Thursday, March 17, 2016

Baltimore Activist Alert - March 17 - 18, 2016

43] Salvadoran Human Rights Defenders - Mar. 17
44] Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2015 – Mar. 17
45] Myth of a Universal Islamic State – Mar. 17
46] ICE OUT of the BARRIO – Mar. 17
47] Destruction as Image-Act - Remapping History – Mar. 17
48] Book PEOPLE GET READY – Mar. 17
49] Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Exhibition - through Mar. 30
50] Role of the Israeli Lobby – Mar. 18
51] Peace vigil at White House – Mar. 18
52] WIB peace vigil – Mar. 18
53] Vigil at the DOJ for India Kager – Mar. 18
54] Black Lives Matter – Mar. 18
55] Film Blockade – Mar. 18
56] Film "This Changes Everything" – Mar. 18
57] Ballroom Dancing – Mar. 18
58] Sign up with Washington Peace Center
59] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records
60] Do you need any book shelves?
61] Join the Global Zero campaign
62] Join the Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil
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43] –  The New Generation of Salvadoran Human Rights Defenders will be discussed at the Kay Lounge, American University, WDC, on Thurs., Mar. 17 at noon.  The office of the University Chaplain is hosting this discussion about standing up to disappearance in the midst of violence.  RSVP at kslc@american.edu.

44] – Catch the discussion about Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2015 at the National press Club,  529 14th St. NW, Holeman Lounge, WDC 20045, on Thurs., Mar. 17 from noon to 2 PM.  The Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID) is organizing this public lecture/debate about the Implications for Egypt and the Region.  A light boxed lunch will be provided between 12 and 12:30 PM on a first come first served basis.  Amb. Ibrahim Rasool (former Amb. of South Africa), Prof. Nader Hashemi (Univ. of Denver) and Dr. Radwan Masmoudi, (President of CSID), will make three short presentations, followed by a Q&A, on the dangers and implications of this bill on the democratization process in Egypt and in the region.  This bill is moving forward very quietly, but quickly, in congress, and has already been approved by the House Judiciary Committee (in a 17-10 vote along partisan lines). The Congressional hearing was extraordinarily brief. As two members of the committee pointed out, it completely ignored the usual process of expert testimony from the State Department, intelligence agencies and Middle East and terrorism experts. Many scholars, believers, and activists for democracy in the region think that this bill - if adopted - will have extremely bad repercussions on stability and democracy in the region, on relations between the US and the Muslim World, and will further radicalize millions of young Muslims in Egypt and in the region, who are seeking to have a role and a voice in shaping the future of their country. RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-designation-act-of-2015-implications-for-egypt-and-the-region-tickets-22788691590.

45] –  Catch a briefing The Myth of a Universal Islamic State at 3700 O St. NW, Room 241, WDC, on Thurs., Mar. 17 from 1 to 3 PM. Since its foundation, Islam presupposed some vision of political order. In the past century, however, religious reformers in countries as diverse as Egypt, India and Indonesia have advocated for establishing an idealized, universal “Islamic State.” The acquisition of territory in Iraq and Syria by ISIL, (also known as ISIS or Daesh), in 2015 has brought the issue increasingly to our collective thoughts and to media headlines. This group’s claims are often presented by diverse media outlets and others, including academics, as an established fact in Islam. Such presentations give a monopolistic legitimacy to groups such as ISIL (or ISIS) and lock out traditional religious views and historical realities from the public square.

Dr. Khalid Blankinship and Dr. Mohammad Shafi will present an argument that there is no claim for a universal Islamic State in the Qur’an or the normative practice and tradition of the Prophet. Furthermore, the lived history of the Muslim peoples over the centuries shows that the idea is not practical or feasible.  Shafi came to Georgetown University in 1958 and has since lived in the United States with a gap of three years in the mid-sixties. He is one of the founding Trustees of Dar al Islam and has served as its Chairman since 1989.  Blankinship currently serves as the Department Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Religion at Temple University. He specializes in early Muslim history and Islamic Law.  Go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-myth-of-a-universal-islamic-state-with-mohammad-shafi-and-khalid-blankinship-tickets-22501547735.

