Baltimore Activist Alert - Apr. 2-8, 2014

22] Petitions say no to Cove Point -- Apr. 2
23] Remembering Chico Mendes – Apr. 2
24] Endangered Promise of Pakistan – Apr. 2
25] Two planning meetings – Apr. 2
26] The Art of Debriefing – Apr. 2
27] Support law students -- Apr. 2 & 3
28] Occupation of the West Bank – Apr. 2
29] School of International Service – Apr. 3, 4 & 8
30] Victor Jara Memorial Forum – Apr. 3
31] Book talk HALF LIVES – Apr. 3
32] "The Fracking of America: Ethics and Impact" – Apr. 3
33] What Can People of Faith Do About Gun Violence? – Apr. 3

22] – On Wed., Apr. 2 at 11 AM in the War memorial Plaza, there will be a press conference. Then there is the delivery of over 35,000 comments to the Maryland Public Service Commission condemning the Cove Point fracked gas terminal. Contact Dr. Gina Angiola [mailto:gangiola11@gmail.com].

23] – Amazon Watch encourages you to attend on Wed., Apr. 2 from noon until 1:30 PM the Chico Vive "Green-Bag" presentation with Linda Rabben & Isandra D'Avila at Amazon Watch's D.C. Advocacy Office, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, #1100, WDC 20036. Why was the killing of Brazilian environmental activist Chico Mendes such a watershed moment for the global environmental movement? Why, 25 years later, is an international conference being organized in his name? These questions will be addressed by the speakers, both intimately involved in environmental and human rights initiatives in Brazil over several decades.
24] – The Endangered Promise of Pakistan: Democracy and Islam in the First Islamic Republic will be examined on Wed., Apr. 2 from 12:30 to 2:30 PM at Georgetown University, Building ICC 270, 3700 O St. NW. Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding invites you to a briefing featuring Shahan Mufti, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism in University of Richmond. Lunch will be provided. RSVP at http://acmcu.georgetown.edu/about/contact/.
25] – There is a planning meeting on Wed., Apr. 2 from 7 to 8:30 PM for the Baltimore May Day March. The meeting will take place at 2011 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21218 (one block north of North Ave., near #3 bus line). Everyone is invited to this “hands on” meeting. What state and city wide issues should be included? How does the group involve the largest number of people and groups? There will be an opportunity to sign up for key areas of work including outreach, visibility, social media, regular media outreach, logistics, etc.

There will also be other important reports including the national protest for a livable wage and workers rights at the National Restaurant Association Conference on April 29th in Washington, D.C. To endorse this effort, go to www.peoplespowerassemblies.org/apr-29-endorse/. If you would like to be included in a planning meeting at the Plymouth Congregational Church, Washington, D.C., email apcbaltimore@pipeline.com or call 410-218-4835.

There will be an important committee meeting to discuss ongoing plans to support the SuperShuttle drivers at BWI and Dulles Airports on Wed., Apr.2 at 6 PM right before the May Day & April 29th planning meeting.
26] – The D.C. Trainers Network Monthly Skillshare will focus on The Art of Debriefing on Wed., Apr. 2 at 7 PM at St. Stephens Church, 1525 Newton St. NW. Often times, actions, projects and events occur without the critical moment of self and group reflection. April facilitators Noor Mir and Emil Rudicell will lead the group through the debriefing process. What does it mean to lead a thought provoking, safe discussion? What are the right questions to ask in this setting that will lead to meaningful conversation and evaluation of the action or project? Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/773533319323352/?fref=ts.
27] – Get a ticket at CAMDEN YARDS for OPENING NIGHT- -the Boston Red Sox play the Orioles on Wed., Apr. 2 at 7:05 PM in Section 334, above and behind home plate. All seats are $13 to see the O’s debut of the pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez ! Contact Lou Curran at lcurran@opd.state.md.us or 410-499-8899. The net proceeds of the ticket sales will equally benefit MPILP and UBSPI, two non-profit groups providing UB and UMd law students with paid summer clerkships in non-profit public interest organizations and select government agencies in Maryland. Tickets in Section 332 are available on Thurs., Apr. 3 at 7:05 PM for a Red sox game.

