On October 9, at 12:30 p.m. Central Time, we are holding via Zoom our first-ever global Socrates Cafe.
The question to be explored: How can we give peace a chance?
At a time, to put it mildly, of considerable strife of myriad kinds — among and within nations, family members, friends, neighbors, among and within ourselves, even of man against nature — this seems the ideal date, and theme, around which to have our inaugural global Socrates Cafe; what we might call on this occasion a Peace Cafe (and that reminds me: about 15 years ago, Anas Shallal, owner of the nonpareil gathering place, Busboys & Poets, in Washington, D.C., invited me to preside over a Peace Cafe with Palestinians and Israelis).
Our gathering, in which we’ll be able to see one another’s faces, gestures, as we hear one another’s voices — and most importantly, listen to one another, just as we can at a face to face Socrates Cafe — will start at the very moment John Lennon was born (6:30 pm London time) on October 9, 1940.
We further chose 12:30 pm Central Time as the time to launch this global Socrates Cafe because it affords many participants around the globe — including those in our Socrates Cafes in places like throughout Saudi Arabia (where there are several, including groups started by valiant young women, and my book ‘Socrates Cafe’ will be published soon in Arabic), Istanbul, India, Greece, Ireland, England, Fiji, New Zealand (though it’ll be early their time the following day), as well as across North, Central and South America, and many other regions worldwide besides..
October 9 is also the day in 1931 that social and political activist Mahatma Gandhi, the most revered practitioner of non-violent resistance of the 20th century, met Maria Montessori, whose avowed mission of peace through education resonates more than ever (a mission in which my wife Ceci, a credentialed Montessori educator, is an ardent believer).
October 9 is marks the tragic day, in 2012, that the courageous activist for educational rights for girls and women, Malala Yousafzai, then 15 years old, was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in Pakistan.
On October 10, 2014, (the day on which participants in some parts of the globe will be participating with us), Malala, about whom I write a in my newest book, ‘A Child at Heart,’ garnered the Nobel Peace Prize, and spoke with unequalled eloquence about how she fostered no ill-will against those who tried to silence her; rather, she said, it served for her as greater impetus than ever to be the model for peace, love and understanding through education for all that she strives more than ever to spark the world over.
Please join us. Come ready to share your carefully considered perspectives, to have them scrutinized, and most of all, to listen to what other thoughtful and passionate souls have to say. And please keep in mind this isn’t about agreeing or disagreeing with the political (or any other) stances of John Lennon or anyone else; it’s about inquiring thoughtfully, reasonably, imaginatively, empathetically, into how we might give peace, in its many manifestations, a chance.
We all ‘win’ by methodically inquiring and exploring together, and by intently listening to one another. The minute you feel you have to persuade someone else to see things as you do, the minute you argue and debate, that you feel you have to agree or disagree, rather than look carefully at what speaks for or against a variety of perspectives (thinking out loud in an array of dazzling colors), we ‘lose.’ And please be sure to have your camera turned on, so we can see you. This is all about face to face discourse.
Here is the info to gain access to our live Socrates Cafe:
Christopher Phillips is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Global Socrates Cafe: How can we give peace a chance?
Link to join: https://zoom.us/j/3637939454
Join Zoom Meeting
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+52 229 910 0061 Mexico
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Meeting ID: 363 793 9454
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/acAcRWEnN
I might also mention that I am announcing this gathering on this particular day because it was the last day, eight years ago, that anyone who loved my father, Alexander Phillips, spoke to him by phone while he was still alive (I will write more about his tragic passing tomorrow). Through the ugliest circumstances imaginable, I did not learn of his death, which apparently took place on September 17, 2011, until September 18, 2011. I do not believe my father is resting in peace, but that motivates me more than ever to do my part to see to it that our world becomes one in which peace in myriad forms is given a chance to take root and flourish.
p.s. Yom Kippur is on October 8 and 9 this year.