Thursday, December 3, 2015

Baltimore Activist Alert - December 3 - 4, 2015

26] Cuba Summit – Dec. 3
27] Protest Saudi Arabia – Dec. 3
28] Plowshares at FCNL – Dec. 3
29] ACLU App – Dec. 3
30] Pledge meeting – Dec. 3
31] GMOM conference call – Dec. 3
32] Legal training – Dec. 4
33] Peace vigil at White House – Dec. 4
34] Black Lives Matter – Dec. 4
35] Film about gentrification in Baltimore – Dec. 4
36] Systemic incarceration – Dec. 4
37] White Supremacy – Dec. 4
38] Film COWSPIRACY – Dec. 4
39] Book THE EXECUTED GOD – Dec. 4
40] Ballroom Dancing – Dec. 4
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26] – Come to the Four Seasons Hotel, 2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Dec. 3 at 9 AM for the Cuba Summit, which will explore the most pressing issues facing potential investors in Cuba. Hear from Economist editors, senior leaders, and those most familiar with Cuba to learn how to navigate the short- and long-term risks and opportunities of doing business there. To date, foreign businesses operating in Cuba have faced many restrictions, which have prevented them from responding quickly to emerging opportunities. Additionally, a shift in U.S.-Cuban relations will give a further boost to Cuba’s integration with the global economy, opening a new frontier for international companies. Visit http://www.economist.com/events-conferences/americas/cuba-2015.

27] – Last week, the Saudi government announced that it plans to execute over 50 people before the end of the year for "terrorism" (aka political dissent)! The news comes days after the Saudi government sentenced Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh to death for making “blasphemous” statements during a discussion group and in one of his poetry books. Protest outside the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, 601 New Hampshire Ave. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Dec. 3 at 2 PM.  These outrageous sentences must be repealed, and it's long past time that the United States end its alliance with this corrupt and repressive regime. Saudi Arabia is also engaged in a horrific and bloody war on Yemen that must be stopped immediately. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1091499570894304/.

28] –Megan Rice and Michael Walli of the Transform Now Plowshares will be guests at the Friends Committee on National Legislation’s offices, 245 2nd St. NE, WDC, on Thurs., Dec. 3 from 4 to 5:30 PM.  The Transform Now Plowshares is an effort by people of faith to transform weapons into real, life-giving alternatives, to build true peace.  Inspired by the prophets Micah and Isaiah, Jesus and Gandhi, the Transform Now Plowshares began a symbolic conversion of the Y-12 Highly-Enriched Uranium Manufacturing Facility on July 28, 2012. Consequently they faced trial and conviction for property damage and were sentenced in February of 2014 to 3 and 5 year sentences. An unprecedented appellate court ruling invalidated their sabotage conviction and they were released from prison this past May. They will lead a discussion about their disarmament action at the Y12 National Security plant in Oak Ridge TN, and the challenges it continues to present for resisting nuclear weapons. RSVP to Jacob Chappell at jacob@fcnl.org or 202-547-6000.

29] – On Thurs., Dec. 3 at 7:30 PM @ Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201,  be part of the Launch Event for the ACLU Maryland Mobile Justice App! The increasing access to smart phones has given us a greater ability to record our encounters with police. However, instances of phones being confiscated before their video can be uploaded are a continuing concern. The ACLU Mobile Justice App is finally making its way to Maryland, and we couldn’t be more pleased to be hosting a local release party. The Mobile Justice Apps allows users to send with a click of a button their video and answer a survey about what happened to trained legal professionals offsite to log and analyze.  Call 443-602-7585.  Go to http://www.redemmas.org.

30] – The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore now meets on Thursdays at 7:30 PM, and the meetings take place at Max’s residence.  There will be a meeting on Thurs., Dec. 3 at 7:30 PM.  The agenda will include Freddie Gray & local organizing, killer drones and Obama, the Drone Report, the refugees and the unending wars. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net.

31] –The Weekly Get Money Out - Maryland [GMOM] Conference Call is happening on Thurs., Dec. 3 at 8 PM. Call 302-202-1092, and then use the  code 1136243#. The agenda is as follows 1) debrief from recent actions; 2) report from the GMOM Board; and 3)  planning for GMOM events this fall, including more petitioning and the multi-media show. Go to http://www.getmoneyoutmd.org/.

