Abigail Margulis

amargulis@citizen-times.com

ASHEVILLE - Throughout the day Saturday people took a break from their busy lives and gathered in peace.

Activities took place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate the International Day of Peace, which is observed Sept. 21, at The Center for Art and Spirit, 1 School Road. Saturday was the final day during a series of events that had taken place throughout the week in Asheville.

"We live such fast and busy lives that taking time and a whole week to focus on peace and non-violence calls us back to the fundamentals," said Beth Darling, St. George Episcopal's priest.

This election year has also created anxiety among the country's citizens, Darling added.

"Offering peaceful energy and peaceful prayer at this time is important," she said.

The day kicked off with participants making peace rocks, flags, pinwheels and collages.

Deb Cox, who works at the church and is a volunteer, sat on a picnic table where she decorated a peace rock, with the hopes of paying it forward.

"You can nestle (these rocks) around and who knows? They may be everywhere," she said.

Peace rocks are used to spread "messages of peace that ripple out around the world ... one thought and one rock at a time." People are encouraged to paint words, images, and messages of peace, hope, love and joy on rocks and place them throughout the world.

This past week was about having fun and doing good, Cox added.

In the afternoon, WNC4Peace recognized the groups Asheville Black Lives Matter and Showing Up for Racial Justice as its 2016 Peacemakers of the Year.

Using creative civil disobedience, education and nonviolent direct action, those groups have raised awareness about social justice issues facing Asheville and the world, said WNC4Peace organizer Colin Neiburger.

“We support what they do wholeheartedly, and as an organization we wanted to recognize them," he said. "We stand in solidarity with anybody, everybody who works on those efforts."

Holly Roach, cultural organizer with Asheville SURJ, said the group was honored to receive this award.

"We find it really meaningful that on the International Day of Peace bold work like Black Lives Matter and SURJ are being honored in the name of peace," she said. "There is a protest chant that says 'no justice. no peace.' We believe this to be very true.

"We hope to use the spotlight that has been cast on us to illuminate the amazing work of people of color in Asheville that has been going on for a very long time that has been working to challenge white supremacy all along."

Peace Day contests winners were also announced during the awards ceremony.

Kafira Adam, a fifth-grader at The Rainbow Community School, won the Isaac Coleman Poetry Award in honor of Isaac Coleman, who died recently, and was founder of Read to Succeed and former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960's.



Savannah Barnwell won the Judith Hallock Art Award in honor of Judith Hallock, co-founder of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and leader of previous local International Days of Peace.



Sept. 21 is celebrated and observed as an International Day of Peace. The United Nations has declared the day as a time to recognize and strengthen the ideals of peace within and among nations and people.

Visit www.wnc4peace.com/home or www.creativepeacemakers.com for more information.