As the invasion of Iraq commenced, poet and Southwestern public radio personality, Mary Oishi, was en route to the National Federation of Community Broadcasters Conference in San Francisco.

For Oishi, marching in the streets the next day was not enough to express her profound sense of grief and outrage.  She felt inspired to shave her head, but not alone.  With a vision of a community ritual of poets and activists shaving their heads, she returned home.

In New Mexico, nineteen other artists and concerned citizens joined her in Peace Buzz, a moving act of protest that included every ethnicity in Albuquerque and every generation from 20-year-olds to a 79-year-old great grandmother.

The event was featured on the Evening Report news broadcast of KUNM-FM.

Subsequently, The Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice published a book containing before and after photos of all the participants, as well as the poems or statements read by the participants.  All proceeds from the sold out printing of the book benefited the Center.

Second Shave, the poem Mary Oishi read at Peace Buzz, along with photos of the event, are available at Peace Buzz.

Peace Buzz was the closing feature on the Women As Peacemakers segment of Making Contact, a National Radio Project program that aired on dozens of radio stations in the United States and throughout the world.  A copy of the program can be ordered at www.radioproject.org.  Order show # 38-03.

A documentary video of Peace Buzz is nearing completion.

The upcoming CD, Kiss the World Awake, includes two live recordings from Peace Buzz:  Second Shave, the poem Mary Oishi recited prior to shaving her head, and Down on Diamonds, the poem she read at the conclusion of the event.