Monday, February 21, 2011

Baltimore Activist Alert

Baltimore Activist Alert Feb. 21 – Feb. 27, 2011

 

"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 BNC, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218.  Max Obuszewski can be reached at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski [at] verizon.net.

 

The Baltimore IndyMedia Center publicizes peace-related events. Go to http://www.radicalendar.org/group/_baltimore.

  

1] Books, buttons and stickers

2] Web site for info on federal legislation

3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists  

4] Buy coffee through HoCoFoLA  

5] Used stamps for humanitarian causes

6] Bring the World Home continues        

7] Two cats and a piano need homes

8] Need for foster parents

9] Support Wisconsin unions – Feb. 21 & 22

10] Mass Movements tour – Feb. 21

11] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Feb. 21 – Feb. 24

12] Protest the death penalty – Feb. 21        

13] Film "What's the Economy for, Anyway?" – Feb. 21

14] Father of Gaza Flotilla victim speaks – Feb. 21 & 22

15] Pledge of Resistance meeting – Feb. 21

16] Support Environmental Justice Bills – Feb. 21

17] War Is Not the Answer demo – Feb. 22

18] Pray for Peace – Feb. 22

19] "A Land Twice Promised" – Feb. 22

20] Lobby for Medicare For All – Feb. 23

21] Philadelphia peace vigil – Feb. 23

22] Chestnut Hill, PA vigil – Feb. 23

23] Film BUDRUS – Feb. 23

24] Palestine/Israel Roundtable – Feb. 24

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1] – Buttons, bumperstickers and books are available.  "God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions" stickers are in stock. Donate your books to Max. Call him at 410-366-1637.

 

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] – THE ORGANIZING LIST will be the primary decision-making mechanism of the National Campaign of Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR].  It will be augmented by conference calls and possibly in-person meetings as needed.  It will consist of 1 or 2 representatives from each local, regional, or national organization (not coalitions) that wishes to actively work to carry out the NCNR campaign of facilitating and organizing nonviolent resistance to the war in Iraq.

 

To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email address to donmuller@msn.com.  Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.  

 

THE NOTICES LIST will include only notices of NCNR actions and related information and is open to any interested person to subscribe.  It will be moderated to maintain focus & will include periodic notices about getting involved in NCNR national organizing.  To join the NOTICES List, send an email message to ncnrnotices-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. You will get a confirmation message once subscribed.  If you have problems, please write to the list manager at ncnrnotices-admin@lists.riseup.net.

 

4] – You can help safeguard human rights and fragile ecosystems through your purchase of HOCOFOLA Café Quetzal. Bags of ground coffee or whole beans can be ordered by mailing in an order form. Also note organic cocoa and sugar are for sale.  For more details and to download the order form, go to http://friendsoflatinamerica.typepad.com/hocofola/2010/02/hocofola-cafe-quetzal-order-form-2010.html.

 

Be sure you indicate ground (G) or bean (B) for each type of coffee ordered. Make the check out to HoCoFoLA and send it with your order form to Nancy Meier, 10 Pepperdine Circle, Catonsville, MD 21228.  Contact Pat McLaine at 410-964-0960 or pamcl@aol.com.  The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up.

 

5] – Brad Hathaway spearheads an effort to sell donated used stamps to raise money for different humanitarian causes around the world. Go to www.mattapoisettquakers.org, and click the link for the stamp ministry.  Carefully clip canceled postage stamps and send to Quaker Missions, PO Box 795, Mattapoisett, MA 02739. Send no small flag stamps or Liberty Bell Forever stamps.

 

6] – Catch the "Bringing the World Home" exhibit in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps!  The exhibit is in the UMBC Library Rotunda through the end of the semester and consists of 5 display cases featuring photos and artifacts from UMBC's faculty, staff and students who have served in the Peace Corps, including many current and alumni Shriver Peaceworker Fellows.  The center case features pieces from the Peace Corps founding era (a tribute to Sarge Shriver!) and the surrounding case highlight experiences from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and the AmericasIf you are coming from off campus, give Joby Taylor a call at (410) 455-6398, and he will give you a tour.

 

7] – There are two lovable cats who need separate homes, and a Spinet piano is immediately available.  Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net for specific details on the cats or the piano.

 

8] – There is a serious need for foster care children. If you live in Baltimore County, there is a huge need for people who can take siblings, newborns, and teens. If interested, email fosteradopt@baltimorecountymd.gov. If you live in Maryland, but outside Baltimore County, please contact Barbara Terry: BTerry@dhr.state.md.us.  Go to http://www.dhr.state.md.us/ssa/foster/index.php.

