Baltimore Nonviolence Center

Sunday, January 4, 2026

Baltimore Activist Alert -- January 6 - 7, 2026

29] Faith in Democracy – Jan. 6

30] Medicare for All meeting -- Jan. 6

31] Write in support of democracy – Jan. 7

32] Sign Wave in Towson – Jan. 7

33] Sign Wave in Lauraville – Jan. 7

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29] – Michele Dunne, OFS [news@franciscanaction.org] on Tues., Jan. 6 at 7 PM is inviting you to 'Faith in Democracy: Facing the Challenges of 2026.' This is the next event in the annual ‘Faith in Democracy’ series. The panel will explore the connection between faith and democracy, the challenges to US democracy at this moment in history, and ways people of faith and faith communities can work together to strengthen democracy moving forward. You can register here https://default.salsalabs.org/T18389782-7f67-466d-ac4c-ac2f5e95eccd/42c9db5a-84b0-4b89-b7d2-abff22cb3d0e

30] – The Northern Virginia DSA Medicare for All Working Group virtual meeting is on Tues., Jan. 6 from 7 to 8 PM ET. A link will be sent before the event: https://actionnetwork.org/events/nova-medicare-for-all-working-group-meeting-tuesday-january-6th-at-7pm/?link_id=50&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-12112025-nova-branch-dsa-upcoming-actions-and-events&email_referrer=email_3025974&email_subject=12182025-nova-branch-dsa-upcoming-actions-and-events&&

Discuss Medicare for All public education campaigns in northern Virginia and plan other actions to ensure healthcare as a human right. The group meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month, and the meetings are open to the public. All who support healthcare as a human right are welcome.

31] – On Wednesdays, Jan. 7, from 2 to 3:30 PM ET, join Baltimore Writes in Support of Democracy at Belvedere Square Market, 529 E. Belvedere Ave., Baltimore 21212. Write letters to PA voters. In October, they will elect judges for their Supreme Court, a CRITICAL component of a free & fair democracy. This is an easy, fun way to meet other concerned citizens and support a renewed American democracy. Bring your favorite pen, and spend an hour doing some good! This will continue through Oct. 22. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/823429/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_closest

32] – Join a sign wave on Wed., Jan. 7 from 3:30 to 4 PM ET at Woodbrook Church, 25 Stevenson Lane, [between Bellona Ave. & Charles St.] Baltimore 21212. Park in the church parking lot. This event will continue through December 31. This event will be canceled if raining hard. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/804632/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_closest

33] – Join a Wednesday Movement Sign Wave in Lauraville on Jan. 7 from 4 to 5:30 PM at Harford Road & Parkside Drive, Baltimore 21214. It will continue through Feb. 25, 2026. This event was inspired by other Sign Waves that make their pro-democracy, anti-Trump, and anti-Putin views known. Contact Anne George, 443-831-7528, for more information on initiating a sign wave in your area. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/784682/?timeslot=5520790

To be continued

Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212. Ph.: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs

Trump’s Venezuelan Coup: Criminal Attacks by a Criminal Empire

Friends,

This is as tragic as Bush and Cheney telling us about Saddam’s WMD. In this tragedy, Trump indicated the oil money will go back to the people of Venezuela. I presume many of you protested Emperor Trump of the Western Hemisphere. Janice and I were at Loch Raven Boulevard and Taylor Avenue in Towson with our signs: Arrest Trump, Indict Trump and Impeach Trump before he kills again. We had a number of honks in support, one gentlemen wanted to buy us coffee, one woman thanked us profusely and one driver told us to Go fornicate ourselves. Get involved with an organization, such as Maryland Peace Action, and join the resistance. Kagiso, Max

- CounterPunch.org - https://www.counterpunch.org -

Trump’s Venezuelan Coup: Criminal Attacks by a Criminal Empire

By Ron Jacobs on January 3, 2026

World leaders greet Maduro at Maduro’s second inauguration on 10 January 2019. Photo: Office of the President of El Salvador.

There is only one word to describe the US attacks on Venezuela. That word is criminal. It is the only word that describes the act of invading another nation and kidnapping its president. Of course, it is also a word that describes the essential nature of the US empire—an empire currently run by a band of psychopaths whose actions are only outdone by their equally psychotic comrades in Tel Aviv. Let’s be clear, Donald Trump may have pulled the trigger, so to speak, but Washington has been pointing a loaded gun at Venezuela since its people elected Hugo Chavez in 1998. By electing Chavez, the Venezuelan popular majority instituted a process that redistributed wealth inside the country, bringing popular education and free health care to the millions of Venezuelans previously denied these human rights–human rights which are under serious attack in the heart of the US empire as I write, by the way.

