Malachy Kilbride
Encyclopedia
Malachy Kilbride is an Irish-American Social Justice and Peace Activist
who primarily works with Washington Peace Center
in Washington DC where he also serves as a member of the board. He was born in New York City and spent part of his childhood in Dublin, Ireland. He is the son of an Irish immigrant, his father, Aidan Kilbride, and his mother, Mary Moran Kilbride, the daughter of Irish immigrants to New York City. He is the nephew of Fintan Kilbride
. He has two brothers, Aidan Jr. and Barney.
, the US Military Commissions Act of 2006, the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, and supporting the struggle of the Palestinian people calling for an end to the Israeli occupation by organizing demonstrations against AIPAC the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
and Christians United for Israel
, CUFI.
Witness Against Torture
is one of the groups he works with calling for the closure of the Guantanamo prison camp where the United States is holding prisoners as "unlawful enemy combatants". He presently is involved with The 100 Days Campaign initiated by Witness Against Torture beginning on January 11, 2009 through April 30, 2009.
Prior to his involvement with Washington Peace Center he was actively involved with the DC Anti-War Network, DAWN for several years until the demise of DAWN. He has also participated in working with Northern Virginians for Peace and Justice, Declaration of Peace, and presently continuing his involvement with the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
.
or civil disobedience
risking arrest. He has been arrested many times for these peaceful actions, placed on trial, including one of the largest civil resistance actions ever at the White House in September 2005 with activist and military mother Cindy Sheehan
.
On March 29, 2007 he joined a gathering of people inside the United States Senate Hart Office Building speaking out against the Iraq War and occupation in an action called “The Tombstone Action” in which those assembled placed cardboard tombstones in memory of US soldiers and Iraqi civilians killed in Iraq. They read out the names of those who had been killed drawing attention to those killed after the Democrats won control of the US Congress in the November 2006 elections. This demonstration occurred on the same day the US Senate voted for continued funding for the Iraq occupation. He was arrested with Ellen Barfield, Gordon Clark
, David Barrows, Eve Tetaz
, Joy First, and Sam Crooke. They were subsequently charged with unlawful conduct and received a jury trial in July 2007. They faced up to 6 months in the DC Jail if found guilty. A jury found them not guilty after they defended themselves pro se in a trial that lasted almost one week in DC Superior Court.
He is presently serving a one year unsupervised probation for his conviction of "Unlawful Free Speech" inside the United States Supreme Court. In this most recent action of civil resistance, inside The United States Supreme Court, on January 11, 2008 he called for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp by kneeling and praying. On January 11, 2009 he began a fast until January 20, 2009 joining others launching the 100 Days Campaign calling for the shut-down of the Guantanamo prison camp.http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/anti_torture_activists_to_fast_and_rally_for_closing_of_guantanamo_and_bann/0017108
. In September 2008 he joined the Board of Directors of William Penn House in Washington, DC.
Peace activist
This list of peace activists includes people who proactively advocate diplomatic, non-military resolution of political disputes, usually through nonviolent means.A peace activist is an activist of the peace movement.*Jane Addams*Martti Ahtisaari...
who primarily works with Washington Peace Center
Washington Peace Center
The Washington Peace Center grew from The Vigil to Stop Biological Weapons at Fort Detrick, which was maintained in Frederick, Maryland from 1959 through 1961. In 1961 vigil coordinator Larry Scott and other vigilers moved to the nation’s capital to start the Washington Peace Action Center...
in Washington DC where he also serves as a member of the board. He was born in New York City and spent part of his childhood in Dublin, Ireland. He is the son of an Irish immigrant, his father, Aidan Kilbride, and his mother, Mary Moran Kilbride, the daughter of Irish immigrants to New York City. He is the nephew of Fintan Kilbride
Fintan Kilbride
Fintan Kilbride was a Catholic priest and teacher committed to the poor.-Early life and missionary work:Fintan was born in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. He grew up in Clonmel, County Tipperary. He was the son of Bernard Joseph Kilbride and Anne Ledwith Kilbride and the brother of Brian, Nuala,...
. He has two brothers, Aidan Jr. and Barney.
Activism
Through the Washington Peace Center Kilbride works as an activist-organizer on a variety of peace and justice issues including opposing the war and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, the abolition of torture, opposing the USA PATRIOT ActUSA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...
