This summer, a nationwide movement known as “The Peace Train,” will start its tour across the country in Ferguson. The program’s mission? Bringing together people from all backgrounds to sing about shared values and hopes for a better future.
The Peace Train 2016 Tour Across America is modeled off of a similar project in South Africa from 1993 that was documented in the film “When Voices Meet.”
“We founded the Peace Train in South Africa to help Nelson Mandela with nation-building after the ending of apartheid,” said Sharon Katz, a music therapist and founder of The Peace Train. Katz also grew up in South Africa during apartheid.
“I was compelled to use music and as a musician to lend my talents to help bring people together,” Katz said.
The Peace Train brought together more than 500 children from diverse backgrounds who had never had an opportunity to interact.
“We need a peace train in the United States as much as South Africa needed it,” said Marilyn Cohen, the project director of the Peace Train.
Auditions will be held on March 26. For more information, contact the Show Me Arts Academy via email (smaaoutreach@gmail.com) or phone, (314) 810-7602.
“We can apply these same principles today in America, right here in Ferguson and beyond, and the movement that these ladies did 20 years ago, if it worked then and it is continuously working now, then why not team up with them and why not make this happen here in America, because love wins over everything,” said Marty Casey, founder and artistic director of the Show Me Arts Academy.
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