Thursday, May 7, 2015

Baltimore Activist Alert May 8 – May 9, 2015

Baltimore Activist Alert May 8 – May 9, 2015

"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.

1] Books, buttons & stickers
2] Web site for info on federal legislation
3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists
4] Buy coffee through HoCoFoLa
5] Two friends are looking to buy a house in Baltimore
6] Two friends from Kentucky are coming to Baltimore, and need a place to sleep – May 8 & 9
7] Publish this book
8] Get your animal friend in the Maryland SPCA 2016 calendar – through May 15
9] Out of Rubble exhibit – through May 16
10] Silent Peace Vigil – May 8
11] Hear about the city of Jerusalem – May 8
12] Stop the Drone War Command Center – May 8
13] Silent vigil May 8
14] Climate chaos conference – May 8 – 10
15] Cuban democracy – May 8
16] ALC Retreat – May 8 - 10
17] UNAC conference May 8 - 10
18] Ballroom Dancing – May 8
19] Bike Tour of D.C. Labor History – May 9
20] March for Justice – May 9
21] Books for prisoners – May 9
22] West Chester, PA demo – May 9
23] Celebrate the life of Ralphael Briscoe – May 9
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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 Francine Sheppard at 5639B, Harpers Farm Rd., Columbia 21044. The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up. Contact Francine at 410-992-7679 or FrancineMSW@aol.com.

5] – Two friends are looking to buy a house in Baltimore.  Let Max know if you have any leads—410-366-1637 or mobuszewski@verizon.net.

6] – Two friends from Kentucky are coming to Baltimore, and need a place to stay the evenings of May 8 & 9.  Let Max know if you have any suggestions—410-366-1637 or mobuszewski@verizon.net.

7] – Enter a photo of your animal friend in the Maryland SPCA 2016 Calendar for $50. Each entry also includes one (1) free calendar! Participants can send photos after registration, so don't worry if you need a little extra time to find the purr-fect photo of Fluffy! To enter, go to  www.mdspca.org/photo and use discount code "SPCAcalendar" during checkout, or contact Jennifer Mion at petcalendar@mdspca.org or 410-235-8826, ext. 133. 

The 2016 Pet Calendar will be a full-color wall calendar, released in the fall of 2015. Thirteen of the best photos will be selected for the cover and pet-of-the-month pages. Photographs must be of animals, no people, and must be in color. High-resolution horizontal photos are preferred. Small photos, especially those taken by phones, are difficult to enlarge. All entered photos will appear in the calendar. A maximum of 400 photos will be accepted through May 15, 2015. The calendar is an important fundraiser for the Maryland SPCA. Proceeds benefit the needy and homeless animals in our care!

8] – Out of Rubble is an exhibit currently on display at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture until May 16 at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.  The exhibition reacts to the wake of war — its realities and its representations. The rubble that each war leaves behind shapes today and tomorrow — physically, psychologically and spiritually. Responding to a wide range of violent encounters taking place over four continents, Out of Rubble presents works by seventeen artists and architects from over ten countries who consider its causes and consequences, its finality and future, moving from decimation and disintegration to the possibilities of regeneration and recovery. Featured artists and architects include Susanne Slavick, who curated the exhibit is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University.

9] – Dave Eberhardt would appreciate any ideas on publication- locally or nationally of his “niche” book.  For All the Saints is a 120 page voyage into the heart of the 60's. After 21 months in federal prison at Lewisburg for pouring blood on draft files to protest the Vietnam War with Father Philip Berrigan in 1967, and a career aiding prisoners at the Baltimore City Jail, 4 a child of the 60's offers a poetic exploration of non- violence and a life spent in revolutionary movements….over 30 years in and out of prison.

He has published three books of poetry: The Tree Calendar, Blue Running Lights, and Poems from the Website, Poetry in Baltimore. You can contact him at 4 Hadley Square North, Baltimore 21218 or 410-235-7507 or mozela9@comcast.net

10] – On Fri., May 8 from noon to 1 PM, join the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in a vigil urging the powers that be to abolish war and torture, to disarm all weapons, to end indefinite detention, to close Guantanamo, to establish justice for all and help create the Beloved Community! The vigil takes place at the White House on Pennsylvania Ave. NW.  Contact Art @ artlaffin@hotmail.com or at 202-360-6416.