28] – On Thurs., Apr. 3 from 9:30 to 11 AM at New America Foundation, 1899 L St. NW, Suite 400, WDC 20036, hear about Unrecognized and Unwanted - Demolition and Forced Displacement in Area C of the West Bank (Palestine). The Oslo Accords - signed in the 1993 - classified 6 percent of West Bank lands as "Area C." An estimated 300,000 Palestinians live this area, which now also hosts all 125 Israeli settlements. Israeli authorities have full control of this area, including sole control over planning and construction. Israel strictly limits Palestinian inhabitation, construction and development in Area C. Palestinians are denied any legal avenue to build homes, grow their communities or develop communal infrastructure. Without an alternative, Palestinian residents of these areas build homes and infrastructure to address their needs, and Israel considers these structures illegal and orders their demolition.

Amira Hass, Haaretz correspondent for the occupied territories, and Kareem Jubran, the head of field research at B'Tselem, will analyze the significant rise in demolitions and evacuations and explain the legal framework that seeks to prevent Palestinian development in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. RSVP at http://www.newamerica.net/events/2014/unrecognized_and_unwanted. Contact Liana Simonds at 202-735-2829 or simonds@newamerica.org.

29] – The School of International Service, American University, is hosting Anne Hingeley, SIS/BA '93, Peter Weinberger, SIS/MA '98, Megan Chabalowski, SIS/MA '10, and Ian Proctor, all of the United States Institute of Peace, on Thurs., Apr. 3 from 3:30 to 6 PM at the United States Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Ave. NW, WDC 20037. RSVP is required-- siscomm@american.edu>.

Then there is a Book Talk: “De-Americanizing Soft Power? An Indian Perspective,” with Daya Thussu, University of Westminster, London, on Fri., Apr. 4 from 1 to 3 PM in SIS 300, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, WDC 20016. The French American Global Forum: Oil and Energy: What Does the Future Hold? is slated for Tues., Apr. 8 from 7 to 8 PM in the Abramson Family Founders Room, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, WDC 20016. RSVP is required-- siscomm@american.edu>.

30] – On Thurs., Apr. 3 from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, be at the Victor Jara Memorial Forum where Chile’s Folk Music Hero will be remembered in song, word and deed! In conjunction with the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) and UMD based student group Voices: Arts for Social Change, the Latin American Studies Center will host the evening. SOAW Latin American Coordinator Pablo Ruiz, Advocacy Coordinator Arturo J. Viscarra and Coral Cantigas Conductor Diana Saez will discuss the role of nueva cancion in Chilean social movements and the campaign to extradite Jara’s killer, Pedro Barrientos from Florida to Chile to stand trial. The event will be held at 200 Skinner Hall, University of Maryland, College Park. Call 301-405-6459 or email lasc@umd.edu.

31] – On Thurs., Apr. 3 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, Deborah Derrick, author of HALF LIVES, will discuss the book at the offices of GMMB, 3050 K St. NW, WDC. RSVP to Deborah Derrick at debandco@comcast.net. The book is the true story of a radioactive ship that the U.S. Navy knowingly operated for years, with 70 sailors living aboard. Within this lies the story of a man who escaped a brutal family only to be deployed to an atomic waste dumping ship; a commanding officer who tried to protect his men and the navy from toxic exposure; a highly disturbing, decades-long effort by the U.S. military to deny radiation claims; and a torqued veteran's family that would stop at nothing to get its due.

32] – On Thurs., Apr. 3 at 6:30 PM in Loyola University’s McGuire Hall, Dr. Sandra Steingraber, environmental writer, biologist, poet, and investigative reporter whom the Sierra Club has called “the new Rachel Carson,” will discuss the "The Fracking of America: Ethics and Impact." Steingraber, who confronted a bout with cancer between her sophomore and junior years of college, combines memoir with scholarship in several books that illuminate the complexities of living in contemporary industrialized society. Steingraber’s Living Downstream: An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment (1997, 2010) investigates the impact on the human body of the carcinogens employed in daily industrial use. Go to http://www.loyola.edu/academic/writing/about/modern-masters.
33] – On Thurs., Apr. 3 at 7:30 PM, What Can People of Faith Do About Gun Violence? Hear from Anthony Granado, USCCB, Rev. James Atwood (Ret.), author of “America and Its Guns – A Theological Expose,” and Lisa Delity, chair of Heeding God’s Call, Washington DC region chapter (an interfaith grass roots organization working against the culture of violence). Light refreshments will be served by the St. Francis of Assisi Pax Christi group at St. Francis of Assisi Parish Center (basement of church building), 6701 Muncaster Mill Road, Derwood, MD.

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