Baltimore Activist Alert - June 4 - 6, 2014

23] Snowden’s leaks – June 4
24] Poverty, Development, and Displacement – June 4
25] Nuclear Strategy - India, Pakistan, and China, and the Future of Deterrence Stability – June 4
26] Responses to Gun Violence – June 4
27] Skillshare: Teambuilding Games: Ice Breakers, Trust Building, and FUN! – June 4
28] Book "Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice." – June 4
29] A New Era in US/Cuba Relations – June 5 & 6
30] Screening of “The Tank Man” – June 5
31] "Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict" – June 5
32] Music video for "NSA vs. USA" – June 5
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23] – On Wed., June 4 from 10 AM to 4 PM, in a unique series, the Wilson Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, will host four panel discussions leading up to the anniversary of Snowden's leaks. Examine how and why countries conduct surveillance, the relationship between security and liberty, whether current technology will become obsolete and how to explain surveillance to a generation raised in a digital world. Visit http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/surveillance-security-and-trust.

24] – Facing Poverty- Poverty, Development, and Displacement will take place on Wed., June 4 at noon at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Room A-5, 901 G St NW. The keynote speaker is Derek Hyra, Associate Prof., Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Tech. Forum panelists are Adrianne Todman, Executive Director, D.C. Housing Authority, Will Merrifield, Staff Attorney, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, and Anita Hairston, Associate Director, PolicyLink. Lunch is provided, but seats are limited. RSVP to Alice Jordan at 202-238-4698 or ajordan@upo.org.

25] – On Wed., June 4 from 3 to 4:30 PM, the Stimson Center's South Asia program will examine Nuclear Strategy - India, Pakistan, and China, and the Future of Deterrence Stability at 1111 19th St. NW, 12th Floor, Washington, D.C. The world is in a second nuclear age in which regional powers play an increasingly prominent role. These states have moderately sized nuclear arsenals, often face multiple active conflicts, and sometimes have weak institutions. How do these nuclear states—and potential future ones—manage their nuclear forces and influence international conflict?

Drawing from his new book, “Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era: Regional Powers and International Conflict” (Princeton University Press), Dr. Vipin Narang of MIT will discuss the ways in which India, Pakistan, and China have selected their nuclear postures and strategies, and the implications of those decisions for the future of deterrence stability in Asia. Dr. Peter R. Lavoy, partner at Monitor 360 and former acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, will serve as commentator. Dr. Lavoy has written extensively about nuclear strategy in Asia, with a particular focus on Indo-Pakistani dynamics. Dr. Narang’s book will be available for purchase (cash only), and a reception will follow the event. RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14PmKSymJ26a2OV0XzrJ7W0wFYzMjpeK-JJfmmmv-fOs/viewform. Contact Julia Thompson at jthompson@stimson.org.

26] – Mourn Our Loss Claim Our Future: Responses to Gun Violence is happening at 5331 Baltimore Ave, Suite 104, Hyattsville, on Wed., June 4 from 6 to 9 PM. The program includes viewing of Lloyd Wolf's photographs of D.C. Shrines, a legislative update from Ruth Flower, Assistant Executive Secretary for Legislative Programs, Friends Committee on National Legislation, and Anti-Gun Violence Posters, which is the unveiling of a traveling exhibit. Contact kim.schmidt@emu.edu.

27] – At 1525 Newton St. NW on Wed., June 4 from 7 to 9 PM, join the D.C. Trainers Network for the June Skillshare: Teambuilding Games: Ice Breakers, Trust Building, and FUN! The theme this month will be games! You know the ones: they can be energizers, getting-to-know you's, strategizing oriented, or just about having fun. Come ready to share and practice facilitating new activities to grow your toolkit!

The DC Trainers Network monthly skillshare is a structured, interactive space where people can share skills and gain confidence in their training abilities and everybody is both a teacher and a learner. It strives to provide an inclusive practice space to experiment with different approaches for learning and teaching. This skillshare seeks to strengthen the DC activist community’s ability to meet the needs of progressive social movements.

