The Traprock Blog
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- From Global to Local: The Equal Rights Amendment is within our reachby Traprock Web ManagerPat Hynes “When the Founding Fathers proclaimed that “all men are created equal,” it was preceded by “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” If they were truths and self-evident, why were the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence from the moneyed class exclusively (physicians, lawyers, merchants, and plantations owners); many were slave-holders.… Read more: From Global to Local: The Equal Rights Amendment is within our reach
- Looking Ahead in 2026by Traprock Web ManagerThe Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, founded in 1978 as the Traprock Peace Center, has a long history of working for peace, nonviolence, and economic and social justice in the Hampshire/Franklin County area. Traprock works in community with both local and national efforts to end violence against Earth, her people, and all living beings.… Read more: Looking Ahead in 2026
- Paki Wieland: A life in protest and peaceby Traprock Web Managerby Scott Merzbach March 13, 2026 Paki Wieland, 82, died early Thursday morning in Conway. The longtime Pioneer Valley resident, shown here in front of the RV she and others drove to North Dakota to support pipeline protesters, was known for her activism across many decades. She once said, “I think it’s really important for people… Read more: Paki Wieland: A life in protest and peace
- From Global to Local: Francesca Albanese — A noble womanby Traprock Web Managerby H. Patricia Hynes February 25, 2026 Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and two Gaza Doctors, Dr. Hassam Abu Safiya and Dr. Sara Al-Saqqa, have been nominated for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Nearly 300 qualified proposers from 33 countries signed the petition, including countries from the West and the Global… Read more: From Global to Local: Francesca Albanese — A noble woman
- My Turn: International Women’ s Day benefits all peopleby Traprock Web Managerby Rev. Sarah Pirtle February 17, 2026 “Standing on the Shoulders for International Women’s Day” provides an opportunity to celebrate International Women’s Day here in Franklin County. The event takes place Saturday afternoon March 7 at Greenfield Community College from 1–3 pm. Combining stories, music, and conversation, an ensemble of women spanning ages 15 to 76… Read more: My Turn: International Women’ s Day benefits all people
- From Global to Local: The question of well-being in an unjust societyby Traprock Web ManagerBy H. Patricia Hynes Health inequalities remain as intransigently rooted and malevolent today as in previous decades. Why? Professor of Public Health Arline T. Geronimus, who has studied this discrimination for decades, responds as lucidly and convincingly as any public health researcher in the United States in her new book, Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life… Read more: From Global to Local: The question of well-being in an unjust society
- From Global to Local: Vietnam 50 Years Later, Part 1by Traprock Web Manager“This year 2025 is the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Vietnam from the “American War.” The war officially ended in 1973 but the remaining Americans fled South Vietnam in chaotic air and sea lifts two years later as North Vietnam forces invaded to unite their country. Vietnam then became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam… Read more: From Global to Local: Vietnam 50 Years Later, Part 1
- From Global to Local: The deadly sins of patriarchyby Traprock Web ManagerPat Hynes, Greenfield Recorder, October 3, 2025 https://recorder.com/2025/10/02/from-global-to-local-the-deadly-sins-of-patriarchy/ “How much are women and girls–half of humanity–valued? When men violate us for sex in prostitution. When nearly 1 in 3 of us worldwide are violated physically or sexually in our lifetime. When, despite having equal intellectual abilities and more developed social and emotional intelligence, we lack… Read more: From Global to Local: The deadly sins of patriarchy
- Envisioning a World Without Nuclear Weaponsby Traprock Web ManagerHere is Traprock’s testimony to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee on S.1649 September 8, 2025 As of late 2024/2025, 94 countries have signed the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a global lifeboat for the world. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2026 budget request for nuclear weapons’ upgrade is more… Read more: Envisioning a World Without Nuclear Weapons
- 23 years standing for peaceby Traprock Web ManagerOn Saturday, Sept. 27, like most Saturdays, I’ll be at the Greenfield weekly peace vigil on the Greenfield Common from 11 a.m. to noon to mark the 23rd anniversary of the vigil which four of us started in September 2002. In 2002, Susan Dorazio (from Montague) and I (from Conway) were attending the weekly Sunday… Read more: 23 years standing for peace