Baltimore Activist Alert - Part 1

Baltimore Activist Alert Jan. 11 – Jan. 17, 2013


"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.



Tune into the Maryland Progressive Blog at http://mdprogblog.org.



1] Books, buttons & stickers

2] Web site for info on federal legislation

3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists

4] Buy coffee through HoCoFoLa

5] For All the World to see exhibit – through Mar. 10

6] Witness Against Torture marches – Jan. 11

7] WIB Roland Park vigil – Jan. 11

8] Justice for Palestine/Israel vigil – Jan. 11

9] Leaflet at the pro-torture film “Zero Dark Thirty” – Jan. 11

10] Silent peace vigil – Jan. 11

11] Film PROMISED LAND – Jan. 11

12] Ballroom dancing – Jan. 11

13] Steiner Lecture – Jan. 11

14] Play THE MOUNTAINTOP – Jan.11

15] Candidate Training – Jan. 12

16] Protest CIA drones – Jan. 12

17] Olney peace vigil – Jan. 12

18] West Chester, PA demo – Jan. 12

19] Protest Burmese government – Jan. 12

20] Film "The House I Live In" – Jan. 12

21] Silent vigil at Capitol – Jan. 12

22] Death Penalty talk – Jan. 13

23] Peace and Pancakes – Jan. 13

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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] – For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights explores the historic role played by visual images in shaping, influencing, and transforming the fight for civil rights in the United States. The exhibit includes photographs, television and film, magazines, newspapers, posters, books, and pamphlets. The exhibition will continue through Mar. 10. You can see it Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 AM to 5 PM in the UMBC Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, 1000 Hilltop Circle.

6] – Witness Against Torture members are fasting through Sat., Jan. 12. Its members are trying to encourage the president to carry out his promise from four years ago to close Guantanamo. Go to http://witnesstorture.org/.



Act to Close the Internment Camp at Guantánamo on its Grim 11th Anniversary, Fri., Jan. 11. Join a coalition of groups starting at noon on the steps of the Supreme Court, 1 First St., NE (between East Capitol & Maryland Ave.nue), WDC, moving past the Capitol, and ending at the White House at 1:30 PM.



The Obama administration has not only failed to exercise the leadership required to close Guantánamo, but it has also extended some of the worst aspects of the Guantánamo system by continuing to use illegitimate military commissions to try some suspects, and by blocking accountability for torture.



At 2:30 PM, NRCAT is holding an Interfaith Prayer Service at the New York Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Ave.? Warm beverages and snacks will be available at the United Methodist Building, 100 Maryland Ave. NE, corner of First St. NE, from 10:30 AM to noon and at New York Ave Presbyterian Church, starting at 1:30 PM.



7] – There is also a noon Women in Black vigil on Jan. 11 at Roland Park Place, 830 W. 40th St. Call 410-467-9114.



8] – A vigil for Justice in Palestine/Israel takes place every Friday from noon to 1 PM at 19th & JFK Blvd., Philadelphia (across from Israeli Consulate. It is sponsored by Bubbies & Zaydes (Grandparents) for Peace in the Middle East. Email cswartz@pil.net. Go to http://phillyjewishpeace.org/.



9] – On Fri., Jan. 11, the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore will be at the Rotunda Mall, in the back parking lot, in Baltimore at 6:15 PM to leaflet at the pro-torture film “Zero Dark Thirty,” which begins at 6:40 PM. Contact Max at 410-3661637 or mobuszewski at Verizon.net.



10] – There is a silent peace vigil on Fri., Jan. 11 from 5 to 6 PM outside Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St. Placards say: "War Is Not the Answer." The silent vigil is sponsored by Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings. Since this is First Friday, there will be a potluck dinner and a film to follow.

11] – See a screening of “Promised Land” with Del. Shane Robinson on Fri., Jan. 11 at 7 PM at Regal Cinemas, 199 E Montgomery Ave, Rockville, MD 20850. Join Montgomery County Delegate Shane Robinson and the Montgomery County Young Democrats to watch the new movie starring Matt Damon. A small-town teacher stands up to a pair of fracking representatives who are determined to exploit the local resources, and receives some unexpected support as the community rallies to drive away the persistent interlopers in this drama from director Gus Van Sant. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/475103142535880./

12] – There is an opportunity to participate in ballroom dancing, usually every Friday of the month, in the JHU ROTC Bldg. at 8 PM. Turn south on San Martin Dr. from the intersection of Univ. Parkway and 39th St. Drive on campus by taking the third left turn. The next dance will be Jan. 11. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725.



13] – Harvard professor James Wood will give the Steiner Lecture at St. John's College, 60 College Ave., Annapolis, on Fri., Jan. 11 at 8 PM. Professor Wood will examine the arguments that occur between religious believers and atheists, and the role that the modern novel plays in representing each. Call 410-263-2371. Go to http://www.sjca.edu.



14] – See the play, THE MOUNTAINSHIP, directed by CENTER STAGE Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah. It features Dr. Martin Luther King at the Lorraine Hotel, on the day before his assassination, when he gains a new perspective from a conversation with a maid.