This attack, and any further military action by the US against Venezuela, must be opposed by those around the world who care about peace. If those who support a more peaceful version of the US Empire in the mainstream parties oppose this escalation, they should speak up in Congress, the media and in the streets. Those on the Left who disagree with Maduro for reasons real or manufactured by the consent organs of the Empire need to set those concerns aside and oppose these attacks. Folks whose concerns tend towards the concerns of family and their home should resolve to voice their opposition to a White House whose go-to solution is murder, war and repression. Already, those with loved ones in the US military—from the Air Force to the Air Guard, the Marines to the Coast Guard—have seen them sent to kill people in Venezuela, Iran, Palestine and the Caribbean (for starters).

Here in Vermont, where I live, the skies above my home no longer resound with the inhuman noise of the F-35s that are based five miles away; those planes and their crews are now involved in attacking Venezuelans just minding their own business. The basing of the planes in Vermont was supported by its entire Congressional delegation, including Bernie Sanders. The National Guard spokespeople and their hacks in the media called the planes’ deafening sound the “sound of freedom.” I can assure you, that’s not what the Venezuelans are calling that noise. The last seventy years of history makes it clear that the only freedom the US military brings is the freedom to exploit the country being invaded. The Empire’s “sound of freedom” is the sound of death and repression to those who bear the brunt of its bombs, its troops, and its economic strangulation.

Let’s be clear. Although it is the Trump White House that has launched this attack on Venezuela and apparently kidnapped its president, these actions are the result of an ongoing bipartisan assault on Venezuela. Bill Clinton began the attacks in 1998, mostly keeping his opposition to words and providing money to the wealthy comprador right-wing opposition in Venezuela. His wife, Hillary, accepted a million-dollar donation to her presidential campaign in 2015 from Gustavo Cisneros, a leading figure in Venezuela’s far-right politics. In 2002, the George W. Bush administration helped fund and plan a coup attempt that ultimately failed despite Washington’s immediate support for the coup plotters.

After Hugo Chavez died in 2013 and Maduro was elected, Barack Obama intensified the sanctions against the government in Caracas and in 2015, labeled Venezuela as a clear and present danger. Donald Trump continued the threats and sanctions against Venezuela, as did Joe Biden (although his administration did make a short-lived deal to purchase gas from the country). Meanwhile, Washington’s sanctions intensified the economic problems being experienced by the Venezuelan people. One might say the sanctions were the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Despite the hardships, Venezuela persevered, refocusing its efforts on organizing responses to the US offensive by working towards self-sufficiency. Trump pulled the trigger, but every administration that preceded his provided ammunition and paved the way for Trump’s illegal and immoral assault.

While the main focus of this short piece is the attacks on Venezuela, it is essential that we pay attention to what’s going on elsewhere in the world. Trump had the US military attack Nigeria on Christmas Day; he has once again threatened Iran and the US recently approved millions more dollars in arms shipments to Israel, which continues to murder Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, while also bombing Lebanon and Syria.

It’s been a long time since the world was so close to a global conflict. Indeed, it seems reasonable to say that the last time we stood so close to world war was when Hitler’s armies invaded its neighbors to the east. His actions were considered rash and dangerous when they happened. One can say the same about the actions of Donald Trump today.

Article printed from CounterPunch.org: https://www.counterpunch.org

URL to article: https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/01/03/trumps-venezuelan-coup-criminal-attacks-by-a-criminal-empire/

Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

Baltimore Activist Alert -- January 4 - 6, 2026

24] Doctors against Genocide – Jan. 4

25] PDA weekly town hall -- Jan. 4

26] Grassroots protection for the vote – Jan. 5

27] Dump Trump for invading Venezuela – Jan. 6

28] ACLU party -- Jan. 6

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24] – Doctors against Genocide [leadership@doctorsagainstgenocide.org] on Sun., Jan. 4 at noon ET want you to know about the Class of the Phoenix: Rising to Heal and updates from Palestine, Rohingya Camps, Sudan, and Congo. Register to attend: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aUUzycRDSwaem750Nc6iFg

Hear from now DOCTOR Ezz Lulu, a member of Gaza’s graduating Class of the Phoenix, representing a new generation of medical professionals forged under siege and committed to care. Also hear from Yasmin Abdullah Dhib Hamada, from Gaza, educator, historian, youth advocate, and the wife of the late humanitarian physician Dr. Adnan Al-Barsh. She holds a Master’s degree in History, a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Primary Education, is a Parliamentary Fellow of the Palestinian Legislative Council, a Jerusalem Ambassador, and a dedicated youth activist. Joining in as well is Mohammed Yeasin, speaking from the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh. Also receive updates from Eid Sulieman from Masafer Yatta, grounding this conversation in lived realities across Palestine. As always hear from the regular partners from Congo, Gaza and Sudan.