11] – On Fri., May 8 from 1 to 2 PM at The Palestine Center, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC 20037 hear about the city of Jerusalem. Edward Said described his native city as the city of death - a grim town of pilgrimage, fanaticism and unbearable provincialism. This portrayal was reinforced by a large number of visiting luminaries, including Mark Twain (Innocents Abroad), Falih Rifki (Zeitundagi, 1915) and Selma Ekrem (Harim Days). Yet in the work of native writers like Serene al Husseini, Khalil Sakakini and Wasif Jawhariyyeh we see an alternative Jerusalem - a libertine and even hedonistic city of joie de vivre and abandonment.

 Jawhariyyeh in his two volume memoirs (released in English recently as “The Storyteller of Jerusalem” and co-edited with Dr. Issam Nassar) introduces us to the city of the carnivalesque. It includes the syncretic religious celebrations of Nabi Musa and St. George, the religious ceremonials of Holy Saturday and the Virgin Mary, the bordellos of the old city and the garçonnières of the bachelor patricians, the musical bands and theatrical groups and the literary cafes fashioned after the Vagabond Café of Is’af al Nashashibi and Khalil Mutran. Dr. Salim Tamari will examine these features of the ’grim city’ and explore why libertine Jerusalem has been camouflaged, ignored or repressed in the majority of writings by social historians and in travel literature. Visit http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/EventDetails/i/50582. Call 202-338-1958 or email info@thejerusalemfund.org.

 12] – On Fri., May 8 at 4 PM, join the Rush-Hour PHILADELPHIA vigil to Stop the Drone War Command Center in Horsham, PA.  It is happening at the SEPTA entrance/west side of City Hall, NW corner, 15th & Market Sts., Phila., PA. 19102.  Hold a banner or sign, handout flyers demanding that PA Governor Tom Wolf take responsibility for drone war activity in the state and initiate public hearings. These center city vigils take place the 2nd Friday of the month alternating between 15th & Market Streets and Broad & Walnut Streets, Bellevue Hyatt Hotel location of Governor Wolf's SE PA regional office.

 While funded by the U.S. Air Force, the drone command center is located on commonwealth property. There has, as yet, not been a single citizens hearing by state authorities. Governor Wolf can initiate these badly needed hearings. Call and write the Governor’s office—717-787-2500 and mail 508 E-floor Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120. Contact the Brandywine Peace Community at (610) 544-1818 at www.brandywinepeace.com/events.

 13] – There is usually a silent peace vigil on Fridays, from 5 to 6 PM, sponsored by Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings, outside the Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St.  The next vigil is on until Apr. 10.  On that Friday it will remind us that War Is Not the Answer and that there is the need to stop torture, and prosecute the torturers. 

 14] – Climate change is rapidly creating a danger to civilization which will soon affect hundreds of millions of people world-wide, and disproportionally affect poor, minorities and indigenous communities. Yet the political, organizational and grassroots efforts to date have not created the cohesive political power necessary to seriously reduce carbon emissions or affect meaningful climate mitigation. Civilization itself is endangered.

 From Fri., May 8 at 6:30 PM through Sun., May 10 at 1 PM, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) will gather leaders from the various faith denominations, youth and grassroots climate activist organizations, who will take the first steps to create the organization, legislation, media tools, and other resources necessary for a powerful and cohesive national climate change movement. Get over to 4340 Connecticut Ave. NW, Moot Court Room, 5th Floor, WDC 20008. 

 The Saturday conference begins at 9 AM, and lunch and dinner will be provided.  On Sunday, it begins at 9 AM with breakfast provided.  Sponsorships have made it possible to food and refreshments for 200 activists. Use the Donate link below to sponsor activists or produce conference materials. RSVP at http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6405/c/10113/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=424879.

 15] – To Cubans, “democracy” and “representation” have completely different meanings than in the United States. During the Cuban Revolution, Cuba’s capitalist class was eliminated, and the construction of a workers’ state began. This opened the way for a new electoral system known as People’s Power, enshrined in the constitution approved by popular referendum.

 In Cuba, there are no private property owners who hold sway over elected officials as in the U.S. Congress. There are no capitalists who control factories, the healthcare system, mines and land with the power to shut down workplaces and lay off thousands of workers. Workplaces, land and natural resources are the common property of the people, with a state and government that constitute workers’ power. In a socialist economic system, the government and media reflect common ownership of the country’s wealth. Delegates in all levels of Cuba’s government are elected in their neighborhoods--without the privileges that capitalist politicians expect. In Cuba, Assembly members continue to work at their regular jobs, and get no salary from their parliamentary responsibilities. Does Cuba’s political system rest on one man’s power or on the collective participation of millions of Cubans?  Is this a worker’s democracy?