Center Stage is located at 700 N. Calvert St. Ticket prices range from $10 to $56. Call 410-332-0033. The play will be performed through February 24.



15] – You are invited you to the Campaign, Candidate Training on Sat., Jan. 12 from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM in Baltimore with guest speaker Congresswoman Donna Edwards & a panel discussion with Maryland’s elected women leaders. The registration fee is $60 for most attendees, but Young Democrat members pay $35--using discount code "YOUNGDEM." A student with an ID pays $25--use discount code "STUDENT." Contact Mary Urban at Mary@fontainecompany.com or call 410-366-3940 to register and to get directions to the site.



16] – Stop CIA Killer Drones & Torture on Sat., Jan. 12 at 10 AM at CIA Headquarters, 900 block of Dolley Madison Blvd, Langley, VA. Pressure the CIA to stop their use of killer drones and torture! The CIA has been found guilty by the European Court of torture, abuse, & secretly imprisoning people. U.S. military & CIA drones have maimed & killed thousands of people in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya & Afghanistan. This year alone there have been over 333 + strikes in Afghanistan. Almost 60 Guantanamo prisoners have been cleared for release but still remain captives of the US indefinitely.



Go to WWW.WITNESSTORTURE.ORG. The demo is organized by Pax Christi Metro DC and many other groups. Contact Jack McHale at 703-772-0635.



17] – Friends House, 17715 Meeting House Rd., Sandy Spring, MD 20860, hosts a peace vigil every Saturday, 10:30 to 11:30 AM, on the corner of Rt. 108 and Georgia Ave. [Route 97] in Olney, MD. The next vigil is Jan. 12. Call Chuck Harker at 301-570-7167.



18] – Each Saturday, 11 AM – 1 PM, Chester County Peace Movement holds a peace vigil in West Chester in front of the Chester County Courthouse, High & Market Sts. Go to www.ccpeace.org. Email ccpeacemovement@aol.com.

19] – Stop Crime against Ethnic Minorities in Burma on Sat., Jan. 12 from noon to 2 PM at the Department of State, corner of Virginia Ave. and 21st St., NW and then from 2:30 to 4:30 PM at Lafayette Park at the White House. Kachin Alliance invites you to join the peace rally to raise awareness for armed conflict in Kachin State, Shan State, and other ethnic States. The US Campaign on Burma will co-sponsor this event.

It has been more than a year since the outbreak of armed conflict in Northern Burma, June 9th, 2011. The civil war being fought between the Burmese government forces and the Kachin Independence Army has resulted in over 100,000 internally displaced personals (IDPs). The ongoing fierce aerial assaults, the use of combat helicopters, fighter jets, and shelling on unarmed innocent civilians by government forces have killed civilians, hence putting the lives of thousands of Burmese citizens in grave danger.

So far, President Thein Sein’s administration has failed to stop this genocidal war against its own citizens. Stand together as one people and plead with the United States government to urge the Burmese government to initiate genuine political dialogue. Demand an immediate stop to aerial bombardment, provide aid to ALL victims of this conflict, and urge the United Nations to conduct commission of inquiry on war crimes. Contact the Kachin Alliance at contact@kachinalliance.org or 202-500-5076.

20] – See a screening of "The House I Live In" on Sat., Jan. 12 at noon at Union Baptist Church, Room of Remembrance. 1219 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore 21217.





It will also be shown at 3 PM at St. Matthews New Life United Methodist Church, 416 E. 23RD St., Baltimore 21218. Go to www.facebook.com/stmatthewsnewlife.



21] – There will be a peace vigil on the West Lawn of the Capitol at noon on Sat., Jan. 12. Look for the blue banner with the message, "Seek Peace and Pursue It.--Psalms 34:14." The vigil lasts one hour and is silent except when one responds to the occasional questions. Go to http://www.quaker.org/langleyhill/seekpeace.htm or email seekpeacevigil@yahoo.com.



22] – Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St., Suite 102, Baltimore 21201-4661, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion from 10:30 to 11:30 AM. On Sun., Jan. 13, Hugh Taft-Morales, BES leader, will discuss “End the Death Penalty.”



Capital punishment is an expensive, ineffective, racially biased, cruel and unusual punishment. It violates the central value of Ethical Humanism: unconditional respect for the inherent worth of every person. The American Ethical Union called for an end to this barbaric practice in 1960, 1973, 1979, and 2000. Governor O’Malley described the death penalty as being “inherently unjust” and has sponsored bills to ban it. The state-sanctioned killing of an imprisoned person violates human dignity. Maybe 2013 is Maryland’s year to end capital punishment once and for all. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.



23] – Join the Kadampa Meditation Center for Peace and Pancakes on Sundays at 10:30 AM at KMC Maryland, 2937 North Charles St. All are invited to participate in guided meditation and chant praying for world peace. There will be a talk based on Buddhist thought followed by brunch. Call 410- 243-3837. Brunch is $5.

To be continued.

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/.

"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