Baltimore Activist Alert May 8 – May 11, 2016

Baltimore Activist Alert May 8 – May 11, 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] Make calls for Bernie – through May

7] “From Talk to Action: Part 4” – May 8

8] Bake Sale Benefiting DC Books to Prisons Project – May 8

9] Celebrate Mothers in the Struggle – May 8

10] Pentagon Vigil – May 9

11] Marc Steiner on WEAA – May 9 – May 13

12] Volunteer for WPFW -- May 9 - 29

13] “Settlements and Occupation: The Case of Hebron and Beyond” – May 9

14] Film THE YES MEN ARE REVOLTING! – May 9

15] Advocacy Day – May 10

16] Can a City Be Sustainer – May 10

17] Sustaining the Political Revolution – May 10

18] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – May 10

19] Protest JHU drone research – May 10

20] Protest at Giant Foods – May 10

21] Film 'The Billionaires Tea Party” – May 11

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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] – Can you volunteer to make phone calls for Bernie?  Go to https://go.berniesanders.com/page/s/volunteer-for-bernie.

71 – 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 May 8 the topic is “From Talk to Action: Part 4.”  Ms. Diamonte Brown will lead a community conversation on action for justice. Issues will include empowerment of youth, opportunities for ex-offenders, and the worth and dignity of individuals (Black Lives Matter). Small group discussions will focus on approaches to solving these problems, with each group assigned a different topic.

Brown is the Director of Out For Justice, an ex-offender member-led organization that promotes the reform of policies that adversely affect the ex-offender re-entering into society successfully. Out For Justice strives to change the perception of the ex-offender by promoting the 3 Es of Education, Empowerment, and Engagement. Thomas Higdon is the Chair of the Ethical Action Committee, which coordinates the Society’s social justice work in the community.  Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

8] – There is a Bake Sale Benefiting DC Books to Prisons Project at Foundry United Methodist Church,  1500 16th St. NW, WDC, on Sun., May 8 10 AM to 1:30 PM. Come buy some tasty baked goods and support the work to provide free books to the incarcerated and work towards building libraries in prisons.  Donations of baked goods are also welcomed, just stop by the event. Email chrismatt444@gmail.com.

9] – Celebrating Mothers in the Struggle is at La Casa, 3166 Mount Pleasant St. NW, WDC 20010 on Sun., May 8 from 6:30 to 9 PM.  YOU ARE INVITED TO CELEBRATE ALL MOTHERS IN THE STRUGGLE AT A DINNER! THERE WILL BE A RAFFLE FOR $500!! RAFFLE TICKETS ARE $5 EACH.  LET'S RECOGNIZE AND THANK ALL MOTHERS FIGHTING ON THE FRONT LINES!  There will be childcare. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/2172844596188630/.

10] -- 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., May 9, 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. 

11] – 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.

12] – WPFW is looking for volunteers during the month of May. The WPFW Spring Fund Drive - May 9 to May 29 – will need volunteers at WPFW, 1990 K St. NW, WDC.  A volunteer would take phone pledges.  Spots are open from Mon., May 9 through Sun., May 29 between the hours of 9 AM to 10 PM.  The shifts will be 9 AM to 2 PM, 2 PM to 6 PM, & 6 PM to 10 PM. All shifts are flexible. So if you can only do two hours that is okay. Email volunteers@wpfw.org or call 202.588.0999 ext. 360. If phone volunteering isn't your thing, you can still help by donating little things such as snacks, drinks, pens, and disinfectant wipes. 

WPFW will be having a special fundraising event with writer, commentator, activist and educator Nikki Giovanni on Wed., May 12 at Mulebone, 2121 14th St. NW, WDC.  There is a need for five volunteers. Two will check people in and 2-3 volunteers will act as runners and take care of anything that maybe needed by Nikki or the staff. Email volunteers@wpfw.org with the subject headline Nikki Giovanni Event.

13] – “Settlements and Occupation: The Case of Hebron and Beyond” will be discussed at 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC, on Mon., May 9 from 12:30 to 2 PM.  Internationally renowned Palestinian human rights defender Issa Amro will speak about nonviolent activism in the West Bank city of Hebron where the most ideological and vicious Israeli settlers reside. Amro will talk about his work as the coordinator of Youth Against Settlements (YAS), a Hebron-based organization that documents human rights abuses and encourages the local families to resist nonviolently and remain steadfast in their homes despite severe freedom of movement restrictions and ongoing attacks by settlers and soldiers. He will outline YAS’s annual “Open Shuhada Street” campaign and their new “Families Freedom of Movement” campaign to end the closed military zone restrictions that have placed a stranglehold on Hebron families since November 2015. He will connect his direct work on the ground in Hebron with the need for the international community to engage in campaigns to hold companies responsible for doing business in the settlements.  Go to http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/events/upcoming/settlements-occupation-case-hebron-beyond.