46] – There is a rally & procession on Thurs., Mar. 17 from 6 to 8 PM starting at Columbia Road and 16th St. NW, WDC.  Join DC Committee for Immigrant Rights to support Francisco Aguirre, his family, and to denounce ICE's abuses against the Central American community in the US.  While the targeting of Central Americans continues, Francisco is an example of a person who stood up for the immigrant community, demanded his civil rights, and sought sanctuary in a church. And ICE's response has been to criminally charge him with re-entry for returning to his family over 15 years ago. Tragically, one month ago, he received news that his 19-year old son, Moises, has been murdered in El Salvador. Demand ICE OUT OF MY BARRIO.  Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1774076129486979/.

47] – Join the discussion Destruction as Image-Act - Remapping History at 1307 L St. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Mar. 17 at 6:30 PM.  Propaganda and imagery are integral to terrorism. Their production by Da’esh (ISIS, ISIL) in the last three years has achieved a competitive quality and displays bewildering resilience to counter terrorist measures. The digital media made available to audiences globally demonstrate a new dimension of immediacy of crime and ostentation.  The panelists are Christian Christensen, Professor of Journalism in the Department of Media Studies at Stockholm University in Sweden, Rüdiger Lohlker, professor of Islamic Studies in the Oriental Institute at the University of Vienna, Austria, and Nadia Oweidat, a Senior Non-Residential Fellow at New America, and a teacher at Georgetown. RSVP at http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/was/ver/en15209246v.htm.

48] – On Thurs., Mar. 17 at 7:30 PM come to Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, to hear Free Press founders Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols talk about the future of technology, the economy and our democracy. They will share insights from their brand-new book, “People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy,” which argues that the United States needs a new economy where the benefits of revolutionary technologies are shared by everyone, applied to our most pressing environmental and social problems, and used to rejuvenate democratic institutions.  Call 443-602-7585.  Go to http://www.redemmas.org.

49] – Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Exhibition is a project that began as a call from Beau Beausoleil in 2007 for writers which quickly moved on to incorporate artists, artist books and now includes printmakers all who are responding to bear witness to a tragic loss of a center of literacy and humanity in Iraq. One of the purposes of this project is to let those in the Iraqi Arts Community know that we will not let them endure the destruction of Iraqi culture in silence, that we have a collective voice and we will use it. This was a street of booksellers, printers, and readers. This was a street where people still felt "safe" among all the words and books. How can we not see the commonality between al- Mutanabbi Street and any street in the world that holds a bookshop or cultural institution? This is the starting point: where language, thought, and reality reside; where memory, ideas, and even dreams wait patiently in their black ink.

A diverse coalition of DC-area universities and arts and literary organizations will present Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here DC 2016, a book arts and cultural festival through Sat., Mar. 5 throughout the Washington, D.C., area. Major exhibitions, programs, and events will commemorate the 2007 bombing of Baghdad’s historic bookselling street, celebrate the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, and stand in solidarity with the people of Iraq. Exhibitions of artwork created in response to the bombing will be featured at multiple venues, including the George Mason University School of Art Gallery, Atrium, Fenwick Library and the Workhouse Art Center, Gelman Library and the Corcoran School of Art and Design at The George Washington University, the Brentwood Arts Exchange, Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, McLean Project for the Arts, Northern Virginia Community College, Olly Olly Gallery, and the Smithsonian American Art/Portrait Gallery Library.

