WAMM members Marie and John Braun of Minneapolis and Ralph and Kay Hilgendorf of St. Paul are recipients of the Vincent L. Hawkinson 2006 Peace and Justice Awards
Two activist couples who are members of Women Against Military Madness were selected to receive the 2006 Honorary Awards of the Vincent L. Hawkinson Foundation for Peace and Justice in a ceremony held at St. Joan of Arc Church on November 12.
Marie and John Braun, of Minneapolis, are widely known for their active opposition to the deadly sanctions, war and devastating occupation of Iraq. This has taken many forms including distribution of 12,000 “Say No to War on Iraq” yard signs, maintaining a weekly vigil for several years on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge, “and conducting educational tours around Minnesota, Wisconsin and New Orleans with Iraqi-American Sami Rasouli. Among other anti-war activities, they have also initiated large-scale peace rallies, with Iraq Peace Action Coalition.
The Brauns have been among faithful regulars who protest to close the annual School of Americas (SOA) — known as the School of Assassins — at Ft. Benning, Georgia. For 10 years, they have attended the weekly Alliant Action Vigil at Alliant Tech Systems, the bomb and weapon manufacturer, in Edina, Minnesota, and they have worked to educate people around the issue of depleted uranium. Marie and John are long-time WAMM members and Marie is a former Board member who has worked tirelessly for WAMM. Among her many efforts, she has conducted outreach to the broader religious community about Conscientious Objection or the “Right to Refuse to Kill.” In the words of WAMM co-founder Polly Mann, the Brauns are working to transform the system into one of worldwide cooperation and mutual respect among the nations.”
Long-time WAMM members Ralph and Kay Hilgendorf of St. Paul are also recipients of the 2006 award. The Hilgendorfs were married for 50 years and during that time opened their home to more than 40 foster children, many of whom were deaf or blind. They also provided housing for an El Salvadoran refugee. Ralph is, himself, blind and worked for the State of Minnesota as a rehabilitation counselor until retirement in 1991. The Hilgendorfs are members of the Twin Cities Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) Meeting. Ralph chaired the building committee to construct the meeting house. The Hilgendorfs were active in the struggle against adding additional nuclear waste casts on Prairie Island, next to the Mdenwakatan Indian Reservation.
Ralph Hilgendorf is a familiar figure at the weekly Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge Vigil to end the war and occupation of Iraq. The Hilgendorfs are active in WAMM, Veterans for Peace, Friends for a Nonviolent World and other peace organizations and do outreach to local agencies such as Loaves and Fishes and People Serving People. WAMM member AvaDale Johnson who introduced them at the award ceremony said, “The Hilgendorfs exude willingness to pitch in on tasks for the common good. In doing so, they share their rare gifts and bring them forth to us.” |
