Baltimore Activist Alert April 17 - 18, 2016

Baltimore Activist Alert April 17 - 18, 2016

"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 410-323-1607 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] “Corporate Hegemony from Cove Point to Japan” – Apr. 17

7] Democracy Awakening – Apr. 17 - 18

8] Film BUDRUS – Apr. 17

9] Hiroshima Nagasaki meeting – Apr. 17

10] Hear from two refuseniks – Apr. 17

11] SOA Watch dinner – Apr. 17

12] Film "GUANTANAMO'S CHILD" – Apr. 17

13] J Street's National Assembly – Apr. 17

14] Human rights defenders – Apr. 17

15] RISE – Apr. 17 & 19

16] Pentagon Vigil – Apr. 18

17] Support immigration – Apr. 18

18] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Apr. 18 – Apr. 22

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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 410-323-1607.

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—410-323-1607 or mobuszewski at Verizon dot net.

6] – 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 Apr. 17, hear about “Corporate Hegemony from Cove Point to Japan” with Dr. Margaret Flowers.  She will connect the dots between a Calvert County gas plant and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). She is a leader of the resistance movements to both. The gas processing terminal planned for Calvert County, the first such facility in the world to be built in such a densely populated neighborhood, endangers health and safety locally, and also globally through the encouragement of fracking with its groundwater and global warming consequences. The plant in Southern Maryland is directly connected to the TPP, an international agreement that gives corporations legal rights to sue governments for enacting policies protecting health, the environment, and human rights, based on possible loss of future profits. Taxpayers would then be required to compensate corporations for these projected losses. Dr. Flowers is a pediatrician, and co-director of PopularResistance.org, which works to build alternative systems rooted in respect for human rights and democracy. She is co-host of Clearing the FOG which airs live on Monday mornings on We Act Radio. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

7] – Join the NAACP, more than 300 allies and citizens from across the country on Sun., Apr. 17 on the west side of the Capital at 1 PM for a mass Rally for Democracy and then on Mon., Apr. 18 at Union Station at 9 AM for the Congress of Conscience day of nonviolent direct action and advocacy, the eruption of an incredibly broad activist movement to restore the integrity of our political process.

Connect activism to the ballot box: protesting, rallying, educating and advocating for Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965, stop the influence of large untraceable donations and stand united for a fully-seated Supreme Court in this crucial election year. Go to http://www.getmoneyoutmd.org/.

8] – Sabeel DC Metro is proud to team up with Grace Presbyterian Church and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington in presenting this important, revealing and inspiring five-part Sunday afternoon film series focusing on the beautiful but beleaguered Palestinian and Israeli people of today's Holy Land. This Sunday afternoon series--absolutely free--takes place at 2:30 PM through May 1 at the attractive, spacious Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, 4444 Arlington Blvd. (US 50)--midway between the Beltway and the Memorial Bridge--at the intersection for George Mason Drive SOUTH. Parking is ample in the church's parking lot.  

On Apr. 17 the series continues with the acclaimed, award-winning documentary film BUDRUS.  In a nutshell, BUDRUS portrays Palestinian and Israeli peace-and-justice activists at work together in a non-violent way to save the Palestinian West Bank village of BUDRUS from destruction by the dreaded Separation Wall.  A Q&A discussion following the screening will explore the complex, difficult and emotional issues preventing peace in Israel/Palestine for over three generations. Go to https://www.facebook.com/voicesholyland.   Call Paul at 301-518-5551.

9] – The next meeting of the Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Committee of the National Capital Area will be held Sun., Apr. 17 at 3 PM at Shizumi's home, 9612 Wire Ave., Silver Spring 20901. The agenda will focus on a discussion about the August 2016 program; whether to invite Hibakusha this year; and discuss inviting Hibakusha to come in September around International Peace Day; 4. Community outreach. If you need a ride from the Metro, call John at 703-822-3485.

10] – Come to 1822 R St. NW, WDC, on Sun., Apr. 17 at 4:30 PM to hear from some of those who have refused service in the Israeli military.  Khaled Farrag and Yasmin Yablonko are touring the eastern United States. Refuser Solidarity Network and American Friends Service Committee are organizing the tour. Khaled works with Urfud, an organization that provides support to Druze refusers, and Yasmin is active in the Jewish Israeli community. In addition to discussing his reasons for refusing military service, Khaled will talk about Druze history and discuss the ways internal Israeli politics impact his community. Yasmin will talk about the refusal movement in Israel both past and present, and about the effects of militarism and mandatory military service on Israeli society. Yasmin will also discuss her work with Mesarvot, a newly founded coalition of refuser groups supported by both AFSC and Refuser Solidarity Network. Sahar Vardi, AFSC’s Israel Program Coordinator, will accompany them throughout the tour. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/245756859103865/.

