food Project, Farm School, Many Hands Organic Farm, Youth Grow and with farmers internationally in Ghana, Haiti, and Mexico.
Leah co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to reclaim our inherent right to belong to the earth and have agency in the food system as Black and Brown people. As co-Executive Director, Li is part of a team that facilitates powerful food sovereignty programs – including farmer trainings for Black & Brown people, a subsidized farm food distribution program for people living under food apartheid, and domestic and international organizing toward equity in the food system. Her areas of leadership at Soul Fire include farmer training, international solidarity, perennials, writing, speaking, “making it rain,” and anything that involves heavy lifting, sweat, and soil. Li’s book “Farming While Black” is a love song for the earth and her peoples.
Leah holds an MA in Science Education and BA in Environmental Science and International Development from Clark University, and is a Manye (Queen Mother) in Vodun. Leah has been farming since 1996 and teaching since 2002. The work of Leah and Soul Fire Farm has been recognized by the Soros Racial Justice Fellowship, Fulbright Program, Omega Sustainability Leadership Award, Presidential Award for Science Teaching, NYS Health Emerging Innovator Awards, and Andrew Goodman Foundation, among others. Her book, Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide is a love song to the land and her people.
Awards
We’re honored to offer the following awards at the Western New York Peace Center’s 55th Annual Dinner:
Families and Survivors of the 5/14 Massacre will receive the Phoenix Award to recognize their tremendous labor of love emerging from the ashes of horrific grief and trauma (copy will also be given to the May 14 Community Collecting Initiative of the Buffalo History Museum and B&EC Public Library System).
Yanenowi Logan, Seneca deer clan, Cornell University Environment & Sustainability student, re-establisher of Seneca Youth Council, will receive the Emerging Leader Award;
Dr. Charley Bowman, scientist & activist, former WNYPC Director and Environmental Justice Taskforce Chair, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Tickets & Menu
We are excited to announce that this event will be catered by Sunshine Vegan Eats.
Served buffet-style. All sides are vegan and will be available with either protein choice (baked chicken OR vegan meatloaf): collard greens, mac and “cheese”, string beans, and artisan bread. Dessert will be peach cobbler.
Since 1967, the Peace Center has worked together with its task forces, members, partners, and allies in promoting peace through justice at home and abroad and we are so excited to have been able to honor The KBP7 and our Awardees that evening. We would like to thank all of our sponsors, members, supporters, and friends who helped make this event possible!
Join the WNY Peace Center to celebrate our 54th Annual Dinner featuring the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 with special guest Mark Colville! This is our major fundraising event and the proceeds make it possible for the WNY Peace Center to continue its work. Most importantly, come to the dinner and bring your friends for a great celebration of the Peace Center!
Ending Nuclear Weapons for People & the Planet!
Friday, November 12th, 2021 at 5:30 PM
Buffalo Niagara Convention Center & on Zoom
Free parking at the Fernbach Ramp, 200 Pearl St.
Silent Auction and Basket Raffle throughout the event!
Get your tickets, NOW!
There are a limited number of dinner tickets left. Please email assistant@wnypeace.org if you are interested in joining the in-person event.
Other Orders
Kings Bay Plowshares 7:
Seven Catholic plowshares activists entered Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in St. Mary’s, Georgia on April 4th, 2018. They went to make real the prophet Isaiah’s command to “beat swords into plowshares”.
The seven chose to act on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who devoted his life to addressing what he called the “triple evils of militarism, racism, and materialism.” Carrying hammers and baby bottles of their own blood, the seven attempted to convert weapons of mass destruction. They hoped to call attention to the ways in which nuclear weapons kill every day, by their mere existence and maintenance.
Kings Bay Naval base opened in 1979 as the Navy’s Atlantic Ocean Trident port. It is the largest nuclear submarine base in the world. There are six ballistic missile subs and two guided missile subs based at Kings Bay.
Mark Colville is a founding member of the Amistad Catholic Worker community and house of hospitality in New Haven, Connecticut, where he lives with his wife, Luz Catarineau, and a circle of friends who are dedicated to the daily practice of the Works of Mercy, prayer, nonviolence, environmental justice and promoting human rights and dignity for all people. They have raised six children together at the Amistad house: Keeley, Soledad, Justin and Isaiah Colville, and Crystal and Mario Fernandez.Mark’s family life is centered around a common table where Christ is welcomed in the person of the poor, and it is that experience, over the course of many years, that has instilled in him a deep reverence for all life, and impelled him to come to the Kings Bay Trident base with a plea for personal and collective disarmament.
