Our ride this year will be slightly different, a little longer and a total of 8 days and taking in Farmville and Richmond. Ahmed Selim has done a good job of scouting the trail and contacting people along the nightly stops and getting support.
We had six nations represented in our 2015 ride. We are hoping for more this year. We are focusing on our youth. We want to teach them that World Peace is just a thank you and a handshake away.
My wife's health issues have disrupted my training program, but Ahmed encouraged me to find time to be seen along the way. If I don't make the total ride, I'll try to be there when our leaders need me.
We will inform you soon about the specifics of our ride. At the moment, we are putting together the necessities of our ride. We are excited that our world leaders are ready to come together and negotiate a peace settlement.
We need your support. You may become a member of Sam's Ride for Peace for $50 and scholars for $20. Please send your check to Roxboro Savings Bank, PO Box 489, Roxboro, NC 27573. Account Number 1666311961 – Sam’s Ride for Peace, Inc.
Samuel H. Winstead
Sam's Ride for Peace, Inc – a 501(c) Not for Profit company registered in North Carolina
The Event Logistics Committee and the Outreach and Community Committee have been very active and hope to be able to circulate details of the proposed ride soon.
Sam’s Ride For Peace Membership Form
Thank you for your interest in Sam Winstead’s mission to focus attention on the need for world peace and what actions we, in the USA, can take.
If you would like to know more about Sam’s 5th annual Ride for Peace (which will begin in Raleigh on May 14 th, 2016 at 8:00 a.m. and arrive in Washington DC on May 21st 2016 at 2p.m.), please fill in the details below, send the form to Sam’s Ride For Peace, 101 Sam’s Ham Rd, Leasburg NC 27291 and you will be included on an e-mail information list
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Sam has formed a charitable organization, SAM’S RIDE FOR PEACE, Inc. [a 501 (C) 3 company] and he will be seeking donations and/or membership fees.
There are costs involved in making this eight day trip (Food, accommodation, gas for accompanying vehicles etc.,) and Sam is welcoming individual annual members at a fee of $50 ($20 for students) to help offset these expenses.
Please send donations and membership fees to:-
Roxboro Savings Bank (c/o Bridget Vincent)
P.O. Box 489, Roxboro, NC 27573
A/C Sam’s Ride For Peace, Inc
A/C number 1666311961
An Open Letter Against Islamophobia
As our motto indicates, the mission at FiLMS for World Peace has always been to “Transform conflict into discovery”. That is what and why we film. It is why we have partnered with people in our films to help them achieve their vision of a better world. One such partnership is with ‘Sam’s Ride for Peace’.
Originally, I was just making a film about an old man’s struggle to bring an end to war—but his struggle soon became mine after the senseless shootings in Chapel Hill of 3 bright Muslim students who embodied faith, service and citizenship. The police dismissed the execution style shootings as a parking dispute, but like millions of people around the world, my heart sensed it was motivated by a deep distrust and fear of Muslims.
Islamophobia is not an accident in America; it is a calculation that has dehumanized and demonized Muslim and Middle Eastern people to justify perpetual war overseas. If I wanted to help Sam Winstead bring an end to war, then I needed to help him bring an end to Islamophobia—and so I decided to ride and invite all to affirm the “World Peace Challenge” because we cannot demand peace in the world if we are unwilling to resolve conflicts in our own lives. Little did I know how much I would depend on the “World Peace Challenge” I authored to help me understand the struggles of a rural 90 year old confronting the bigotries of the world he grew up in. Sam and I are from two different geographies, eras and faiths but united in the cause of peace. Our journey embodies that of the East and West. In many ways, we are a mirror of America’s growing pains, its fears and its hope.
While Sam and I still have a lot to discover about each other, we have renewed our commitment to expanding the ride to include international and interfaith communities as well as the youth. FiLMS for World Peace and the World Peace Challenge are partners with Sam’s Ride for Peace because we want to present an alternative to the growing Islamophobia and zenophobia in America and support total equality for all people and genders. As we join the call to end war, we invite all to affirm the World Peace Challenge with the knowledge that its author is a Muslim friend for peace:
The World Peace Challenge
“I aspire to transform conflict into discovery without aggression and to seek environmental, economic and social justice through peaceful means.
I challenge myself not to fight fire with fire and to respond to anger and greed with wisdom.”
- To cultivate harmony within my person, my home and my community.
- To stand against all forms of oppression while not oppressing.
- To support those who are non-violent and to defend my self and others against physical violence.
- To attack problems not people, cultures, religions, classes, genders or races.
- To honor my positive values and needs and not seek gain from another’s loss.
- To neither reject sincere efforts of reconciliation nor impose solutions on others.
- To acknowledge the potential of all people as equal co-creators of positive change.
Ahmed F. Selim, 2015
www.filmsforworldpeace.com
Ahmed F. Selim
FiLMS for World Peace
"Home of the World Peace Challenge"
www.filmsforworldpeace.com