11] – There is a SOA Watch Social at Haydee's Restaurant, 3102 Mt. Pleasant St. NW, WDC, on Sun., Apr. 17 at 5 PM.  Join SOA Watch activists from around the country coming together for community, good food, drinks, and resistance to empire. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/217992395240031/.

12] – See the film "GUANTANAMO'S CHILD" at the Landmark's E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW, WDC, on Sun., Apr. 17 at 5:30 PM.  Canadian-born Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he became Guantanamo's youngest prisoner and terrorism poster boy. In the film, Toronto Star's national security reporter Michelle Shepard chronicles his decade at the controversial U.S. prison, from when his lawyer found him freezing in his cell to the retraction of his confession. After the screening, ACLU National Security Project Director Hina Shamsi will lead a Q&A. To purchase a ticket go to http://filmfestdc.org/filmView.cfm?passID=21.

13] – J Street's National Assembly takes place on Sun., Apr. 17 from 6:30 to 8 PM at Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, 600 I St NW, Washington, DC 20001. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP at http://act.jstreet.org/signup/assembly-opening-program/?akid=4654.10478.RGKEOI&rd=1&t=3.  Email Jodie Rubenstein at Jodie@jstreet.org.

14] – Go to BUSBOYS and POETS, 14th & V Sts., 2021 14th St. NW, WDC, on Sun., Apr. 17 at 7:30 PM and hear from two of Palestine’s leading human rights defenders who will discuss conditions on the ground, the status of human rights and their violations, and the future facing Palestinians. IPS’s Middle East expert Phyllis Bennis will moderate the conversation with Raji Sourani, founder and director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza, and Shawan Jabarin, director of al-Haq in Ramallah. Katherine Gallagher of the Center for Constitutional Rights will introduce the program. See http://www.ips-dc.org/events/palestine-human-rights-and-humans-wronged/.

15] -- On Sun., Apr. 17 at 7:30 PM come to Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, JUDAH ADASHI and TAMEKA CAGE CONLEY PRESENT ON THEIR WORK "RISE." The music is by Judah Adashi and the poetry by Tameka Cage Conley.  This production bears witness to America’s civil rights journey from Selma to Ferguson. Its first performance took place on April 19, 2015. That same day, Freddie Gray died in police custody, sparking the Baltimore Uprising. On Tues., Apr. 19, 2016, the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University will present a free event called RiseBmore2016: a conversation on art and activism, followed by a performance of "Rise." Information and tickets are available at www.RiseBmore2016.com. You can also follow the event on social media at @RiseBmore2016 and using #RiseBmore2016.

 At Red Emma’s, the creators of "Rise" will discuss the work and its intersection with the Baltimore Uprising. Dr. Adashi is a composer on the faculty of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Cage Conley is a Pittsburgh-based literary artist who writes poetry, fiction and plays; she will read selections from her poetry at the event. Call 443-602-7585.  Go to http://www.redemmas.org.

16] -- There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop.  The next vigil is Mon., Apr. 18, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker.  Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649.  The vigil will be outside the Pentagon's south Metro entrance and in the designated "protest zone" behind bicycle fences across from the entrance to the Metro.  By Metro, take Yellow Line and get out at the "Pentagon" stop. Do not go to the Pentagon City stop! Go up south escalators and turn left and walk across to protest area. By car from D.C. area, take 395 South and get off at Exit 8A-Pentagon South Parking. Take slight right onto S. Rotary Rd. at end of ramp and right on S. Fern St. Then take left onto Army Navy Dr. You can "pay to park" on Army Navy Dr.,  and there is meter parking one block on right on Eads St. Payment for both of these spots begin at 8 AM.  No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds. Restrooms are located inside Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr. 

17] – Get over to the Supreme Court on Mon., Apr. 18 from 9 AM to noon. The Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), along with thousands of families and advocates will gather at the U.S. Supreme Court to show their support for President Obama’s immigration executive action. The Court will be hearing oral argument on the deferred action initiatives, DAPA and expanded DACA.  Members of Congress, elected officials, and community, civil rights and labor leaders will join families eligible for deferred action and thousands more to send a strong message in defense of the president’s immigration action.  As leaders and supporters call on the justices to lift the block against the initiatives at the steps of the Supreme Court, more than twenty cities will be holding actions to echo their call and urge elected leaders to champion these lawful immigration program. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1665720507028544/.

18] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Friday fr6m 10 AM to noon on WEAA 88.9 FM, The Voice of the Community, or online at www.weaa.org.   The call-in number is 410-319-8888, and comments can also be sent by email to steinershow@gmail.com. All shows are also available as podcasts at www.steinershow.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