Congratulations Cariol Horne!
We are incredibly proud to announce that Cariol Horne will receive the WNYPC Alt-imate Activist Award (named in honor of Wayne Alt) at our Annual Dinner, for her courage to stand on the side of justice against police brutality.
Cariol Horne, former Buffalo Police Officer
Dinner price: $75 (see menu options and ticketing below) -LIMITED AVAILABILITY
With 2022 Membership: $100
Student w/ID or Limited Income: $45
Table of 8: $550
1/2 Table of 4: $225
Zoom-only Option: $25
Meal Options:
Chicken: Grilled Herb & Dijon Marinated Chicken Breast with Mushroom Risotto, Roasted Asparagus and Charred Tomatoes
Vegetarian: Arancini Breaded Sundried Tomato Risotto Cake with Parmesan served with Pomodoro Sauce and Basil Oil, Roasted Asparagus and Baby Carrots
NO LONGER AVAILABLE: Vegan: Vegetable Paella Crispy Tofu, Bomba Rice, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Artichoke Hearts, Green Beans and Peas
All meals include a salad, dessert, and tea or coffee. A cash bar will also be available.
Attendance at the dinner is a wonderful way to encourage young activists. You can sponsor a student or someone of limited income for $45. Your tax-deductible cash donations of any amount are hugely appreciated!
You can also buy your ticket and membership together for $100; all memberships purchased from 10/1/2021 through 12/31/2021 will extend through 12/31/2022.
We invite interested businesses and organizations to promote yourself and support the WNY Peace Center by taking out a program ad ($80), purchasing a vending/organizational table at the dinner ($25), and/or donating baskets or silent auction items. Please complete our donation form if you are interested in any of these options.
This year, your full-sized ad will be displayed during our slideshow and in a following media recording of event! The virtual program ad offers you an opportunity to get your message out to hundreds of people and support the WNY Peace Center at the same time! Electronic files in PDF, JPG or TIFF format, minimum 300 dpi, may be sent as attachments to office@wnypeace.org.
If your organization or business would like to present your literature or wares to our guests on this special evening, there will be a large area where your vendor table can be set up. Tables are supplied by the convention center and measure 8’ L x 32” W. If you need more than one table for your display, please reserve the number of tables you need at $25 each.
If you have items to contribute for baskets and/or silent raffles, they can be dropped off at the office: 1272 Delaware Ave, Buffalo, NY 14209 (by appointment only; please call 716-332-3904 or email assistant@wnypeace.org). We are happy to accept prepared baskets or items that can be combined to make a themed basket. Each basket should have a value of minimum $25; silent auction items should have a value of minimum $50.
Buffalo Niagara Convention Center COVID-19 Guidlines:
Join us while staying safe! BNCC kindly asks for all participants (vaccinated and unvaccinated) to wear face masks in the common areas of the building.
Per the updated guidance from the Erie County Department of Health, masks, or facial coverings (no neck gators, handkerchiefs or masks that do not cover your mouth/nose) will be required for all guests, vendors and staff regardless of vaccination status, when at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.
Banquet Guidance – Masks must be worn unless stationary eating/drinking at bistros or seated at a table. Masks should be worn while moving throughout the facility.
We truly appreciate your kindness and generosity. The WNY Peace Center has a unique place and history in the Western New York Community. Your support and involvement is both needed and appreciated!
Media:
Read more about the dinner and KBP7 in the 10/14 issue (pg 7) of the Challenger Community News!
More information to come! Please email assistant@wnypeace.org with questions.
“Brothers, sisters, we beg you, let us turn these swords into plowshares.”
Leah holds an MA in Science Education and BA in Environmental Science and International Development from Clark University, and is a Manye (Queen Mother) in Vodun. Leah has been farming since 1996 and teaching since 2002. The work of Leah and Soul Fire Farm has been recognized by the Soros Racial Justice Fellowship, Fulbright Program, Omega Sustainability Leadership Award, Presidential Award for Science Teaching, NYS Health Emerging Innovator Awards, and Andrew Goodman Foundation, among others. Her book, Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide is a love song to the land and her people.
