Baltimore Activist Alert June 2 – June 8, 2014

Baltimore Activist Alert June 2 – June 8, 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] Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity – through Aug. 31
6] Marc Steiner on WEAA – June 2 – 6
7] Energy Exports Action Camp – June 2 -- 9
8] See documentary film, “El Barrio Tours.” – June 2
9] Pledge of Resistance/Fund Our Communities meeting – June 2
10] 31st Annual Pride Interfaith Service – June 3
11] "U.S.-Iran Relations Past Present and Future" – June 3
12] Vote on the Wage Theft Prevention Act – June 3
13] Support Dr. Vivek Murthy for U.S. Surgeon General – June 3
14] See documentary film, “El Barrio Tours.” – June 3
15] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – June 3
16] "No Drone Research at JHU" – June 3
17] History of African-American cooperatives – June 3
18] Third 5 Days for the Cuban 5 – June 4 - 11
19] Hatha Yoga class at Shanti Yoga Ashram – June 3
20] "Plutonium Disposition by Downblending and Disposal" – June 4
21] Third 5 Days for the Cuban 5 – June 4 - 11
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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] – See the exhibit Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity, which
delves into the various ways technology affects lives through the perspective of inventors, futurists and 40 plus visionary artists. The intent is to bring new thoughts on artificial intelligence, robotics, genetics, nanotechnology, 3D printing, and big data, and you can see it through August 31 at the American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy. Call 410-244-1900. Go to http://avam.org. A ticket costs $20.

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] – On Mon., June 2 at noon through Mon., June 9 at noon, the Energy Exports Action Camp is being held to increase the ability of people who care to stop disastrous projects in our region — like the proposed Cove Point liquid natural gas export facility and the existing Baltimore coal export terminals. The impacts of these industrial operations affect us directly in the Chesapeake Bay area, but they also finance more devastating practices farther away. Mountaintop removal and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) are two extreme methods currently used to extract coal and gas from beneath the ground — and it’s the money reaped from exporting these materials abroad that makes these unbearable procedures economically feasible.

Through this camp, they hope to bring people together and build skills to make us more effective. They want to connect local concerned people with each other and also with people fighting the ravages of mountaintop removal and fracking in their communities, showing that it’s the same fight and creating better understanding between us all. They want to make sure that our lives and those of future generations won’t be marred by the negative health impacts that accompany every gas liquifaction plant or coal terminal or mountaintop removal site or fracking well. Go to http://energyexportsactioncamp.wordpress.com/.

8] – At the Sankofa Video & Bookstore, 2714 Georgia Ave. NW on Mon., June 2 from 6:30 to 9 PM, Andrew Padilla, a Puerto Rican filmmaker, photographer, and street reporter, will show his documentary film, “El Barrio Tours.” It takes an in-depth look at gentrification in Spanish Harlem, and it includes interviews with politicians, small business owners, activists, and residents as they discuss the past, present, and future of their beloved Barrio.

MLOV has invited filmmaker Andrew Padilla to make a couple more stops on his national El Barrio Gentrification Tours. Take the film as a jumping off point for immigrant community members and advocates to get answers to their questions about D.C.'s housing scenario from legal experts, government service providers, activists and tenants who have successfully organized themselves to save their buildings. Email sapna@mlovdc.org or call 202.470.6853.

9] – The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore usually meets on Mondays at 7:30 PM, and the meetings take place at Max’s residence. The next meeting will be on Mon., June 2. The proposed agenda will include a report on the shooting near the Viva House, the appeal of conviction of the CIA Five, anti-drone activities, including the Spring Actions, July 4 at the NSA, Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration, Charles Village Festival, Red Emma’s events and Keep Space for Peace Week. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net for directions.

10] – The 31st Annual Pride Interfaith Service, a gathering of LGBT People of Faith and Allies, is happening on Mon., June 2 from 7:30 to 9 PM at Luther Place Memorial Church, 1226 Vermont Ave. NW. The Tradition Continues for another 30 years ... Plan to attend! Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/436630319801104/.

11] – The Atlantic Council’s Iran Task Force and Search for Common Ground invite you to a conversation on Tues., June 3 at 9:30 AM with Hossein Mousavian, former head of Foreign Relations Committee of Iran’s National Security Council, and John Marks, Search for Common Ground, will take a look at "U.S.-Iran Relations Past Present and Future" at the Atlantic Council, 1030 15th St. NW, Floor 12, WDC. RSVP at http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/events/upcoming-events/registration/a08i000000PUMmqAAH.

Mousavian is a former Iranian diplomat and author of “Iran and the United States: An Insider’s View on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace.” Mousavian will offer insights from his twenty-five years representing Iran including his work as an ambassador and on the nuclear negotiating team spokesperson. Marks is the president and founder of Search for Common Ground, and worked on Track II dialogue and cultural exchanges with Iran for eighteen years. The two will discuss the current negotiations with Iran and the outlook for better relations under President Hassan Rouhani.

