Baltimore Activist Alert Sept. 20, 2015

Baltimore Activist Alert Sept. 20, 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 and 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] Climate Health Summit – Sept. 20 - 21

7] Acting on Climate in Maryland – Sept. 20

8] Help Workers United – Sept. 20

9] Bernie Sanders in Baltimore – Sept. 20

10] Plant a Peace Pole – Sept. 20

11] Housing Policy – Sept. 20

12] Who is this pope? – Sept. 20

13] Celebrate Rev. Jack Sharp – Sept. 20

14] Turmoil in Greater Arabia – Sept. 20

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1] – Buttons, bumperstickers and books are available.  “God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions” stickers are in stock. Call Max 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.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 ncnrnotices-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. You will get a confirmation message once subscribed.  If you have problems, please write to the list manager at ncnrnotices-admin@lists.riseup.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] – Janice and Max are looking to buy a house in Baltimore.  Let Max know if you have any leads—410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at Verizon dot net.

6] – Climate Health Summit: Creating Health Leaders on Climate Change is taking place on Sun., Sept. 20 and Mon., Sept. 21 ag the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave, NW, WDC.  There will be health professional training on the health risks of climate change and achieving the health benefits of climate solutions on Sunday, and then on Monday engage in a legislator education day on Monday.  Join organizers Physicians for Social Responsibility, George Mason University Program on Climate and Health, Public Health Institute Center for Climate Change and Health, Health Care without Harm and Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments by registering at http://www.psr.org/assets/pdfs/climate-health-summit.pdf.

7] – 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 Sept. 20 the platform address is “Acting on Climate in Maryland.” Jaime DeMarco examines the current climate movement, addressing how we talk about climate change as well as how we can move past scientists and polar bears and begin speaking from a place of deep personal experience. Additionally, he will speak about what to expect in Annapolis in the coming legislative session and what you can do to play a vital role in transforming Maryland’s energy future. He is a Clean Energy Fellow in the summer fellows program of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN).  A short bio of DeMarco may also be found at http://chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/welcome-ccan-summer-fellows. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

8] –  Help clean and paint two additional rooms in the United Workers office on Sun., Sept. 20 from noon to 4 PM at St. John’s, 2640 St. Paul St. Come dressed in your best paint/cleaning attire and be prepared to be in good company and eat snacks! The additional rooms are going to be turned into an office library and a dedicated children's space. If anyone has any bookshelves, area rugs, or other furniture, please do. Go to http://www.unitedworkers.org

9] – Bernie Sanders will be at the Abell Community Street Fair, Campaign 4 Bernie in Baltimore, on Sun., Sept. 20 at 3000-3200 Abell Ave., Baltimore, 21218.  RSVP at http://map.berniesanders.com/#zipcode=21218&distance=50&daterange=this-week?utm_medium=email&utm_source=officialbernie2016&utm_campaign=events&utm_content=attend_an_event.

10] – Iraq War Veteran and Recording Artist [ "The Garden State Cowboy" & "A New Voice of Liberty"] Richard Finn and Tom Swann, author and peace activist, will be dedicating a Peace Pole to mark International Day of Peace on behalf of the Veterans for Peace (VFP) Palm Springs chapter at 1801 E St. SE, WDC, on Sun., Sept. 20 at 2 PM. Swann is "America's Proud Gay Veteran," who with the ACLU successfully won a lawsuit against the Navy for discriminating against him for having AIDS. When you plant a Peace Pole in your community, you are linking with people all over the world who have planted Peace Poles in the same spirit of peace.  Peace Poles are located in over 180 countries around the globe. The statement, May Peace Prevail on Earth has a variety of meanings.  It is the hope that we can live peacefully on Earth and avoid wars.  It means to be safe from gang violence, gun violence, bullying, racism, domestic violence, homophobia and other harmful actions.

The Peace Pole Project is the official Project of The World Peace Prayer Society. It started in Japan in 1955 by Masahisa Goi, who decided to dedicate his life to spreading the message, "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in response to the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki.

11] –  Come to La Casa, 3166 Mt. Pleasant St. NW, WDC, on Sun., Sept. 20 at 3 PM and join DC Jacobin in a moderated discussion on housing policy, the first event in a series on Racism and Capitalism. A panel will focus on the interaction of race and displacement induced by market and state forces, with an emphasis on the DMV area.  The discussion will be moderated by Michelle Munjanattu, a Levantine politics and culture specialist working with an international NGO in D.C. She has lived in Jordan and Palestine and is interested in decolonization and cultural resistance through art and music. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1664598320493366/.

12] – Get over to the Potter's House, 1658 Columbia Rd. NW, WDC, on Sun., Sept. 20 at 3 PM for a quick read of the most explosive spiritual document in a generation. Poet and Sojourners editor Rose Berger will guide a spirited conversation on the most progressive pope's most progressive writing-- Laudato Si': On Care For Our Common Home. Why are they calling him a Marxist? Why is Exxon disappointed in his leadership? Why are Congressional reps squirming on both sides of the aisle? Why will the pope only speak in Spanish?

Berger is a Catholic peace activist who writes about empire, art, social justice and activism. She is an associate editor of Sojourners magazine and the author of “Who Killed Donte Manning? The Story of An American Neighborhood.”

13] –  Join GEDCO, Govans Presbyterian Church, the Central Maryland Ecumenical Council (CMEC) to celebrate the life of Govans Ecumenical Development Coalition visionary founder and CMEC’s President emeritus Reverend Jack Sharp at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, 5401 Loch Raven Blvd,, Baltimore on Sun., Sept. 20 from 4 to 7 PM.  The suggested donation is $30

14] – On Sun., Sept. 20 at 7:30 PM @ Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201,  hear Vijay Prashad on the turmoil in greater Arabia. Tracing the structure of the Arab Spring and its collapse, Prashad will explore the descent into the New Arab Cold War, the rise of the Saudi-Iran rivalry, and the new glimmers in the midst of the exhaustion of the old structures.  He is the George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and Professor of International Studies at Trinity College. In 2013–2014, he was the Edward Said Chair at the American University of Beirut.   Call 443-602-7585.  Go to http://www.redemmas.org. 

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