Baltimore Activist Alert Feb. 17 – Feb. 23, 2014

Baltimore Activist Alert Feb. 17 – Feb. 23, 2014

"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] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Feb. 17 – Feb. 21
7] Prayerful Civil Disobedience – Feb. 17
8] Trans Equality rally – Feb. 17
9] Film "Rouge Parole" – Feb. 17
10] "Transforming our Generation from Criminalization to Liberation" – Feb. 17
11] "Defense Budget Issues for FY15" – Feb. 18
12] Economic Development: Commission on Maryland’s Future – Feb. 18
13] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – Feb. 18
14] Protest JHU’s drone research – Feb. 18
15] "Unfinished Agenda: Urban Politics in the Era of Black Power" – Feb. 18
16] Civil Rights Leaders of the Colonial and Revolutionary Era – Feb. 18
17] "Shackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America" – Feb. 18
18] Film CHASING ICE – Feb. 18
19] Gentrification (K) Not – Feb. 18
20] Transform Now Plowshares sentencing hearing – Feb. 18
21] Men and women in war and peace – Feb. 19 - 21
22] Visit Rep. Sarbanes’ Towson office – Feb. 19

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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] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Friday from 9 to 11 AM on WEAA 88.9 FM, The Voice of the Community, or online at www.weaa.org. The call-in number is 410-319-8888, and comments can also be sent by email to steinershow@gmail.com. All shows are also available as podcasts at www.steinershow.org.

7] – Join a Prayerful Civil Disobedience & Vigil on President's Day: Not1More on Mon., Feb. 17 at 1 PM in Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C. Religious leaders and people facing the threat of deportation will join together in prayer and civil disobedience to demonstrate the urgency for action and to urge the President to lead by example in ending the needless suffering caused by Arizona-style enforcement policies. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1403507966570392/.

8] – Join Human Rights Campaign in supporting the Maryland Coalition for Trans Equality on Mon., Feb. 17 starting at 5 PM in Lawyer’s Mall, Annapolis.. Hundreds of fair-minded Marylanders will make the trip to Annapolis for a rally and lobby visits to their elected officials. As 2014 begins, transgender people still lack explicit protections from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations in Maryland. This is the year for a change. Call 202-628-4160.

9] – Beyond the Classroom presents "Rouge Parole" on Mon., Feb. 17 at 7 PM at 1104 South Campus Commons, Building 1, University of Maryland, College Park 20742. This documentary provides an immediate, up-close look at the uprising in Tunisia. It’s a powerful record of a nation shaking off decades of oppressive rule and taking its first – chaotic, disorganized but inspiring – steps towards democracy. Beautifully photographed, this is an uncompromising film that manages to capture moments of upheaval and exultation, not just in the capital of Tunis but throughout the entire country; moments that are now part of history. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/581694628589879/.

10] – As part of its African-American History Month series, the Morgan State University Student Government Association presents: "Transforming our Generation from Criminalization to Liberation" on Mon., Feb. 17 at 7 PM at the New University Student Center, Room 210, Morgan State University, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore 21251. The presenter is Estevan Bassett-Nembhard, a leader of the Young Communist League, New York City. Come join in the discussion and help create the spark for a young, progressive leadership in Baltimore. Call 443-885-3454.

11] – On Tues., Feb. 18 from noon to 1:30 PM, Lawrence Korb, Center for American Progress, will discuss "Defense Budget Issues for FY15" at the American Security Project, Seventh Floor, West Tower, 1100 New York Ave. NW, WDC 20005. RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/defense-budget-issues-for-fy15-a-conversation-with-dr-lawrence-j-korb-tickets-10192747783?ref=ebtn.

12] – The Senate Hearing will be before the Finance Committee on Tues., Feb. 18 at 1 PM in 3 East Miller Senate Building. Call or write your senators and delegates and ask them to support the bill to create a Commission on Maryland’s Future (SB0493, HB0738). Attend the hearings and express your solidarity, with or without signs. Having a lot of interested Marylanders present will increase our chances of passage:
Submit written testimony. If you send it to Fund Our Communities by Friday (Valentine’s Day), copies will be delivered to the committee members. Contact Susan at susank@capconcorp. Go to http://www.ourfunds.org/.
Sample text for calls to your legislators
I am a constituent of (insert name) and would like to express my support for the bill (SB493/HB738) Economic Development: Commission on Maryland’s Future.” Maryland ranks fourth among states in per capita defense spending and we don’t have any state plan for dealing with military downsizing. The Futures Commission is a first step towards creating that roadmap which will keep Maryland workers prepared for the jobs of tomorrow. I hope that your office will support this.
Sample text for emails to your legislators
I am writing to urge you to support bill SB493/HB738: “Economic Development: Commission on Maryland’s Future.”
Maryland has over 200,000 workers in military industries and ranks fourth among states in per capita defense spending. As Federal military spending decreases, military-related jobs in Maryland will shrink and tax revenues for local communities will decline. Currently, there is no state organization tasked with planning for such major change. Events in the recent past, including the sequestration, have given Maryland citizens and policymakers a glimpse of the impact such Federal budget reductions will have on our State’s economy and, most importantly, on our workforce. We must ensure that Maryland’s economy is ready to adapt and our workers are well trained for the jobs of tomorrow.
The Commission would provide a detailed roadmap to help navigate Maryland through critical, imminent changes in a way that will meet the needs of our communities and our workers. Maryland has a great need for infrastructure improvements, and there are emerging opportunities for industry in other sectors, as well, such as disaster resiliency, climate change, and green energy, all of which have significant growth potential. A Futures Commission is a first step towards creating a framework for an economic conversion that would enable us to sustain our competitive edge and continue to pursue opportunities to bring money and jobs to the state as part of a comprehensive economic strategy.
Please support this bill.

