About Purple for Peace
We’re living through a defining moment, one that asks each of us what kind of world we want to help create. Deep down, I believe that nonviolence is the answer to saving democracy.
I started Purple for Peace because I couldn’t just stand by and watch our country tear itself apart. Everywhere I looked, people were angry, divided, and losing hope. I wanted to find a way to bring people together, not through politics, but through love, compassion, and a shared belief in something better.
Nonviolence isn’t weakness. It’s strength with heart. It brings people together when everything else pushes them apart. It turns fear into courage, judgment into understanding, and strangers into allies. It’s love in action, and it’s the only force powerful enough to heal what’s been broken.
Purple is the color that appears when red and blue come together and becomes our symbol of unity. I envision through Purple Peace Pods, small groups gathering across the country to practice peace, build trust, and support one another. Each Pod will also make and distribute purple armbands, spreading the message of unity and nonviolence one person at a time.
I see these Pods taking root everywhere, spreading hope, connection, and a belief that peace really is possible.
Join us. Let’s stand together for love, for each other, and for the democracy we still have the power to save, and let’s do it peacefully.
About the GandhiMobile
Over the years, the Gandhi Puppet and the GandhiMobile have become an inspiration to many, bringing attention to a wide variety of issues, often including the environment, global peace, and politics. In honor of civil rights leader and past Congressman, John Lewis, Jes often refers to his activism as making “good trouble”.
Jes has traveled throughout the United States with the Gandhi Puppet and the GandhiMobile, and on his own to Israel, Iran, and India, to promote peace and reconciliation. In 2014, Jes was honored with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award from the Marin County Human Rights Commission for his work.
About Jes
I have been a peace activist for most of my adult life. After graduation from Pennsylvania State University in 1970, I had to choose between being drafted and serving in Vietnam, going to prison, or a one way trip to either Europe or Canada. I chose Europe and began my journey in Amsterdam, and hitch hiked south through France and Spain, across the northern coast of Africa, up through Italy, and back to Amsterdam. I ran out of money and headed south to the warm beaches of Spain. “At least I won’t freeze to death”, I reasoned. I took the first boat to Ibiza and found a job teaching mathematics to the children of wealthy foreigners. At the end of the summer, I returned to the mainland with nothing more than a loaf of bread and a sleeping bag. A beautiful woman sunbathing on the ship’s deck caught my eye. Her name was Irma and she would later become my wife.
Irma and I spent the next few months getting to know each other in Morocco. We flew to the United States and hitch hiked cross country to San Francisco. We worked with Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers. A Safeway in Delano had us arrested, along with thirty farm workers, and we spent the next few days in jail. I taught the men meditation and Irma taught the women yoga.
Always the environmental activist, I championed the cause of saving the Old Growth forest and was arrested twice for blocking logging trucks. At my hearing, I cradled my youngest child in one arm and held the hand of my other son as I explained my acts of civil disobedience. “I did it for my sons and for future generations,” I told the judge. He was lenient.
In 2003, I built a nine foot tall Gandhi Puppet, with the help of some high school students. We did this to support the Mill Valley Seniors for Peace and their demonstrations against the occupation of Iraq. In 2004, the Seniors for Peace financed a six week road tour of the Gandhi Puppet to encourage people to vote.
The Gandhi Puppet eventually became the GandhiMobile, with the theme, “Moving aHEAD with love.”