 

9] -- Sharon Black is in Madison, Wisconsin, and she reported the struggle continues in Wisconsin: "those of us who have been sleeping inside the state Capitol, our spirits are high; we are getting pizza delivered to us that has been ordered from as far away as Cairo, Egypt...solidarity and drumming is keeping us going...Madison residents are opening their doors to us for showers and hospitality." Your help is needed to help defray the cost of sending Sharon to Madison.  She is sleeping on the Capitol floor, but needs funds to pay for the cost of an emergency flight.  Write checks or money orders out to Solidarity Center and mail to Sharon Black, 703 E. 37th St., Baltimore, MD. 21218.  View Sharon Black's photo album: 2011-02-20, madison wisconsin day 6.


On Mon., Feb. 21 at noon, there will be a BALTIMORE SOLIDARITY PROTEST at Howard St. & MLK Blvd (near State Office complex). It is called by the Job Is A Right Campaign.  At 7 PM, catch Live from Madison, Wisconsin's Capitol - via Skype - at the Baltimore Solidarity Center, 2011 N. Charles St. Lower Level, Baltimore, 21218. On Tues., Feb. 22 at noon in Lawyers Mall -- Annapolis - join with the AFL-CIO, which is calling for a Solidarity Protest.  Email apcbaltimore@pipeline.com.

 

10] – Join a tour which highlights Leaders of Mass Movements for Freedom on Mon., Feb. 21 from 2 to 3 PM at the Lincoln Memorial. Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr. were three leaders who made great strides in struggles for civil rights at times of great social crisis in the U.S.  Contact Joe Mohr at 202-359-1532.

 

11] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Thursday from 5 to 7 PM on WEAA 88.9 FM, The Voice of the Community, or online at www.weaa.org.   The call-in number is 410-319-8888, and comments can also be sent by email to steinershow@gmail.com. All shows are also available as podcasts at www.steinershow.org 

 

12] – There is usually a vigil to abolish the death penalty every Monday from 5 to 6 PM, outside the prison complex and across the street from Maryland's Super Max Prison, at the corner of Madison Ave. and Fallsway in Baltimore.  Recently death row was moved out of Baltimore, but it was decided to continue the vigil. The next one is scheduled for Mon., Feb. 21. Call 410-366-1637.

 

13] – On Mon., Feb, 21 at 7 PM at the New Deal Cafe, 113 Centerway (Greenbelt's Roosevelt Center), see the film "What's the Economy for, Anyway?" It has won praise as an engaging and funny treatment of its serious, complicated subject. Produced by John de Graaf, well known for AFFLUENZA, the 40-minute documentary compares the U.S. economy with that of other industrial countries in terms of quality of life, fairness and ecological sustainability.  This is part of the Reel & Meal at the New Deal, a monthly film and discussion series, sponsored by several local grassroots groups to raise public awareness about their various interrelated social and environmental concerns and to inspire citizen action in response to them.  The program is organized by the Peace & Justice Coalition of Prince George's County.  Contact Lucy Duff at justpeacepg@earthlink.net or 301-577-2350.

 

14] – Join AHMET DOĞAN, father of Turkish-American 19 year-old Furkan Dogan killed on the GAZA FLOTILLA by Israeli commandos, on Mon., Feb. 21 at 7 PM at the Eatonville Restaurant, 2121 14th St., NW, WDC (next to Busboys and Poets).  He was also speak on Tues., Feb. 22 at 7 PM at George Washington Univ., Room 108, Funger Hall with Katherine Gallagher of the Center for Constitutional Rights, New York City and Ann Wright of the US Boat to Gaza, Second Gaza Flotilla.

 

Furkan Dogan was a 19 year old Turkish-American who aspired to become a medical doctor.  He was killed by Israeli military commandos on the Mavi Marmara, a ship carrying 600 international humanitarian and peace activists in the May, 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla.  Nine activists were killed and 50 wounded by the Israeli military in 15 minutes.  Furkan was shot five times, including in the back and in the face at point-blank range.  The U.S.  government has not conducted an investigation on the death of this U.S. citizen by a foreign military force.  Professor Dogan will be in Washington to meet with U.S. officials to discuss the lack of action.  Contact Greta Berlin at 310-422-7242 or IrisTulip@gmail.com.

 

15] – The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore usually meets on Mondays at 7:30 PM, and the meetings now take place at Max's residence.  The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21.  The agenda will include a discussion of the protests in Wisconsin, Progressive Working Group gathering in Annapolis on Mar. 7, the March 19 action in D.C., Bradley Manning and the climate chaos protest at the Pentagon.  Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net for directions.  

