Baltimore Activist Alert - March 8 - 9, 2015

24] “Humanism in Deed” - Mar. 8
25] Net Neutrality - Mar. 8
26] International Women’s Day March & Rally - Mar. 8
27] Honor Rasmea Odeh – Mar. 8
28] AUMF Talk – Mar. 8
29] Peace Center benefit – Mar. 8
30] World Peace Is Possible – Mar. 8
31] “Curationalism” – Mar. 8
32] Pentagon Vigil – Mar. 9
33] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Mar. 9 – Mar. 13
34] Transit Lobby Day – Mar. 9
35] See THE SQUARE – Mar. 9
36] Zapatista Women – Mar. 9
37] Pledge of Resistance/FOC meeting – Mar. 9
38] FUKUSHIMA+4 – May 9
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24] – Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St., Suite 102, Baltimore 21201-4661, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion from 10:30 AM to noon. On Mar. 8, the platform address is “Humanism in Deed.” Ethical Culture, and much of humanism in general, promotes living a life of ethical action. Leader Hugh Taft-Morales promotes activism through Ethical Humanism because: it is reasonable; it promotes values that resonate; it offers inspirational experiences; it connects with other people and groups; and, most importantly, it emphasizes deed before creed. With eyes wide open, Hugh urges humanists to confront the stark realities of a brutal world with courageous commitment. In the words of the founder of Ethical Culture, Felix Adler: “In the deed is the pledge of the sacredness of life; in the deed is the reward of our activities in health; in the deed our solace, and our salvation even in the abysmal gulfs of woe. “Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

25] – Matt Wood is a Policy Director of Free Press, an activist organization fighting to preserve a free press and to protect the Internet from a corporate takeover, among other objectives. Matt helps to shape the Free Press policy team's efforts to protect the open Internet, prevent media concentration, promote affordable broadband deployment and safeguard press freedoms. He was formerly employed by the Media Access Project, has worked for PBS, and is a former editor-in-chief for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Review. At the D.C. Public Library, 1630 7th St. NW, WDC, on Sun., Mar. 8 from 2 to 3:30 PM, he will speak to DSA members about the apparently successful efforts of media reform advocates to persuade FCC chairman Tom Wheeler to safeguard Internet neutrality -- so far -- by rejecting corporate pressure for a pay-for-access policy, and by proposing regulation of the Internet as a public utility instead. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/658526477610181.

26] --The People's Power Assembly is hosting Baltimore International Women's Day March 2015 - FREE OUR SISTERS; FREE OURSELVES - on Sun., Mar. 8 with a MARCH & RALLY starting at 3 PM. Gather at the corner of Fallsway & Hillen Rd. (421 Fallsway, Baltimore, MD 21202). At 3:30 PM march to the Women’s Detention Center, Eager St. & Fallsway, to show solidarity with sisters who are behind bars as a result of the “injustice” system. At 4:30 PM, there will be an indoor rally & Women’s Activist Awards at the First Unitarian Church, Enoch Parish Hall, Hamilton St. & N. Charles St., just north of Franklin St. There will be music, song and poetry. Finally, there will be a dinner. If you would like to be involved, call 410-218-4835. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/764478760309486.

27] – On Sun., Mar. 8 from 4 to 6 PM, International Women's Day, Phyllis Bennis is hosting an event at 1736 Columbia Rd. NW, Apt 409, WDC 20009, to honor Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh and help raise funds for her defense. She is facing deportation and 5 to7 years in prison following her unjust conviction in November. Her struggle is far from over as an appeals process will begin after sentencing on March 12. Tickets are $35. Snacks and drinks will be served, and Palestinian musician Fuad Foty will perform. Visit http://www.eventbrite.com/e/justice-for-rasmea-odeh-fundraiser-tickets-15864854206.
28] – On Sun., Mar. 8 at 4:30 PM, there is the Brandywine Peace Community Monthly Potluck Supper/Program at the University Lutheran Church, 3637 Chestnut St., Phila., 19104. Bring a main dish, salad, or dessert to share. At 5:30 PM the program begins. To get to the University Lutheran Church, go to www.septa.com. Call Brandywine Peace Community at 610-544-1818 or go to www.brandywinepeace.com/events.
The Obama Administration is pushing for another Authorization for Use of Military Force...Another 'Endless War' declaration! Peter Lems, on the American Friends Service Committee’s national peace staff, will speak on “Another AUMF; Another Declaration of ‘Endless War.’ " President Obama recently requested the largest Pentagon budget in history. He's also asking Congress to retroactively approve and support ongoing U.S. military action in Syria by approving a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). Intended to fight ISIS, the new AUMF is modeled on Bush's 2001 AUMF that was intended to fight Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Thirteen years later, that AUMF has been used to justify military action in 13 countries.

