Baltimore Activist Alert - Dec. 20-21, 2013

16] Vigil to Save Guantanamo Hunger Strikers – Dec. 20 17] Justice in Palestine/Israel – Dec. 20 18] Stop Drone War Command Center – Dec. 20 19] Silent peace vigil – Dec. 20 20] Anti-Consumerism Caroling – Dec. 20 21] Ballroom dancing – Dec. 20 22] Meet the people of Bethlehem – Dec. 21 23] Olney Peace vigil – Dec. 21 24] West Chester, PA demo – Dec. 21 25] Silent vigil at Capitol – Dec. 21 26] Protest Lockheed Martin – Dec. 21 27] Support Super Shuttle Drivers – Dec. 21 28] A few authors from JHU Press – Dec. 21 29] Homeless Persons' Memorial Day – Dec. 21 ----- 16] – On Fri., Dec. 20 at noon, participate in the White House Vigil To Save Guantanamo Hunger Strikers--NO MORE TORTURE! NO MORE WAR! The vigil is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and Witness Against Torture. See www.witnesstorture.org and www.closegitmo.net. Call 202-882-9649. 17] – 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/. 18] – Tis the Season of Peace on Fri., Dec. 20 at 4 PM. Stop the Drone War Command Center in Horsham. Carry Holiday Signs and leaflet at 30th Street Train Station, corner of 30th & Market Sts., Phila., PA 19104. Go to www.brandywinepeace.com or call 610-544-1818. 19] – There is a silent peace vigil on Fri., Dec. 20 from 5 to 6 PM outside the Cathedral of the Incarnation, University Parkway and St. Paul St. The vigil, sponsored by Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings, will remind us that War Is Not the Answer. Stop bullying. 20] – Radical Anti-Consumerism Caroling is happening on Fri., Dec. 20 at 5 PM at the Glitzy Georgetown Shopping District, Wisconsin Ave. NW & M St. NW, WDC. Songbooks will be provided. If you have a twisted carol that you want to sing, bring copies for others. Wear FESTIVE ATTIRE such as naughty elves, drunken Santas, liberated reindeer and the like are encouraged. See https://www.facebook.com/events/476008662508062/. 21] – 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 Dec. 20. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725. 22] – On Sat., Dec. 21 at 10 AM, catch a joint simulcast service with the people of Bethlehem at the Washington National Cathedral, Massachusetts and Wisconsin Aves. NW, WDC 20016-5098. If you can’t make it down to the National Cathedral, watch the service live at www.nationalcathedral.org. In Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians continue to bear witness to their faith this Christmas, as they have done for generations. Once again, let us join our voices with theirs in seeking and offering hope for a better future. Prayers, readings, and hymns alternate between Washington, DC and Bethlehem via the Internet, bringing together people of different lands, languages, and ethnic backgrounds in celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace. This will be the seventh annual Bethlehem Prayer Service. 23] – 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 Dec. 21. Call Chuck Harker at 301-570-7167. 24] – 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. 25] – There will be a peace vigil on the West Lawn of the Capitol at noon on Sat., Dec. 21. 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. 26] – 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 Sat., Dec. 21 at noon, 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. Contact the Brandywine Peace Community at 610-544-1818 or http://www.brandywinepeace.com/events/. 27] – Support Super Shuttle Drivers - Say No to Worker's Slavery at BWI on Sat., Dec 21 at noon. JOIN THE CARAVAN 4 JUSTICE. Gather at 761 Elkridge Landing Road, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090. It’s up the hill on the right hand side near intersection of Nursery Rd. and Elkridge Landing. There will be a brief rally where you will be able to hear from the workers themselves. The Super Shuttle workers at BWI and Dulles airports make less than minimum wage and that Veolia, a billion dollar international corporation, which has distinguished itself as a union busting company from Boston to Baltimore, has just fired 2 workers for speaking out. The drivers want to join a union, UFCW Local 1994, to protect their rights as workers; and they desperately need this because Veolia has created a company system of indentured servitude that has impoverished these mainly immigrant West African workers. Tell Veolia, to hire back fired workers from both Baltimore and Boston (Boston School Bus Drivers 5, USW 8751) and to recognize the workers’ rights to a union and fair treatment. Bring your car or vehicle if you have one; if you don’t drive, meet at the Solidarity Center, 2011 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 at 10 AM. RSVP if you can drive or if you need a seat in a vehicle to apcbaltimore@pipeline.com or call 410-218-4835. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1443253899230742/?notif_t=plan_user_joined. 28] – A few authors from JHU Press will be hosting a signing of their books: Ted Patterson and Dean Smith with “Football in Baltimore,” Bryan MacKay with “A Year Across Maryland: A Week-by-Week Guide to Discovering Nature in the Chesapeake Region,” and Constance B. Schultz with “Maryland in Black and White: Documentary Photography from The Great Depression and World War II.” Be there on Sat., Dec. 21 from noon to 2 PM at Barnes and Noble at Johns Hopkins, 3330 St. Paul St. Call 410- 662-5850. 29] – The Homeless Persons' Memorial Day 2013 is on Sat., Dec. 21 from 5 to 7 PM at the Baltimore Inner Harbor. The Memorial Day Service is organized locally by Stop Homelessness and Reduce Poverty (SHARP), the Coalition for Homeless Families, the Baltimore Homeless Youth Initiative, and advocates working to end homelessness in Baltimore. For over two decades, communities across the country have observed National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day on or about December 21 – the first day of winter and the longest night of the year. Last year, mourners in Baltimore remembered 105 people who died in 2012. Homeless Persons' Memorial Day brings attention to the tragedy of homelessness and serves to remember our friends who have paid the ultimate price for our nation's failure to end homelessness. Health disparities facing people who are experiencing homelessness are that people without homes are three to four times more likely to die prematurely than their housed counterparts. Homeless Person’s Memorial Service stands as an opportunity to recommit to ending the injustice of homelessness. This year following the service, attendees are invited to walk in solidarity with people who are currently experiencing homelessness to deliver flowers symbolizing individuals who passed away this year to City Hall, and then to process to the park across from the City Shelter for a few final reflections. Contact Vanessa Borotz at vborotz@hchmd.org or 443-703-1349. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/389287927871097/?ref_dashboard_filter=calendar. 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