25] – The Progressive Democrats of America [info@pdamerica.org] on Sun., Jan. 4 at 4 PM ET will invite you to the weekly Town Hall with Nina Turner and PDA Nation on Stopping Trump’s Illegal War on Venezuela. Also discuss how we must respond to Trump’s illegal attack on Venezuela. RSVP at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tceuhrzsvHdymeeZRwb-i7X50FJa-HMR4?emci=ced5d1ed-71c8-f011-8196-6045bdfe8e9c&emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&ceid=2907617#/registration

26] – Progressive Democrats of America [info@pdamerica.org] wants you to participate with the Grassroots Election Protection Coalition/ALLIANCE 4 GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY Zoom on Mon., Jan. 5 at 5 PM ET. Hear from leading activists, elected officials, and others committed to union organizing as well as cleaning up our elections and the environment, and other critically important issues. RSVP at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqfuygpjIiHtc20uIOxdeqYRiAicjSLWUc#/registration

27] – Join the Baltimore Nonviolence Center on Tues., Jan. 6 from 4:30 to 5 PM ET at 33rd and N. Charles Sts. to challenge President Trump for a long list of illegal executive orders. And now he has invaded Venezuela. Without resistance Trump will undermine our flawed democracy. Right now Trump wants fascism as the order of the day. Contact Max at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or 410-323-1607.

28] –The ACLU of Maryland [info@aclu-md.org] on Tues., Jan. 6 from 5 to 8 PM is holding a party hosted by the Board of Directors. This will be a happy hour celebration at Waverly Brewing Company, 1625 Union Ave., Suite C, Baltimore 21211. Tickets are $10 and include admission to the happy hour. Drinks are available for purchase at Waverly Brewing Company. Get tickets at https://action.aclu.org/event/md-party-for-a-purpose?cid=701UW00000vlEOVYA2&initms_aff=md&initms_chan=eml&utm_medium=eml&initms=awr-na-sail-gradead-md-260102_party_for_a_purpose-civilliberties-party_for_a_purpose-affcampaign&utm_source=sail&utm_campaign=affcampaign&utm_content=awr-na-sail-gradead-md-260102_party_for_a_purpose-civilliberties-party_for_a_purpose-affcampaign&af=RA1%2BJp3N228aRV69knhQi6HdXOURCg1a8LjFy%2FqVNQ3Po1gpJ2TWtaez2njMlOuEAnWCHkgEsbpWshTz9SyXZHZ4ZBqwHCVVpKJ%2BZXlAWLY9SUg1qbRF6XQ%2FGofdGh0uIrE%2BgrtlRDoZHWCwwg1ZrXmTDTeoAx%2B%2B4iu8YWTWyXa4EoSg7nGmN8x6HStwNOnh&ms_aff=md&ms_chan=eml&ms=awr-na-sail-gradead-md-260102_party_for_a_purpose-civilliberties-party_for_a_purpose-affcampaign

To be continued

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Baltimore Activist Alert – January 3 – 5, 2025

Baltimore Activist Alert – January 3 – 5, 2025

"I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours." -Martin Luther King Jr.

Friends, this list and other email documents which I send out are done under the auspices of the Baltimore Nonviolence Center. Go to www.baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com.

If you appreciate this information and would like to make a donation, send contributions to Max Obuszewski, BNC, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212. Max can be reached at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net.

1] Books, buttons and stickers

2] Web site for info on federal legislation

3] Need help in archiving activist material

4] Get the book A Bag of Snakes

5] Get the book Male Supremacy in the Catholic Church: An Insider’s View by Roy Bourgeois

6] Labor History Project

7] Sign wave at Harford Mall – Jan. 3

8] Sign waving in Annapolis – Jan. 3

9] Tesla Takedown in Rockville – Jan. 3

10] Tesla Takedown in Silver Spring – Jan. 3

11] Friends meeting -- Jan. 4

12] Visit the Conservancy – Jan. 4

13] Catonsville against Trump – Jan. 4

14] Get involved with fiber Arts -- Jan. 4

15] Visibility brigade – Jan. 4

16] Remember Betty Robinson – Jan. 4

17] Join Baltimore DSA – Jan. 4

18] Golden Dome – Jan. 5

19] DSA Electoral working group meeting – Jan. 4

20] Death Penalty Action – Jan. 4

21] Vigil at the Pentagon – Jan. 5

22] Baltimore Sign waves – Jan. 5

23] Palestinian Youth Movement – Jan. 5

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1] – Buttons, bumper stickers and books are available. “God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions” stickers are in stock. Call Max at 410-323-1607.

