The Courage of Conscience Awards
On behalf of Grassroot Soccer, Ethan Zohn and Dr. Tommy Clark will receive the Courage of Conscience Award from The Peace Abbey.
Here’s the full press release:
Celebrating Human Greatness
The Courage Of Conscience Awards
June 21, 2007
Three great organizations have come together to create an evening of recognition, conversation and celebration of the human spirit Thursday evening, June 21, 2007. The Agape International Spiritual Center joins The Peace Abbey of Sherborn, Massachusetts and the Brahama Kumaris World Spiritual University, headquartered in Mt. Abu, India to honor courageous men and women of conscience. These three organizations, exemplified by the evening’s award recipients, honor the potential in each individual to make a difference in their community, country, and world.
The Peace Abbey is an ecumenical retreat center dedicated to the empowerment of individuals on the path of nonviolence, peacemaking, and cruelty-free living. The Courage of Conscience Award, first given by the Abbey in 1990 to Mother Theresa, is awarded to special individuals who have held themselves to a high standard of consciousness and integrity as they address the philosophical issues of human rights, social justice, peace, nonviolence, and the betterment of humanity. Past recipients include Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Maya Angelou, Mikhail Gorbachev, Father Daniel Kerrigan, Ram Dass, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Ramsey Clark, Sting and Trudie Styler, and John Lennon.
The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University is an international organization, which holds general consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council as well as with UNICEF. They are dedicated to the education and implementation of peace and consciousness through the development of spiritual values. In January the Brahma Kumaris first offered a national initiative entitled Celebrating Human Greatness. This program, which encourages the recognition of simple every day moments of greatness in our own lives, is based on shared conversation.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said “not everyone can be famous but everyone can be great because greatness is determined by service.” On June 21st we will honor 5 individuals who have demonstrated their greatness through the integrity of their service and by doing so will be receiving the Courage of Conscience Award. They are:
Jackson Browne the introspective, cerebral songwriter who has attuned his voice to that of consciences both within his music and through his actions becoming a political activist and community supporter.
CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities.
Ethan Zohn and Dr. Tommy Clark for GrassrootSoccer.
Event: VIP Reception – dinner and conversation on finding our own human greatness. 100 invited community leaders and guests.
Event: Awards Ceremony – video pieces on each of the winners, musical performances and awards presented and accepted. Open to the public – venue seats 1000 people.
An honorarium will be given to each organization that the winners work with, as well as links to their websites.