Thursday, April 26, 2012

Baltimore Activist Alert - Part 5

80] Ambassador to Syria at Hilton -- Apr. 26

81] Bill Barry's teaching a course on the 30s – Apr. 26

82] Department of War budget – Apr. 26

83] Support marriage equality – Apr. 26

84] Civil rights book talk – Apr. 26

85] New Jim Crow – Apr. 26

86] Queer Herstory – Apr. 26

87] NDAA forum – Apr. 26

88] Book talk "What Money Can't Buy" – Apr. 26

89] Peace essay contest for middle school students – through Apr. 30

90] Sponsors needed for Theater of the Oppressed – May 12

91] HELP MAKE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!  

92] Sign up with Washington Peace Center

93] Join Fund Our Communities 

94] Submit articles to Indypendent Reader 

95] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records

96] Do you need a television and/or a computer?

97] Join Global Zero campaign

98] War Is Not the Answer signs for sale

99] Click on The Hunger Site 

100] Fire & Faith  

101] Join Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil

------

80] –  The Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs as part of their Distinguished Speakers Program presents The Honorable Robert S. Ford, The United States Ambassador to Syria at The Hilton Baltimore Hotel, 401 W. Pratt St., Baltimore, MD 21201.  Hear his talk The Arab Spring - Syria's Uprising and America's Options as part of the Distinguished Speakers Program on Thurs., Apr. 26 at the Baltimore Hilton Hotel, with a reception at 5:15 PM, followed by the program at 6 PM.  Call 410-235-5400. Go to http://hiltongardeninn.com. The price is $25, but members get in for free.Call 410-727-2150 or visit www.bcfausa.org.

 

81] – Bill Barry is teaching a 3-credit course on the 1930s, covering Black Thursday to Pearl Harbor at CCBC-Essex. It continues on Thurs., Apr. 18 from 5:45 to 8:40 PM.  He sees a lot of comparisons between That Depression and This Depression, and how people and the government responded. See great videos and listen to guest speakers on this period of our history. This is a 3-credit college course but you can audit or just--in the spirit of the 30s--sit in. Anyone over 60 gets free tuition. Email wbarrymd@hotmail.com.

 

82] – Catch a talk by Stephen Daggett, Congressional Research Service, entitled Macro Scale DoD Budget Issues before Congress on Thurs., Apr. 26 from 6 to 8 PM at the Marriott Residence Inn, 550 Army-Navy Dr., Arlington, VA.  The event is sponsored by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. RSVP at http://outerdnn.outer.jhuapl.edu/rethinking/MainPage.aspx.

 

83] – Support marriage equality.  On Thurs., Apr. 25 at 6 PM there is a Next Steps Community Meeting at the New Light Metropolitan Community Church, 40 West Church St., Hagerstown, MD 21740. RSVP at field@hrc.org.

 

84] – On Thurs., Apr. 26 from 6:30 to 8 PM, several Civil Rights veterans who took part in the 1963 protests and are interviewed in the book "Round and Round Together: Taking a Merry-Go-Round Ride into the  Civil Rights Movement" will be sharing memories at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, central library, 400 Cathedral St. The book by Amy Nathan weaves the Gwynn Oak story into the story of the Civil Rights movement as a whole.  Call 410-396-5430. Go to http://prattlibrary.org/locations/central/.

 

85]   Let My People Go: A Forum on The New Jim Crow takes place on Thurs., Apr. 26 at 7 PM at the Servant Leadership School at The Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Rd. NW, WDC.  The forum will be led by organizations and faith groups working against the mass incarceration of people of color and supporting those re-entering the community.  The evening will begin with a video excerpt of Michelle Alexander discussing her bestselling book "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness." RSVP at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHctRThZSEphaWxzUmc4LVB6Y2U1WXc6MQ#gid=0.

 

86] Elvis Bakaitis, producer of the comics series "Homos in Herstory: 1970s Edition," will trace "queer history" on Thurs., Apr. 26 at 7 PM at Red Emma's Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 800 St. Paul St. Call 410-230-0450.  Visit http://www.redemmas.org.

 

87] There's a public forum on the NDAA with Heather Hurlburt, executive director of National Security Network and a Takoma Park resident & Shahid Buttar, executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, on Thurs., Apr. 26 from 7:30 to 9:30 PM at the Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912/Azalea Room. Learn about the dangers posed by the NDAA, and about the steps people are taking around the country to reverse what the ACLU is calling "an historic threat." On Dec. 31, 2011, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), codifying indefinite military detention without charge or trial into law for the first time in U.S. history. The NDAA's dangerous detention provisions would authorize the president — and all future presidents — to order the military to pick up and indefinitely imprison people captured anywhere in the world, far from any battlefield.  Contact Thomas Nephew, Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition, at 240-462-5973.  Go to www.mococivilrights.wordpress.com.