 The exhibitions that are featured at the School of Art Gallery, the Fenwick Library, the Mason Atrium Gallery, and the Workhouse Art Center (plus partners) include three components: Letterpress Printed Broadsides; Artist Books; and Absence and Presence (a call to printmakers). Additionally, each gallery provides new interpretive documentary materials, hands-on workshops, and panels and conversations that will be built around the exhibitions. For a complete list of sites and dates and times go to http://www.amsshdc2016.org/contact-us.html

This is a list of some of the sites.  You can see the exhibit, for example, at the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, 1632 U St., WDC, through Wed., Mar. 30.  It is entitled “Night and the Desert Know Me,” and the curators are Shanti Norris and Spencer Dormitzer.   Also see the exhibit at the Tyler Gallery, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, 500 17th St. NW, WDC, through Sun., Mar. 20--“Al-Mutanabbi Street in Books, Prints & Poetry.”  Also you can see this exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art/Portrait Gallery, 750 9th St. NW, Room 2100, WDC 20001-4505 through Wed., Mar. 30 -- “Come Together: American Artists Respond to Al-Mutanabbi Street.” The curator is Anne Evenhaugen.

50] – The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy are pleased to host a conference on the role of the Israel lobby on American policy at the National Press Club Ballroom on Fri., Mar. 18 from 9 to 5 PM. The various panels will focus on the ways in which the state of Israel influences the U.S. to benefit Israel, but not necessarily the U.S. Panelists will discuss the establishment media’s coverage of related issues, how to obtain objective information about events, and what you can do to make American policy towards the Middle East more representative of the American people. History reveals that Israel and its lobby are most influential when they can point to—or, in the case of the Iran nuclear threat, manufacture—an existential crisis that allegedly threatens Israel or the U.S. What could the U.S. do differently without the constant influence of Israel and its advocacy campaigns? What actions can Americans take, especially leading up to the ballot box? You must RSVP at http://www.press.org/events/israels-influence-good-or-bad-america-conference.

51] – On Fri., Mar. 18 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, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Contract Art @ artlaffin@hotmail.com or at 202-360-6416. 

52] – On Fri., Mar. 18 from noon to 1 PM, join Women in Black peace vigil. This vigil will take place at the corner of Light and Pratt Sts.  Stay for as long as you can. Wear black. Dress for who knows what kind of weather. Bring your own poster or help with the "NO WAR IN MY NAME" banner.  When there are others to stand with, you don't need to carry the burden alone. Do this to be in solidarity with others....when everything around us says Be afraid of the stranger.

53] – There is a Vigil at the DOJ for India Kager at 950 Constitution Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Mar. 18 from 2 to 5 PM.  Kager was a Navy Vet who was killed in 15 seconds with 30 shots into her parked car at a VA Beach 7-11. Her human rights were violated. She was stalked by VBPD for several hours and they knew her 4 month old was in the back seat. Please demand justice.  Contact Carla Martin at martin.carla55@yahoo.com

54] – 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 Mar. 18. Black Lives Matter. 

55] – See the film BLOCKADE at 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Ward Building, room 2, WDC, on Fri., Mar. 18 at 6 PM.  In 1971, a group of Quaker activists joined hands with Bengali expatriates in the US to protest the military crackdown and subsequent genocide taking place in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). With little cannons and dinghies they symbolically blocked the Pakistani ocean liners carrying US arms from Baltimore and other US ports, casting a spotlight on these covert arms shipments and their consequences.

56] – On Fri., Mar. 18 from 7:30 to 9:30 PM at 4201 Albemarle St. NW, WDC,  the Environment Committee at St. Columba's, along with Interfaith Power & Light, will participate in the D.C. Environmental Film Festival, bringing yet another challenging and thought-provoking film to the big screen! This year's showing will feature "This Changes Everything" based on the international best-selling book of the same name from Naomi Klein. The film is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. The film presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana’s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories of struggle is Klein’s narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there. Throughout the film, Klein builds to her most controversial and exciting idea: that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better.  Ray Suarez of Al Jazeera will moderate a panel and Q&A session following the movie.  Enjoy free popcorn. The suggested donation is $3. RSVP https://www.facebook.com/events/227941640875713/. Go to www.gwipl.org.

57] – 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 Mar. 18. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725.

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

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

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

61] -- 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.

62] – 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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