The actions of the Catonsville 9 are a reminder to me of the importance of resistance. Though the act took place 49 years ago, the message is still as relevant as ever: we have to stand firm in what we believe is right and just. At a time when we are constantly bombarded with mixed messages of what to believe, it’s important that we uncover the rest of the story and that we boldly stand up when we see injustice in our world.
— Megan McGuire
What do these things mean, that Americans shoot other Americans in the streets, that our country is the greatest exporter of violence in the world? I am not a pessimist, but I feel American priorities must be re-ordered. Something completely different, something very new is going to have to happen in our country. (What can we say of a nation that lets millions of its children go hungry and suffer from malnutrition while it spends billions developing planes that will fly the ocean in three hours instead of six, racing
The actions of the Catonsville Nine demonstrate that, while government and religion are and should be separate, our faith must inform our political voice. Men and women of the church took a stand that said the war in Viet Nam was wrong, the forced draft of young men to fight in that war was wrong, and the killing of innocents because of that war was wrong.
Demonstrations of faith are not limited to an hour inside a church on Sunday morning. Our actions in the world demonstrate our faith and understanding
On May 17th, 1968, nine Catholic peace activists entered a draft board office in suburban Baltimore, stole hundreds of Selective Service records, and burned the documents in a fire fueled by homemade napalm. The bold actions of the group, dubbed the ”Catonsville Nine” in the press, quickly captured headlines for taking a principled stand against the Vietnam War. Among them was a De La Salle Christian Brother, David Darst, featured in the photograph to the left, in whose memory we are named.
To honor their legacy, the Br. David Darst Center will
Click the link below to check out some of the pictures from our amazing night of fun and friendship!
1905-1990
“Education leads to action. If you advocate just one action, you’re an organizer. We teach leadership here. Then people go out and do what they want.”
Born in Savannah, Tennessee on July 5, 1905, Myles Horton believed that if everyday people could come together to discuss problems and share their experiences they could solve their problems. He strongly believed in peer education, in people becoming their own experts, doing their own research, testing their ideas by taking action, analyzing their actions, and learning from their experiences
In
“Peace needs no contemplators, it needs actors, people who are willing to get their hands dirty, to get up and do something. The same is true for justice.”
Elias Chacour was born in the Palestinian village of Biram in upper Galilee in 1939. In 1948, after a United Nations resolution, his country of Palestine became the sovereign state of Israel. Three years later, his own village of Biram would be changed forever. In 1951, Israeli soldiers marched into Biram and told the inhabitants that they would have to leave
“If I achieved anything it was because I was not afraid to talk about God.”
“We were just sitting there talking when lines of people began to form, saying, ‘We need bread.’ We were just sitting there talking and people moved in on us. We were just sitting there talking and someone said, ‘Let’s all go live on a farm.’ It was as simple as that, I sometimes think.”
“The most significant thing about the Catholic Worker is poverty, some say. The most significant thing is community, others say. We are not
Koinonia Farm began in 1942 when Clarence and Florence Jordan and Mabel and Martin England came to Sumter County, Georgia to live out the teachings of Jesus amidst the poverty and racism of the rural South. They envisioned forming an interracial community where blacks and whites could live and work together in a spirit of partnership. Based on a radical call to discipleship, Koinonia’s very presence confronted racism, militarism, and materialism with their commitment to treating all human beings with dignity and justice, choose love over violence, share all
Cesar Estrada Chavez was born March 31, 1927 near Yuma, Arizona. In 1937, Chavez and his family packed their belongings and headed to California in search of work. The Chavez family became part of the migrant community, traveling from farm to farm to pick fruits and vegetables during the harvest. They lived in numerous migrant camps, and Chavez often encountered cruel discrimination at school.
In 1952, Chavez joined a group called the Community Service Organization (CSO), formed by Saul Alinsky. Chavez, as part of the CSO, began urging Mexican-Americans to register