Baltimore Activist Alert - June 13, 2013

65] D.C. Green Festival Coordinating Meeting -- June 13


66] "Marijuana Legalization: Dinner” -- June 13

67] Film “Central Park Five,” – June 13

68] OCCUPY GEZI & BEYOND -- June 13

69] Documentary “The Last Survivor” - June 13

70] American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) National Convention – June 13 – 16

71] Max is seeking a place to live after June 30

72] Support the Transform Now Plowshares

73] Student looking for an internship

74] Drones Quilt Project

75] SOA Watch job

76] David Swanson book--When the World Outlawed War

77] Support Red Emma’s in its move

78] Sign up with Washington Peace Center

79] Join Fund Our Communities

80] Submit articles to Indypendent Reader

81] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records

82] Do you need any book shelves or file cabinets?

83] Join Global Zero campaign

84] War Is Not the Answer signs for sale

85] Fire & Faith

86] Join Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil



65] – The D.C. Green Festival Coordinating Meeting is happening on Thurs., June 13 at 6 PM at Green America Office, 1612 K St. NW, 6th Floor. Are you interested in helping to coordinate this year's Green Festival scheduled for September 21-22nd at the Washington Convention Center? Join Green America staff, community leaders and previous host committee members for a reception and season kick-off! Call 202-872-5332 or email adavidson@Greenamerica.org.

66] – ACLU of Maryland is suggesting “Let’s talk marijuana” on Thurs., June 13 at the Chapter Dinner 2013 at the New Deal Café, 113 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD. Dinner tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, and $15 for students. Contact Meredith Curtis at curtis@aclu-md.org or 410-889-8555. The ACLU of Maryland presents "Marijuana Legalization: Dinner. Conversation. Action!" at the annual Prince George's and Montgomery County ACLU Chapter dinner and forum. Marijuana legalization is an idea that is gaining ground across the country, as well as here in Maryland. The evening begins at 6 PM with a reception and dinner (tickets required). At 7:30 PM, the program takes place (no tickets required). The speakers include Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and Sara Love, public policy director at the ACLU of Maryland. See www.aclu-md.org.



67] –

Baltimore Racial Justice Action presents “Central Park Five,” a documentary film by Ken and Sarah Burns on Thurs., June 13 from 6 to 9 PM at Humanim - American Brewery, 1701 N. Gay St. A discussion on racial injustice and the media will follow. Go to http://www.humanim.com.

68] – OCCUPY GEZI & BEYOND: Standing with the Uprising in Turkey takes place on Thurs., June 13 from 7 to 8:30 PM at All Souls Church Unitarian, 1500 Harvard St. NW. What started on May 27 as a protest to oppose the demolition of Istanbul's Gezi Park has turned into an explosive struggle that's shaking Turkey to its foundations. Amidst horrific police brutality, mass labor strikes, calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Erdogan, and the unmistakable echo of both the Occupy movement and the 2011 Arab Spring, a new movement has been born with international dimensions. How can we offer solidarity, and why is this struggle making people in power in the United States extremely agitated? Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/122423154632689/.

69] – See the documentary “The Last Survivor” which

focuses on the survivors of four tragic atrocities: the Holocaust, Rwanda, Darfur, and Congo. On Thurs., June 13 at 7:30 PM at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson, 3134 Eastern Ave. Call 410-276-1651. Visit http://www.creativealliance.org. Tickets are $12.

70] – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) National Convention is starting on Thurs., June 13 at 8 PM and will conclude on Sun., June 16 at 8 PM at 1990 M St., Suite 610, WDC 20036. Call 202-244-2990. Register at http://convention.adc.org/register/.

71] – As of June 30, Max is seeking a place to live. Let him know of any possibilities. He can be reached at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.dot net.



70] – You can support the Transform Now Plowshares resisters by writing the judge and the prisoners. Greg Boertje-Obed, Michael Walli and Megan Rice are currently in the Irwin County Detention Facility in Ocilla, GA, awaiting their sentencing on September 23, 2013. The three were found guilty by a jury in Tennessee in May on two counts. Judge Amul Thapar revoked their pre-trial release saying they were technically guilty of a crime of violence and must be held.



Here are the addresses: Gregory Boertje-Obed 22090 Irwin County Detention Center 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774 ***Michael Walli 4444, Irwin County Detention Center, 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774. Megan Rice 22100, Irwin County Detention Center, 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774. You must make sure to include your entire return address on the outside of the envelope. No staples or paperclips can be included in your mail; no oversized envelopes. Magazines and books must be sent directly from the publisher or bookstore/Amazon. Photocopies of brief articles are likely to be permitted (based on our past experience). If you include inappropriate material or fail to comply with these rules, your mail will not get through—it will be returned to you.