28] – On Wed., June 4 at 7:30 PM @ Red Emma's, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, Jessica Gordon Nembhard presents "Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice." The book 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. Collective Courage 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. Call 443-602-7585. Go to http://www.redemmas.org.

29] – On Thurs., June 5 and Fri., June 6, there is a conference: A New Era in US/Cuba Relations, which is part of 5 Days for the Cuban 5. Go to www.thecuban5.org. On Thurs., June 5, the first day, “A New Era of US/Cuba Relations” starts at 10 AM at Calvary Baptist Church, 755 8th St. NW, Shallenberger Hall (in the Greene Building), WDC 20001. The conference will include an opening plenary session, short videos, cultural presentations, a round table and panel of experts to talk about the blockade, the travel ban, the economic changes taking place in Cuba, cultural and religious exchanges, the case of the Cuban 5 and others. During the two-day conference, Gerardo Hernandez’s cartoons “Humor from my Pen” and Antonio Guerrero’s paintings “I will die the way I lived” will be on display and will be presented by Gilbert Brownstone, Art Curator and Founder of the Brownstone Foundation. Day one ends at 6 PM. Day two runs from 10 AM to 5:45 PM. Contact Netfa Freeman at netfa@ips-dc.org or 301-938-4628.

30] – As part of a Series on People Power: Activism for Social Change, there is a screening of “The Tank Man” at 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1, UMD College Park, on Thurs., June 5 from noon to 2 PM. Beyond the Classroom Living & Learning Program Series on People Power: Activism for Social Change showcases the documentary about a protester on June 5, 1989, one day after Chinese troops expelled thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators from Tiananmen Square, who stood his ground before a column of tanks advancing down the Avenue of Eternal Peace. Captured by Western photographers, this extraordinary confrontation became an icon of the fight for freedom around the world. Filmmaker Antony Thomas investigates the identity, fate and significance of “the tank man,” whose brave act of defiance captured the imagination of people around the world. On the 25th anniversary of this event, how do we understand this courageous stand for people power and the status of democratic reforms in China today?

31] – On Thurs., June 5 from 12:30 to 2 PM at The Jerusalem Fund, 2425 Virginia Ave., John Judis, author of "Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict," will offer a fresh look at the critical Truman years, arguing that if we can understand how this stalemate in U.S. policy originated, we will be better positioned to help end it. See http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/.

In his most recent book, “Genesis,” John Judis argues that while Israelis and Palestinians are shouldered with the blame of all the chaos in the Middle East, the United States has been the principal power outside the region since the end of World War II and is accountable for multiple failed efforts to resolve this enduring strife. The fatal flaw in American policy, Judis shows, can be traced back to the Truman years of 1945-1949, sealing the fate of the Middle East for the remainder of the century. A provocative narrative history, Genesis offers a fresh look at these critical postwar years, arguing that if we can understand how this stalemate originated, we will be better positioned to help end it. Meet the author at Busboys and Poets, 5th and K Sts. on Thurs., June 5 from 6 to 8 PM.

32] – At the Bossa Bistro Lounge, 2463 18th St. NW, on Thurs., June 5 from 8 to 11 PM, be at the introduction of the music video for "NSA vs. USA," the latest track from electronica DJ / MC / civil rights lawyer Shahid Buttar. You've bobbed your head at hip-hop shows. You've sweated through your clothes dancing to house music. You've listed to college history lectures. You've noticed the Snowden leaks and wondered what it all means.

Never thought you could put all that together in five minutes, eh? Think again! On Thursday, June 5 -- the one year anniversary of Edward Snowden revealing secret mass surveillance of Americans by our own military intelligence agencies – enjoy a free show, funky beats & a mid-week dance break from DJ Meegs (https://soundcloud.com/djmeegs), plus a dose of political consciousness -- set to groovy electro house, and a sick video. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/782256901815054/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular.

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