Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Baltimore Activist Alert - Part 1

Baltimore Activist Alert July 26 – Aug. 1, 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] Art Opening: UNConditional through July 26

7] Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here through July 31

8] "Inventing the Nation" – ongoing

9] Art Along the Trials – through Sept. 3

10] The Palestinian Struggle – July 26

11] Save the American Dream – July 26

12] COF's International Programs – July 26

13] Protest Obama's deportation – July 26

14] War Is Not the Answer demo – July 26

15] Stand with Tim DeChristopher – July 26

16] Film FRESH – July 26

17] Freedom Flotilla report – July 26

18] Cuba Double Feature screenings – July 26

19] Lobby for Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid – July 27

20] Protest BDC's give-aways – July 27

21] Philadelphia peace vigil – July 27

22] War to Peace in East Asia – July 27

23] Chestnut Hill, PA vigil – July 27

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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. The coffee comes in one-pound bags.

 

Fill out the form and mail it with a check made out to HOCOFOLA on or before the second week of the month.  Be sure you indicate ground or beans for each type of coffee ordered.  Send it to Adela Hirsch, 5358 Eliots Oak Rd., Columbia, MD 21044.  Be sure you indicate ground (G) or bean (B) for each type of coffee ordered. The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up.  Contact Adela at 410-997-5662 or via e-mail at adela4peace@verizon.net.

 

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] – An Art Opening: UNConditional continues through Tues., July 26 at The Jerusalem Fund Gallery, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC 20037. Use the Foggy Bottom Metro.  The gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM, or by appointment.  This is an installation and jewelry exhibition by Nadira Araj, who is from Bethlehem.  Call 202-338-1958.

7] – Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here is an exhibit which is continuing until Sun., July 31 in Gallery 31 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th St. NW, WDC. The exhibit features 130 broadsides created by poets and book artists in solidarity with those killed and injured in a 2007 bombing of Al-Mutanabbi Street, Baghdad's famed street of booksellers and the center of Iraqi intellectual life. The Iraqi Arts Community wants to show that the collective cultural voice cannot and will not be silenced, and representing the 30 people killed and 100 injured, 130 broadsides have been created. "This is our starting point: where language, thought, and reality reside: where memory, ideas, and even dreams wait patiently in their black ink."  The broadsides are traveling the world to various venues highlighting the project and raising funds for Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders.  The project is continuing to grow as artists respond to the call for 130 book artists to create 3 books to compliment the broadsides.  Go to http://getinvolved.corcoran.org/page.aspx?pid=493 or call 202-639-1700.

8] – "Inventing a Nation" at the Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument St., is now ongoing. It's collaboration between the historical society and the Maryland State Archives and displays artifacts from the American Revolutionary War, and the gallery is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 AM to 5 PM and on Sundays from noon to 5 PM.  Go to http://www.mdhs.org/museum/exhibitions.  Call 410-685-3750.  Admission for adults is $6, seniors, $5, students with ID/children (between the ages of 3 and 18 years old), $4, and children (younger than 3 years old), free.

 

9] – Art Along the Trails continues at Carrie Murray Nature Center Leakin/Gwynne Falls Park, 1901 Ridgetop Road, Baltimore, MD 21207.  The exhibit is up through Sept. 3.

10] – On Tues., July 26 from noon to 1:30 PM, hear about Recent Successes and Failures in the Palestinian Struggle at The Palestine Center, 2425 Virginia Ave., NW [at G St. & 24th St., NW: Blue or Orange Metro to Foggy Bottom].  Hear from three speakers.  RSVP at http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/RegisterForEvent/i/29809.  You can view the live webcast at www.palestinecenter.org/live.   The purpose of this lecture is to address how Palestinians have utilized social media in light of recent events in the Arab world and the future of social media in Palestine.

11] – Health Care for America Now is joining MoveOn.org and other leaders of the American Dream movement to ask people to show up outside Member of Congress' offices on Tues., July 26 at noon to deliver a crucial message: "Don't destroy the American Dream."  You can download a variety of signs and other resources from MoveOn.org here: http://civic.moveon.org/default/index.html.

12] – Join an informal lunch discussion with the Council on Foundation's new managing director of Global Philanthropy, John Harvey, on Tues., July 26 from noon to 1 PM in the OMB Watch Conference Room, 2040 S. St. NW, WDC.  RSVP at  ssazawal@charityandsecurity.org.  John will discuss the COF's international programs, including the Global Philanthropy Leadership Initiative.  Call 202-729-6790.  Go to www.charityandsecurity.org.

 

 

13] – On Mon., July 25 President Obama spoke in front of the largest Latino convention of the year.  His goal was to build support for his reelection campaign, but the truth is that President Obama has deported over a MILLION immigrants since the start of his administration.  These deportations are tearing our families apart and they have unleashed an unprecedented wave of fear.  Join CASA de Maryland and Congressperson Luis Gutierrez on Tues., July 26 a 3 PM in front of the White House. This Immigration Rally will call for a stop to deportations until there is a legislative solution. Be at Lafayette Square, corner of 16th and H Sts. NW. Call 301-431-4185.

 

14] – 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 July 26 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM.  Call Max at 410-366-1637.