, the US Military Commissions Act of 2006, the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, and supporting the struggle of the Palestinian people calling for an end to the Israeli occupation by organizing demonstrations against AIPAC the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
American Israel Public Affairs Committee
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States...
and Christians United for Israel
Christians United For Israel
Christians United for Israel is an American pro-Israel Christian organization that defines itself as "a national grassroots movement focused on the support of Israel." It is the "largest" pro-Israel organization in the United States....
, CUFI.
Witness Against Torture
Witness Against Torture
Witness Against Torture is a group calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp where the United States is holding prisoners as "unlawful enemy combatants"...
is one of the groups he works with calling for the closure of the Guantanamo prison camp where the United States is holding prisoners as "unlawful enemy combatants". He presently is involved with The 100 Days Campaign initiated by Witness Against Torture beginning on January 11, 2009 through April 30, 2009.
Prior to his involvement with Washington Peace Center he was actively involved with the DC Anti-War Network, DAWN for several years until the demise of DAWN. He has also participated in working with Northern Virginians for Peace and Justice, Declaration of Peace, and presently continuing his involvement with the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
Founded in 2002, the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance is a nationwide network of individuals and organizations committed to ending the war in Iraq, utilizing the nonviolent practices and disciplines of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr...
.
Anti-war protests
Since the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Kilbride has participated in numerous acts of nonviolent civil resistanceCivil resistance
The term civil resistance, alongside the term nonviolent resistance, is used to describe political action that relies on the use of non-violent methods by civil groups to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and...
or civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
risking arrest. He has been arrested many times for these peaceful actions, placed on trial, including one of the largest civil resistance actions ever at the White House in September 2005 with activist and military mother Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan is an American anti-war activist whose son, U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed by enemy action during the Iraq War. She attracted national and international media attention in August 2005 for her extended anti-war protest at a makeshift camp outside President...
.
On March 29, 2007 he joined a gathering of people inside the United States Senate Hart Office Building speaking out against the Iraq War and occupation in an action called “The Tombstone Action” in which those assembled placed cardboard tombstones in memory of US soldiers and Iraqi civilians killed in Iraq. They read out the names of those who had been killed drawing attention to those killed after the Democrats won control of the US Congress in the November 2006 elections. This demonstration occurred on the same day the US Senate voted for continued funding for the Iraq occupation. He was arrested with Ellen Barfield, Gordon Clark
Gordon Clark (activist)
Gordon Clark is an American activist and politician. He has served as the National Executive Director of Peace Action, and was a 2008 Green Party candidate from Maryland for the United States House of Representatives in 2008.-Activism:...
, David Barrows, Eve Tetaz
Eve Tetaz
Eve Tetaz, 78, is a retired Washington, D.C. public-school teacher and a peace and justice activist. Tetaz was arrested 11 times in 2007 for nonviolent civil resistance during protests against the war and occupation of Iraq...
, Joy First, and Sam Crooke. They were subsequently charged with unlawful conduct and received a jury trial in July 2007. They faced up to 6 months in the DC Jail if found guilty. A jury found them not guilty after they defended themselves pro se in a trial that lasted almost one week in DC Superior Court.
He is presently serving a one year unsupervised probation for his conviction of "Unlawful Free Speech" inside the United States Supreme Court. In this most recent action of civil resistance, inside The United States Supreme Court, on January 11, 2008 he called for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp by kneeling and praying. On January 11, 2009 he began a fast until January 20, 2009 joining others launching the 100 Days Campaign calling for the shut-down of the Guantanamo prison camp.http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/anti_torture_activists_to_fast_and_rally_for_closing_of_guantanamo_and_bann/0017108
Quaker activities
He is a Quaker, a member of The Religious Society of Friends, belonging to Friends Meeting of Washington in Washington DC where he serves as clerk of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee in addition to serving on the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Baltimore Yearly MeetingBaltimore Yearly Meeting
Baltimore Yearly Meeting is a body of the Religious Society of Friends headquartered in Sandy Spring, Maryland that includes Friends from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. It was the first Yearly Meeting founded in North America, meeting in May 1672...
. In September 2008 he joined the Board of Directors of William Penn House in Washington, DC.