APEC's History

APEC was established in 1982 by a coalition of grassroots peace groups in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee. At that time, the main concern of these groups was the nuclear proliferation by the United States and the Soviet Union. During the early years, APEC concentrated on education around nuclear disarmament, military spending and cold war politics. In the mid-80’s, members became concerned about our government’s intervention in Central America and we organized politically to oppose these policies. To educate the public, we held numerous forums and brought Central American speakers to our public schools until the early 1990s. We also organized to influence our legislators.

Since the beginning, APEC members have sought to make connections between local and national issues of peace and justice. Members recognized the importance of working on issues of local concern. In the late 80’s and 90’s APEC organized educated around the following local issues:

Central America. In 1986, APEC conducted a door-to-door poll of 40% of Abingdon residents, documenting and publishing local people's opposition to US military involvement in Central America. APEC sponsored civil disobedience in opposition to US policies in Nicaragua in Senator John Warner's office in Abingdon.

Labor rights. APEC organized regular educational "field trips" to Virginia’s coal fields during UMW’s strike against Pittston Coal Company. We also helped organize the largest march outside of the coalfields in support of the union.

Conflict Resolution. Long before it was fashionable, APEC volunteers taught children’s conflict resolution skills to teachers in the region and also went into the schools to teach these skills directly to the children.

Environment. Members saw the need to bring local environmentalists together in a regional coalition and established the Coalition for Jobs and the Environment (CJE) which became so successful it formed its own non-profit.

Race Relations. Begun with a simple house meeting, APEC’s Race Relations group went on to actively engage the Washington County, Virginia community regarding a number of important issues. College students presented programs of black history in the public schools and the group challenged the school system to address problems of racial harassment. The group eventually assisted the superintendent in writing a model racial harassment policy for the system and helped plan in-service training for county teachers. Members participated in Dismantling Racism workshop held by the Virginia Organizing Project. With the help of Appalachian Community Fund (ACF), we held a major conference on race in Appalachia that drew participants from across the region. APEC continues to sponsor an annual celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday --the oldest non-sectarian, community King Birthday celebration in the region, which celebrates all those who worked, and still work, for civil rights.

Migrants. Fifteen years ago, members noticed that young Mexican men were working on local tobacco farms. We decided to welcome them to the area and started our annual Migrant Fiesta, simply a party that gives residents an opportunity to get to know our newest immigrants and vice versa. When we asked the migrants what could make their visit (at the time most stayed only three months) better, they said they wanted to learn English. APEC started weekly English classes using all volunteers; soon high school Spanish students joined the group. A few years ago this project was adopted by Emory and Henry College and the local literacy council.

APEC has also continued to educate local citizens about problems in other countries. For example, when Hurricane Mitch devastated Central America, APEC organized a local fundraising drive to help the people there. In 2003, APEC organized a fundraising concert that raised $2,000 to help with the AIDS epidemic in Africa. While the amount of money may seem small, the concert succeeded in raising local awareness with a number of positive articles in the local paper. APEC has also sponsored various programs on the death penalty and prison conditions in Virginia.

Since its beginning, APEC has published and mailed our newsletter, APEC News to about 600 persons. This continues to be an important tool to educate people. We have strived to maintain a mix of educational and political articles that focus on national or international issues as well as articles that highlight the local projects of APEC.

Iraq. Since before the invasion, APEC has led the effort in our region to oppose the war and occupation in Iraq. We have organized regular demonstrations, as well as speak outs, Congressional letter writing campaigns, meeting with our Congress representatives, articles to the newspapers –in short, everything peaceful that we can think of to convince our neighbors that this war is wrong and needs to end.