2] –To obtain information how your federal legislators voted on particular bills, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/. Congressional toll-free numbers are 888-818-6641, 888-355-3588 or 800-426-8073. The White House Comment Email is accessible at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.

3] – Janice Sevre-Duszynska needs some assistance in archiving her activist material. If you are interested in this project, contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.

4] – Barry Lee Burnside, a gaggle of great writers and copy editors are making available “A Bag of Snakes: Selected Writings on Prisons and the Death Penalty by Murphy Davis and Eduard Loring. Edited by Barry Lee Burnside.” Ed indicates the book will be available for sale on April 13, and is asking you to pre-order your copy. Your donation will provide a needed financial boost for the printing costs. The suggested donation is $20 for one copy; and $30 for your copy and an additional copy for a prisoner or someone in need. Any donation is appreciated. More or less you will receive the book. Barry and the team have spent over two years putting this book together. It begins with outlines and notes found in the boxes of materials Murphy left when she ascended. The work is a work of love, and all involved are proud of the fruit borne by seeds nourished in good soil.

To order by postal mail, make your check to Open Door Community. Send it to Open Door Community, PO Box 10980, Baltimore 21234. For any questions, contact David Payne at 404-290-2047 or davidpayne@opendoorcommunity.org.

5] – Another book to consider purchasing is Male Supremacy in the Catholic Church: An Insider’s View by Roy Bourgeois. His new book is both memoir and position-paper, and it makes the case that the Roman Catholic Church is a corrupt system that spits out truth-tellers. The crime he was excommunicated for was attending the ordination ceremony of Janice Sevre-Duszynska in Lexington, Kentucky, in August 2008. The ordination was under the auspices of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. The Vatican’s response has been to excommunicate any woman who has the audacity to see herself as a priest equal to a male priest. You can purchase a copy from Amazon or by Kindle.

Here are two quotes to contemplate: “I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men. She is to keep silent.” – Timothy 1, 2:12-13. “If the patriarchy that dominates the church is not dismantled and women are not treated as equals, the church will continue to diminish and, eventually, die.” – Roy Bourgeois.

6] – William Barry [billbarry21214@gmail.com] has a request. As the country begins to celebrate our 250th anniversary, our history is complicated but one thing is certain--labor history is always deleted. So he created the MD250 Labor History Project, and hopes you will participate by sending in labor history materials, and by sharing it with your friends, as part of creating a union movement. Go to https://www.md250laborhistory.org/

"We are either part of the solution or part of the problem." "The only reason an organization has dead wood is that management either hired dead wood or it hired live wood and killed it." - W. Edwards Deming

7] – Join sign waving on Saturdays, Jan. 3, 10 17 & 24 from 10 AM to noon at Harford Mall Macy’s parking lot, 696 Belair Road, Bel Air 21014. Park in the front of Macy’s. Create visibility with sign waving at the intersection of Belair Road and Rt. 24 in Bel Air. Bring your signs, costumes, noise makers and especially your voices to draw attention to this fascist regime. https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/840421/

8] – Chesapeake Indivisible is doing a Sign Waving protest on Sat., Dec. 20 from 11 AM to 1 PM near the Annapolis Mall sidewalks at the corner of Bestgate Road and 2082 Generals Highway, Annapolis 21401. This event will continue through March 28. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/chesapeakeindivisible/event/834849/

9] – Get over to the Tesla Takedown on Saturdays, Jan. 3 & 10, from 11 AM to noon at the Rockville Tesla, 1300 Rockville Pike, Rockville 20852. Email maryland@thirdact.org. Musk is responsible for mass suffering and death. And he will cause more if we give him the chance to recover his reputation. Tesla Takedown is a peaceful protest movement. No violence, vandalism and destruction of property. This protest is a lawful exercise of your First Amendment right to peaceful assembly. #TeslaTakedown #BoycottTesla RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/812078/

10] – Get over to the Tesla Takedown on Saturdays, Jan. 3 & 10, from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Tesla Silver Spring, 2320 Broadbirch Dr., Silver Spring 20852. Email maryland@thirdact.org. Musk is responsible for mass suffering and death. And he will cause more if we give him the chance to recover his reputation. Tesla Takedown is a peaceful protest movement. No violence, vandalism and destruction of property. This protest is a lawful exercise of your First Amendment right to peaceful assembly. #TeslaTakedown #BoycottTesla RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/771738/

