Joe Morton, presente!/Baltimore Activist Alert - April 7 - 8, 2015

Joe Morton, presente! “ I'm sorry to report that Dad [Joe Morton] passed just a little while ago [6:40 AM on April 7, 2016] . I'm glad I got to be by his side when it happened. Thank you, everyone, for the love and support you gave Dad, not just over the last few days but for as long as you have known him.  He loved you deeply.

“Words are failing me now, so I'm signing off for a bit . Rebecca and I will confer with our families to find a date (probably in June or July) to have a celebration (Dad's word) of his life. Love and blessings, Jason Morton”

38] BlackLivesMatter Symposium – Apr. 7

39] Andean-Amazon indigenous leaders in D.C. – Apr. 7

40] China’s nuclear neighborhood – Apr. 7

41] Support police reform – Apr. 7

42] Ecowomen meeting – Apr. 7

43] Popular struggle in Iraq – Apr.7

44] How Climate Change Will Affect Public Health – Apr. 7

45] Film "This Changes Everything” – Apr. 7

46] Muslim healing circle – Apr. 7

47] Book talk on nonviolent revolt – Apr. 7

48] Race, Violence, and the Police – Apr. 7

49] Peace vigil at White House – Apr. 8

50] WIB peace vigils – Apr. 8

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38] – #BlackLivesMatter Symposium: Legal Strategies for an Emerging Civil Rights Movement is happening at 4340 Connecticut Ave. NW, 5th Floor Moot Courtroom, WDC, on Thurs., Apr. 7 from 10 AM to 6:30 PM.  The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was an intellectual and moral movement that benefited from a strong legal strategy. Today, with communities thirsting for justice in the age of #BlackLivesMatter, some argue that for this movement to evolve and achieve meaningful results, it needs a formal legal infrastructure. The 2016 Symposium will bring together legal scholars and activists to construct new legal frameworks to advance today’s emerging civil rights movement. The Symposium will explore innovative legal strategies that address the frustration felt by many. It will also highlight innovative legal techniques employed by civil rights activists and litigators—techniques that can help inform this emerging movement. Drawing on lessons from the past to develop an outline for the future, legal academia has an opportunity, and an obligation, to articulate a vision of legal structures to facilitate this civil rights movement. Email lawreview@udc.edu.

39] – Join Amazon Watch on Thurs., Apr. 7 for back-to-back presentations from Andean-Amazon indigenous leaders and their supporters discussing the tension between extractive industries and indigenous rights. The contexts are different but many of the patterns are similar. The presentations will be in the Amazon Watch / CIEL Conference Room, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, #1100, (Above Cosi, Dupont Circle South), WDC 20036.

  The Institute for Legal Defense, the Peruvian National Coordinator for Human Rights, Oxfam and Amazon Watch invite you to a public presentation: Peru: Extractive Industries vs. Indigenous Peoples' Rights to Health and a Clean Environment from 12:30 to 2 PM. Peru is emblematic of the challenges facing indigenous peoples across the Andean Amazon. Oil drilling and mega-mining projects, amongst other state-sanctioned and illicit extractive industries, have violated indigenous sovereignty and often imply serious environmental and health problems within indigenous territories. The program will feature the perspectives of grassroots, health, and legal experts from Peru who are presenting these issues before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. They will outline several current case studies: The epidemic of Amazon oil spills along the Northern Peruvian Pipeline and the health crisis around mining projects in Espinar (Cusco), resulting in dangerous levels of heavy metals in the bodies of local residents.

The second event will take place from 2 to 3:30 PM.  In early 2015, the Ecuadorian government signed exploration and extraction contracts Andes Petroleum, a consortium of Chinese oil companies, for blocks 79 and 83. These contracts affect the territories of the Sápara, Shiwiar, and Kichwa indigenous peoples, defying the sentence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Sarayaku vs. Ecuador. The presentation will feature indigenous leaders, lawyers, and human rights defenders.

40] –  On Thurs., April 7 from 3 to 4:30 PM, Christopher Twomey, Naval Postgraduate School, will address "China’s Response to its Complex, Multipolar Nuclear Neighborhood" at Georgetown University, Mortara Center for International Studies, 3600 N St.. NW, WDC. RSVP at. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/contemporary-china-lecture-series-with-christopher-twomey-tickets-23292391169.

41] –  Gather at Baltimore City Hall, 100 Holliday St., Baltimore, on Thurs., Apr. 7 from 5 to 9 PM to join Baltimore United for Change (BUC).  Rally for police reform in Baltimore. Buses to Annapolis will be leaving at 7 PM from City Hall. There are two fundamental elements BUC has focused on as key aspects of substantive police reform: changing the part of the Law Enforcement Officer Bill of Rights (LEOBR) which prohibits anyone who is not a sworn police officer from participating in the initial internal investigation of a police officer, and ensuring that when a complaint of brutality is filed, the body that determines discipline of that officer is a police trial board that is made up of three law enforcement officials. Include civilians on this trial board so that the community has a meaningful say in the process of holding police officers accountable. RSVP to save your seat: https://www.facebook.com/events/182339972152518/.

