About me
Biography
Biography
1962
NYC – Founder of Political Action for Peace (PAX) along with David McReynolds (Executive Secretary of the War Resister’s League) and Homer Jack (who helped found the Congress of Racial Equality and National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE).
1964
Organized the December 1964 San Francisco demonstration against the war in Vietnam, with Joan Baez as one of the speakers, and a march to support the WRL’s “Declaration of Conscience,” which called for non-cooperation with the war effort, at which time I also persuaded two of the San Francisco Chronicle’s columnists, Art Hoppe and Ralph Gleason, to write articles in support of the protest, which, consequently, marked the beginning of the Chronicle covering the war. I then opened a West Coast branch of the WRL, with the help of Roy Kepler, and became its executive secretary
1965
A founder of the Experimental College at San Francisco State College
https://news.sfsu.edu/news-story/students-spearhead-revival-1960s-experimental-college
“Courses offered at what was then San Francisco State College weren’t addressing the issues students were facing in their communities, and they wanted classes that were germane to their lives. “A group of progressive students, many with experience organizing in the Civil Rights Movement and were inspired by Berkeley's Free Speech Movement, took over the student government in the spring of 1964 and launched the Experimental College in the fall of 1965. The courses offered from 1965-1968 reflected the concerns of these progressive students, which included black, La Raza and Asian studies,” Emery said. This curriculum became the foundation for one of the demands made by the student strikers in 1968 resulting in the creation of the College of Ethnic Studies, the first and only college of its kind in the U.S.”
1967
One of the primary organizers of the Summer of Love concerts in Golden Gate park
A manager of the Grateful Dead
1970
Began practicing Kundalini Yoga (KY). Head of the first KY ashram in Northern California. Regional Director for KY teaching from Santa Barbara to Anchorage
1976
In celebration of the bicentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I created In Search of America to develop a new vision for fulfilling the American Dream
1971
Meeting of the Ways – Initially an interfaith organization for San Francisco Bay Area emerging and long existent spiritual organizations – then, under my leadership, presenting large conferences (2500 to 3500 attendees) featuring spiritual leaders and practices, with plenary sessions, breakout workshops and panel discussions – setting a model for future “New Age” expos. In the 1980s, began to bring together aspects of the growing spiritual movement with the anti-war community. Beginning with a three-day conference at Stanford University entitled Aspiring to Enlightened Action for Nuclear Disarmament, which Joanna Macy termed an historical event.
1987
Creating Our Future – A social action training organization for high school students, initial Board members included Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Ram Dass and Joanna Macy
Statement of Purpose: We are young people working together to end environmental destruction and to achieve social justice. We are committed to learning the skills needed to work together and have a meaningful impact on the world. We are training ourselves and other young people to be empowered social activists, and to be conscious, effective world citizens, while learning to care for ourselves and one another. We hope to gradually create a network of concerned young people, first regionally, then nationally, and ultimately worldwide.
Creating Our Future provides a base for working together towards our common goals. Mostly we are high school students with some college students, assisted by seasoned veterans of social change, environmental action, and spiritual consciousness movements.
Within a couple of years, there were regional clusters of COF student groups throughout the SF Bay Area, the LA area, the Sierra foothills, Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Over 5000 high school student groups used the COF Earth Day manual as a guide for their Earth Day 1990 campus celebrations
1988
Grateful Dead Rainforest Benefit at Madison Square Garden, for Cultural Survival, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, and Creating our Future, which was preceded by a press conference featuring Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart sponsored by the United Nations Environmental Program. Randy Hayes, founder of Rainforest Action Network, later said that it placed the Rainforest issue before all of the United States.
1989
Rainforest Cereals – The seeds for this began at an after-party following the Grateful Dead Rainforest Benefit. Working with Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s, we together created the first Fair Trade foods before the term existed. Featuring Rainforest Crunch, a Brazil nut brittle as a candy and ice cream flavor from Ben & Jerry’s, and a number of Rainforest cereals developed by myself in conjunction with a cereal company. We established a co-op in the Amazon buying directly from indigenous harvesters and paying a living wage as opposed to the slave labor they had been subject to.
Marketing for the Rainforest cereals established Rainforest Action week as a significant event at health food stores around the country, along with supporting thousands of student groups at high schools around the country sponsoring Rainforest Action week at their respective campuses.
1992
Socially Responsible Business Breakfasts – As I found myself a participant in the health food world, I founded and hosted an annual Socially Responsible Business Breakfast at the Natural Products Expo, to award health food manufacturers for excellence in social responsibility – using criteria established by the Social Venture Network, of which I was a Board member.
1996
Began leading meditation and chanting at Rock concerts and festivals mostly for Bill Graham Presents (BGP) events, but also for the Power to the Peaceful events at Golden Gate Park, generally opening for Michael Franti and Spearhead, with an average of 70,000 attendees.
2001
Organizing and speaking at anti-war events following 911
2002
Self Worth. Having learned how to work at listening by association with Joanna Macy, I became aware of the nature of mostly childhood based inner wounds and their consequences in relation to ourselves, our loved ones, our work, and the state of the world. After some years of prayer and meditation, I began leading Self Worth workshops in which I could help people articulate and then change their inner wound stories. Many reported that more changed for them in the one workshop than from many years of all different kinds of therapy. I have been leading such workshops for more than 15 years and have also been training others to do so.
