We're in the middle of Arkansas Peace Week, which is packed full of activities and events to promote the goals of peace and justice in the state.

Peace Week organizers are taking on some tough topics, from hunger and racism, to mental health and war crimes. But they say knowledge is necessary in order to build stronger communities which are more inclusive and less violent. Participants include a coalition of local, national and international organizations and faith groups.

Bob Estes, lead organizer for Arkansas Peace Week, said everyone is welcome at the events.

"We're working with the Seventh Street Mural Project, social justice murals that were put up in the wake of George Floyd's murder and beyond, and it's a focal point for social justice in the city," Estes noted. "And Sunday the 25th, we're having a festival down there, so people can go and meet the artists."

Estes added they have partnered with the National Park Service. At Little Rock Central High School, which is a National Historic Site, events today through Saturday will commemorate the 65th anniversary of the school's desegregation by Black students who became known as the Little Rock Nine.

Estes pointed out Little Rock has had issues with violent crime in the past, and in the last few years, crime has been on the increase once again. He said they've made crime prevention a priority in schools throughout the city.

"And one of the things that we're trying to do is really, around that, starting with our children, and teaching in the school's lessons about alternatives to violence and nonviolence conflict resolution," Estes explained. "And we're trying to start early and teach those skills, so violence doesn't continue on as this generation grows."

The most recent data from the Little Rock Police Department this month shows the number of homicides so far this year is 59, nine more than at the same point in 2021.

As people around the world mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, some peace activists are finding the conflict is not so black and white.

President Joe Biden has pledged enduring support for Ukraine with humanitarian, financial and military resources totaling $75 billion, but William Hopkins, executive director of New Hampshire Peace Action, said his organization opposes any further U.S. military shipments to Ukraine.

"What Russia has done is criminal. It is immoral. It is unjust," he said. "But I also feel like we as Americans should own the ways that our own government contributed to creating this."

Hopkins said the U.S.-backed coup in Ukraine in 2014 helped fuel the current crisis, which according to Russian President Vladimir Putin is now part of a greater battle against the Western elite.

The United Nations estimates more than 8,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and more than 13,000 injured during the year-long battle. Putin has said he is open to negotiations and that it is Ukraine officials who are unwilling to talk.

Hopkins said he doesn't see much political will for diplomacy in a conflict that requires a diplomatic end.

"We need to talk," he said. "We need to get Russia to the table, get Zelensky to the table and come up with a way to reverse course."

Hopkins said the war in Ukraine has created conflict in the peace community itself over how the U.S. should proceed. He said part of New Hampshire Peace Action's mission is education, and he'll continue to provide different perspectives of the ongoing crisis.

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s holiday, and tomorrow is the seventh annual National Day of Racial Healing.

It's a call to action for racial healing for all people, and originated as part of national efforts by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

In Arkansas, the week includes 19 free community events, says Kwami Abdul-Bey - co-convener of the Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement - all focused on aspects of social justice.

Kwami Abdul-Bey said for one event, they're partnering with two universities in Arkansas to examine a historic event that took place in the state.

"Where we actually will have a dialogue about an actual lynching event, a series of lynching events that occurred here in Arkansas," said Kwami Abdul-Bey, "and talk about that past, what's going on now, and what we can do moving forward."

He adds the events will be hybrid - meaning people can attend either virtually or in-person - and they'll kick off Tuesday morning.

The website 'apjmm.org' includes information on each of the events and how Arkansans can be part of authentic conversations about racial healing.

Clarice Abdul-Bey - who's married to Kwami and is a co-convener of the group - said the Natural State is seeing growing diversity, with residents of BIPOC, Latino, Asian and Marshallese communities.

She added that it's important for all people in the state - not only African Americans - to be part of the healing events. She noted the spirit of Monday's Day of Service carries on into the National Day of Racial Healing as well.

She said the connection is critical, to address the systemic issues that affect children, families and communities.

"I feel like because Arkansas has such a difficult and challenging history, there are more things that need to happen after that day," said Clarice Abdul-Bey. "I think we need to continue on. If we can make it a monthlong event, I really would like it to be something to where we are exercising our ability for truth, healing and transformation."

The Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement has also partnered with the U.S. State Department to host 12 dignitaries from African nations and Haiti.

They'll be part of a "lunch and learn" event on Wednesday, January 18 - called "Human and Civil Rights for Marginalized Communities."

Anti-war activists say one of the world's greatest humanitarian disasters has connections to one of the Commonwealth's largest employers, Raytheon Technologies, which supplies military weapons to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its ongoing war in Yemen.

Investigators with the United Nations say evidence shows Saudi Arabia has committed numerous war crimes against Yemeni civilians in the past several years.

Brian Garvey - assistant director of Massachusetts Peace Action - said Raytheon's weapons sales are also supporting the Kingdom's continued blockade of Yemen's supply routes, which has led to widespread famine and malnutrition.

"And frankly, many connections to international terrorism," said Garvey. "This is a regime that cannot be trusted and really should not be provided with these weapons."

Garvey said 5% of Raytheon's sales come from Saudi Arabia, which the Biden Administration calls a longtime strategic ally.

Raytheon has previously stated the company does not make U.S. policy but simply complies with it.

Garvey noted that activists are not opposed to Raytheon's workers in the Commonwealth but rather, the policies that executives promote to increase their own weapons business.

Washington, D.C. is known to have a revolving door between private and government employees. Current Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III is a former Raytheon board member.

Garvey said growing concern over the potential use of nuclear weapons technology in Ukraine has only added urgency to his group's campaign.

"When you have a company like Raytheon Technologies, who has a real interest in getting these contracts and producing these weapons for their own bottom line," said Garvey, "that's directly at odds to the interest of people everywhere."

President Joe Biden recently signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law, giving more than $800 billion to the Defense Department. Garvey said he thinks much of that could be better spent preparing for climate change, or even the next pandemic.