Peace Pilgrim

Available to speak on the following subjects:
Peace and Nonviolence

Bio
Brother North Star is a peace pilgrim, a person who dedicates his life to working for others in the most extreme sense of the word, by sacrificing his life and living outside of the system. He is named after the star that African American slaves followed for guidance when they escaped bondage. After graduating in 1990 with a BA in African American Studies and performing arts from the University of Massachusetts, he made a life-altering change and decided to dedicate his life to peace pilgrim work. He began to work closely with Nippon Myohoji Buddhist Order in 1993, to disband nuclear arms, demilitarize and for human and environmental rights. All total, these causes have seen him on 19 pilgrimages through 22 countries and five continents, passing on his message that we are "One People, One Earth."

Brother North Star averages between 19 and 25 miles per day when on a pilgrimage. "At the end of the 25 mile walk, whatever rage or anger you felt has been calmed or soothed," he says. "Walking sort of brings you an inner peace." He does not solicit assistance in his journey, but he has been helped by various people along the way. Many of his treks have taken him to Central America, where he has stayed in various eco-villages in the Mayan jungle. Like other peace pilgrims, Brother North Star does not have a permanent home, but does reside at one base area in the New England, among seven other pilgrim walkers, including three Buddhist monks, two nuns, and a married couple who walks through South Africa.

He has just completed a 6-month pilgrimage through 8 states billed as the �I Am America Medicine Walk.� This walk started June 24, 2007 on the Navajo reservation in Gallup, New Mexico; and ended December 10 at the Savannah River in Augusta, Georgia. He just became a member of the Green/Rainbow Party in the fall of 2006 and has signed on as a candidate to become a delegate. In the spring of 08', Brother North Star will continue his walking through to the Northwestern parts of the United States. The walk is now billed as "The I Am America Medicine Walk: A Pilgrimage for Greener Nations." He plans to bring the momentum of this pilgrimage to the delegates' convention in Chicago in July. He envisions this "Pilgrimage for a Greener Nation" becoming an annual Green Party affair joined by Green Party people all over the country carrying Green Party flags, banners, and passing out flyers.

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