32] –  Come to an introductory training at UDC David A. Clarke School of Law, 4340 Connecticut Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Dec. 4 from 10 AM to 4 PM.  It is primarily designed for DC attorneys and law students who have a basic understanding of business law.  The session focusing on accounting and tax is appropriate for accountants and attorneys.  Non-attorneys, including potential co-op owners, are welcome to attend.  While presenters will do their best to accommodate various levels of knowledge, non-attorneys should know that this training may seem advanced and should not substitute this training for legal advice from an attorney. RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TYtKb8fLyS0QwQRNdUl_uik7i7L1pvbgcPo1YyJmn0Y/viewform. Email eva.seidelman@udc.edu.

33] – On Fri., Dec. 4 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! This vigil will take place at the White House on Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Contract Art @ artlaffin@hotmail.com or at 202-360-6416. 

34] –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 Dec. 4. Black Lives Matter. Since this is the First Friday, there will be a potluck dinner after the vigil, followed by a DVD screening of a film.

35] – The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, Baltimore Quaker Peace and Justice Committee of Homewood and Stony Run Meetings and Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility are continuing the FILM & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS DVD SERIES.  The DVDs will be shown at Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21218, usually on the First Friday. At 7:15 PM, from September through December, a DVD will be shown with a discussion to follow.  There is no charge, and refreshments will be available. The series theme is CAN WE HAVE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE?

On Fri., Dec. 4 see GENTRIFICATION K[NOT] (USA, 2013, 47 min.), a documentary by Baltimore filmmaker Jude Lombardi.  She is an activist, social worker, sociologist, and former professor who will attend the screening.  The film explores the meaning of the term gentrification and how it functions as an element of a system that displaces people from their communities during the revitalization of an urban neighborhood. It all started in August 2012 at Station North Arts Cafe (SNAC), when owner Kevin Brown and the filmmaker had a conversation about the meaning of gentrification provoked by the closing down of the Load of Fun building. The movie focuses on a particular neighborhood in Baltimore. Artists, academics, ministers, politicians and everyday people present their views about neighborhoods in flux and possibilities for change. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski [at] verizon.net for further information.     

36] – This public action forum, which is a part of ongoing open communal dialogues, is happening America's Islamic Heritage Museum, 2315 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, WDC, on Fri,, Dec. 4 from 6 to 9 PM.  The first half of the program participants will review the historical legacy of systemic incarceration of the African American family and how it has contribute to the displacement of various family roles. The second half of the program participants will give suggestions and ideas that move towards creating new ways of living for the African American family. Email communiversity@openmailbox.org.

37] – The white supremacist attack on Minneapolis's #4thPrecinctShutDown encampment -- formed to demand justice for Jamar Clark, who was murdered by police -- which left five protesters wounded, must be answered with mass action across the country. The racists and fascists are counter-attacking, just as they always have done when the anti-racist movement has surged forward. Get over to 617 Florida Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Dec. 4 from 7 to 9 PM for the discussion on this rising tide of racist violence and new attacks against Muslims, Arabs and immigrants, whether there is a danger of a new fascism, and what we can do to fight back.  Hear Brian Becker, National Director of the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism). Contact the Party for Socialism & Liberation at 202-234-2828 or dc@pslweb.org

38] – On Fri., Dec. 4 @ 7:30 PM, see COWSPIRACY followed a discussion by Art Milholland, M.D., board member of Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, at Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, 503 Rock Creek Church Rd. NW, WDC 20010.  Is the most important cause of global warming really what you think? Why was Sister Dorothy Stang murdered in 2005 in the Amazon Basin of Brazil? What did Albert Einstein have to say about all this?  Contact Dorothy Day Catholic Worker at 202-882-9649.

39] – Be at the Potter's House, 1658 Columbia Rd. NW, WDC, on Fri., Dec. 4 at 7 PM and celebrate the release, presented in Partnership with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (nrcat.org), “The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America” (Second Edition).  The new edition of Mark Lewis Taylor’s award-winning book is a searing indictment and a visionary statement of hope. It is also a call for action to Jesus followers to resist US imperial projects and power. Outlining a “theatrics of state terror,” Taylor identifies and analyzes its instruments—mass incarceration, militarized police tactics, surveillance, torture, immigrant repression, and capital punishment—through which a racist and corporatized Lockdown America enforces in the United States a global neoliberal economic and political imperialism.

Mark Lewis Taylor is the Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Theology and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary. Among his numerous books are The Theological and the Political: On the Weight of the World (Fortress Press 2011), Religion, Politics, and the Christian Right: Post-9/11 Powers in American Empire (Fortress Press 2005), and Remembering Esperanza: A Cultural-Political Theology for North American Praxis (2005). Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/864520073656036/.

40] – 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 Dec. 4. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725. 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/.



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