Baltimore Activist Alert - Feb. 12-14, 2014

19] Protect Cafeteria Workers – Feb. 12 20] Surviving a Factory Fire – Feb. 12 21] U.S. Challenges – Feb. 12 22] Film “The New Black” – Feb. 12 23] “The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare" - Feb. 13 24] Remember Robin Romano – Feb. 13 25] Beyond a need for Black History Month? – Feb. 13 26] Economic Crisis, War & Racism – Feb. 13 27] “Vagina Monologues” – Feb. 13 - 14 ------ 19] – Protect Cafeteria Worker's Wages on Wed., Feb. 12 from 3 to 4:30 PM at the National Education Association Building, 1201 16th St. NW. The cafeteria workers employed by Seasons Culinary at the NEA building are currently facing a wage freeze over the next three years. Food service workers in D.C. have fought to win a standard that includes fair raises AND health insurance. Join in a Valentine's Day action to help win a fair contract! Contact Allison Burket at 202.412.1612 or aburket@unitehere.org. 20] – "I Survived a Factory Fire" is on for Wed., Feb. 12 from 6 to 8 PM at Georgetown University, 3800 Reservoir Road NW, Thomas & Dorothy Leavey Center, Leavey Program Room. Join the welcoming survivors of the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh as they speak about the struggle for safe workplaces in the wake of deadly factory disasters. They are coming to Georgetown to speak about sweatshops, international labor justice and advocacy, trends in the global economy, and their fight for better working conditions. Dinner from Mai Thai will be provided. Email iyk5@georgetown.edu or visit https://www.facebook.com/events/712399082126610/?previousaction=join&sou... 21] – On Wed., Feb. 12 from 6 to 8 PM, Gordon Adams, Stimson Center, will address "Rethinking U.S. Enduring Strengths, Challenges and Opportunities." The event, sponsored by Johns Hopkins University, takes place at the Marriott Residence Inn, Pentagon City, 550 Army Navy Dr., Arlington, VA. RSVP at https://dnnpro.outer.jhuapl.edu/rethinking/EventRegistration/tabid/634/Default.aspx?returnurl=%2frethinking%2fEventRegistration.aspx 22] – See the film “The New Black” on Wed., Feb. 12 at 7 PM at the West End Cinema, 2301 M St. NW. The film takes an inside look at the diverse ways the African-American community is grappling with LGBT equality in the context of the campaign to win the freedom to marry in Maryland. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/477331915723011/. 23] – On Thurs., Feb. 13 from noon until 1:30 PM, Gareth Porter, author of "Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare" at Public Citizen, 1600 20th St. NW, WDC. RSVP online. http://www.eventbrite.com/e/manufactured-crisis-book-launch-luncheon-with-gareth-porter-tickets-10278981711. 24] – The International Labor Rights Forum invites you to remember Robin Romano, a true champion of children's rights, at a memorial event on Thurs., Feb. 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the National Education Association, 1201 16th St. NW, WDC. In November 2013, an inspirational leader in the fight to expose and eliminate child labor died. Romano was an amazing photographer and cinematographer who told the personal stories of those affected by the global tragedy of child exploitation. RSVP at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e8s3cj0u0467430f&oseq=&c=&ch=. To make a charitable contribution in Robin’s memory: Consider a gift to support the Kenyan Schoolhouse program, which Robin co-founded after documenting child labor on a coffee plantation. In the last decade, the program has helped more than a thousand children, who have graduated, including Masai girls who would otherwise be at-risk of forced marriage. 25] – Have we moved beyond a need for Black History Month? Share your thoughts at this event sponsored by the Baltimore Racial Justice Action on Feb. 13 from 6 to 8 pm at the American Brewery Building, 1100 N. Gay St. 26] – Ajamu Baraka speaks about Economic Crisis, War & Racism on Thurs., Feb. 13 at 6:30 to 8 PM at IPS Conference Room, 1112 16th St. NW, Suite 600. The Institute for Policy Studies Associate Fellow, Ajamu Baraka, visiting from Colombia, South America on a U.S. tour, will speak about "why the fight must be for people-centered human rights." Baraka, who has been in the forefront of developing this approach to human rights activism and will share the component parts of the people-centered framework for human rights. Go to http://www.ips-dc.org/events/economic_crisis_war_racism. 27] – The George Washington University hosts the “Vagina Monologues” on Thurs., Feb. 13 from 8 PM to Sat., Feb. 15 at 10 PM at the Marvin Center Grand Ballroom, 800 21st St. NW. GW’s Feminist Student Union present this production as part of V-Day, a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls. All funds raised through the performance will benefit D.C. Rape Crisis Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a world free of sexual violence. This is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler after interviewing over 200 women from all over the world. With humor and grace, the piece celebrates women’s sexuality and strength. Each monologue somehow relates to the vagina, be it through sex, love, rape, menstruation, female genital mutilation, masturbation, birth, orgasm, the variety of names for the vagina, or simply as a physical aspect of the body. Through this play and the liberation of this one word, countless women throughout the world have taken control of their bodies and their lives. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/609447999129261/. 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