Friday, August 5, 2016

Baltimore Activist Alert August 7 – 14, 2016

Baltimore Activist Alert August 7 – 14, 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] Affordable Housing Trust Fund on ballot – deadline Aug. 8
7] Esperanto – Aug. 7
8] Race and the Elections – Aug. 7
9] Hiroshima commemoration – Aug. 7
10] Poetry Presentation – Aug. 7
11] Register for a Peace Camp – Aug. 8 - 12
12] Pentagon Vigil – Aug. 8
13] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Aug. 8 – Aug. 12
14] Hiroshima/Nagasaki Survivor Testimony and Candlelight Vigil – Aug. 8
15] PSR lists Hiroshima/Nagasaki events – Aug. 9
15] PSR lists Hiroshima/Nagasaki events – Aug. 9
16] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – Aug. 9
17] Baltimore Nagasaki Commemoration – Aug. 9
18] Frederick Nagasaki Commemoration – Aug. 9
19] Sexual Harassment in the Workplace – Aug. 9
20] Film “The Occupation of the American Mind” – Aug. 9
21] FiIm FLY BY NIGHT – Aug. 9
22] Japanese survivor to visit peace camp – Aug. 10
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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] – Betsy Krieger wrote to say that there is an affordable housing crisis in Baltimore City- with vacant properties and unaffordable rents.  The good news is there is a solution that has been used successfully in other cities—an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. An Affordable Housing Trust Fund can make Baltimore more livable for everyone.  How can we make this happen? By passing an amendment to the City Charter. 

Can you spend a few hours this LAST weekend for affordable housing?  Consider giving a few hours of your time to collect signatures to put this on the ballot. Please help- just two hours Saturday or Sunday will make a difference.  Sign up for a shift here: http://www.signupgenius.com/index.cfm?go=s.signup&urlid=10c054ca8ab29a3fb6-housing&view=standard.  10,000 signatures of Baltimore City voters are needed by August 8 to get this on the ballot!  People are happy to sign; they just need to be asked. Go to http://housingforallbaltimore.org/#volunteer. Visit www.housingforallbaltimore.org or contact Rebecca at info@housingforallbaltimore.org. The petitions will be turned in to the Board of Elections on Mon., Aug. 8.

On any given night, 3000 people, including children and their families, are homeless.  25,000 Baltimore City households, more than half with children, are on the waiting list for desperately needed federal housing assistance, where they will wait as much as ten years.  Volunteers are needed, but you can get paid.  People who are able to work 10-40 hours/week between now and Aug. 8 can be paid $12.50/hr. You must be 18 or over, but no experience required! Please share this opportunity.

7] – 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 Sun., Aug. 7, the topic of discussion is “Esperanto” with Nine Trillion and Emil Volcheck.  Esperanto is a language introduced in 1887 by Dr. L.L. Zamenhof after years of development. He proposed this as a second language that would allow people who speak different native languages to communicate, yet at the same time retain their own languages and cultural identities. Esperanto can be learned in much less time than any other language (some say that it is four times faster) and by learning Esperanto you can also learn to understand other languages better and easier! This is the fairest and least painful way for people from different countries to find a common language of world peace and friendship. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

8] – The A.C.T.O.R. (A Continuing Talk on Race) open discussion series is hosted by Busboys and Poets as a community service. It provides the opportunity for people to come together and speak openly and honestly about issues of race. The intent is that each person walks away from the discussion feeling something: challenged, educated, uncomfortable, enlightened, refreshed, reassured and hopefully inspired and moved to action! Each month there is a new topic for discussion.  On Sun., Aug. 7 from 5 to 7 PM, come to Busboys & Poets, 2021 14th St. NW, WDC, as journalist, lawyer and political columnist Kimberly Atkins will lead a discussion on the Upcoming Elections Vis a Vis Race. Atkins, chief Washington reporter and columnist for the Boston Herald and Host of C-Span's Washington Journal, has covered the Supreme Court and Capitol Hill since 2007. Kim rejoined the Herald’s staff in 2014 after previously serving as the paper’s State House reporter in Boston a decade ago and also writing a freelance political column for the paper for several years. Prior to that, Kimberly served as the Washington Bureau Chief for the Dolan Company newspapers, a group of legal and business publications, where she focused primarily on covering the Supreme Court. Before launching her journalism career, she was a litigation attorney in Boston. Visit http://www.busboysandpoets.com/events/event/a.c.t.o.r-a-continuing-talk-on-race11863.

9] – The 32nd annual HIROSHIMA COMMEMORATION will begin on Sun., Aug. 7 at 5:30 PM at 33rd & N. Charles Sts. Demonstrate against Johns Hopkins University’s weapons contracts, including research on killer drones, commemorate the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and remember Fukushima, Japan.  At 6:30 PM, march to the Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St.  Joseph Byrne, from Baltimore’s Jonah House, will perform some dulcimer music.  David Eberhardt, a member of the Baltimore Four, will read some poetry.

  Mr. Toshiyuki Mimaki, a Hiroshima Hibakusha (Atomic Bomb Survivor), will relate his experience from August 6, 1945 and call on the nations of the world to abolish nuclear weapons so that the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is never repeated. The Hibakusha’s greatest fear is that when they are gone, the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will disappear and nuclear weapons will be used again, this time threatening life itself. Their prophetic voices remind us of the need to speak out against oppression and injustice, and to work for nuclear disarmament.  Mimaki is vice president of Hiroshima Prefectural Hibakusha Organization and a former executive board member of Nihon Hidankyo (The Japan Confederation of A & H Bomb Sufferers Organizations). 