13] – 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 Feb. 18. Call 215-426-0364.

14] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 34th & North Charles Sts. Join this ongoing vigil. The next vigil is Feb. 18 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Call Max at 410-366-1637.

15] – Hear the Junius Williams book talk on Tues., Feb. 18 from 6:30 to 8 PM at Busboys & Poets, 2021 14th St. NW. Join Institute for Policy Studies, Teaching for Change Bookstore, and Busboys and Poets for an engaging and interactive talk and book signing with the author, Junius Williams. The "Unfinished Agenda: Urban Politics in the Era of Black Power" offers an inside look at the Black Power Movement that emerged during the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties. Look over http://www.ips-dc.org/events/author_event_unfinished_agenda.

16] – Catch the panel discussion: Civil Rights Leaders of the Colonial and Revolutionary Era, on Tues., Feb. 18 at 6:30 PM at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Black Studies Center Room 316, 901 G St. NW. Georgetown professor Maurice Jackson, University of Maryland professor Vincent Carretta, and University of Massachusetts professor Julie Winch will be discussing notable ante-bellum and Civil War leaders and their struggles for freedom and equality. See http://dclibrary.org/blackhistory.

17] – There is a book reading of "Shackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America" on Tues., Feb. 18 from 7 to 9 PM at the Washington Ethical Society, 7750 16th St. NW. Activist Eugene Puryear will speak about his book and the subject of the prison industrial complex in America. The event is organized by Family & Friends of Incarcerated People and the Washington Ethical Society. Look over https://www.facebook.com/events/705802102785091/?source=1.

18] – There is a Music + Art Film Series at the Brown Center, Falvey Hall, 1301 W. Mt. Royal Ave., Baltimore 21217. Join Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky, on Tuesday nights for a film series that looks at music, art, nature, drugs and how it plays its part in our culture. DJ Spooky will introduce each movie and host a discussion following each viewing. On Tues., Feb. 18 see CHASING ICE at 7:30 PM. In this 2012 film, follow National Geographic photographer James Balog across the Arctic as he deploys time-lapse cameras designed for one purpose: to capture a multi-year record of the world's melting glaciers. Go to http://fyi.mica.edu or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/music-ar... The film is free to the MICA community, and $5 for the general public.

19] – On Tues., Feb. 18 @ the Free School Classroom at Red Emma's, 30 W. North Ave., will screen Gentrification (K) Not at 7:30 PM, a 46 minute documentary which explores the meaning of the term gentrification and how it is an element of a system that displaces people from their communities. It also explores what we might do to prevent gentrification from happening during the revitalization of an urban neighborhood in Baltimore. See http://gentrificationknot.wordpress.com/. Call 410-230-0450. Go to http://www.redemmas.org.

20] – On Tues., Feb. 18, the Transform Now Plowshares sentencing hearing resumes (after the Jan. 28 hearing was postponed due to inclement weather) for charges of sabotage, jeopardizing national security, trespassing and defacing government property related to their July 28, 2012, nonviolent protest at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant at Oak Ridge, TN. U.S. District Court for Eastern Tennessee, U.S. Courthouse, 800 Market St., Suite 130, Knoxville, TN. Michael Walli will be sentenced at noon; Greg Boertje-Obed at 2 PM; and Sr. Megan Rice at 4 PM. Visit http://transformnowplowshares.wordpress.com/.

21] – Check out the course - Men and Women in War and Peace on Wed., Feb. 19 from 9 AM until Fri., Feb. 21 at 5 PM at the United States Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Ave. Men and women experience war differently, so it is essential to understand the dynamic impact of gender roles in conflict and post-conflict settings. Participants will practice applying a “gender lens” to peace processes and conflict prevention scenarios. Using a practical example of gender analysis and the inclusion of gender in peacebuilding, participants will apply a core set of gender analysis skills to a real-world scenario and develop their own action plans. Register at http://www.usip.org/events/men-and-women-in-war-and-peace.

22] – The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore usually delivers a letter to Rep. John Sarbanes’ Towson office on the third Wednesday of the month at 4:30 PM. On Feb. 19, help deliver the letter to Suite 303, 600 Baltimore Avenue, Baltimore 21204. This month’s letter makes four requests of Sarbanes: 1] speak out and to vote against The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act [H.R. 3830], any “Fast Track” legislation, as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) itself; 2] co-sponsor the Voter Empowerment Act (H.R. 12), and the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Training Act (H.R. 1000); 3] cosponsor H.R. 1000; and condemn the use of killer drone strikes.

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