Baltimore Activist Alert - June 15, 2016

20] Global Peace Index – June 15

21] Long-term health care -- June 15

22] Japan and UN peacekeeping – June 15

23] Advancement Project -- June 15

24] Arctic Project – June 15

25] Welcome New Neighbors -- June 15

26] Baltimore’s minimum wage – June 15

27] March for Berta – June 15

28] Film RECOLLECTION – June 15

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20] – Come to 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC, on Wed., June 15 from 9 AM to 3 PM and join Diplomatic Courier  and the Institute for Economics and Peace to mark the 10th edition of the Global Peace Index, the world’s leading measure of country peacefulness, and discuss the major challenges and opportunities for peace in the decade ahead.  The focus of the summit will be the main challenges and opportunities for peace over the next decade. Is the world becoming more or less peaceful? What countries and regions have improved the most in peace and why? How do you build support for long-term investments in peace in a world dominated by crisis response? What role can data and analytics play in supporting peace-building efforts? And what is the best way to get needed information into the hands of policymakers and other stakeholders? The summit will seek to address these questions, while at the same time providing a road map for the kinds of investments, such improved rule of law, control of corruption, and the establishment of a sound business environment, that create and sustain more peaceful societies over the long-term. Visit https://globalpeace.splashthat.com/.

21] – Go to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Barbara Jordan Conference Center, 1330 G St. NW, WDC, on Wed., June 15 from 9 AM to 3 PM as Organizing for Care will bring elected officials, policy experts, and grassroots advocates together to discuss the current landscape and opportunities for long-term care in the U.S. Institute for Policy Study’s Josh Hoxie will discuss how some states are getting a head start in advancing how long-term care is delivered – and financed – to increase access for consumers, better support families, and strengthen the caregiving workforce. ​A panel will highlight the policy and advocacy work driving these important structural innovations. RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Mqzpms_8vYWjqyXlUiF6AxnFtIAx0cfkocItcT_Y9fk/viewform.

22] – Japan’s Evolving Role in UN Peacekeeping Operations will be discussed on Wed., June 15 from 10 to 11:30 AM at the Stimson Center, 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW, 8th Floor, WDC 20036. RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Tyfxn_dLJ2V3K-tRTBw9GSeAgAyUgHXBSZKTe9zy7nQ/viewform.

Japan has long-been the second largest financial contributor to U.N. peacekeeping operations, but its engagement has been more dynamic than is often recognized – and it is evolving continuously in this direction. Since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe passed new national security legislation in late 2015, there have been increasing questions of Japan’s new capabilities and opportunities for engagement in multilateral initiatives, particularly within U.N. peacekeeping operations. In this discussion, Hiromi Nagata Fujishige will discuss her thoughts on how Japan’s shifting security agenda impacts in engagement in U.N. peacekeeping operations.

23] –  At AFL-CIO, 815 16th St. NW, WDC, on Wed., June 15 from noon to 2 PM, join Advancement Project, allies and partners in exploring how communities affected by voter suppression in Arizona, Ferguson and Flint are flipping the script and galvanizing a nationwide grassroots movement to protect our right to vote. With the first presidential election in 50 years without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act approaching this November, voters all over the country – especially people of color – will be more exposed to voter suppression. Organizers, civil rights veterans and leading advocates will meet to analyze lessons learned from past fights for voting rights and chart a path forward to guarantee one of the most fundamental, yet compromised, rights: the right to vote. The increasing attacks on the right to vote– from the long lines in Arizona to Missouri’s explicit attack on voting rights – require swift and decisive action. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1701096990144511/.