11] – Homewood Friends Meeting [homewoodfriends@gmail.com] gathers for worship on Sundays at 10:30 AM at 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21218 and on Zoom. A simple lunch will take place after the 10:30 AM worship. Call 410-235-4438. To join by Zoom, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/255867065?pwd=UDNxVnlVSkZQOHlXWlc3NHpHeHdhZz09#success

12] – The Baltimore Ethical Society Meetup on Sun., Jan. 4 at 10:30 AM will take place at the Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens, 3100 Swann Dr., Baltimore 21217. Come to Druid Hill Park near the intersection of McCulloh St. and Gwynns Falls Parkway for a relaxing start to the new calendar year. This is the last day to see their annual poinsettia and holiday gardens. There is no charge but donations are gladly accepted and there is a gift shop. Poinsettias are also being sold at this time. RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/bmorethical/events/312468530/?eventOrigin=group_events_list

Afterwards, the group will gather for lunch. Call the Conservatory at 410-396-0008 or go online https://rawlingsconservatory.org/

13] – On Sun., Jan. 4 from noon to 1 PM, get with Catonsville Nine Redux for a Sign Wave over the Frederick Road Overpass, Frederick Road and I-695, Catonsville 21228. This event will continue through Dec. 27, 2026. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/853167/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_more_events_of_type

14] – The Northern Virginia Mutual Aid DSA Working Group (NoVA MAWG) fiber arts committee will meet on Sat., Jan. 3 from 12 to 2 PM at the Chantilly Regional Library, (Chantilly Conference Room), 4000 Stringfellow Road, Chantilly, VA 20151. People are encouraged to bring their own projects to work on, or to knit hats, gloves, or scarves to be donated. The distribution contingent is planning their January distribution at the Crystal City Metro Station on January 11 from 11am – 2pm. RSVP at https://actionnetwork.org/events/january-2026-nova-fiber-arts-group?clear_id=true&link_id=72&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-december-12-2025&email_referrer=email_3027700&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-december-19-2025&&

15] – On Sundays, Jan. 4, 11, 18 & 25 from 1 to 3 PM ET at 15202 Major Lansdale Blvd., Bowie 20716, join Indivisible Bowie for a Visibility Brigade sign wave on the pedestrian bridge over Route 50. If you can't make the full time, no worries, come when you can! Help bring attention to important issues and let your neighbors and commuters know they are not alone in fighting back against authoritarianism.

Parking is behind the Hampton Inn in the old theatre lot, please look for the sign. Follow the paved path through the chain-link fence, then turn left onto the pedestrian trail to reach the bridge. Approximately a 4-minute walk. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/dfadcoalition/event/873914/?followup_modal_context=organization_newsletter_custom_recommendations

16] – Katie Lautar [katelautar@gmail.com] is inviting you on Sun., Jan. 4 at 4:30 PM for the Betty Robinson Birthday Memorial Sing Along at 2640, 27th & St. Paul Sts. It will take place in the Sunday room in the back of building. Use the side entrance on 27th St. It will be followed by a potluck dinner. Bring a dish for the potluck, a photo, memento, or written story to add to a memorial table & display and literature/sign-ups for events or organizations for social justice. If time allows there will be an open mic time for people to briefly announce upcoming events.

Gather to remember the late great Betty Garman Robinson and sing the social justice movement songs she loved. Betty was a powerful life-long organizer for racial and economic justice, spanning from her involvement with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 60s up until the end of her life in 2020. She was a beloved mentor and friend to many. Read more about Betty’s incredible legacy here: https://ubarchives.omeka.net/.../bettygarman.../introduction

17] – Join the Greater Baltimore Democratic Socialists of America for an introduction to socialism and the DSA! Discuss the theory of change, why it centers on working people like you and me, and get to know one another and the chapter a bit better. There is an upcoming In-Person New Member Orientations on Sat., Jan. 15 from 4 to 5:30 PM at Red Emma's Free School. There is also an upcoming Virtual New Member Orientations on Mon., Jan. 5 from 6 to 7 PM. Join the Zoom at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5fBhT5O69eNMJyfGOgbnp4KmdlKvb4I8XUz-3WJ42_EJ5XA/viewform

18] – The MAPA Ed. Fund [info@masspeaceaction.org] on Mon., Jan. 5 from 7 to 8:30 PM ET will host a webinar -- What is Trump's "Golden Dome"? Are We Paying for Ineffective Missile Defense and a Spiraling Nuclear Arms Race? Register at MassPeace.us/golden-dome

Hear from three experts, Ted Postol, Daryl Kimball, and Subrata Ghoshroy, discuss the technical and policy aspects of Golden Dome. The panel will be moderated by Linda Pentz Gunter.