 

88] – Harvard professor Michael Sandel's book "What Money Can't Buy" takes up the question: Isn't there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into medicine, education, government, law, art, sports, family life, and other spheres of life where they don't belong? A book sale and signing will follow the presentation on Thurs., Apr. 26 at 8 PM at the Athenaeum, Goucher College, 1021 Dulaney Valley Road. The price is $10, but it is free for Goucher students/faculty/staff/alumni.  Call 410-337-6333.

.

89] – Maryland middle-schoolers, Anne Arundel Peace Action is calling all students to enter a writing contest focusing on the themes of peace and social justice. For more information, call 410-263-7409, or e-mail mjkeller@att.net.  Essays must be submitted thru Mon., Apr. 30.

 

90] – On May 12, there will be a free community event held at Latin Palace--a showing of a Theater of the Oppressed play by El Taller's traveling theater group out of Puebla, Mexico.  This Spanish language interactive play will address issues of social justice and feminism.  The organizers of the event are looking for ways to promote community organizations in Baltimore serving Latino audiences.  If you are interested in sponsoring, helping spread the word or holding an information table at our event please contact Laura at lgudgelgriffin@gmail.com.

 

91] – HELP MAKE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST! Since a civil war in 1974 the island of Cyprus has been divided in two with a United Nations patrolled border.  Turkish/Muslim Cypriots are in the north; Greek/Christian Cypriots are in the south.  Animosities and prejudices run deep. Children throw rocks at each other across the border.  Experts believe that Cyprus is at a crossroads between renewed conflict or becoming an example in the Middle East of how two such cultures can live in peace.

 

The Cyprus Friendship Program, based on the successful model that helped build peace in Northern Ireland, brings over a Muslim and Christian teen to stay with an American host family for the month of July (or ½ month if paired with another host family). This bonding experience in a neutral environment almost always results in a strong friendship. Programming here and after their return to Cyprus turns them into peace builders who are trained in how to influence their peers.  The teens are chosen for their maturity, leadership potential, and English speaking ability. You choose the gender and age (from 15 to 17). To learn more contact Tom McCarthy at 301-774-7069 or Thomas.McCarthy@RaymondJames.com.

 

This video is only 3 minutes long but gives a good overview of the program. It was made by the US State Department

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8rSmOKgY_4. This video is about 8 minutes, gives more info on some of their activities while here, and was made in part by the teens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egcM0Fnj2YA.  

                                                                                                      

92] – The Washington Peace Center has a progressive calendar & activist alert! Consider signing up to receive its weekly email: info@washingtonpeacecenter.org.

 

93] – Fund Our Communities campaign – is a grass roots movement to get support from local organizations and communities to work together with their local and state elected officials to pressure Congresspersons and senators to join with Congresspersons Barney Frank and Ron Paul, who have endorsed a 25% cut to the federal military budget.  Bring home the savings to state and county governments to meet the local needs which are under tremendous budget pressures.  Go to www.OurFunds.org.      

 

94] – The new Indypendent Reader is seeking articles for its web site at http://www.indyreader.org.  Submit an article. 

 

95] – If you would like to get rid of books, videos, DVDs or records, contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net. 

 

96] – Can you use a television set and/or a computer, monitor etc.? Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net. 

 

97] – Join an extraordinary global campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons: http://www.globalzero.org/sign-declaration. A growing group of leaders around the world is calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and a majority of the global public agrees.  This is an historic window of opportunity.  With momentum already building in favor of Zero, a major show of support from people around the world could tip the balance. When it comes to nuclear weapons, one is one too many.  

 

98] – WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER signs from Friends Committee on National Legislation are again for sale at $5.  To purchase a sign, call Max at 410-366-1637.

 

99] – The Hunger Site was initiated by Mercy Corps and Second Harvest, and is funded entirely by advertisers.  You can go there every day and click the big yellow "Give Food for Free" button near the top of the page; you do not have to look at the ads. Each click generates funding for about 1.1 cups of food.  So consider clicking.  

 

100] – Go online for FIRE AND FAITH: The Catonsville Nine File. On May 17, 1968, nine people entered the Selective Service Offices in Catonsville, Maryland, and burned draft records in protest against the war in Vietnam. View http://www.prattlibrary.org/digital/.

 

101] – Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil takes place every day in Lafayette Park, 1601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 24 hours a day, since June 3, 1981.  Go to http://prop1.org; call 202-682-4282.

 

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.

 

"One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better" - Daniel Berrigan

No comments: