Even though the Americans and Soviets are no longer staring each other down over thermonuclear missiles as in the days of the Cold War, peace activists haven’t found it cause for celebration.
“There are still thousands of nuclear weapons stockpiled around the world,” said Deever Rockwell of Olympia Fields, a member of the board of directors of South Suburban Peace Action. The group, with a membership of about two dozen, is dedicated to warning people about nuclear and conventional weapons proliferation.
The cessation of overt hostilities has made it hard for the peace movement to maintain its momentum. “Peace was breaking out all over the place,” Rockwell said, smiling as he noted the irony of their problem. “With the collapse of the Soviet Union, people thought the problems had all gone away.”
But the issues that concern Peace Action are still very much in the forefront of national and international discourse. Nuclear disarmament, an end to the conventional arms trade and massive cuts in the U.S. military budget are the aims of these activists, according to Kevin Martin, executive director of Illinois Peace Action in Chicago.
South Suburban Peace Action is one of 10 Illinois chapters of the national organization Peace Action: For A Sane World. The national organization was formed in 1957 as the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy. In the mid-1980s the group merged with members of the Nuclear Freeze campaign and was renamed Sane/Freeze, Martin said. In 1991 the name was changed to Peace Action: For A Sane World, which more accurately promoted the group’s goals.
The national organization’s name was suggested by June Gerrish, a part-time humanities instructor at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, and was overwhelmingly approved by the national membership.
Gerrish, of Flossmoor, was also the organizer of the local group’s Oct. 7 conference at Governors State University, “The United Nations at 50: Challenges for Peace in Changing Times.” The conference, which drew 120 participants, explored the successes, failures and possibilities for reform for the United Nations on the eve of that organization’s 50th anniversary.
Gerrish, who is in her early 60s, joined Peace Action in 1984, after visiting her son’s junior high school and reading a collection of student essays that touched upon the threat of nuclear war. “I thought if the kids were so concerned about the threat, I had to try to do something about it,” she said.
“There was tremendous concern over nuclear war,” said Cil Rockwell, Deever Rockwell’s wife and one of the founding members of South Suburban Peace Action. “We were scared to death.”
“It seemed very immediate then,” Gerrish added.
Rockwell, who is in her late 60s, said the saber-rattling politics of the Reagan administration was the impetus for her and four other south suburban women to form the local chapter in 1982. “I have always seen the peace movement in terms of nuclear war,” she said.
The group’s first efforts were aimed at getting local communities declared nuclear-free zones, to raise awareness of the arms race, while also providing information about the arms buildup. They sponsored special projects such as Peace Awareness Month and lobbied state legislators on a variety of social justice issues. Group members also see themselves as working toward the same agenda as those who champion human rights and environmental issues and include those issues as part of their platform.
While the immediate threat of a nuclear holocaust has receded, the peace group has stepped up its efforts to educate local residents about conventional arms trade. According to Deever Rockwell, the United States supplies nearly 70 percent of the weapons on the world market. “Our own troops are being shot at by American-made weapons,” he said.
“The problem is,” added Cil Rockwell, “that people don’t want to talk about this.”
But members of South Suburban Peace Action aren’t shy about bringing up the subject. They have a speakers bureau and have sponsored a number of conferences in the suburbs, including “Kicking the Cold War Habit” and “Redefining America for the 21st Century.” Along with the national organization, group members have been involved in a boycott of French-made products since that nation’s recent nuclear testing.
According to Douglas Cassel, executive director of the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University, who spoke at the group’s UN conference, South Suburban Peace Action is made up of men and women who are willing to take a stand on peace and social justice issues.
“At a time when most people tend to stick their heads in the sand, we have a group of responsible people who will take the view that this country cannot ignore what is happening in the rest of the world,” he said.
And members of Peace Action feel that their efforts at the local level do pay off on the world stage. “Peace groups around the world are aware of each other,” said member Rich Treptow, 54, of Richton Park. “It is important for the world to not just hear our politicians or see our military prowess.”
State coordinator Martin said the suburban group is one of the most independent and active chapters in the state. “They’re unique among issue groups at the local level,” Martin said. “They were able to pull off a terrific conference. Not many issue groups can do that sort of thing.”
Cil Rockwell said the group contains more than a few “old pros” at organizing, but their biggest concern now is how to attract a younger membership.
Mary Sue Penn, 35, of Hammond is the south suburban group’s president and one of its youngest members. She said the issue of nuclear weapons is one that “simmers on the back burner. To many people the issue is not as important as it once was. But there are still so many weapons out there it is incredible.”
Penn said the group is working on ways to reach out to students at Governors State University in University Park and at suburban community colleges, including setting up information tables and providing speakers for classes and various school-based groups.
Yet age has certain advantages. “I think the group has been successful so far because the members have deep roots in the community. They are known and respected,” Penn said.
Peace Action members are also optimistic that their efforts to educate and inform the public and the powers that be will pay off in the long term. Or, as Deever Rockwell said, “We hope to be put out of business by peace.”
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South Suburban Peace Action meets at 7:30 p.m. the third Wednesday of every month at the Park Forest Library, 400 Lakewood Blvd.