Join the Party for Socialism and Liberation at 617 Florida Ave. NW, WDC on Fri., May 8 from 7 to 10 PM to learn about the workers' democracy in Cuba and how that contrasts with the upcoming U.S. election season.  What about building a workers’ republic in the United States?

16] – The Atlantic Life Community Retreat is happening Fri., May 8 through Sun., May10 at Ossining, NY.  RSVP at Scott Langley at scott@scottlangleyphoto.com.  Go to http://prop1.org/park/persons/cathwork/cathwork.htm.  The theme is Art and Resistance, and it is happening at Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center, 299 N Highland Ave., Ossining, NY 10562.  Go to http://www.mariandale.org/.  Call (518) 392-2810.

17] –  The United National Antiwar Coalition [UNAC] Conference takes place in Secaucus, NJ from Fri., May 8 through Sun., May 10--STOP THE WARS AT HOME AND ABROAD! There will be cultural performances during the conference, as well as such speakers as Ramsey Clark, Cynthia McKinney, Michael McPhearson, Malik Mujahid, Lynne Stewart, Pam Africa, Medea Benjamin, Glen Ford, Kathy Kelly, Ann Wright, David Swanson and others. Register at http://UNACconference2015.org.

18] – There is an opportunity to participate in ballroom dancing, usually every Friday of the month, in the JHU ROTC Bldg. at  8 PM.  Turn south on San Martin Dr. from the intersection of Univ. Parkway and 39th St.  Drive on campus by taking the third left turn. The next dance will be May 8. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725.

19] – Gather in Freedom Plaza, 14th St. NW at Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC on Sat., May 9 from 10 AM to 1 PM for a Bike Tour of D.C.’s Labor History.  The requested donation is $10 which benefits DC Jobs with Justice.  No one will be turned away for lack of funds!!! The tour will highlight sites and stories of resistance from the distant past to recent events, some memorialized in stone, others paved over and nearly forgotten.  The ride will cover about 15 miles and is expected to take about 3 hours. It will end up at Malcolm X Park around 1 PM.  Tour pamphlets (complete with a route map) will be provided so you can follow along. Register at https://www.facebook.com/events/436980753123279/.

20] – On Sat., May 9 at 10 AM honor mothers who have lost their children to police violence across the country. There will be a March for Justice, starting at Mt. Vernon Square, 800 Mt. Vernon Place NW, WDC going through Chinatown to the Department of Justice.  In the wake of the recent unjust murders of Dontre Hamilton, Corey Stingley, Derek Williams, Brandon Johnson, Larry Jenkins, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and so many more at the hands of police officers and racist vigilantes, people in cities across the nation have risen up to demand Justice in their communities. For every individual killed, there is a mother who has suffered a loss greater than any one person should have to bear. The mothers of this movement, are calling on all concerned community members to join the fight. Stand against police brutality and racial injustice and demonstrate our love and determination to protect our children and our country. RSVP at www.mfju.eventbrite.com. Email mothersforjusticeunited@gmail.com or call 414.939.5599. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/918889921477838/.

21] – Come to the Foundry United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 1500 16th St. NW, WDC on Sun., May 10 from 10 AM to 1:30 PM and donate baked goods.  Also come and purchase a treat for Mother's Day!  Since 1999, DC Books to Prisons Project has provided free books to prisoners around the country. The work is done solely by concerned volunteers on donated time and resources. Yearly, they send out over 3,000 packages directly to prisoners. Pack every Wednesday evening from 6 to 9 PM at Foundry United Methodist Church.  First time volunteers are asked to come to orientation at 6:30 PM on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. Paperback book donations and postage are appreciated. See http://dcbookstoprisoners.org/. Call Chris Matthews at 202-688-1082.

 22] –  Each Saturday, 11 AM – 1 PM, Chester County Peace Movement holds a peace vigil in West Chester in front of the Chester County Courthouse, High & Market Sts. Go to www.ccpeace.org. Email ccpeacemovement@aol.com

23] –  People's Cooperative Association, Inc., 2430 - 2438 Elvans Road SE, WDC, is celebrating the life of Ralphael Briscoe, on Sat., May 9 from 4 to 8 PM.  There will be many speakers from various groups including DC Black Lives Matter, ACLU and Empower DC. Also enjoy music and food. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1602638546649320/.

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  

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