42] –  Join EcoWomen Baltimore for EcoHour with Interfaith Power and Light
on Thurs., Apr. 7 from 6 to 8 PM, Mount Vernon Marketplace, 520 Park Ave., Baltimore.  Hear from IPL’s director, Joelle, about the gifts that faith communities can bring to the environmental movement and the ways that congregations can go green.  EcoWomen Baltimore is a local chapter of a national organization with the mission to inspire and empower women to become leaders in the environmental community. EcoHour will start with 30 minutes of networking, followed by an hour of discussion and Q&A with Joelle. EcoHour is intended for women to speak with women. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/1718799468341373/.

43] – There is a talk, hosted by Against All Odds: Voices of Popular Struggle, on Thurs., Apr. 7 from 6 to 8 PM in Loyola University College Center’s 4th Floor Programming Room, above the Boulder Cafeteria, 4501 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21210.  Collected from dozens of interviews with, and reports from, Iraqi feminists, labor organizers, environmentalists, and protest movement leaders, "Against All Odds" presents the unique voices of progressive Iraqi organizing on the ground. Go to http://bit.ly/1NtAiyJ.

44] – You are cordially invited to attend a seminar, How Climate Change Will Affect Public Health and the Practice of Medicine in Maryland, on Thurs., Apr. 7 at MedChi, Osler Hall, 1211 Cathedral St., Baltimore 21210. Continuing Medical Education Credits are available. RSVP to twhitehouse@psr.org or 240-246-4492.

From 6to 6:30 PM, enjoy a buffet dinner and social time.  Then Dr. Cindy Parker will tackle      Climate Change and Health: Anything to Worry About for Marylanders? Her presentation will be followed by Bugs, Bread and Babies, by Samantha Ahdoot, MD, FAAP. 

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint provider ship of MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society, and Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility. MedChi is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. MedChi designates this live educational activity for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

45] –  See Naomi Klein in "This Changes Everything," followed by a discussion in the Kreeger Auditorium, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Apr. 7 at 6:30 PM.  "This Changes Everything" is both a film and a book on the struggle of capitalism vs climate.  RSVP at boules@american.edu.

46] – Join We Will Win: Healing Circle For Muslims Surviving Islamophobia at Impact Hub DC, 419 7th St. NW, Suite 300, WDC, on Thurs., Apr. 7 from 7 to 9 PM.  The Muslim American Women's Policy Forum and the National Coalition To Protect Civil Freedoms is launching a monthly healing space for the Muslim community to unpack the ways Islamophobia is impacting mental health.  There will be healing circles, a practice from restorative justice, to talk about experiences, and ways communities can cope with Islamophobia.  This event is for folks who are Muslim and those who have survived acts of Islamophobic violence.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/496639347208847/.

47] – On Thurs., Apr. 7 at 7:30 PM come to Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, to hear Mark Engler and Paul Engler present ”This is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the Twenty-First Century.” Whether it is a rush of resistance to dictatorship across the Middle East, a million people demanding immigrant rights in Los Angeles, a call for elections in a former Soviet republic, an encampment on Wall Street that gives rise to hundreds of tent cities in the US, or an insistent cry that #BlackLivesMatter, the perception is the same: When mass movements erupt, the media portrays them as being as sudden and unmanageable as a viral epidemic.

The authors challenge and redefine the activist stereotype.  Part history of rebellion, part guide map to successful political change, the Englers lay out their revolutionary framework for effective mobilization—what they call momentum-driven organizing—in what Bill McKibben has deemed “a landmark book.” Call 443-602-7585.  Go to http://www.redemmas.org.

48] – Join Georgetown Law professor Paul Butler for an important and timely discussion about race and crime post-Ferguson -- Race, Violence, and the Police. It is happening at the American University Library, WDC on Fri., Apr. 8 from 11 AM to 12:30 PM.  Those interested in race relations, urban affairs, law and government should attend to learn more about cutting edge law, sociology and legal theory on race and crime. Register at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/exploring-social-justice-race-violence-and-the-police-registration-16980134038?

49] – On Fri., Apr. 8 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. 

50] – On Fri., Apr. 8 from noon to 1 PM, join a Women in Black peace vigil. A vigil will take place in McKeldin Square at the corner of Light and Pratt Sts., and another will take place outside Roland Park Place, 830 W. 40th St., across from the Rotunda.  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.”

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