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The Manhattan Alliance for Peace & Justice (MAPJ) was officially organized in 1993 as a reorganization effort of the Manhattan Alliance for Central America (MACA), founded in 1983. Our roots were in justice issues of Central America, but times changed and we saw that a broad based peace organization was needed for our community. In October of 1992, a strategic planning workshop brought in new ideas and creativity. With this influx of innovative thinking, specific plans were formulated to achieve new goals. Just a few months later, the Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice (MAPJ) was incorporated.

Since its founding, MAPJ has continually evolved and grown in size and scope, involving more community members, and working towards increasingly ambitious goals. We have initiated projects, such as the Flint Hills Coalition for a Living Wage, Manhattan Coalition for Campaign Reform, and Speak United– many of which have grown large enough to operate somewhat independently. While much has changed over the years, the Manhattan alliance continues to seek practical ways to work for peace and justice through local community action

Today we are called to apply MAPJ’s core values in a unique, turbulent social and political context that is constantly bombarding us with opportunities to intervene for a more just and equitable world – taxes, healthcare, elections, immigration, the war economy, and many others. As inequality and the injustices of the past remain, we are called to reevaluate our approach in how we as an organization lead others in the project of transforming the conditions of community.