Peter Lems is a program officer for the American Friends Service Committee. He helps coordinate the Wage Peace and Presidential Campaign Projects. Since 1988, he has traveled widely and worked for a variety of organizations focused on the Arab world. The program will also include a showing of the short film “IN THE SIGHTS OF THE FBI: COINTELPRO to Today’s Assaults on Civil Liberties” (12mins., Brandywine Peace Community) marking the anniversary of the Media FBI break-in (International Women’s Day, March 8, 1971) and its resulting revelations of widespread surveillance and harassment of the anti-war and social justice movements in the later 60’s and early 70’s, and today. See http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/20/1365359/-Cartoon-The-long-war-of-foreverness ?detail=email.

29] – On Sun., Mar. 8 from 6 to 10 PM, Positive Force presents Jobs Not War, a benefit for the Washington Peace Center at the Wilson Center, 3047 15th St. NW, WDC 20009. Enjoy the music, and make a donation from $5 to $10. See https://www.facebook.com/events/840898532636791/.

30] – World Peace is Possible: Exploring the Anatomy of Violence and War is the topic of discussion by Paul K. Chappell, author, educator, and soldier of peace, on Sun., Mar. 8 from 7 to 9 PM at the 14th and V Sts. NW Busboys and Poets. Go to http://www.geotrees.com/ftp/PKChappell-Bboys-0308-2015.pdf. The speaker serves as Peace Leadership Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). Part African American, part Asian, and part Caucasian, Paul Chappell grew up in a violent household in Alabama with a father who fought in the Korean and Vietnam wars. His most recent book in his seven-book Road to Peace series is "The Art of Waging Peace." Go to http://paulkchappell.com/ and http://www.wagingpeace.org.

31] – On Sun., Mar. 8 at 7:30 PM @ Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, David Balzer presents “Curationism.” 'Curate’ is now a buzzword, applied to everything from music festivals to artisanal cheese. Inside the art world, the curator reigns supreme, acting as the face of high-profile group shows and biennials in a way that can eclipse and assimilate the contributions of individual artists. Curatorial-studies programs continue to grow, and the business world is adopting curation as a means of adding value to content. Everyone, it seems, is a curator.

But what is a curator, exactly? And what does the explosive popularity of curating say about our culture’s relationship with taste, labour and the avant-garde? In this vibrant, revelatory and original study, Balzer travels through art history and around the globe to explore the cult of curation, from superstar curator Hans Ulrich Obrist’s war with sleep to Subway’s ‘sandwich artists.’ Recalling such landmark works of cultural criticism as Tom Wolfe’s “The Painted Word” and John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing,” Curationism will change the way you look at art – and maybe even the way you see yourself. Call 443-602-7585. Go to http://www.redemmas.org.

32] -- There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop. The next vigil is Mon., Mar. 9, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker. Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649. The vigil will be outside the Pentagon's south Metro entrance and in the designated "protest zone" behind bicycle fences across from the entrance to the Metro. By Metro, take Yellow Line and get out at the "Pentagon" stop. Do not go to the Pentagon City stop! Go up south escalators and turn left and walk across to protest area. By car from D.C. area, take 395 South and get off at Exit 8A-Pentagon South Parking. Take slight right onto S. Rotary Rd. at end of ramp and right on S. Fern St. Then take left onto Army Navy Dr. You can "pay to park" on Army Navy Dr., and there is meter parking one block on right on Eads St. Payment for both of these spots begin at 8 AM. No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds. Restrooms are located inside Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.

33] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Friday from 10 AM to noon 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.

34] – Join Citizens Planning and Housing Association, Inc. [CPHA] and other transportation advocates from across Maryland, including the Greater Baltimore Committee, Red Line Now, Purple Line Now, 1,000 Friends of Maryland, the League of Women Voters, and the Coalition for Smarter Growth, for a Transit Lobby Day in support of the Red and Purple Lines. The Red Line is a critical public transportation infrastructure project that will connect Baltimoreans to job centers and increase access to opportunity, create nearly 10,000 construction and construction-related jobs, leverage $900 million in federal funds, and unite Baltimore’s Metro subway, light rail, MARC trains and buses into a more unified and connected transit network. Support the Purple Line because transit is a necessity. It’s now or never for both the Red and Purple Lines. If the state chooses not to go forward with them, there will be no second chances as federal funding for transportation is highly competitive.

Register for Lobby Day at http://www.cphabaltimore.org/2015/03/attend-transit-lobby-day/?utm_source=eblast+for+3%2F5%2F2015&utm_campaign=eblast+8%2F28%2F14&utm_medium=email. The event will be held on Mon., Mar. 9 from 5 to 8 PM at Lowe House Building, Room 142, 6 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD 21401.

35] – On Mon., Mar. 9 from 7 to 9 PM, Beyond the Classroom, University of Maryland, 1104 South Campus Commons, Building 1, College Park, is doing a Seminar Series on "People Power: Activism for Social Change!" See the documentary “The Square” (Egypt, 2013). The Egyptian Revolution has been an ongoing rollercoaster over the past two and a half years. Through the news, we only get a glimpse of the bloodiest battle, an election, or a million man march. At the beginning of July 2013, we witnessed the second president deposed within the space of three years.

The Square is an immersive experience, transporting the viewer deeply into the intense emotional drama and personal stories behind the news. It is the inspirational story of young people claiming their rights, struggling through multiple forces, in the fight to create a society of conscience. Go to www.BeyondTheClassroom.umd.edu.

36] – On Mon., Mar. 9 at 7 PM at La Casa, 3166 Mount Pleasant St. NW, WDC, catch a book talk about “Compañeras,” the untold story of women’s involvement in the Zapatista movement, the indigenous rebellion that has inspired grassroots activists around the world for over two decades. Gathered here are stories of grandmothers, mothers, and daughters who became guerrilla insurgents and political leaders, educators and healers—who worked collectively to construct a new society of dignity and justice. With a foreword by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, “Compañeras” is required reading for anyone interested in women’s rights, social and economic justice, or grassroots resistance to global capitalism. Author Hilary Klein will be joined by leaders from CASA de Maryland's Domestic Workers Project to discuss the many lessons that can be learned from these women's stories of struggle and courage. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/518080131665228/.

37] – 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., Feb. 16. The proposed agenda will include anti-drone activities, including getting a resolution passed in Baltimore’s City Council, lobbying in Annapolis, a march from the EPA to the Pentagon, lobbying John Sarbanes and upcoming court cases. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net.

38] – FUKUSHIMA+4 is an update on the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster with Japanese and U.S. Experts. This Nuclear Information and Resource Service Telebriefing will occur on Mon., Mar.9 at 8 PM EDT. The speakers are Akira Kawasaki, Executive Committee Member, Peace Boat, Japan, Aileen Mioko Smith, Director, Green Action, Japan, and David Lochbaum, Nuclear Engineer, Union of Concerned Scientists. Tim Judson, Executive Director of NIRS, will moderate. Four years into the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, we will gather together to mark the suffering of those displaced from their pre-Fukushima lives, the widespread contamination and the impact on energy policy both in Japan and here in the USA. Registration is required to participate. Register at http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5502/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=73443.

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