In celebration of and with a firm belief that peace starts when we meet our community’s needs, the Greater Tacoma Peace Prize is proud to announce Diane Powers as the 2024 Laureate. Throughout her lengthy career, Diane Powers remained dedicated to recognizing, supporting, and advocating for the needs of our houseless neighbors, vulnerable youth, and communities of color. From her role as a United Nations World Conference Delegate Against Racism, her work at Pierce County connections and the Tacoma Office of Equity and Human Rights, to her post-retirement role as the Board President of Associated Ministries, Diane remains steadfast in her commitment to fostering peace in our community.

The Greater Tacoma Peace Prize Board recognizes the demand for work that addresses the ongoing housing crisis in our own backyard. Diane’s work addressing the needs of one of the most vulnerable houseless populations — our youth — is a testament to her unyielding commitment to Tacoma and its future. Her ongoing work and engagement at the international, county, and city levels have impressed the board and the community.

Lucas Smiraldo, who nominated Diane Powers for the Greater Tacoma Peace Prize, said:

“Diane Powers is a force for peace and racial justice in Tacoma government [and] spiritual communities, with her concern for vulnerable youth continuing to drive her advocacy.”

As we face the ongoing ramifications of a global pandemic, the ever-increasing cost of living, and systemic barriers to meeting basic needs, Diane Powers’ commitment to vulnerable youth and racial equity reminds us that individuals can and do cause change. 

Recognizing the importance of both global human rights and climate justice, the Board of Directors of the Greater Tacoma Peace Prize (GTPP) proudly announces the selection of Marilyn Kimmerling as the 2020 GTPP Laureate.

Ms. Kimmerling believes in and works for worker rights, minority rights, human rights and finding peaceful solutions to conflict.  Since climate change is already resulting in mass migrations and conflicts over land and resources, her work has grown to include climate justice.

Marilyn has been a community activist since the mid 1990’s. Two organizations where she had great impact were Jobs with Justice, where she served a term as Chair, and United for Peace of Pierce County where she was one of the major organizers.

Kimmerling is one of the founding members of the Tacoma chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, as well as a member of 350 Tacoma and an active associate-member of Veterans for Peace. In 2017, she co-founded the current Tacoma branch of the Industrial Workers of the World, and she is currently active with the Save the Wetlands Behind TCC campaign.  She is the chief organizer and writer of material for the “Raging Grannies” and their myriad performances.  She is President of Radio Tacoma, having worked tirelessly on the successful FCC application for an FM license, and she has continued volunteering with them for six years.  [Radio Tacoma is a low-power FM public access radio station, developed to serve Tacoma with opportunities for progressive groups, union members, minority groups, and local talent that might otherwise not be heard.] 

Believing that the proposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) storage/ refinery presented a regiona environmental and health threat, and having exhausted other means of opposition (for example, attending and speaking at numerous public meetings), and motivated by compassion and conviction, Marilyn and five others engaged in acts of civil disobedience, knowing they risked arrest. The risk was outweighed, they believed, by the plant’s potential danger and the treaty violation involved in its construction. They were indeed arrested, tried by jury, and exonerated on all counts.

In today’s world, the need for community activists is never-ending, and Marilyn continues to show up to build local and global community that is humane, compassionate, and just.  On her own initiative for more than ten years, she held Soup Sundays in her home, an open house for all of Tacoma, to build community. 

“Marilyn Kimmerling is the epitome of a human being working on behalf of others, and she possesses the “knowhow and do now” energy. Furthermore, she exudes a spirit of warmth and inclusiveness which is an inspiration to others. She is most worthy of the 2020 Greater Tacoma Peace Prize.”

Nancy Farrell, who nominated Ms. Kimmerling

The Greater Tacoma Peace Prize, inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize, was founded in 2005 in order to honor local peacemakers and has been formally endorsed by the Pierce County Council and the Tacoma City Council. In Norway, partners of the GTPP include the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Norwegians Worldwide (the Norse Federation), the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialog, Bjørknes College, the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, the Nobel Peace Center, and the Peace Research Institute of Oslo. Recipients of the Tacoma award are honored at a Laureate Recognition Banquet in the fall and are presented with a trip to Norway in December for the Nobel Peace Prize events.

