Thursday, July 30, 2015

Baltimore Activist Alert - July 31 - September 22, 2015

46] Film LOOK OF SILENCE – July 31
47] Protest the Jeb Bush Super Pac – July 31
48] Peace vigil at the White House– July 31
49] Black Lives Matter Vigil – July 31
50] Student/Farmworker Alliance party – July 31
51] “Battle Hymns” – July 31
52] Ballroom Dancing – July 31
53] Howard Ehrlich Estate Sale – Aug. 1
54] West Chester peace vigil – Aug. 1
55] Protest Dominican Republic – Aug. 1
56] Empower DC – Aug. 1
57] Healthcare Justice March – Aug. 1
58] Play about the occupation – Aug. 1 - 2
59] Address Sexual Violence – Aug. 1
60] MDASPCA benefit – Aug. 1
61] Benefit for public defenders – Aug. 1
62] Commemorate Hiroshima & Nagasaki – August 6 & 9
63] Climate chaos, poverty & war actions – Sept. 22
64] Sign up with Washington Peace Center
65] Activist needs a driveway or garage
66] Join Fund Our Communities
67] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records
68] Do you need any book shelves?
69] Join Global Zero campaign
70] Join Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil
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46] – See "Look of Silence," Then Act to Shatter the Silence.  This powerful new documentary will be showing at the E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW, between 10th & 11th Sts. NW, WDC starting Fri., July 31. See it and then take action on the U.S. role in the massacres in Indonesia depicted in the film. See http://thelookofsilence.com/watch for additional showings around the U.S. Join the campaign to Reveal the Truth, Acknowledge the Crime.  The massacre of up to 1,000,000 communists, leftists, ethnic Chinese, and others in Indonesia in 1965-1967 is a foundational event in modern Indonesian political history, but it remains mostly a footnote for most in the United States and elsewhere.  The documentary THE ACT OF KILLING shocked audiences as perpetrators of the mass murder reenacted their violence. The film has fueled a debate within Indonesia and drawn attention internationally to events unknown to many. Events that the U.S. facilitated and cheered at the time.

THE LOOK OF SILENCE, a companion film to THE ACT OF KILLING, will soon be showing in U.S. theaters. It follows the investigation by Adi Rukun into the murder of his older brother who was killed during the violence.  The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) continues to call for accountability for those in the West who encouraged and assisted in the mass violence in Indonesia. The full truth must come out and the U.S. should declassify all files related to Suharto's U.S.-backed seizure of power and the murderous events which followed. ETAN has prepared a background piece on the events and aftermath of Suharto's brutal seizure of power, where we focus on the U.S. role and responsibility. Read Breaking the Silence: The U.S. and Indonesia's Mass Violence. See http://www.etan.org.

THE LOOK OF SILENCE is Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful companion piece to the Oscar-nominated The Act of Killing. Through a family that lost their eldest son, the film explores one of the 20th century’s deadliest atrocities, still largely hidden after 50 years—Indonesia’s 1965 army-led purge and killing of as many as one million people. The family discovers years later (from Oppenheimer’s footage) who killed their son and how, and they must confront how privileged, dangerous, and close at hand the killers remain. The younger son, an optometrist named Adi, breaks the half-century of fearful silence with an act the film calls “unimaginable in a society where the murderers remain in power.” While testing the eyesight of the men who killed his brother, Adi confronts them. He challenges them to accept responsibility for their violence. Oppenheimer writes that the film depicts “a silence born of terror,” and “the necessity of breaking that silence, but also … the trauma that comes when that silence is broken."  More information about the film can be found here: http://thelookofsilence.com/.

47] –   On Fri., July 31 at 10 AM, join Move On to protest Jeb Bush's super PAC. Super PACs are influencing elections by enabling a very few corporations and the super-wealthy to overshadow the political power of the people. Bush's super PAC, "Right to Rise" announced that it raised $103 million–-most of it before he had officially announced his candidacy for president. For this reason, Move On is holding a rally to insist that elections cannot be bought and demand that they are returned to the people!  Come to 601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC.  Go to http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=144151&id=126474-8067490-nDbVVPx&t=3.

 
48] – On Fri., July 31 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.

 49] – 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 scheduled vigil is on July 31. Black Lives Matter. 