12] – On Tues., June 3 at 10 AM, get over to the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Everyone deserves fair pay for a day’s work! The D.C. Council's first vote on the Wage Theft Prevention Act is taking place. The Chamber of Commerce continues to lobby against this bill in hopes of weakening the protections for workers. Be there to show the Council the widespread community support for this initiative! Contact the D.C. Employment Justice Center at justice@dcejc.org or 202-828-9675.

13] – Join moms and family members who believe that public health should be off-limits to political meddling on Tues., June 3 at 10 AM to support Dr. Vivek Murthy for U.S. Surgeon General. #StandWithVivek for U.S. Surgeon General, and tell Senators to listen to moms, not the NRA at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol St. NE, WDC 20003 (one block from the Supreme Court, and a short walk from the Capitol South Metro Station). RSVP at http://action.momsrising.org/signup/RSVP_StandWithVivek/?source=mo-69141.

14] – At the Chinatown Service Center, 500 I St. NW on Tues., June 3 from 2 to 5 PM, see a documentary by Andrew Padilla, a Puerto Rican filmmaker, photographer, and street reporter. “El Barrio Tours” takes an in-depth look at gentrification in Spanish Harlem, including interviews with politicians, small business owners, activists, and residents as they talk about the past, present, and future of their beloved Barrio. Use the film as a jumping off point for immigrant community members and advocates to get answers to their questions about D.C.'s housing scenario from legal experts, government service providers, activists and tenants who have successfully organized themselves to save their buildings. Email sapna@mlovdc.org or call 202.470.6853.

15] – 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 St. & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine. The next vigil is June 3. Call 215-426-0364.

16] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. Join this ongoing vigil on June 3 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Call Max at 410-366-1637.

17] – On Tues., June 3, as part of the Institute for Policy Studies: Ideas into Action for Peace, Justice, and the Environment, Collective Courage: Economic Thought & Practice is a talk and special book launch event on the history of African-American cooperatives, featuring scholar/activist Jessica Gordon Nembhard at Impact Hub D.C., 419 7th St. NW, Suite 200, WDC. Also hear local updates on ONE DC's Black Worker's Center and Impact Hub DC's worker cooperative incubator. In “Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice,” Jessica Gordon Nembhard chronicles African American cooperative business ownership and its place in the movements for Black civil rights and economic equality. Not since W. E. B. Du Bois’s 1907 “Economic Co-operation Among Negro Americans” has there been a full-length, nationwide study of African American cooperatives. The book extends that story into the twenty-first century. Many of the players are well known in the history of the African American experience: Du Bois, A. Philip Randolph and the Ladies' Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Jo Baker, George Schuyler and the Young Negroes’ Co-operative League, the Nation of Islam, and the Black Panther Party. Adding the cooperative movement to Black history results in a retelling of the African American experience, with an increased understanding of African American collective economic agency and grassroots economic organizing. Doors open for a meet-and greet at 6:30 PM, and the book talk starts at 7 PM. A book-signing and reception will follow the talk. RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/jessica-gordon-nembhard-presents-collective-courage-tickets-11219542955.

18] – At D.C. General, 1900 Massachusetts Ave. SE. on Tues., June 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM there will be a protest. The situation in D.C. General is deplorable! Available funds are not being used for repairs. Join shelter residents as they rally for equal housing, security, First Amendment rights, and humane living conditions. This rally is organized by residents of the shelter and the Washington Interfaith Network. We invite you all to stand with the homeless families, and demand better living conditions, respect and fair treatment. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1400449546909291/.

18] – On the 1st Tuesday of the month at 7 PM at the Baltimore Humane Society, 1601 Nicodemus Road, there is a bereavement session for people who have lost their animal friends. Call 410-833-8848. Go to http://www.baltimorehumane.org.

19] – You are invited to join a Hatha Yoga class at Shanti Yoga Ashram, continuing each Tuesday until June 10. The class will meet from 7 to 8:15 PM each Tuesday. Drop-ins are welcome, but registration is encouraged at shantiyoga2@earthlink.net. The pre-registered fee is $66. The class meets at 4217 East West Hwy., Bethesda 20814.

20] – On Wed., June 4 from 9 to 10:45 AM, Edwin Lyman, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Miles Pomper, Monterey Institute, take on "Plutonium Disposition by Downblending and Disposal" at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Abelson-Haskins Conference Room, 1200 New York Ave. NW, WDC. RSVP at https://adobeformscentral.com/?f=GF88X*WZGSIvjQefrYDTNw#.

21] – The Institute for Policy Studies is part of the Third 5 Days for The Cuban 5 in Washington DC as there is a call to ask President Obama to change over 50 years of unjust U.S. policy toward Cuba. IPS again joins the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5 in inviting justice-loving people to join voices from around the world to ask President Obama, as a humanitarian gesture, to release the Cuban 5 now and begin the change of over fifty years of unjust U.S. policy towards Cuba. The events will start on Wed., June 4 and conclude on Wed., June 11. On Wed., June 4 from 10 to 11 AM, there will be a Press Conference and Welcoming Reception organized by the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, WDC 20045. Go to www.thecuban5.org. Unfortunately the press conference is not open to the public. All other events welcome public involvement.

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