The second thing you can do is send a letter to Judge Thapar. We have suggested guidelines for your letter, and we are asking people to send their letter to Bill Quigley, lawyer for Mike Walli (address below), so they can be collected and delivered to the judge. If you want to send a copy of your letter to us, that would be great—our address is also below. Invite Judge Thapar to think about sentencing in light of the fact that this was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience intended to awaken the conscience of the nation, and no evidence was presented that it was an act of terrorism meant to harm anyone. You could write that you share the court's concern that Congress would write a law that wouldn’t allow a judge to distinguish between peace activists and terrorists, and are disturbed that the government defines the crime they stand convicted of as a violent "crime of terrorism.” As testimony of the defendants showed during trial, they carried out their action in a spirit of nonviolence and hope. Without making it the focus of the letter, you could mention that the action was carried out with the clear understanding of the illegality and immorality of nuclear weapons, and intent to uphold higher laws. Encourage him to consider downward departures from the high guidelines for the charges, and to use his discretion at sentencing to bring more justice into the situation by recognizing that the defendants are NOT violent terrorists as the government has implied through its interpretation of the crime; and remind him of the intentions of the three nonviolent activists: to follow the words of the prophet Isaiah to beat swords into plowshares, and build a safer and more secure world for all. Our purpose with these letters is not to reargue the case, nor is it to condemn nuclear weapons production—the judge is not engaging those issues at this time. Our purpose is to address the legal system’s distortion of the nonviolent action of the TNP resisters and to provide support to the judge for a sentencing decision that takes into account the nature of their action and their nonviolent behavior throughout their action.



Letters should be sent to US District Judge Amul R Thapar, c/o Professor Bill Quigley, Loyola Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice, 7214 St. Charles Ave., Campus Box 902, New Orleans, LA 70118. If you care to send a copy to OREPA that would also be appreciated--orep@earthlink.net or OREPA, PO Box 5743, Oak Ridge, TN 37831.



71] – "Anna Wijatyk graduated in May with a biochemistry degree and is pursuing an MD/MPH. She speaks four languages (English, French, Polish, and Spanish), and, last year, she spent 7 months volunteering as a hospital assistant and community health education assistant in Chad, Africa. In Chad, Anna came to understand the influence that a physician can have by having knowledge of public health. She hopes to obtain a public health internship this summer to allow her to build on her prior experience, and to explore how she can make a difference in the fields of maternal and child health and international development."



72] – The launch of the website to support the U.S. version of the Drones Quilt Project was developed to memorialize the victims of U.S. combat drone strikes. Leah Bolger has about 185 names, and at present there are over 40 completed blocks. Soon the blocks will be sown together to create panels of quilt blocks. She will create educational information about killer drones to accompany the quilts as part of a traveling exhibit. To support the project visit www.dronesquiltproject.wordpress.com. The completed blocks are shown on the web site. The web site also contains information about creating a block, anti-drone resources and endorsing organizations. Follow the project on Twitter: @dronesproject.



73] – SOA Watch is looking for a Development and Operations Coordinator! The job is based in Washington, D.C. for a minimum of 2 years. The position is full-time with health benefits, paid vacation and holiday time, and there are opportunities for skills development. The salary is $35,000 per year. Please send resume, a cover letter explaining what qualities you would bring to this job and three references to arturo@soaw.org. If you have questions about applying, call Arturo Viscarra at 202-234-3440. The hope is to fill the position as soon as possible. Go to http://www.soaw.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=756.



74] – David Swanson’s latest book is When the World Outlawed War. Go to http://davidswanson.org/outlawry. This is an account of how people in the United States and around the world worked to abolish war as a legitimate act of state policy and won in 1928, outlawing war with a treaty that is still on the books. Swanson's account of the successful work of those who came before us to insist that war be outlawed points us toward new ways of thinking about both war and political activism.



Buy the paperback at your local independent bookstore, which can order it through Ingram. (The list price is $15.) Or you can get 10 copies for $60, or 50 copies for $200, or more (all with free shipping) here. http://davidswanson.org/outlawrybulk. Donate free books to nonprofit educational groups at http://davidswanson.org/outlawrygive.



Buy the iPad/iPhone version at the iBookstore. Get any of these versions for $2 here: Kindle: http://davidswanson.org/outlawry, Epub: http://davidswanson.org/outlawry, PDF: http://davidswanson.org/outlawry, and Audio book (mp3), read by the author: http://davidswanson.org/outlawry.



75] – Red Emma's has closed the location at 800 St. Paul St., and is reopening in a much larger new space on North Avenue in the fall. The collective is seeking your help. It's time to reinvent the project started in 2004 to build a self-sustaining progressive space in Baltimore, committed to providing a daily reminder that another world was possible and that there were people working in the city to build it. Here's how you can help: donate money, provide skilled help, and share these needs. Email john@redemmas.org or go to http://indiegogo.com/redemmas2.



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



77] – 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.



78] – MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. Baltimore's Indypendent Reader is looking for individuals interested in creating media - written, photo, audio, or video - that relates to issues like...economic justice, race, prisons & policing, environment, gender & sexuality, war & peace and more! If you would like to create social justice media, then email indypendentreader@gmail.com. Visit http://www.indyreader.org.



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



80] – Can you use any book shelves? Can you use any file cabinets? Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.



81] – 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.



82] – 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.



83] – 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/.



84] – 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