24] –  Arctic Strategy: One Year into U.S. Leadership of the Arctic is the topic of discussion at 1100 New York Ave. NW, 7th Floor, West Tower, WDC, on Wed., June 15 from noon to 1:30 PM. The Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on earth, opening a new sea to humanity. America is an Arctic nation, a notion that Americans too often forget. This gives America a leading role in determining whether the 21st Century opening of the Arctic will happen peacefully and sustainably, or whether it will be characterized by conflict and exploitation. We can build a peaceful and prosperous Arctic, but American leadership is necessary. The Department of State’s International Security Advisory Board (ISAB) will soon publish a report on American policy in the region. BGen Stephen Cheney, USMC (ret), the CEO of the American Security Project and a member of the ISAB will discuss the report and America’s emerging Arctic strategy. The panel will reflect on the first year of U.S. Leadership of the Arctic Council and discuss how to build a region that is at peace, is sustainable, and provides economic opportunity to its inhabitants. Go to http://www.americansecurityproject.org/event/arctic-strategy-one-year-into-the-u-s-leadership-of-the-arctic-council/.

25] – How Faith Communities in Montgomery County Can Welcome Our New Neighbors.  Our world is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with millions of refugees and immigrants fleeing persecution and violence. Learn ways faith communities can help by reading the FCAC resource guide and attending an orientation session on Wed., June 15 at 2 PM at Rockville Presbyterian Church, 215 West Montgomery Ave.  Faith communities are encouraged to attend the orientation and/or send a representative.

26] – City of Baltimore Minimum Wage is an issue on Wed., June 15 at 5 PM in City Council Chambers, 4th floor, City Hall, 100 North Holliday St. FOR the purpose of hearing legislation which raises the minimum wage of $8.25 in annual increments until it reaches $15 by July 1, 2020 then rises annually per increases in the cost of living.  Come with your questions and ideas. If unable to attend, please email your comments to the following committee members Robert Curran, chair Robert.Curran@baltimorecity.gov, Nick Mosby, vice chair Nick.Mosby@baltimorecity.gov, Warren Branch Warren.Branch@baltimorecity.gov, Mary Pat Clarke Marypat.Clarke@baltimorecity.gov and Brandon Scott Brandon.Scott@baltimorecity.gov.

27] – At the Honduran Consulate, 1014 M St. NW, WDC, on Wed., June 15 from 5 to 7:30 PM, Latin America & Caribbean Action Network [LACAN] is responding to The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras' following call: "To all organizations, social and popular movements and to the civil society of the world: The death of Berta Cáceres has filled us with indignation. We carry the pain with us, but we also carry the strength of her thought, her work, and the longing for justice. The principles that she fought for are what will save humanity, which is why we call on you to participate in a worldwide protest that will bring all of our voices together to demand justice for Berta Cáceres, justice for Gustavo Castro, justice for COPINH and justice for the people of Honduras.

On June 15 in Honduras, organizations and social movements, institutions, ordinary people will march to demand the immediate establishment of an independent research group that, in a transparent, thorough and comprehensive way, investigate the murder of our sister and companion. In D.C., march from the consulate to the Inter-American Development Bank, 1300 New York Ave. NW, where the people will demand that the bank not fund projects in Honduras like the Agua Zarca Dam which displace communities or are imposed without true free, prior and informed consent. Finally, the march will move to the US Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, where the call will be repeated of over 60 members of Congress who demanded a review of US support for loans to projects in Honduras to ensure that US funding does not undermine the land rights of indigenous people and small farmers. See https://www.facebook.com/events/548045192052957/.

28] – Check out RECOLLECTION at the Voices on Palestine: Summer Film Series 2016 at 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC, on Wed., June 15 at 6 PM. Aljafari’s latest film is composed entirely of footage from Israeli and American fiction features shot in Jaffa from the 1960s to the 1990s, primarily of the bourekas genre that dramatized tense romantic relationships between Mizrahi male “thugs” and Ashkenazi female elites. Jaffa provided the perfect setting to construct new Israeli narratives on top of emptied Palestinian ruins. As Aljafari explains, Palestinians were effectively “uprooted in reality and in fiction.” In Recollection, Aljafari removes the Israeli actors to give the stage to the people who appear by chance in the background of these shots, including both Palestinians and Iraqi Jews who were settled in the city, enacting what he describes as “cinematic justice.” Visit http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/events/upcoming/summer-film-series-recollection-kamal-aljafari.

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