Massachusetts Peace Action (MPA) is the Massachusetts branch of Peace Action, a nonprofit which supports a nonintervention foreign policy and nuclear disarmament. The MPA trains activists, organizes protests, and lobbies elected officials and political candidates to advocate for its goals.

MPA represents itself as a “nonpartisan” organization, but has ties to the Women’s March and other affiliated left-of-center nonprofits.

MPA also has a 501(c)(3) component for research purposes, the Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund.

History

Massachusetts Peace Action originated in the 1980s as Massachusetts Freeze, an anti-nuclear-weapons protest group. In the late 1980s, the national Freeze organization merged with the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy. In 1993, the Massachusetts chapter of the merged organizations was rechristened as Massachusetts Peace Action, its focus was broadened beyond nuclear weapons to global peace and non-violent diplomatic policies for specific countries throughout the world. ¹

Women’s March

Women’s March is a network of protests throughout the United States inspired by the 2017 Women’s March on Washington, D.C. against the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Since then, the movement’s goals have expanded to a variety of broadly left-of-center policies, including LGBT-interest advocacy, abortion rights, and increased labor regulations. ²

Despite Massachusetts Peace Action’s ostensibly nonpartisan identity and focus on foreign policy, the MPA was a co-organizer of the 2018 Women’s March in Cambridge. Women’s March’s “unity principles,” the ideological foundation of the movement, contain no mention of foreign policy goals. ³ The MPA’s listed “issues” have no apparent overlap with the unity principles. ⁴

The Women’s Mach in Cambridge was co-organized by numerous other left-of-center nonprofits, including:⁵

• ACLU Massachusetts
• Amplify Latinx/Latina Circle
• Boston Women’s Fund
• Chelsea Collaborative
• Mass NOW
• Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
• NAACP – Boston
• NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts

Massachusetts Peace Action v. City of Cambridge

In 2017, Massachusetts Peace Action began planning to hold the Women’s March on the Cambridge Common in Cambridge, MA. After the completion of the event in March 2018, the MPA received a bill for thousands of dollars from the city government charging the MPA for the security the city provided during the event. ⁶

Later in the year, in cooperation with ACLU Massachusetts, the MPA and MPA Education Fund sued the municipal government of Cambridge on the grounds that requiring organizers to pay for security services to attain a public event permit was a violation of the First Amendment. ⁷

In July 2018, Cambridge settled the case out of court. The MPA was refunded for its security charge, the city struck the security financing fee from its laws. ⁸

Allied Organizations

In addition to its parent group, Peace Action, Massachusetts Peace Action lists nine ally organizations, most of which support left-of-center causes. The organizations are:⁹

• United for Justice with Peace
• Massachusetts Alliance
• Budget For All
• Fund Our Communities, Not War
• Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World
• RaiseUp Massachusetts
• 2020 Action
• The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

1. “History.” Massachusetts Peace Action. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://masspeaceaction.org/about/history/.
2. “Unity Principles.” Women’s March. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://womensmarch.com/mission-and-principles.
3. “Unity Principles.” Women’s March. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://womensmarch.com/mission-and-principles.
4. “Issues.” Massachusetts Peace Action. Accessed April 28, 2020. https://masspeaceaction.org/issues/.
5. “2019 Boston Women’s March: Until All Voices Are Heard.” Massachusetts Peace Action. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://masspeaceaction.org/event/2019-boston-womens-march-until-all-voices-are-heard/.
6. “Massachusetts Peace Action V. City of Cambridge.” ACLU Massachusetts. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://www.aclum.org/en/cases/massachusetts-peace-action-v-city-cambridge.
7. “Massachusetts Peace Action V. City of Cambridge.” ACLU Massachusetts. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://www.aclum.org/en/cases/massachusetts-peace-action-v-city-cambridge.
8. “Settlement Reached In Cambridge ‘Speech and Assembly Public Safety Charges’ Case.” ACLU Massachusetts. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://www.aclum.org/en/news/settlement-reached-cambridge-speech-and-assembly-public-safety-charges-case.
9. “Allies.” Massachusetts Peace Action. Accessed April 28, 2020. https://masspeaceaction.org/about/allies/.