Baltimore Activist Alert Dec. 17 – Dec. 18, 2013

Baltimore Activist Alert Dec. 17 – Dec. 23, 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] Vietnam Photograph Exhibit – through Feb. 23 6] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – Dec. 17 7] Protest JHU’s drone research – Dec. 17 8] Celebrate the life of Veronica Dorsey – Dec. 17 9] Film “The Day Diplomacy Died” – Dec. 17 10] Racial Disparity and Arrests Community Forum – Dec. 17 11] Civil disobedience & Greenpeace – Dec. 18 12] Stop the Incinerator -- Dec. 18 13] Visit Rep. Sarbanes’ office – Dec. 18 14] Baltimore Green Party Holiday Gathering – Dec. 18 15] Constitutional Amendments and Bad Supreme Court Rulings – Dec. 18 ----- 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 mobuszewski at Verizon dot net. 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 mobuszewski at Verizon dot 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] – An-My Lê's photographs come to the Baltimore Museum of Art's Front Room. 21 Black-and-white and color photographs explore the roles of the military and war, showing tensions between nature and human influence and machinery. The exhibit runs through Feb. 23 at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive. Call 443- 573-1700. Go to http://artbma.org. 6 ] – Each Tuesday from 4:30 - 5:30 PM, the Catholic Peace Fellowship-Philadelphia for peace in Afghanistan and Iraq gathers at the Suburban Station, 16th Street & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine. The next vigil is Dec. 17. Call 215-426-0364. 7] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 34th & North Charles Sts. Join this ongoing vigil. The next vigil is Dec. 17 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Call Max at 410-366-1637. 8] – Celebrate the life of Veronica Dorsey. Share stories, sing songs, eat good food, view some great archival footage of Veronica, and create a symbolic shrine in her memory. United Workers members are preparing a meal in Veronica’s honor. Bring either an appetizer or a dessert and contribute to the memorial shrine by bringing an object, token, photo, or story that represents Veronica. The celebration is on Tues., Dec. 17 from 6 to 8:30 PM at 2640 St. Paul St. Veronica was a powerful leader in the movement to end poverty, a devoted mother and grandmother, and a person of faith. RSVP at 410.230.1998. 9 ] – See a screening of “The Day Diplomacy Died” on Tues., Dec. 17 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the IPS Conference Room, Suite 600, 1112 16th St. NW. The Institute for Policy Studies and the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5 will host a discussion of the 33-minute film. There will also be a multimedia report back by IPS' Netfa Freeman on the 9th International Colloquium in Holguin, Cuba "For the Freedom of the Cuban 5 and Against Terrorism," that took place November 13-16, 2013. Recent news stories on the cases of the Cuban 5 and Alan Gross will also be discussed. “The Day Diplomacy Died” tells the story behind four ex-Cuban state agents who sacrificed years of their lives working undercover to expose the real truth about why the Cuban government locked up 75 "independent" journalists, trade unionists and librarians. They tell of the inner workings of the dissident groups they infiltrated and of the various - and often frightening - plans hatched to destabilize their country. The film also uncovers the role played by the U.S. government and its diplomats in Havana, showing the abundant evidence demonstrating that the imprisoned 75 were actually on the payroll of the U.S. for the purpose of disrupting Cuban society. Email info@ips-dc.org or call 202-234-9382. 10] – There is a Racial Disparity and Arrests Community Forum on Tues., Dec. 17 from 7 to 9 PM at the Washington Ethical Society, 7750 16th St. NW. The SPEAKOUT will follow a short presentation about racial disparities in DC law enforcement, presented by the ACLU and Family and Friends of Incarcerated People. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1413456362225046/. 11] – Amazon Watch invites you to the final "Green-Bag Lunch" presentation of 2013: "Provoking Solutions to Global Problems by Inspiring Action: The Role of Civil Disobedience in the Broader Environmental and Social Justice Movement" with Bill Richardson, Greenpeace US, on Wed., Dec. 18 at 12:30 at Amazon Watch / CIEL conference room, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, #1100, south of Dupont Circle, above Panera / Cosi), WDC. Richardson, a 25-year veteran at Greenpeace, will talk about the role of peaceful protest and civil disobedience in the promotion of environmental and progressive causes. Why are these tactics important? How does a group of activists who get arrested for attempting to occupy a Russian oil rig help stop Arctic drilling? How does a small inflatable boat positioned between a whaling ship and a whale help end whaling? How does a banner on a building help end forest destruction in Indonesia? Richardson is Deputy Executive Director for Greenpeace US, where he has been involved since 1988. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s he directed the organization’s field office in Amherst, MA, and in 1994 moved to Washington, DC to become the National Canvass Director. In this position, Bill was in charge of all US field offices, through which the organization conducted community-based campaign activities and door-to-door fundraising. Email andrew@amazonwatch.org. 12] – On Wed., Dec. 18, the Fair Development Campaign is trying to stop a trash burning incinerator from being built next to Baltimore city schools in Curtis Bay. Raise the visibility of the issue and show widespread community disapproval of this plan. Rally at 3 PM at Benjamin Franklin High School, 1201 Cambria St., Baltimore 21225, with students, parents, teachers, community leaders, labor and faith leaders. March from Ben Franklin High School to the site of the proposed incinerator less than a mile way. Call on Gov. O’Malley to intervene and protect children’s health and the health of the community 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. It is this kind of recklessness that has led Baltimore to be ranked number one in per capita deaths from key air pollutants. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/202739559911278/. Call 410-340-2838. 13] – As part of the national "Educate Congress" Campaign Letter Drops, on Wed., Dec. 18 at 4:30 PM, the Pledge of Resistance will go to Rep. John Sarbanes’ office, 600 Baltimore Ave., Suite 303, Baltimore, MD 21204. While inside, we will deliver a letter calling on him to vote no to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, vote against any cuts to the SNAP program and to support an end to the use of killer drone strikes, which we believe to be illegal and unconstitutional. Let Max know if you can go to Sarbanes’ office--410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net. Are you a constituent? 14] – The Baltimore Green Party Holiday Gathering is happening on Wed., Dec. 18 at 5:30 PM at Maggie's Farm, 4341 Harford Road. Go to http://www.maggiesfarmmd.com/. This is a great chance to get together and catch up with each other. Email wbarrymd@hotmail.com. 15 ] – RICHARD STRINER will speak on Wed., Dec. 18 from 7 to 8:30 PM at 4 E. University Pkwy., Baltimore 21218 as part of the monthly GMOM meeting at the Episcopal Cathedral. Striner will discuss Constitutional Amendments and Bad Supreme Court Rulings. He is an acclaimed historian, who will provide a broad historical perspective on the contemporary movement for a Fair Elections Amendment and how this can result in tremendous societal change. Historical events, including the circumstances resulting in the Thirteenth Amendment, provide a powerful and convincing precedent for our movement. He will review past constitutional amendments, constitutional interpretation, and challenges to bad Supreme Court rulings, as well as how they inform current efforts in Maryland and the U.S. He is a professor of history at Washington College. Go to http://www.getmoneyoutmd.org/. 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