 50] – Come to Haydees Restaurant, 3102 Mt. Pleasant St. NW, WDC, on Fri., July 31 from 6 to 8 PM for a night of dancing, hanging out, and supporting the Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA)! Since the beginning SFA has always depended on the people to help sustain the powerful farmworker and student organizing that powers the Campaign for Fair Food. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1433327506996353/.

 51]   On Fri., July 31 at 7:30 PM @ Red Emma's, the Baffler presents "Battle Hymns." Join editor John Summers and contributor Alex Pareene for a release party to celebrate the latest issue of The Baffler: "Battle Hymns." Long before the triumph of Stand Your Ground gun legislation, the overlapping Grand Guignols of the Iraq invasion and ISIS’s rise, or the release of the latest cinematic blood orgy at the multiplex, America’s political id was drenched in blood. We devised all manner of new American-branded mayhem during our long passage from a frontier republic into, well, a frontier mass republic, as historian Richard Hofstadter notes in a strikingly timely essay abridged in this issue: lynchings, riots, vigilantism, and political assassinations, along with garden-variety domestic knifings, shootings, and bludgeonings carried out on a scale of gruesomeness pretty much unprecedented in the soi-disant civilized West.  

 52] – 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 July 31. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725.

 53] – The estate sale for the late Howard Ehrlich, who was board president of Research Associates Foundation, is taking place on Sat., Aug. 1 from 10 AM to 4 PM at 2743 Maryland Ave., Baltimore 21218.  Sale items include books, furniture, appliances and equipment. Leave a message at 410-444-1023.  You will get a call back.  Proceeds after expenses will benefit the Nicaraguan Cultural Alliance.  We will post suggested prices, but these are negotiable - so make an offer! 

 54] –  Each Saturday, 11 AM – 1 50, 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

 55] – The Obama Administration must not turn a blind eye to the human rights crisis taking place in the Dominican Republic as Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian migrants alike are forcibly removed, coerced, and intimidated to flee their homes, lives, and families. From the Organization of American States (OAS), 17th St. SW at Constitution Ave. NW, WDC, march to the White House and demand that our leaders speak up in the face of grave injustice on Sat., Aug. 1 from 11 AM to 2 PM.  See https://www.facebook.com/events/886185281455887/.

 56] – On Sat., Aug. 1 from noon to 5 PM, the Lamont St. Collective, 1822 Lamont St. NW, is proud to participate this year in the In It Together Fest! As a DIY venue, there is a daytime party with bands playing to raise funds for Empower DC.  The two acts playing (so far) will be Eshovo [see https://eshovo.bandcamp.com/] & MotherKnuckle [see https://www.facebook.com/motherknuckle].  All proceeds raised will go to Empower DC to aid them in their work, organizing District residents to fight for their own empowerment.

 Empower DC is a citywide, multi-issue, membership-based community organizing project. In It Together Fest (IITF, InFestDC, etc.) is a four-day celebration of underground art, music, and activism at all venues propagating independent culture throughout the District of Columbia. Empowered by the hope to build a community among disparate DIY spaces, they've come together to foster participation, encourage new ideas, and highlight the under-appreciated. IITF aims to challenge, embolden the marginalized and help transform their creative community into one free of traditional boundaries and productive in its endeavors. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/943274269066106/.

 57] – On Sat., Aug. 1 from 1:15 to 4:15 PM, history will be made in the fight for healthcare access for all in the United States. Thousands will gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the Healthcare Justice March demanding Expanded and Improved Medicare for All. We have the legislation – H.R. 676 – and now we need the power of the People to stand behind it. Donations are still greatly needed to make this event possible. Visit http://healthcarejusticemarch.org/.

 58] – Come to the Trinidad Theatre - Logan Fringe Arts Space, 1358 Florida Ave. NE, WDC, on Sat., Aug. 1 at 2:45 PM and on Sun., Aug. 2 at 2 PM.  Courageous Israeli soldiers from Breaking the Silence dare to speak out against the Occupation policies they enforce. Their service in the Palestinian territories was a transforming experience. They show a reality they can no longer hide. See https://www.capitalfringe.org/events/572-it-s-what-we-do-a-play-about-the-occupation.

 59] – At BUSBOYS & POETS @ 5TH & K STS, 1025 5th St. NW, WDC, on Sat., Aug. 1 from 5 to 8 PM, join the As One Project as it addresses the epidemic of sexual violence in this society. Come to the launch party.  Go to http://www.busboysandpoets.com/events/event/as-one-project-launch-party.