NYC – Founder of Political Action for Peace (PAX) along with David McReynolds (Executive Secretary of the War Resister’s League) and Homer Jack (who helped found the Congress of Racial Equality and National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE).
1964
Organized the December 1964 San Francisco demonstration against the war in Vietnam, with Joan Baez as one of the speakers, and a march to support the WRL’s “Declaration of Conscience,” which called for non-cooperation with the war effort, at which time I also persuaded two of the San Francisco Chronicle’s columnists, Art Hoppe and Ralph Gleason, to write articles in support of the protest, which, consequently, marked the beginning of the Chronicle covering the war. I then opened a West Coast branch of the WRL, with the help of Roy Kepler, and became its executive secretary
1965
A founder of the Experimental College at San Francisco State College
https://news.sfsu.edu/news-story/students-spearhead-revival-1960s-experimental-college
“Courses offered at what was then San Francisco State College weren’t addressing the issues students were facing in their communities, and they wanted classes that were germane to their lives. “A group of progressive students, many with experience organizing in the Civil Rights Movement and were inspired by Berkeley's Free Speech Movement, took over the student government in the spring of 1964 and launched the Experimental College in the fall of 1965. The courses offered from 1965-1968 reflected the concerns of these progressive students, which included black, La Raza and Asian studies,” Emery said. This curriculum became the foundation for one of the demands made by the student strikers in 1968 resulting in the creation of the College of Ethnic Studies, the first and only college of its kind in the U.S.”
1967
One of the primary organizers of the Summer of Love concerts in Golden Gate park
A manager of the Grateful Dead
1970
Began practicing Kundalini Yoga (KY). Head of the first KY ashram in Northern California. Regional Director for KY teaching from Santa Barbara to Anchorage
1976
In celebration of the bicentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I created In Search of America to develop a new vision for fulfilling the American Dream
1971
Meeting of the Ways – Initially an interfaith organization for San Francisco Bay Area emerging and long existent spiritual organizations – then, under my leadership, presenting large conferences (2500 to 3500 attendees) featuring spiritual leaders and practices, with plenary sessions, breakout workshops and panel discussions – setting a model for future “New Age” expos. In the 1980s, began to bring together aspects of the growing spiritual movement with the anti-war community. Beginning with a three-day conference at Stanford University entitled Aspiring to Enlightened Action for Nuclear Disarmament, which Joanna Macy termed an historical event.
1987
Creating Our Future – A social action training organization for high school students, initial Board members included Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Ram Dass and Joanna Macy
Statement of Purpose: We are young people working together to end environmental destruction and to achieve social justice. We are committed to learning the skills needed to work together and have a meaningful impact on the world. We are training ourselves and other young people to be empowered social activists, and to be conscious, effective world citizens, while learning to care for ourselves and one another. We hope to gradually create a network of concerned young people, first regionally, then nationally, and ultimately worldwide.
Creating Our Future provides a base for working together towards our common goals. Mostly we are high school students with some college students, assisted by seasoned veterans of social change, environmental action, and spiritual consciousness movements.
Within a couple of years, there were regional clusters of COF student groups throughout the SF Bay Area, the LA area, the Sierra foothills, Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Over 5000 high school student groups used the COF Earth Day manual as a guide for their Earth Day 1990 campus celebrations
1988
Grateful Dead Rainforest Benefit at Madison Square Garden, for Cultural Survival, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, and Creating our Future, which was preceded by a press conference featuring Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart sponsored by the United Nations Environmental Program. Randy Hayes, founder of Rainforest Action Network, later said that it placed the Rainforest issue before all of the United States.
1989
Rainforest Cereals – The seeds for this began at an after-party following the Grateful Dead Rainforest Benefit. Working with Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s, we together created the first Fair Trade foods before the term existed. Featuring Rainforest Crunch, a Brazil nut brittle as a candy and ice cream flavor from Ben & Jerry’s, and a number of Rainforest cereals developed by myself in conjunction with a cereal company. We established a co-op in the Amazon buying directly from indigenous harvesters and paying a living wage as opposed to the slave labor they had been subject to.
Marketing for the Rainforest cereals established Rainforest Action week as a significant event at health food stores around the country, along with supporting thousands of student groups at high schools around the country sponsoring Rainforest Action week at their respective campuses.
1992
Socially Responsible Business Breakfasts – As I found myself a participant in the health food world, I founded and hosted an annual Socially Responsible Business Breakfast at the Natural Products Expo, to award health food manufacturers for excellence in social responsibility – using criteria established by the Social Venture Network, of which I was a Board member.
1996
Began leading meditation and chanting at Rock concerts and festivals mostly for Bill Graham Presents (BGP) events, but also for the Power to the Peaceful events at Golden Gate Park, generally opening for Michael Franti and Spearhead, with an average of 70,000 attendees.
2001
Organizing and speaking at anti-war events following 911
2002
Self Worth. Having learned how to work at listening by association with Joanna Macy, I became aware of the nature of mostly childhood based inner wounds and their consequences in relation to ourselves, our loved ones, our work, and the state of the world. After some years of prayer and meditation, I began leading Self Worth workshops in which I could help people articulate and then change their inner wound stories. Many reported that more changed for them in the one workshop than from many years of all different kinds of therapy. I have been leading such workshops for more than 15 years and have also been training others to do so.