19] – The Northern Virginia DSA Electoral working group meeting is on Sun., Jan. 4 from 7 to 8 PM! A link to attend this virtual event will be emailed upon RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/nova-electoral-monthly-working-group-meeting-0104?clear_id=true&link_id=3&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-12112025-nova-branch-dsa-upcoming-actions-and-events&email_referrer=email_3025974&email_subject=12182025-nova-branch-dsa-upcoming-actions-and-events&&

Join in #nova-electoral on Slack, and fill out the interest form. Also, feel free to reach out to @Alex Yarkosky on Slack with any questions about electoral work.

20] – Join Death Penalty Action for a review of the issues and action opportunities surrounding the next several executions scheduled in the United States. Join in on Sun., Jan. 4 at 9 PM ET. These sessions will continue on Feb. 1 & March 1, 2026 at 9 PM ET. This project of Death Penalty Action recurs (normally) on the first Sunday of each month. Take action at DeathPenaltyAction.org at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GQi-Z-U0QyyvyVOoYaL3nA#/registration or https://www.youtube.com/@deathpenaltyaction8966/streams

21] – There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop. The next vigil is Jan. 5, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker. Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649. The vigil will be outside the Pentagon's south Metro entrance and in the designated "protest zone" behind bicycle fences across from the entrance to the Metro.

By Metro, take Yellow Line and get out at the "Pentagon" stop. Do not go to the Pentagon City stop! Go up south escalators and turn left and walk across to protest area. By car from D.C. area, take 395 South and get off at Exit 8A-Pentagon South Parking. Take slight right onto S. Rotary Rd. at end of ramp and right on S. Fern St. Then take left onto Army Navy Dr. You can "pay to park" on Army Navy Dr., and there is meter parking one block on right on Eads St. Payment for both of these spots begins at 8 AM. No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds. The restrooms are located inside Marriot Providence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.

22] – Baltimore Sign Waves on Mon. Jan. 5 from 7:30 to 8:15 AM will be at West Northern Parkway & Roland Ave., Baltimore 21210. Join in the waving of pro-democracy signs! Bring your sign or just show up. This event will continue through March 23. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/793151/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_closest

23] – Join CODEPINK, Watermelon Pictures, and the Palestinian Youth Movement to talk about cultural production and how it pertains to the Palestine solidarity movement! This webinar will highlight the importance of Palestinian cultural production in the fight against imperialist and Zionist propaganda. In hearing about CODEPINK's activism and Watermelon Pictures' cultural work, you will learn how you can incorporate the fight for Palestinian liberation into cultural spaces. Filmmaker Cherien Dabis will give a short introduction and discuss her new film, All That’s Left of You on Mon., Jan.5 from 5 to 6 ET. Email Jenin · jenin@codepink.org. RSVP at https://www.codepink.org/wp105?utm_campaign=january_member_newsletter_2026&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink

To be continued

Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, and 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212. Ph.: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.

Sunday, December 28, 2025

Ten examples of tilting against windmills

Friends,

I got a call from the White House, as it seems the president is quite concerned about my criminal career. [Not really.] The minion who called indicated there was a discussion about revoking my citizenship. So why not self-deport to Poland? My response is that there is much for me and others like me to do as fascism is knocking on the door. He responded that the president is not going to like my response.

Below are some of the good times that I and many others needed to do to speak out against injustice. These acts of resistance are accompanied by great memories of so many good people who had the courage in trying times to say Not in My Name. Many of them are no longer with us, but I will always try to remember what they did while they were with us. Living in the US Empire means there will always be times to conspire, which means breathe together, and engage in nonviolent civil resistance. Did we accomplish very much? I will let others answer that question. The policies of the Trump administration will offer many risk arrest opportunities. Kagiso, Max

On April 9, 2024, sixty three members of Christians for a Free Palestine were arrested in the Dirksen Senate Office Building cafeteria and charged with Obstruction. Sixty one of them paid $50 to end the legal case. Janice Sevre-Duszynska and Max Obuszewski requested a trial. This was one of the longest legal experiences for Obuszewski in his career of resistance, as the two activists were convicted on January 23, 2025. They were sentenced as follows: ninety days of unsupervised probation, $50 Victims of Violent Crime free and suspended sentences of thirty days for Obuszewski and five days for Sevre-Duszynska.

On July 18, 2019, 70 people, mostly Catholic, were arrested by the U.S. Capitol Police for “unlawfully demonstrating in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building.” The Franciscan Action Network, a Catholic human rights group, planned the protest calling the border facility conditions a human rights violation and "contrary to religious teachings." Most of the arrestees held pictures of children kept in deplorable and unsanitary conditions, without access to showers for weeks, and sleeping on concrete floors without blankets, and being detained incommunicado.

