Mis­sion Statement

Peace Action-Wisconsin is a peace and jus­tice orga­ni­za­tion which works for a world where human needs are met, the envi­ron­ment is pre­served, and the threats of war and nuclear weapons have been abol­ished. We are com­mit­ted to non-violence as a way of life and offer our mem­bers oppor­tu­ni­ties for edu­ca­tion, lob­by­ing and pub­lic witness.

Our His­tory

Founded as Mil­wau­kee Mobi­liza­tion for Sur­vival in March of 1977, we were part of a national net­work of national peace and jus­tice groups orga­nized around the issues of nuclear weapons, nuclear power, the esca­lat­ing arms race and the atten­dent decline in fund­ing for human needs. National Mobi­liza­tion for Sur­vival grew to include over 125 peace and jus­tice groups before its national office closed in 1992.

In Jan­u­ary 1996 we affil­i­ated with National Peace Action, which had been formed from the merger of SANE and the Nuclear Freeze Cam­paign. It is the largest grass­roots peace and dis­ar­ma­ment group in the coun­try. In 1999 we became Peace Action-Wisconsin to reflect our statewide scope and membership.

Cur­rent Pro­gram Work

Peace Action-Wisconsin and National Peace Action work together on national and inter­na­tional issues to help cre­ate a more just and peace­ful world. Cur­rent national work includes orga­niz­ing to end the US occu­pa­tion of Afghanistan and a Peace Voter Campaign.

Locally, active com­mit­tees meet to orga­nize lob­by­ing, demon­stra­tions, and edu­ca­tional events on the fol­low­ing issues: Dis­ar­ma­ment, Mid­dle East Peace, Truth in Recruit­ment, School of the Amer­i­cas Watch

Coali­tion Work

Peace Action launched the Mil­wau­kee Coali­tion for a Just Peace which works to stop the war in Iraq and end the US occu­pa­tion. Peace Action also works with other coali­tions includ­ing United for Peace and Jus­tice, the Wis­con­sin Net­work for Peace and Jus­tice, the Coali­tion to Nor­mal­ize Rela­tions with Cuba, Friends of Pales­tine, Mil­wau­kee Boli­var­ian Cir­cles and the Mil­wau­kee Jus­tice Coalition.

Peace Action is com­mit­ted to non­vi­o­lent social change through com­mu­nity edu­ca­tion, leg­isla­tive lob­by­ing, pub­lic wit­ness events, and coali­tion work.

Work­ing with a broad spec­trum of com­mu­nity groups, Peace Action has been in the fore­front of build­ing coali­tions around pro­gres­sive issues, serv­ing as a clear­ing­house for peace activ­i­ties and tak­ing the lead in orga­niz­ing local action on inter­na­tional issues.

Peace Action-Wisconsin owns its own build­ing, the Peace Action Cen­ter, which serves as office space for sev­eral peace, envi­ron­men­tal and social change orga­ni­za­tions and as a gath­er­ing place for com­mu­nity events and meet­ings. The Cen­ter offers a resource and audio­vi­sual library and a Peace Store.

Peace Action Wis­con­sin is a 501©(4) non-profit mem­ber­ship orga­ni­za­tion. Its edu­ca­tional branch, the Peace Edu­ca­tion Project of Peace Action Wis­con­sin is a 501©(3) tax-exempt orga­ni­za­tion. Two full-time staff and hun­dreds of vol­un­teers keep our work alive. An actively involved Steer­ing Com­mit­tee is elected annually.

Ongo­ing activ­i­ties include pub­li­ca­tion of a monthly newslet­ter with a dis­tri­b­u­tion of 1200, a doc­u­men­tary film series, speak­ers on cur­rent issues, work­shops, and out­reach with tabling at com­mu­nity events.