Celebrate International Day of Peace with a family of nations gathering and multicultural art.

It’s been 41 years since the United Nations, an institution largely inspired and then largely ignored by the United States, proclaimed Sept. 21 International Day of Peace.

The Peace Coalition of Monterey County is an umbrella for 13 local organizations promoting nonviolent solutions, some with 30-plus years of history, but its annual Peace Celebration is still not as established as organizers would wish. “We had one last year in Whispering Pines Park,” says Sidney Ramsden Scott, the Peace Coalition co-chair. “We had a really big one in 2019. But before that, the event traveled a bit.”

This year, the group will celebrate on Sunday, Sept. 18 in the interest of making the event easier to attend. Each year has a theme; this time it is End Racism, Build Peace.

That begins among organizers themselves. “Unfortunately, most members of the local peace organizations are white, middle-aged people,” Scott notes. “So we knew we would have to reach out to the community.”

Monterey County’s poet laureate, Daniel Summerhill, came to mind; Scott loved his book of poetry. In addition to providing a powerful African-American voice in the community, he teaches creative writing at CSU Monterey Bay.

Scott sent an email, and the poet agreed to be the main speaker. “Obviously, that made me think about what’s the connection between race and peace,” Summerhill says. “Racism is a wound that is not properly healed, in this country and globally.”

Summerhill is planning to share his poetry and create a poetry workshop at the event, he says, just as he does when he visits classrooms in Soledad, Marina and Salinas as poet laureate.

Other cultures will be represented in performance by Juan Sánchez, the founder and director of Palenke Arts; Dave Holodiloff, who will play Middle Eastern, Indian and Eastern European music on steel-drum; and young dancers and singers.

The artistic part will be preceded by remarks from Lisa Wartinger, former president of the Monterey Bay chapter of the United Nations Association. Wartinger has been involved in the peace effort for years, including advocating for peace in Central America and Vietnam. “War has a tremendous cost for society,” she says. “We can’t forget that we are a human family and that we can resolve our conflicts peacefully and save people from suffering.”

“END RACISM: BUILD PEACE” happens from 2-4pm Sunday, Sept. 18 at Whispering Pines Park, Monterey.