Sixty people paid $50, a chance to end the legal process. The other ten, including Janice Sevre-Duszynska, Max Obuszewski, Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert, Kathy Boylan and Michael Walli, requested a trial. The Anti-Trump Ten were scheduled to be arraigned in D.C. Superior Court on August 21. However, the government later decided not to prosecute.

On October 2, 2004, some twenty two members of the Iraq Pledge of Resistance were arrested on the Ellipse for protesting the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Max Obuszewski, Maria Allwine, Ellen Barfield and others were charged with “closures and public use limits. “ Twenty one defendants were convicted on March 16, 2005. I filed a continuance as my brother Kenneth died. As result of this motion, the judge dismissed my case.

On March 1, 2003, eight members of the Iraq Pledge of Resistance, including Max Obuszewski and Maria Allwine were arrested inside the Towsontown Center in Towson. We were handing out leaflets condemning an upcoming invasion of Iraq in the food court. Later we discovered that a number of Baltimore County police officers in the National Guard were in Kuwait preparing for an invasion. For that reason, we were incarcerated much longer than necessary. I had one wrist handcuffed to the wall for sixteen hours. I was uncuffed to go to the bathroom and to be interrogated by the Baltimore County Red Squad.

We were never brought to trial, but we did appear in court on February 10, 2004 before District Judge Bruce Lamdin for a stet hearing. Normally, this is a simple pro forma matter. The prosecutor simply indicates the government’s decision to place the case on the stet docket, and the defendants agree. Finally, the judge acknowledges that the case is being moved from the active to the inactive docket.

However, Judge Lamdin was intent on establishing that he was in charge, as he became verbally belligerent and said there will be no statements “in my courtroom.” He threatened to arrest us or to place us on trial. There was no reason for his threats, and two of us filed letters of complaint with the administrative judge. So it was not a surprise to discover that others were outraged by Lamdin’s courtroom demeanor. Having appeared before hundreds of judges in my cases starting back in 1984, generally the judges are respectful. However, every so often I would appear before a judge who can be cantankerous.

On July 20, 1994, Max Obuszewski was arrested for leafletting at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory indicating his opposition to nuclear weapons research. On January 9, 1995 Howard County District Court Judge Louis Becker sentenced him to 30 days in jail and ordered him to report to the Howard County Detention Center on Martin Luther King’s birthday. When Max goes to jail, he fasts from any solid food.

On July 15, 1991, five members of the Baltimore Emergency Response Network were arrested in Senator Paul Sarbanes’ office in Baltimore urging him to vote in favor of cutting off aid to death-squad El Salvador. Arrestees included Michele Naar, Greg Boertje, Mike Bardoff, Carol McKusick and Max Obuszewski. While they were arrested and spent a night in jail, the senator’s office declined to press charges.

On April 27, 1987, we closed down the Central Intelligence Agency as 560 of blocked three entrances and were arrested. I was in an affinity group with Phil Berrigan, and in waves we blocked the main entrance. For whatever reason, Phil was released and I was charged with obstruction of free passage. I then was taken to the Fairfax County Detention Center. I think I spent three days in jail with George Figgs, john Heid and many others. Dan Ellsberg was also arrested. I was released from jail, and never called to attend a trial. Presumably, the court would have been overwhelmed if the government put several hundred protesters on trial.

Size

On April 27, throngs protesting U.S. Foreign Policy snarled traffic in McLean, VA. The actual number of protesters was estimated to be 1,500. The nonviolent protesters, well organized remnants of the tens of thousands who gathered in Washington over the weekend for a "Mobilization for Justice & Peace in Central America & Southern Africa" were met by more than 200 Fairfax County and federal police, many dressed in riot gear and carrying chemical Mace. Waves of singing and chanting activists, many of them students and clergymen, linked arms and sat cross-legged in the access road leading to the Central Intelligence Agency's gates while police methodically dragged or carried their limp bodies into waiting wagons. The result was a strikingly cordial display of civil disobedience, with most protesters and authorities cooperating in an orderly process of arrests, handcuffings and bookings that began in the predawn chill shortly before 7 a.m. and was over four hours later. A handful of minor scuffles occurred, but order was quickly restored and no serious injuries were reported.

