Lutheran Peace Fellowship

The Path of Hope
(also known as the "Wall of Hope")


St. Francis...Quakers...Harriet Tubman...FOR...Gandhi...Badshah Khan...White Rose youth... Daisy Bates... Rosa Parks...Martin Luther King, Jr...
Freedom Summer...Kent State students... Oscar Romero...Rigoberta Menchu...Tiananmen Sq. students...Erik Larson...Nelson Mandela...


Introduction

Path of hope

Summary: The "Path of Hope" is a graphic exhibit of more than 100 peace and justice events and movements throughout history in which everyday people have been successful in bringing about peace and social change by nonviolent means.  The display includes well-known figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks as well as lesser-known stories such as the White Rose student movement in Nazi Germany.  For many people, a good way to explore the possibilities of peace­making today is through the lives and activities and choices of inspiring peace and justice heroes like Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Nelson Mandela, and Aung San Suu Kyi, to name a few.

Timeline of events: (pdf) (html)

Women's Path of Hope - Women-led peace and justice events and movements throughout history

Path materials for adult forums, youth groups, and classes: a dozen activities, several resources, a page of photos, tips on building a Path, etc.

Resources and activities on the Path of  Hope...

Nonviolent Social Movements in Creating Change - This session allows participants to expand this picture for themselves through the story of the civil rights sit-ins in 1960, and an activity that surveys the breadth and variety of social movement activity throughout history.

Spanish version: español El Sendero de la Esperanza
Eventos y movimientos a favor de la justicia y la paz a través de la historia.


Layout: Each event on the Path of Hope is summarized in a few lines on bright squares mounted along the top of a 120 foot long green cloth.  Underneath, from one to five pictures and drawings help illustrate and bring to life each event.  Shorter versions of the path with fewer events are readily organized for use in smaller display areas, classes, or work-shops.  Many classes and youth groups have used our Path “How- To” kit to make their own Path of Hope.

Experience: The Path and related activities have been used with over 500 classes, conferences and groups in the past five years.  For example, the Path of Hope proved inspiring at the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship annual conference in Canada in early 2000, several Global Mission Events, and was a major exhibit at the 1997, 2003, and 2006 ELCA Youth Gatherings attended by 40,000 youth and advisors.  The display has been featured in workshops for teachers, and for annual meetings of the largest peace education associations in the U.S., the Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) and the Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development (COPRED)

The Path of Hope is especially relevant in light of the Decade for Peace which was proposed by 20 Nobel Peace Prize winners, the largest number ever to support any initiative.  In November 1998, the United Nations General Assembly voted to designate the years 2001 to 2010 as “The International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence.”  The organizations that developed the Path

of Hope have been at the forefront in building support for the Decade in the Pacific North­west and around the country.  The coordinator of the Path of Hope was one of two dozen leaders from around the world chosen as the US delegate to the first international meetings, held near Madras, India in October 1999, to make plans for the UN Decade for Peace.

Resources:A packet is available explaining the steps for a youth group or class to successfully put together and display their own Path of Hope, using materials available from us and the world wide web. It includes the text of the Path, photos, examples of activities, 4-page bibliography of sources covering most of the Path’s events, tips on a Path project for classrooms and youth groups, and other material. We have also developed a number of other resources including activities and back­ground articles on peacemaking, and bibliographies of varying lengths for students, teachers, activists, and leaders. The groups who have worked with LPF to refine the Path have experience leading workshops on building a culture of peace, ranging from one and three hour sessions to weekend workshops including highly regarded programs for youth and adult groups like “Peacemaking in the Real World” and “Leadership Training in Peacemaking.” For more information please contact us at the address at the bottom of this page.

Path materials for adult forums, youth groups, and classes: a dozen activities, several resources, a page of photos, tips on building a Path, etc.

Resources and activities on the Path of Hope...

Another online version of the Path of Hope is titled "The Great Peace March"on the web site of the San Antonio Peace Center

Read more about Nonviolence and other Notable Peacemakers.


Top Ten List
(pdf, html)
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