CLEVELAND PEACE ACTION: PEACE CRANES TAKE FLIGHT

Cleveland Peace Action
Peace Cranes Take Flight on August 10 at Rockefeller Park Lagoon

July 16, 2008 (For immediate release)—Cleveland Peace Action will hold its Hiroshima/Nagasaki remembrance event, “Peace Cranes Take Flight” at the Rockefeller Park Lagoon on MLK Drive on Sunday, August 10, 7 pm to dark. Japanese drumming ensemble Icho Daiko; hip hop peace poet E&JNtoxicated; and the duo Jocelyn Chang, harp, and Michael Leese, flute will perform.

The event will include crafts and activities to promote peace. Adults and kids can fold origami peace cranes, which will be sent to Iraq as a gesture of peace and goodwill from Cleveland with support for the Iraq Water Project; participate in Buddhist dances of peace, led by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship’s Cleveland Chapter; and construct and decorate Japanese-style lanterns of remembrance.

Cleveland peace activist Yoshiko Ikuta, who lived through WWII in Japan will speak, and Zen priest Dean Williams from Jijuyu-ji Zen Group of Cleveland, will lead traditional Buddhist chants as participants float their lanterns on the pond at dusk in memory of those who have died in war.

About the performers:

Icho Daiko, sponsored by the Cleveland Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, draws its members from the Cleveland, Akron, and Oberlin College communities. The group builds its own drums and plays at cultural and social events, including the Cleveland Cavaliers half-time show, the Asian Festival in Columbus, and the International Folk Festival at Lakeland Community College. Their goal is to strengthen Asian American communities by instilling pride and cultural awareness and to build bridges between Asian Americans and other groups through the dynamic cultural expression of taiko.

E&JNtoxicated, aka Edwin Moses Jackson, is a gifted spoken word artist who brings messages of peace and justice (instead of the usual violence) into mainstream urban music. He is a political/community activist, poet, singer-songwriter, business owner, mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and loving husband. He and his band have released three albums, Ghetto Wisdom, the Welfare Poet, and My Animal Self.

Jocelyn Chang, Harp, and Michael Leese, Flute will create an original composition, “Flight of the Peace Cranes” for this event. Jocelyn Chang is a founding member of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. Composer Michael Leese recently premiered his composition “In Memoriam: For the Victims of War” with the Grammy Award winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony. The duo gives more than 100 performances a year. They have played at many peace and justice events, including the Brigid Peace Festival and the Vigil for Peace—Masumi Hayashi/John Jackson memorial.

Contact: Elizzabeth Schiros, Volunteer Coordinator, 216-231-4245