 60] – On Sat., Aug. 1 at 7:05 PM, it is Maryland SPCA Night at Camden Yards.  Watch the O's take on the Tigers! Tickets are $20 each (upper reserves). $5 from each ticket goes towards the Maryland SPCA! Tickets are limited and only available on a first-come, first-served basis. Click at http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001YDbUX11MTflyuYtlWrscU13tFFSdPvRpfzNH2UqCG7WUHsh21sclc3X0WhUMA75fkROoS04AproOXG06tD39DYuHfRqYVFeQ02w_s13jZKxgnO34EeONe-XScbCDhZRxeGs_Ris1Q-SKlJeT6JhI0Z0uHyNpidexsL5Wt-AChIWtH43v5q9-swPqsQjWRQSIMjyv5NPhAfR9Rdq3ft7l196P_D3b8fdP6NjsuTsoEUo=&c=GEpu64Mpd_u7XD_neDpnTruLTKoKYpGaG0VhXJm9Gj3soiPNwfiIvg==&ch=zCE4UAJbdfnr_E5ofRhLv-0TPNp6HZStfivvVYLTY-4Ez_vMJPWZpw==.  Call 410-235-8826 or email give@mdspca.org.

61] – On Sat., Aug. 1 at 7:05 PM, watch the O’s play the Tigers at Camden Yards.  Tickets are $20 each in Section 330. The first 25,000 fans over 15 get a Birds bobble head.  Contact Lou at lcurran@opd.state.md.us or 410-499-8899.  Ticket sales benefit MPILP, UBSPI, Md Legal Aid Bureau, Public Justice Center, MCDAA, NACDL's Foundation for Criminal Justice, Assn for the Public Defender - Maryland (APDMd) and a memorial educational trust fund for the children of the late ex-APD Norm "Stormin' Norman" Usiak. 
62] – The annual Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration will begin on Thurs., Aug. 6 with a 5:30 PM demonstration at 33rd & North Charles Streets to call for the abolition of nuclear weapons and a ban on killer drone strikes and research.  Visitors from Japan will speak, and then we would eat dinner at a Japanese restaurant.

On Sun., Aug. 9, we will enjoy a potluck dinner at 6 PM.  Then Ralph Moore, a long-time Baltimore activist, will address the problems facing Baltimore.  If you are in a social change organization, you would be welcome to inform the gathering about your accomplishments. We are seeking performers.  Let Max know if you have any suggestions. 

63] -- The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance is planning an action on September 21 or 22 in the D.C. area. We will gather at 10 AM in the office of a member of the House of Representatives to challenge him/her that the wars must end, that Mother Earth must be saved and that we must eliminate income inequality. We will occupy Rep. Paul Ryan’s office.

After delivering a letter and speaking with staff members, we will next gather at 1 PM at the White House.  There we will try to deliver a letter to the White House, raise the same issues and risk arrest. Let Max know if you can join us in D.C. for this action.

64] -- The Washington Peace Center has a progressive calendar & activist alert! Consider signing up to receive its weekly email: info@washingtonpeacecenter.org.

65] -- There is a bicycle activist who is seeking a space [driveway or garage] where he could park a vehicle without plates.  Let Max know if you have a suggestion.

66] -- Fund Our Communities campaign is a grass roots movement to get support from local organizations and communities to work together with their local and state elected officials to pressure Congresspersons and senators to join with former Congresspersons Barney Frank and Ron Paul, who have endorsed a 25% cut to the federal military budget.  Bring home the savings to state and county governments to meet the local needs which are under tremendous budget pressures.  Go to www.OurFunds.org

67] -- If you would like to get rid of books, videos, DVDs or records, contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.

68] -- Can you use any book shelves? Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.

69] -- Join an extraordinary global campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons: http://www.globalzero.org/sign-declaration. A growing group of leaders around the world is calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and a majority of the global public agrees.  This is an historic window of opportunity.  With momentum already building in favor of Zero, a major show of support from people around the world could tip the balance. When it comes to nuclear weapons, one is one too many.

70] – A Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil takes place every day in Lafayette Park, 1601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 24 hours a day, since June 3, 1981. Go to http://prop1.org; call 202-682-4282.

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/.

"One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better" - Daniel Berrigan

 

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