Baltimore Activist Alert - Dec. 10-12, 2013

40] “Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity” – Dec. 10 41] “Avoiding Future Irans” – Dec. 11 42] Green Bag Lunch – Dec. 11 43] There’s a new book of poetry -- Dec. 11 44] Catholics Confront Global Poverty discussion – Dec. 11 45] Catholic Church and Universal Health Care – Dec. 11 46] HIV/AIDS activism in Brazil – Dec. 11 47] Fast4Families – Dec. 12 48] "Critical Mass: Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East" – Dec. 12 ---- 40] – Race—more than any other demographic factor—determines levels of individual educational achievement, health and life expectancy, possibility of incarceration, and wealth in the United States. See “Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity” and participate in a community dialogue with filmmaker and racial justice educator Shakti Butler. This event is part of OSI-Baltimore’s Talking About Race series and is co-sponsored by Baltimore Racial Justice Action and the University of Baltimore. It is happening on Tues., Dec. 10 at 7 PM at Langsdale Library Auditorium, University of Baltimore, Baltimore 21201. Call 410-234-1091. 41] – On Wed., Dec. 11 from 11:45 AM to 1:30 PM, Rep. Lleana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), Rep. Brad Sherman (CA); Sen. Ed Markey (MA) (invited); Mark Wallace, former Ambassador to the U.N., Daryl Kimball, Arms Control Association, Kingston Reif, Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Christopher Paine, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Robert Zarate, Foreign Policy Initiative, will speak about “Avoiding Future Irans: A New Course for U.S. Nonproliferation Policy." The forum is sponsored by Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, and will take place at B338 Rayburn House Office Building, WDC. RSVP at https://www.formstack.com/forms/?1396304-jkRN0PgDdC. 42] – Amazon Watch Invites You for a "Green-Bag Lunch" Presentation: Indigenous Rights Risk Report, Leveraging the Market for Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, with Nick Pelosi, First Peoples Worldwide Amazon Watch, on Wed., Dec. 11 at 12:30 PM at Amazon Watch/CIEL conference room, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, #1100, (south of DuPont, above Panera/Cosi), WDC. He will discuss its newly-released report, which analyzed 370 extractive projects on or near Indigenous territories, and assigned a risk score to each based on its chances of violating or upholding the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). The report aims to strengthen Indigenous Peoples' control over their lands and natural resources by leveraging the power of capital markets, and to provide investors and shareholders with the information they need to incorporate Indigenous Peoples' rights into their portfolios. Pelosi is a Corporate Engagement Associate at First Peoples Worldwide, where he conducts research and analysis on extractive industries and Indigenous Peoples. He has a BA in Political Science from Hunter College. Email andrew@amazonwatch.org. 43] – The author of “My Voice Sought the Wind” will appear on Wed., Dec. 11 from 12:30 to 2 PM at The Jerusalem Fund, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC 20037. "I wrote poetry before I wrote anything else," says Susan Abulhawa, esteemed Palestinian-American author and social activist, in the introduction to her first book of poems. This new work follows her highly acclaimed novel, “Mornings in Jenin,” which has been translated into 32 languages since it was published in 2010. “My Voice Sought the Wind” represents five years of poems on the themes of love, loss, identity, and family, brought to life through vivid observations and intimate personal reflections. The five sections of the book echo her personal journey, from the pain of separation from her homeland and her nostalgic memories of the past, through various phases of love and regret, through the experience of mortality, and finally to her reconciliation with the future and hope of new birth. Visit http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/EventDetails/i/43282. 44] – On Wed., Dec. 11 from 1 to 1:30 PM, join Catholic Relief Services and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for an online Catholics Confront Global Poverty discussion - What You Did to Confront Global Poverty in 2013: Celebrating Your Advocacy Successes. Making presentations will be Dr. Stephen M. Colecchi - director, Office of International Justice and Peace, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Bill O'Keefe - vice president, Government Relations and Advocacy, Catholic Relief Services. RSVP at http://www.confrontglobalpoverty.org/. 45] – On Wed., Dec. 11 at 7:30 PM at St. Mark’s Catholic Church, Cassidy Activities Center, 9970 Vale Road, Vienna, VA 22181, catch the presentation– The Catholic Church and Universal Health Care – by William J. Barbieri, Jr., PHD, associate professor of Ethics, CUA and director of Peace Studies Program. Are you interested in knowing more about Catholic teaching on the need of health coverage for all? Should everyone have access to health care? Are poor people entitled to health care according to Catholic teaching? What are the limits to our supporting health care for all? 46] – On Wed., Dec. 11 at 7:30 PM @ Red Emma's, Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave. Rafaela Seixas discusses HIV/AIDS activism in Brazil. Half of the people living with HIV today are women. This epidemic continues to become increasingly feminized around the world, due primarily to the lack of power women have to determine their sexual relations, and the lack of dialogue around the problem. Seixas will discuss her work as a policy analyst with the Ministry for Women's Affairs in Bahia, Brazil, where she coordinates a popular education program for women's sexual empowerment in an effort to combat this trend. Workshops are organized in prisons and front-line rural communities, where participants work through theater of the oppressed techniques to analyze sexual power dynamics and discuss strategies for protection from infection. She will share the stories of the women (who presented these stories through forum theater) and highlight what they identify as the causes of HIV feminization. Call 410-230-0450. See http://www.redemmas.org. 47] – The Franciscan Action Network is working with allies to help make immigration reform a reality with the #Fast4Families. This kind of sensible reform is desperately needed to help end the cycle of torn families and injustice surrounding our broken immigration system. Join fast before the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe--on Thurs., Dec. 12. To register for the fast, email events@franciscanacton.org. 48] – On Thurs., Dec. 12 at 10 AM, Rep. Jim Cooper (TN), Rep. Mac Thornberry (TX), and Andrew Krepinevich, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, examine "Critical Mass: Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East." The talk is sponsored by Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, and it will be at 2218 Rayburn House Office Building, WDC. RSVP to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/critical-mass-nuclear-proliferation-in-the-middle-east-tickets-9512747885. 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