The target of most of the protesters was U.S. policy in Nicaragua, where the Reagan administration has pursued a "secret war" against the Sandinista government through funding and covert aid to the antigovernment contra rebels. In addition, the protesters took issue with the American government's policy of "constructive engagement" with the minority white regime in South Africa. Many of the activists, who regard those stances and the accompanying violence as immoral, spent the weekend in the capital calling attention to their issues with a benefit concert Friday night, a march of 75,000 Saturday and a special interfaith worship service Sunday. They arrived in busloads from around the nation, a cross section of trade unionists, clergy, liberal activists, blacks, whites, Hispanics, middle-class Americans and the homeless. Most of those arrested were charged with "obstruction of free passage" by Fairfax police, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The activists succeeded in blocking vehicles from entering the main CIA gates at Dolley Madison Boulevard and Georgetown Pike, and the cheering crowds chanted, "Hey, hey, CIA, you didn't get to work today."

The protesters started gathering around 6 a.m. in a staging area at Langley Fork Park, next door to the agency about six miles from Washington. Organizers using bullhorns ,issued final instructions to the milling demonstrators who stood in knots under oak trees at the side of the main entrance. It was a predominantly young and almost entirely white crowd, with a large contingent of students and a smattering of clerics. Marching over to the main agency gate, police helicopters hopping the air overhead and a half-dozen robe-clad Buddhist monks thumping "prayer drums" long the route. Shortly before 7 a.m., with a few straggling demonstrators still arriving and CIA employees unable to get into the facility from the south entrance off Dolley Madison Boulevard, traffic in the area slowed to a crawl, backing up on the George Washington Parkway and Georgetown Pike. When organizers announced over the public address system that roads in the vicinity were snarled, the demonstrators whooped and clapped their approval. The worst of the tie-up was over in about an hour, according to authorities.

One Fairfax County policeman, a veteran of the "May Day" disruptions in 1971 in which hundreds of thousands of Vietnam War protesters converged on Washington, said the contrast with yesterday's affair was sharp. "That was different," said Officer D.A. Stopper, who was at the McLean District station where 262 of those arrested yesterday were taken and processed. "That one was more frightening. These are just regular people." Several in the crowd carried signs imploring the Reagan administration to "boycott South Africa, not Nicaragua." Others paraded gruesome photographs of maimed youngsters in Central America, the victims, according to the demonstrators, of CIA intervention in the region. Others carried placards around their necks with the names and dates of those killed, maimed or missing in Nicaragua, El Salvador and South Africa. Across the road from the mass of protesters at the main gate were three college Republicans from Towson State University in Baltimore County, bearing a large American flag and demonstrating against the demonstrators. "They're willing to get arrested and I'm willing to lay down my life," said Karl Strohminger, who wore a button proclaiming "I'm a contra too"-a reference to the U.S.- backed rebels who seek to over- throw the government of Nicaragua.

On September 29, 1986, fourteen anti-apartheid advocates were arrested on Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus. The Baltimore Anti-Apartheid Coalition worked closely with the student group, Coalition for a Free South Africa, at Johns Hopkins University. On April 10, 1986, the student coalition erected a shanty on the lower quad on the Homewood Campus. The anti-apartheid coalitions were in the midst of a struggle to get the university to divest from its stock portfolio any companies doing business with apartheid South Africa.

Three right-wing students firebombed the shanty. This convinced the administration to take it down. A group of students and community activists sat around the structure to prevent it from being bulldozed. Some 14 were arrested, mostly Hopkins students, but also two community activists, Mary Benns and Max Obuszewski, and a Morgan State student. Baltimore state's attorney Kurt Schmoke decided not to prosecute the protesters.

April 14, 1986 was a national day of protest against “Contra” aid. And 43 members, including Max Obuszewski, of the Baltimore Emergency Response Network marched with 1040 forms stating no tax dollars to the Contras taped to their shirts. They performed a die-in outside the Fallon Federal Building, and were arrested. Philip Berrigan was wiring a wire, as he was miked for an upcoming episode on “Sixty Minutes.” That segment was about the Plowshares movement, and also included ?Dan Berrigan.

A trial was scheduled for June 4, 1986. However, it was cancelled as allegedly there were police errors.

Oct. 29, 1984—I engaged in my first political arrest at the White House gate with Peter DeMott, Bob Burkett, and Jim Berrigan. Bob had heard that people were being arrested for praying. However, a Park Police officer indicated if we did not leave, we would be arrested for incommoding. So Bob dropped out, another protester knelt and all four of us were arrested. I would find out years later that the person who replaced Bob was a drug dealer who shared his profits with the peace community. He met Phil & Dan Berrigan in the federal prison in Danbury, CT. The three others paid the $50 citation, while I went to trial in D.C. Superior Court. In a bench trial, I was found guilty and paid a $50 fine.