 

16] – Support Environmental Justice Bills.  This session Clean Water Action working with its allies has been able to introduce legislation that would help environmentally-stressed communities throughout Maryland. Senate Bill 752 and House Bill 847 would require that state agencies when making certain permit decisions regarding large polluting facilities review and consider the impact and cumulative impacts that may be put upon already burdened environmentally stressed communities. 

 

Specifically, the bills would require:

       The Department of the Environment, in consultation with the Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, to map Environmentally Stressed Communities.

       That applicants applying for certain environmental permits to build or expand facilities in identified Environmentally Stressed Communities conduct an Environmental Justice Review.

       The Department of the Environment to consider "cumulative impacts" upon any environmentally stressed community before granting a permit for the building or expanding of a facility.

 

The hearing for Environmental Justice bill SB 752 will be on Tues., Feb. 22 at 1 PM in Education Health and Environmental Affairs.  The hearing for Environmental Justice bill HB 847 will be Wed., Mar. 9 at 1 PM in Environmental Matters.  Will you or your organization be able to support this legislation with testimony either written or in person on these dates? If yes, contact Andrew Galli, MD Program Coordinator, at 410-235-8808.

 

17] – There is a vigil to say "War Is Not the Answer" each Tuesday since September 11, 2001 at 4806 York Road. Join this ongoing vigil.  The next vigil is Feb. 22 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM.  Call Max at 410-366-1637.

 

18] Pray for Peace – Feb. 22

18] -- Pray for Peace at 7:30 PM on Tues., Feb. 22 at Emmanuel Monastery, 2229 West Joppa Rd., Lutherville, MD 21093.  Contact Charles Cloughen at 410-321-0199 or frcharles@verizon.net.

 

19] – There will be a dramatic performance "A Land Twice Promised" on Tues., Feb. 22 at 8 PM at the Univ. of Maryland, College Park in the Prince George's Room, Room 1210 in the Stamp Student Union.  Israeli storyteller Noa Baum began a heartfelt dialogue with a Palestinian woman while in the U.S.  She weaves together their memories and their mothers' stories to create a moving testimony that illuminates the complex and contradictory history and emotions surrounding Jerusalem for Israelis and Palestinians alike. 

 

20] – Did you know that the number one cause of bankruptcy is from medical illness? Show your support for health care reform by coming to Annapolis for a rally and lobby day to support the Maryland Health Security Act.  Be there on Wed., Feb. 23 starting at 9:30 AM in Lawyers Mall in front of the State House, State Circle Annapolis, MD 21401.  Speakers will include state legislators and representatives from the Maryland Coalition for Health Security. Visit http://www.mdsinglepayer.org.  After the rally, lobbying materials will be distributed.  Experienced people will lead the lobbying. Transportation will be arranged as needed; if you want a ride, contact Eric Naumburg enaumburg@hotmail.com / 443-562-6562.

21] Philadelphia peace vigil – Feb. 23

 

21] – Each Wednesday from 4:30 - 5:30 PM, the House of Grace Catholic Worker holds a weekly vigil for peace in Iraq outside the Phila. Federal Building, 6th & Market Sts. The next vigil is Feb. 23. Call 215-426-0364.

 

22] Chestnut Hill, PA vigil – Feb. 23

 

22] – Each Wednesday, the Northwest Greens hold a peace vigil from 7 to 8 PM outside the Borders Book Store, Germantown Ave. at Bethlehem Pike in Chestnut Hill, PA. The next vigil is Feb. 23. Call 215-843-4256 or email nwgreens@yahoo.com.  

 

23] – On Wed., Feb. 23 at 7:30 PM, BUDRUS, a film about Palestinian nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation will be shown at the Maryland Institute college of Art, Falvey Hall, Brown Center, 1301 Mt. Royal Ave.  Afterwards, there will be a discussion with executive producer Ronit Avni. Budrus tells the story of a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites members of all factions along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel's Separation Barrier. To register, go to:

https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/2747/c/8234/p/salsa/event/common/publ. 

 

24] Palestine/Israel Roundtable – Feb. 24

 

24] – The WEEKLY ROUNDTABLE SEEKING A JUST PEACE IN PALESTINE/ISRAEL takes place from 12:30 - 1:30 PM on Thursdays at Potter's House, 1658 Columbia Road NW, WDC.  Join a civil discourse which explores the history, issues, myths, realities, and truth of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Contact Alice Azzouzi at 202-232-5483.

 

To be continued.


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