Baltimore Activist Alert - November 23, 2013

39] Fr. Bill McNichols speaks – Nov. 23 40] Olney Peace vigil – Nov. 23 41] West Chester, PA demo – Nov. 23 42] Stop the incinerator – Nov. 23 43] Silent vigil at Capitol – Nov. 23 44] LOCKHEED-VILLE – Nov. 23 45] Walk on Baltimore’s wild side – Nov. 23 46] Sleep-Out for Housing Justice – Nov. 23 47] Whitelock Community Farm Fundraiser – Nov. 23 48] African Children's Choir 40 of Uganda – Nov. 23 49] A Wisdomkeeper performs – Nov. 23 50] Max is seeking a place to live 51] Support the Transform Now Plowshares 52] Sign up with Washington Peace Center 53] Join Fund Our Communities 54] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records 55] Do you need any book shelves or file cabinets? 56] Join Global Zero campaign 57] War Is Not the Answer signs for sale 58] Join Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil ----- 39] – On Sat., Nov. 23 from 9 AM to 3 PM, the P. Francis Murphy Initiative for Justice and Peace is thrilled to announce that world famous iconographer Fr. Bill McNichols ( www.fatherbill.org) will be in Baltimore for a day of prayer and contemplation .It will be a day of spiritual communion, reflection and lecture. The event will take place at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 3615 Harford Rd., Baltimore 21218. Go to http://www.pfmjpi.org/register/. Call 410-235-5136. 40] – 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 Nov. 23. Call Chuck Harker at 301-570-7167. 41] – 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. 42] – Help Build the Movement to Stop the Incinerator on Sat., Nov. 23 by spreading the word about the campaign in a canvassing day in Brooklyn-Curtis Bay, 11 AM to 4:30 PM. Write greggalen@gmail.com or call 410.230.1998. The nation’s largest trash-burning incinerator is set to be built less than a mile from several schools in South Baltimore. For over a year, “Free Your Voice” has been educating themselves about the incinerator and sharing what they have learned with their neighbors. This is the first of two outreach days in the lead-up to the first community-led event against the incinerator. If built the Energy Answers incinerator would be the largest of its kind in the nation, producing more pollutants per hour of energy produced than the largest coal plants in Maryland. The project is set to be built less than a mile from Benjamin Franklin High School and Curtis Bay Elementary School, in violation of Maryland state regulations. 43] – There will be a peace vigil on the West Lawn of the Capitol at noon on Sat., Nov. 23. 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. 44] – Lockheed Martin is the World’s #1 war profiteer, nuclear weapons contractor, international arms dealer, and drone war technology manufacturer. To protest this abomination on Nov. 23 from noon to 3 PM, get over to LOCKHEED-VILLE where the business of war matters, and human needs don’t--230 Mall Boulevard (Mall & Goddard Blvds.), King of Prussia, PA (behind the King of Prussia Mall). Join the encampment and Vigil for Justice. Bring your tent (if you can) umbrella in the event of rain. Contact the Brandywine Peace Community at 610-544-1818 or http://www.brandywinepeace.com/events/. 45] – There is a Viva House/Jonah House event during the American Academy of Religion conference on Sat., Nov. 23 from 2 to 4 PM. Enjoy Practicing Liberation in Baltimore: A Dialogue with Two Activist Communities. See https://www.facebook.com/events/723932584288419/. Be on a walking tour of the Baltimore neighborhoods and homes in which the communities are located to experience the context of their lives. Then gather to reflect together with community members upon the history of their communities, what central faith convictions have formed their lives in community and their activism and what they see as the role of academics (both professors and students) in relationship to their communities and ongoing work for liberation. Pay particular attention to their vision of life and how that vision is embodied in practices of community life and resistance work. Participants will include Elizabeth McAlister (Jonah House), Brendan Walsh and Willa Beckham (Viva House), and as well as others from both communities. Ched Myers and Elaine Enns (Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries) and Peter Gathje (Memphis Theological Seminary) will facilitate. The event will begin at Viva House, 26 S Mount St., Baltimore 21223 at 2 PM. Transportation will be provided at 1:30 PM near the Hilton Inner Harbor, at the bus stop near the corner of S. Howard and W. Lombard. The regular fare is $1.60 46] – Join the Sleep-Out for Housing Justice on Sat., Nov. 23 as the people march on City Hall to demand housing justice in Baltimore! The Sleep-Out for Housing Justice is the culminating event of this year’s National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (NHHAW) in Baltimore. The city continues to subsidize developers while depriving funds to basic community needs like affordable housing. The night begins at 5:30 PM at McKeldin Square, corner of Pratt and Light Sts. The evening will feature a community meal, donations of sleeping bags and winter coats, a speak-out against housing injustice and a poverty scholarship. The group Housing Our Neighbors calls for Fair Development that is shared equitably. See www.unitedworkers.org or http://sleepout.causevox.com/. 47] – There is a Whitelock Community Farm Fundraiser on Sat., Nov. 23 from 7 to 11 PM at the Beth Am Synagogue, 2501 Eutaw Place. Enjoy food and drinks, dance lessons, a silent auction and music by Lil Key, The Barage Band Orchestra and Caleb Stine. Call 443-205-OKRA or go to http://whitelockfarm.org. The ticket price is $20. 48] – Hear the African Children's Choir 40 of Uganda on Sat., Nov. 23 at 7 PM at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School, 4301 East-West Highway, Bethesda. The choir was established in 1984, and it has provided thousands of African children career and education opportunities. It holds open auditions across Africa. Children that exhibit the most potential are invited to attend privately funded schools where they are taught a full curriculum with an emphasis on the arts, science and English. Each year, a select few of these students are invited to form a choir, and are provided a unique opportunity to travel the world, performing, and raising awareness and funds to support the Choir’s development projects in Africa. Visit http://africanchildrenschoir.com/. 49] – Harvey Arden will be speaking as a Wisdomkeeper at a dramatic spoken-word performance with wondrous music by internationally-known master multi-instrumentalist Don Slepian at All Souls Unitarian/Universalist Church, 16th & Harvard Sts. NW on Sat., Nov. 23 at 7:30 PM. Email harveyarden@starpower.net. Tickets are $12. 50] – 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. 51] – 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 January 28, 2014. 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. 52] – The Washington Peace Center has a progressive calendar & activist alert! Consider signing up to receive its weekly email: info@washingtonpeacecenter.org. 53] – 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. 54] – If you would like to get rid of books, videos, DVDs or records, contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net. 55] – Can you use any book shelves? Can you use any file cabinets? Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net. 56] – 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. 57] – 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. 58] – 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