Contact: Cort Ockfen, Communications
Greater Tacoma Peace Prize
cort@tacomapeaceprize.org

EDUCATOR WILLIE C. STEWART SELECTED AS 2019 TACOMA PEACE LAUREATE

The Greater Tacoma Peace Prize is proud to announce that Willie C. Stewart, Sr. has been selected as the 2019 Laureate. Mr. Stewart was selected for his long-term service and ongoing commitment to the community and Tacoma schools, particularly in the Lincoln District and the Hilltop. As a practitioner of racial reconciliation, he has been a consistent calming influence in situations involving racial friction or conflict.

A longtime public school educator, Willie became the first black school principal in Tacoma history when he took on the role at Lincoln High School in 1970. “He was able to diffuse many of the possible ‘riots’ on campus by engaging people in conversation that could lead to a possible resolution or more peaceful ending,” wrote Linda Caspersen (Lincoln Class of ’72) in a letter to the GTTP Board nominating him for the Prize. “He had the innate ability to teach us to not look at color as a dividing factor, but rather as a unique opportunity to appreciate everyone as an individual and be part of a larger group.”

Mr. Stewart grew up in Texas where he picked cotton as a child, attended high school, earned a B.A. at Texas Southern University, and worked a series of odd jobs before eventually joining the army and retiring as a colonel. He spent 36 years working for the Tacoma School District as a teacher and administrator and sat on the Tacoma School Board from 1999 to 2005 and remains heavily involved in local organizations. He has served as the Coordinator for the Weekly Breakfast for the Homeless since 1995. He’s also a member of the Tacoma Athletic Commission, the Goodwill Industries Board, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound Board of Governors.

The Greater Tacoma Peace Prize recognizes and honors Peacemakers from the Tacoma/Pierce County region. First awarded in 2005 during the Centennial celebration of Norway’s independence, the award has its roots in Norwegian-American culture. It’s founded on the idea that peace begins locally.

Learn more about Willie in his video Laureate Spotlight:

For her exemplary work promoting racial reconciliation, the Board of Directors has selected Tacoma Resident Melannie Denise Cunningham as the 2018 Greater Tacoma Peace Prize Laureate.

“Melannie is a visionary, educator, community servant and consummate peace builder.”

Nominator Joanne Lisosky

Cunningham uses her years of knowledge, coalition building, and strategic planning to host The People’s Gathering. It is an annual conference which brings together business leaders, human resource professionals, educators, and students to engage in frank conversations about race. American society is moving backwards. Discussions to deny individuals their rights are no longer behind closed doors. Cunningham was inspired to encourage people to speak by a quotation from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, “A time comes when silence is betrayal.”

The People’s Gathering equips professionals with tools to use existing policy to fight cultural stereotypes, institutional racism, and discrimination in the workplace, instead of reinforcing them. The over 200 individuals that participate in the conference each year continue the sometime difficult conversations about race and move the issue forward in the greater Tacoma community.

Cunningham brings unwritten cultural knowledge back to Tacoma from one of its fourteen Sister Cities, George, South Africa. She visits George often. When apartheid policies were abolished, Cunningham saw a perfect opportunity to build solidarity based on the commonalities shared by American and South African cultures. South Africans needed to bring communities together that are separated by race, gender and class. U.S. communities, including Tacoma, face many of the same issues. Part of her efforts involve her work with Women of Vision, a non-governmental organization registered with the United Nations. Cunningham notes, “We see ourselves in the faces of women of children that cry and feel just like us.” Women of Vision brings together individuals from different backgrounds to solve community problems. They empower women and girls to make change. They improve the mind, body, and spirit. Cunningham brings those discussions back to the Tacoma community through her service on Tacoma Sister Cities Council and George, South Africa Committee.

Cunningham’s promotion of peace in Tacoma spans decades. In the late 1980s Cunningham organized the first citywide Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. In 2015 she spearheaded an effort that led to the City of Tacoma to become the first city in the United States to accept the “Hate Won’t Win” challenge.

As the Director of Multicultural Outreach and Engagement at Pacific Lutheran University, Cunningham serves as a mentor to hundreds of students of color that join the PLU community. There are few administrators and faculty of color at PLU to serve as role models. She explains, “It is necessary for students to experience teaching and learning from people of multicultural backgrounds.” Students often discuss problems with her, and she helps them strategically approach problems and develop solutions.

Learn more about Melanie in her video Laureate Spotlight: