The US Peace Memorial Foundation awards the US Peace Prize to recognize and honor the most outstanding and prominent American antiwar leaders. These courageous people and organizations have publicly championed peaceful solutions to international conflicts involving the U.S. and/or opposed U.S. war(s), militarism, and interventions including invasion, occupation, production and distribution of weapons of mass destruction, use of weapons, threats of war, or other hostile actions that endanger peace. We celebrate these extraordinary role models to inspire other Americans to speak out against war and work for peace.
US Peace Prize recipients since 2009 are National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth, Costs of War, World BEYOND War, Christine Ahn, Ajamu Baraka, David Swanson, Ann Wright, Veterans For Peace, Kathy Kelly, CODEPINK Women for Peace, Chelsea Manning, Medea Benjamin, Noam Chomsky, Dennis Kucinich, and Cindy Sheehan.
The 2024 US Peace Prize has been awarded to the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) “For Efforts Over 81 Years to Educate, Build Coalitions and Influence Congress to Stop Funding War and Nuclear Weapons.”
The US Peace Prize was presented on November 16, 2024, at the FCNL Annual Meeting by Michael Knox, Chair and Founder of the US Peace Memorial Foundation. In his remarks, Dr. Knox said, “We greatly appreciate the crucial work that FCNL is doing to end war, militarism, and nuclear weapons by educating the public, building coalitions, and lobbying Congress and the administration. For over eight decades, the Friends Committee has developed an impressive portfolio of antiwar actions. Most recently, demanding that the U.S. call for a ceasefire in Palestine and Israel, de-escalation, and humanitarian access to Gaza. The US Peace Prize is a commendation that will help call attention to and reinforce your important work for peace.”
The award was accepted by Bridget Moix, General Secretary, who responded, “On behalf of our board and staff, thousands of advocates around the country persisting for peace with us, and all those who have been part of FCNL’s work over the years, we are honored and grateful to receive this 2024 US Peace Prize. For over 80 years, FCNL has sought to be a clear and consistent voice for peace and justice on Capitol Hill. Receiving this prize is especially significant as we face escalating war in the Middle East, growing global violence and authoritarianism, and enormous threats to our own democracy here at home. A world of justice and peace for all people may seem a distant dream, but our Quaker faith and the powerful communities with whom we work every day sustain us in this ongoing struggle for the world we seek.”
Friends Committee on National Legislation is a nonpartisan Quaker organization that lobbies Congress and the administration to advance their priorities of peace, justice, environmental stewardship, and a world free of war and the threat of war. FCNL played a pivotal role in helping to create the Peace Corps and promoting the slogan “War is Not the Answer” through signs and bumper stickers. The organization also advocates for peacebuilding and against nuclear weapons and U.S. Militarism. FCNL works with a grassroots advocacy network of tens of thousands of people across the country and leads a coalition of organizations pushing for U.S. support for a ceasefire in Israel/Palestine.
The other US Peace Prize final nominees this year were Community Peacemaker Teams, Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal, Louis H. Pumphrey, and Ellen Thomas. You can read about all nominees’ antiwar/peace work in the US Peace Registry.
