Threats to Democracy, Dangers of War

Dear Members and Supporters,

Charlottesville—DACA—North Korea, and who knows what disaster awaits us next?  Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD) knows that we, as historians, teachers, and activists, have skills, knowledge, and the responsibility to challenge the Trump administration and the devastation it brings to people in the United States and around the world.

To encourage all of us to act, H-PAD has launched our new campaign, Threats to Democracy, Dangers of War, and we hope you will participate in it.  The campaign is broad enough that you can choose to highlight whatever issues are most relevant to you and the community or campus in which you work.  By joining the campaign, you will be part of a national group of historians, scholars, and activists working together to oppose this administration and offer an alternative vision of history and reality.

A number of you have said you would like to organize an event. We are working with you to facilitate that. We have put together an outstanding Speakers Bureau, which includes the names of leading scholars and activists willing to speak as part of the campaign, depending on their availability. For this list, see https://www.historiansforpeace.org/speakers-bureau/

We have also prepared a basic Organizing Guide to help you think about the range of possible issues you can address on your campus, and how to organize within your campus community. Go to https://www.historiansforpeace.org/organizing-guide/

To announce our campaign to the broader community of historians, H-PAD sponsored an advertisement in the September Perspectives, published by the American Historical Association.  The Perspectives ad cost $1,115. We would like to run the ad again and, if possible, run it in other publications as well.  See the ad at https://www.historiansforpeace.org/aha-ad/

We also plan to publish a series of one-page broadsides to distribute online, at conferences, and on campuses.  Some of the broadsides near completion are Ellen Schrecker on McCarthyism, Linda Gordon on the KKK in the 1920s, and Jeremy Kuzmarov on the War on Drugs.

We need money to finance the Threats to Democracy, Dangers of War campaign. Any amount is welcome, larger amounts are particularly welcome.  To make your contribution, please go to https://www.historiansforpeace.org/donate/ 

We look forward to hearing from you and working with you.  Everyone can contribute and the more of us who do, the more powerful we are.

— H-PAD Steering Committee