14] -- On Mon., May 9 from 7 to 9 PM, come to Beyond the Classroom at the University of Maryland, College Park, South Campus Commons, Room 1104, Building 1, for another installment of their Spring 2016 Series on "People Power: Activism for Social Change." See the award-winning documentary THE YES MEN ARE REVOLTING!  For the last 20 years, notorious activists the Yes Men have staged outrageous and hilarious hoaxes to draw international attention to corporate crimes against humanity and the environment.  In their third cinematic outing (after The Yes Men and The Yes Men Fix the World), they are now well into their 40s, and their mid-life crises are threatening to drive them out of activism forever – even as they prepare to take on the biggest challenge they’ve ever faced: climate change. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1192384490773658/. 

15] – CNHED Advocacy Day is happening at the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC, on Tues., May 10 from 9:30 to 11:30 AM.  Join the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED) and their supporters for their day of advocacy!  It is constant work to ensure that DC leaders invest in affordable housing and economic development in the budget process.  This is a critical time of year for advocates to stand together and show their support for these important budget components just a few days before the council votes on the Fiscal Year 2017 budget.  RSVP at https://www.cnhed.org/advocacy-day-may-10-2016/?utm_source=CNHED+List&utm_campaign=bee29fdc6e-Get_Ready_for_CNHED%27s_Advocacy_Day_on_May_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cb8a4cc81a-bee29fdc6e-58099621.

16] – Get over to the Book Launch: State of The World; Can a City be Sustainable? It takes place at 1400 16th St. NW, WDC, on Tues., May 10 from 1 to 5 PM, and the presentation will be made by the Worldwatch Institute.  Cities are the world's future. Today, more than half of the global population---- 3.7 billion people---- are urban dwellers and that number is expected to double by 2050. Will the world invest in the physical and social infrastructure necessary for livable, equitable, and sustainable cities?  Discover the most pressing challenges facing cities and the most promising solutions currently being developed. RSVP at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07ecc1mxxt37c626b4&oseq=&c=&ch=.

17] –Sustaining the Political Revolution: Demilitarization, Disarmament, Drugs, and Diplomacy of the Decade will take place at the Institute for Policy Studies, 1301 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 600, WDC, on Tues., May 10 from 4 to 6 PM.  The U.S. has been using war to challenge terrorism for 15 years now, and terrorism is doing just fine. And if the 2016 presidential race comes down to Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump, there will be a candidate backed by neoconservatives facing off against a candidate backed by neo-fascists.  The drug war too has long been a cornerstone of our modern culture wars, but its shelf-life is approaching the expiration date. Where would our presidential candidates take us on military spending, and would Congress go along? How do we make space for a more peaceful internationalism? Let’s discuss these heavy questions and more in an informal and intimate conversation with IPS experts. RSVP to http://act.ips-dc.org/site/Calendar?id=100605&view=Detail.

18] – Each Tuesday from 4:30 - 5:30 PM, the Catholic Peace Fellowship-Philadelphia for peace in Afghanistan and Iraq gathers at the Suburban Station, 16th St. & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine.  The next vigil is May 10.  Call 215-426-0364.

19] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. join this ongoing vigil on May 10  from 5:30 to 6:30  PM. Call Max at 410-323-1607.

20] – There is a Save My Store Rally at the UFCW Local 400, 8400 Corporate Dr., Landover, MD, on Wed., May 11 at 11 AM.  Eight Giant Food grocery stores in the region are slated for potential sale as the result of a merger between Ahold and Delhaize, the European-based parent companies of Giant Food and Food Lion. Hundreds of jobs and the future of the community are at stake. Don't let a corporate merger in Europe take away good jobs and quality shopping options here at home. Join us for a rally and march to Giant Food Headquarters to preserve good jobs! Since launching the campaign, the petition to Ahold/Delhaize has steadily gathered thousands of signatures. Help deliver the petition directly to Giant Food headquarters. So far, representatives of Ahold and Giant Food have refused to answer questions. They've been invited to town halls, but protestors have only been met with radio silence.  Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/979616145485348/.

21] – See a screening on Wed., May 11 at 6:30 PM of the 'The Billionaires Tea Party” at the Congress Hotel, 1st floor, 306 W. Franklin St., Baltimore. Is the tea party movement a populist uprising or one of the greatest feats of propaganda ever seen? Filmmaker Taki Oldham (‘Merchants of Doubt,’ ‘Astro Turf Wars’) embeds himself in the Tea Party uprising, and pulls back the curtain on the latest evolution of propaganda methods which have change the political landscape – without being noticed.

"The Billionaires' Tea Party shows us the dangers of astroturfing, the need to keep our eyes open and to carefully examine what we are being shoveled by self-interest groups, politicians, the media and even our friends and family, stressing the importance for critical thinking, rather than a herd mentality." – Firedoglake.  THE CHARM CITY FILM SERIES hosted by the Baltimore Ethical Society RSVPs are appreciated.  Email Charm-City-Film-Series-announce@meetup.com.

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