The OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology is a multipurpose organization active mostly in Arkansas and its surrounding states in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was founded by retired

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

English professor James R. Bennett in 2001. Besides organizing peace demonstrations and forums on issues like climate change in the

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

area, it sponsors awards programs that have recognized literary and peace work on local, national and international issues.

Formation

As an English professor at the

from 1965 to 1997, Bennett incorporated peace issues into his courses. While teaching, he joined the local Peace Organization Committee, a group that protested the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, and continued engaging in such activities throughout his career. When he retired, he founded the OMNI Center with help from friends, including Dana Copp. The first office was in the basement of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

’s university campus ministry. They liked the "OMNI" name since it signified being inclusive of all people and issues. They originally called the organization the "OMNI Center for Peace and Justice" but later added "Ecology" to appeal to environmental groups like the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

Activities expand as OMNI grows

The organization grew following the

September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

and invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Besides organizing large protests, members developed educational activities. An

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, often taking place at night (an open mic night), in which audience members may perform on ...

event and a commemoration for the bombings of

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

and

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

began in 2001. The commemoration became an annual event to honor the dead from all wars, while open mics also became regular occurrences. OMNI hired a paid executive director starting in 2012. Gladys Tiffany became the director in 2013 and spearheaded new programs, including a low-power radio station run by volunteers, activist training workshops, women’s support groups, and movie screenings. The group collaborated with other community organizations to stage events such as a Civil Rights Roundtable and lent financial support to other projects. In 2019, OMNI began a new student activism support group at the University of Arkansas to mentor students. In January 2020, about 100 people attended a demonstration organized by OMNI and the Arkansas Nonviolence Alliance in Fayetteville to protest a potential war with Iran.

International PeaceWriting Award

Bennett established the International PeaceWriting Award program in 1999 to recognize fiction and nonfiction book-length works that focus on the causes, consequences, and remedies of wars, as well as those covering nonviolent peacemaking and peacemakers. After forming OMNI two years later, that center became one of the sponsoring organizations of those awards, along with the

Peace and Justice Studies Association The Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) is a non-profit organization headquartered at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. It was created following increased interest in peace-building after the September 11th attacks in USA, and it ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. Honorees of the program, who received a cash prize along with recognition, include: * Playwright Catherine Filloux, ''Lemkin’s House'', 2006 * Ground Zero Minnesota founder and professor

Michael Murphy Andregg Michael Murphy Andregg (born 1951) is an American biologist, educator, researcher, and author known for his study of the causes of war, global problems related to war, sustainable development, intelligence ethics and his peace activism. He found ...

, ''On the Causes of War'', 1999 *

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

professor

Philip Metres Philip Metres (born July 4, 1970) is an American writer, poet, translator, scholar, and essayist. His poetry books include ''Fugitive/Refuge'', ''Shrapnel Maps'', ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', and ''Sand Opera''. He has published poems, essays, ...

, ''Behind the Lines: War Resistance Poetry in the United States, 1940-2000'', 2002 *

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF) is a non-profit, non-partisan international education and advocacy organization. Founded in 1982, NAPF is composed of individuals and organizations from all over the world. It has consultative status to the ...

founder

David Krieger David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the Kings of Israel and Judah, third king of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stel ...

, ''Today Is Not a Good Day for War'', 2005, other poetry collections in 2007 and 2010 * Retired English professor Alexander Blackburn, ''The Physicist'', 2003 * Pax Educare founder Mary Lee Morrison, ''The Life of Elise Boulding'', 2002 * Journalist Kevin James Shay, ''Walking through the Wall'', 2002 * Business consultant Ken Beller, ''Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World'', 2007 * Playwright Molly Hersage, ''The Perfect Endgame'', 2006 * Playwright Anita Yellin Simons, ''Ladies First'', 2006 * Novelist Mark C. Hungerford, ''The Quiet Bower'', 2004 * Playwright Monica Raymond, ''The Owl Girl'', 2008 * Children’s author Jan Sherbin, ''Under Fire'', 2005 * Polish teacher Stanley Opalka, ''Escape from Russia'', 2005 * Novelist Kathleen Kern, ''Where Such Unmaking Reigns'', 2003

Arkansas Peace and Justice Heroes Award

In 2004, OMNI and the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends ('' Quaker)-founded'' organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by ...

started the Arkansas Peace and Justice Heroes Award program to recognize advocates throughout the state. Honorees who have been recognized at a formal banquet include: * Writer and artist Diana Rivers, 2005 * History professor and genocide expert

Samuel Totten Samuel Totten is an American professor of history noted for his scholarship on genocide. Totten was a distinguished professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville where he taught from 1987 to 2012 and served as the chief editor of the jour ...

, 2007 * Jonesboro youth program leader Rennell Woods, 2007 * Citizens First Congress director Bill Kopsky, 2007 * Community activist Eleanor Johnson, 2007 * Bridge of Peace co-founder Hamsa Newmark, 2008 * Attorney Michael R. McCray, 2008 *

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a U.S. non-governmental, and tax-exempt 501(C)(3) Christian nonprofit organization which seeks to build affordable housing. The international ...

director Patsy Brewer, 2008 * Community advocate Vickie Tidwell, 2008 * Jacob David George, Afghanistan war veteran who raised awareness for peace through music and a cross-country bicycle riding group, 2011

References

External links

OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology

James R. "Dick" Bennett’s Peace, Justice and Ecology newsletters
{{DEFAULTSORT:OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology Non-profit organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 2001 Progressive organizations in the United States Peace organizations based in the United States