pieces of wars and peace

What does it mean to be a in a time of war? Can we remember what peace felt like? There are local and global perspectives on both, and neither war nor peace is a singular concept. Several calls for papers I’ve come across recently invite articles, essays, and commentaries on the subject of life after/following/in light of war, conflicts, disasters, etc. Presumably the impetus for these calls are grounded in the tangible events such as the bombing of the Twin Towers, the war in Iraq, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Yet, I am drawn to wonder whether because of these recent events, stacked together in hurried succession, we have a heightened sense of war-ness and peace-ness; does the global “We” have less of an excuse to be complacent to the needs of the local “We?”

We are more aware on a surface level of the struggles and triumphs of our neighbors across hemispheric lines, but how much more aware are we of the needs and resources of our neighbors across the street? I know that Slobodan Milosovic died in his prison cell, but what do I know about the lives of the kids who play in the park across the street from my building? Gloria Ladson-Billings spoke on Friday at TC about Education in the Public Interest – she and William Tate have an edited volume of a similar title that will be available from TC Press next month. As she raised questions about which public garners the interest of education, research, and the policymakers alike, she invited us all to question with her. i ask: Whose interest are we serving when we ask about teaching, living, coping, learning in a time post-war, post-conflict, post-disaster? For whom are these “posts” optimistic hopes? And in what ways might people be living in both a time of war and peace? A moment of hope and frustration?

Both. And.

Both War And Peace. At the same time. I know that’s how Biggz talked about the moment of sharing his words with an extended audience – at the same time expressing reflections on moments, some of which felt like war, others when he was at peace. This moment, of the sharing, being both one of peace and possibility; and war and conflict as he continues to sit within the concrete walls.

The Child Soldiers project offers some nuanced thoughts and images on the complicated topics of war and peace, but also about all that might exist between.

A couple of the calls I mentioned earlier:
From Perspectives on Urban Education
From English Journal