At 8 PM we will enjoy dinner at the Niwana Restaurant, 3 E. 33rd Street.  All are welcome to come for food, drink and conversation. Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski at Verizon.net.

10] – On Sun., Aug. 7 at 7:30 PM at Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, JESSE NISSIM, BRENDA SERPICK & KIMBERLY ALIDIO PRESENT THEIR POETRY.  Two are Baltimore born and raised poets—Alidio and Nissim—and Serpick is Los Angeles born, but is now a Baltimore-based poet. They will share work from their recently-released books and those currently in-process, featuring innovative approaches to language and form, and themes that include cultural and political erasure, the meaning of shelter and refuge, and various histories of oppression, trauma and loss.  Call 443-602-7585.  Go to http://www.redemmas.org.   

11] – Register Your Child for the Little Friends for Peace Peace Camp at ​4405 29th St., Mt. Rainier, MD 20712, from Mon., Aug. 8 through Fri., Aug. 12.  Parents should enroll their children for one week of learning conflict resolution, self-confidence and collaborative play. Call (240) 838-4549 or email mjpeace@gmail.com.

12] – 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., Aug. 8, 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. 

13] – 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.

14] – There will be Hiroshima/Nagasaki Survivor Testimony and Candlelight Vigil at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Ave. NW, WDC, on Mon., Aug. 8 from 7:30 to 10:30 PM.  The event, hosted by the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Peace Committee, will include a cultural program featuring the DC Labor Chorus.  At 9:30 PM there will be candlelight procession to White House for a moment's silence and sharing of thoughts for peace at 10:02 PM.  Contact John Steinbach at 703-822-3485 and johnsteinbach1@verizon.net.

15] – On Tues., Aug. 9 at 11:02 AM, when the bomb hit Nagasaki, remember the 71st anniversary of the use of atomic weapons. Various commemoration events around the country are listed on the PSR website: http://www.psr.org/news-events/events/hiroshima-nagasaki-commemorations.html.

16] – 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 Aug. 9.  Call 215-426-0364.

17] – The 32nd annual NAGASAKI COMMEMORATION will begin at 5:30 PM with a potluck dinner on Tues., Aug. 9 , 2016 at Homewood Friends Meeting, 3107 N. Charles St.  At 7 PM, the program will begin.  David Eberhardt will again read some poetry.  Then Firmin DeBrabander, a professor of philosophy at the Maryland Institute College of Art and author of "Do Guns Make Us Free?" (Yale University Press, 2015) will discuss The Madness of Gun Violence in the USA. Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski at Verizon.net.

18] – The annual Frederick, Maryland Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration will occur at the Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ, 15 West Church St., Frederick, on Tues., Aug. 9 at 7 PM.  The event, which will include Hibakusha/Downwinder testimonies, is sponsored by Frederick Women in Black. Contact John Steinbach at 703-822-3485 or johnsteinbach1@verizon.net.

19] – Sexual Harassment in the Workplace will be discussed at the Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library, 4450 Wisconsin Ave. NW, WDC, on Tues., Aug. 9 from 7 to 8:30 PM.  At this workshop, staff from the DC Office of Human Rights, DC's civil rights enforcement agency, will explain civil rights laws that protect workers from sexual harassment, including how to identity and report sexual harassment. RSVP (optional) at https://ohrsexualharassment.eventbrite.com. 

20] --- On Tues., Aug. 9 at 7 PM, as part of the Pacem Summer Film Series, see “The Occupation of the American Mind” in the Meeting Room adjacent to the Rodney Chapel at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1502 W. 13th St., Wilmington, DE. Call (302) 656-2721.

21] – In partnership with the Memorial Foundation (builders of the MLK Memorial in DC), One Common Unity is hosting a screening of the award-winning documentary FLY BY LIGHT. You are invited to this special screening being held at the monument of one of our nation’s greatest civil rights leaders. See it at the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial, 1964 Independence Ave. SW, WDC, on Tues., Aug. 9 from 7:30 to 10 PM. 

   FLY BY LIGHT is a testament to the work that Dr. King undertook, the work that still demands much of all of us, and the work that Dr. King would have urged us to complete.  In this film, a group of teenagers board a bus for West Virginia, leaving the streets of Washington, DC to participate in an ambitious peace education program. For the first time in their lives Mark, Asha, Martha, and Corey play in mountain streams, sing under the stars, and confront the entrenched abuse, violence and neglect cycles of their past.  But as they return to DC, each young person faces an unforgiving series of hurdles and roadblocks that challenge their efforts to build a better life. Through breathtaking visuals from street corners to mountaintops, FLY BY LIGHT is an intimate exploration of the chaotic, confusing, and emotional journey to rewrite a young person’s future. 

22] –  On Wed., Aug. 10 at 10 AM, Mr. Toshiyuki Mimaki, Hiroshima Hibakusha, will visit the Little Friends for Peace Camp, 4405 29th St., Mt. Rainier, MD 20712. Go to http://www.lffp.org/. Contact Mary Park at mjpeace@gmail.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

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