15] – There is a Solidarity Rally and Vigil for Tim DeChristopher who will be sentenced on Tues., July 26 in federal court in Salt Lake City.  Stand in solidarity on July 26 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM outside the U.S. District Courthouse, 300 Constitution Ave., NW.  On March 3, Tim was found guilty of two felony counts for participating in a peaceful act of civil disobedience. A bright, charismatic young man could face up to ten years in federal prison, along with a $750,000 fine, for outbidding Big Coal and Big Oil as they attempted to quietly take thousands of acres of pristine lands from the public.  Go to www.peacefuluprising.org or email Jamie (jamie.jamiep1a@gmail.com).

16] – The film FRESH will be shown as part of Accokeek's documentary series, and it highlights people who are searching for healthier and more sustainable alternatives to combat obesity and environmental pollution caused by the USA's industrialized food system.  There is no charge to see the documentary on Tues., July 26 at 6:30 PM at The Accokeek Foundation, 3400 Bryan Point Road.  Call 301-283-2113 or go to http://www.accokeek.org/events.

17] – Are you curious about what happened to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla?  On Tues., July 26 at 7 PM, there is a Report Back from a few passengers who were on the Audacity of Hope at Red Emma's, 800 St Paul St. Go to http://redemmas.org/event/2449/.

18] –  See a Double Feature Film Screening on Cuba on Tues., July 26 from 7:30 to 9:30 PM at the West End Cinema, 2301 M St. NW, WDC.  A ticket price of $11 will get you in to see both films. July 26th is celebrated in Cuba as the initiation of the movement that led to the island's independence. On behalf of IPS fellow Saul Landau, the Institute for Policy Studies and the DC chapter of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom will host the screenings.

 

The first is MAESTRA about the Cuban Literacy Campaign of 1961 which dramatically changed the nation's literacy levels within one year by organizing over 100,000 volunteers – over half of whom were women – to teach classes in the rural areas of the country. In 2005, a documentary crew began collecting testimonies of women literacy teachers, exploring how this experience influenced their lives & sense of self, as well as the future of their nation. The result was this inspiring new film by Catherine Murphy.

 

The second film is WILL THE REAL TERRORIST PLEASE STAND UP is the latest film by Saul Landau and documents the half- century history of small groups of Cuban exiles who have waged a terrorist campaign against Cuba's revolutionary government, with active or passive support from the U.S. government. This history involves the CIA, violence, and 5 Cubans serving long sentences in U.S. prisons for trying to stop terrorism. The film features an interview with Gerardo Hernandez, one of the Cuban Five who is currently serving life imprisonment in Victorville Maximum Security Prison for "conspiracy to commit espionage."  Also featured are interviews with Luis Posada Carriles, Orlando Bosch and others who have acknowledged perpetrating acts of terrorism in Cuba as "freedom fighters."

 

19] – Tell the House of Representatives to Negotiate Prescription Drug Benefits Under Medicare Part D.  Gather on Wed., July 27 at 10 AM in the Longworth House Office Building Cafeteria.  According to economist Joseph Stiglitz, the U.S. can save $1 trillion in 10 years by negotiating the prescription drug benefit in Medicare. This is not a tax, but is simply applying standard business practices to save the taxpayers money.

 

The lobbying will include a call to protect the benefits in Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. Packets are available which show price comparisons between common drugs purchased for the Veterans Administration and Medicare; Medicare often pays up to 48% more for the exact same drugs. Contact Andrea Miller at 443-878-2071. You can call your representative at 202-224-3121 or your Senator at 888-907-1485.

 

20] – Stand for Fair Development NOT Poverty Zone Development! Join United Workers in a demonstration on Wed., July 27 at 10 AM in front of the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC), 36 S. Charles St., at Lombard St., to demand transparency on their back-room $3 million rent break to Harbor Developer, Cordish.  While the city gives out rent breaks to multi-billion dollar developers, harbor workers can barely afford a roof over our heads.  The Inner Harbor needs more than a make-over, as it needs a transformation of values.  There's a need for a Living Wage - Health Care – Education and Fair Development!  Call 410-230-1998 or email info@unitedworkers.org or go to http://unitedworkers.org.

 

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 July 27. Call 215-426-0364.

22] – From War to Peace in East Asia is an event that will take place on Wed., July 27 from 5 to 9 PM.  There is a workshop from 5 to 6:30 PM in the Conference Room @ Institute of Policy Studies, 1112 16th St., NW. Then there will be a Candle Light Vigil from 7 to 9 PM near the White House in Lafayette Park.  Join IPS, the National Association of Korean Americans and other organizations to commemorate the 58th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice and hold a candlelight vigil in honor of the nameless spirits who sacrificed their lives during and since the Korean War, and to demand a permanent peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula.

On July 27, 1953, the U.S. signed an Armistice agreement with China and North Korea to temporarily halt the fighting that claimed 4 million lives and divided 10 million families, pending a formulation of a peace treaty. Despite the desire of people in North and South Korea for peace and reconciliation, no peace treaty has been signed, though China has normalized relations with the U.S. and South Korea. Sixty years after the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States continues to have a strong military presence in South Korea including 24 military bases and 28,500 military personnel.

The need for a peace treaty is part of a larger political issue of not only bringing peace to a divided Korean peninsula but also developing a regional framework that provides a means for resolving conflicts and promoting peace in Northeast Asia. East Asia has historically been considered a dispute-ridden region in which the countries participating in the Six Party Talks (U.S., Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan) account for nearly 65 percent of the world's military spending. Go to http://www.ips-dc.org/events/from_armistice_to_peace_treaty_a_step_towar... Email  gp1160@gmail.com.

23] – 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 July 27. Call 215-843-4256 or email nwgreens@yahoo.com.  

 

To be continued.

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