Baltimore Activist Alert October 23 - 25, 2016

Baltimore Activist Alert October 23 - 25, 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] Two friends are looking to buy a house in Baltimore

5] Pray for the election – Oct. 23

6] Partner Violence – Oct. 23

7] Take Back Democracy March 2016 – Oct. 23

8] Baltimore Green Forum – Oct. 23

9] Pentagon Vigil – Oct. 24

10] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Oct. 24 – Oct. 28

11] Syria on the Brink? – Oct. 24

12] Coping with the Refugee Crisis and Violent Conflict – Oct. 24

13] Green the Church Summit – Oct. 25 – 26

14] Human Rights Documentation Toolkit – Oct. 25

15] Peace vigil in Philadelphia – Oct. 25

16] Move the Money Forum – Oct. 25

17] Protest drone research at JHU – Oct. 25

18] Prayer Walk – Oct. 25

19] State of Black leadership – Oct. 25

20] Support farmworkers – Oct. 25

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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] – 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.

5] – The American elections this year are different from others, Let us pray on Sun., Oct. 23.  Contact Rev. Dr. Mankekolo Mahlangu-Ngcobo for details -- mankekolo@aol.com.

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 Sun., Oct. 23, the topic is “Intimate Partner Violence in our Community” with Faith Savill who works for House of Ruth Maryland in Community Relations. She coordinates volunteers for all of its programs, as well as much of their outreach in the community. As a member of the development team, she also helps with event logistics and coordinates the annual holiday Adopt A Family program. Faith completed two Americorps terms in Baltimore, serving with My Sister’s Place Women’s Center and Project PLASE. She loves to talk about volunteerism and how you can support your community! October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The House of Ruth Maryland leads the fight to end violence against women and their children by confronting the attitudes, behaviors and systems that perpetuate it, and by providing victims with the services necessary to rebuild their lives safely and free of fear. Their vision is that one day, every woman in Maryland will be safe in her own home. Come and increase your awareness of the problem of intimate partner violence and learn how you can help women in need. Visit House of Ruth on the web at www.hruth.org. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org. 

7] – Consider joining the Take Back Democracy March 2016, starting at 2 Lincoln Memorial Circle NW, WDC 20037, on Sun., Oct. 23 from 11 AM to 5 PM.  Democracy must be demanded! This is a nationwide event that anyone from any political party or leaning can get behind. The primary goal is to demand a government truly of, by and for the people. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/101507933634317/.

8] – The BALTIMORE GREEN FORUM, a monthly environmental education and discussion forum, takes place on Sun., Oct. 23.  The presentation and Q&A goes from 4:00 to 5:15 PM, followed by announcements & networking from 5:15 to 5:45 PM.  Finally there will be a Roundtable Discussion from 5:45 to 6:30 PM.  The forum is at 1105 Providence Road, Towson 21286. Go to http://www.mpchurch.org/location-2/.  The topic for discussion is Community Solar – Solar Is for Everyone with Gary Skulnik, the founder of a new social enterprise called Neighborhood Sun (www.neighborhoodsun.solar) and a leader in developing the clean energy market on the East Coast. As President of Clean Currents, he started the movement for clean power in Maryland and the region. Gary is an active public speaker on sustainability, clean energy, B-Corps, social enterprises and many other topics.

Thanks to a new community solar law in Maryland, everybody can go solar! Community solar allows you to sign up for solar power for your home, business or organization without installing any equipment on your roof. It’s clean energy from a local project in your neighborhood. Come to this presentation and learn how you, your business, and your neighbors can join together to build a local clean energy solar project that will let you save money and help the environment.

The Baltimore Green Forum seeks to educate and stimulate dialogue about what humans can do to make modern civilization more sustainable, including adjusting to finite resource limits and preserving biodiversity and a healthy environment. We do this through 8 monthly meetings a year. The topics are far ranging. They vary from local to planetary and from philosophical to scientific to very practical.

  BGF is open to the public and is free of charge, but donations to Maryland Presbyterian Church are collected during the meeting to thank the church for their generous gift of the space to us. Email BaltimoreGreenForum@gmail.com or call Sam Hopkins at 410 554-0006.  Go to http://www.baltimoregreenforum.org

9] – 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 Oct., 24, 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. 

10] – 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.

11] – SYRIA: ON THE BRINK (?) will be discussed at George Mason University, Library Reading Room 2001, Arlington, VA, on Mon., Oct. 24 at 3 PM. For the past five and a half years, analysis on Syria focused on the political, military, and humanitarian aspects of the conflict. This panel will examine its discursive and traumatic dimensions, with an eye to the history of the conflict and the many facets of the current geopolitical escalation.  The panel discussion is sponsored by Middle East and Islamic Studies Program, Global Interdisciplinary Studies, Arab Studies Institute, University Life Global Affairs, AVACGIS Center for Global Islamic Studies, Schar School of Policy and Government, Department of History. Email meis@gmu.edu.

12] –  Coping with the Refugee Crisis and Violent Conflict: Bold Ideas for the Next US President and UN Secretary-General will take place on Mon., Oct. 24 from 4:30 to 6 PM at the Stimson Center, 1211 CONNECTICUT AVE. NW, 8TH FL, WDC 20036.  This is part of United Nations Day, hosted by the Stimson Center and the Center for American Progress.  RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc66A1DMEV2Ml9IfL-g32bN2dFOpz8bpusa5-0u2yudNSZIUw/viewform.

Mandated to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and to seek a “life in larger freedom”, the United Nations has helped the world succeed in halving extreme global poverty, slowing the spread of nuclear weapons, and managing many long-standing conflicts. Yet, hardly anybody with an insight into global politics or economics would use the words “just” or “secure” to describe the world today. From Syria and Ukraine to Afghanistan, Iraq, and sub-Saharan Africa, rising violence has erased human rights, increased mass atrocities, and reversed the global decline in political violence seen since the end of the Cold War. These deadly conflicts have further fueled more than 60 million displaced persons, creating the largest refugee crisis since World War II. Despite noteworthy efforts to contain these conflicts and the attendant refugee outflow — including President Obama’s September 20 Leaders’ Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis at U.N. Headquarters, mounting evidence suggests that the United Nations and international community are losing the battle against several of the most pressing security and justice challenges of our time. The panel discussion will bring together leading policy analysts and former senior international and U.S. officials for a moderated discussion on how the next U.S. President and U.N. Secretary-General, with the support of countries and global civil society, can better cope with the current refugee crisis and the underlying violent conditions that sustain it. 

13] – GREEN THE CHURCH Summit is in to engages congregations in the fight against climate change, and helps churches serve as centers of climate resilience. This year, the summit starts Tues., Oct. 25 from 9 AM through 7 PM, and continues on Wed., Oct. 26 from 9 AM to 4 PM at Gwynn Oak United Methodist Church, 5020 Gwynn Oak Ave., Baltimore 21207.  The Green the Church Summit taps into the power and purpose of the African American church community and explores and expands the role of churches as centers for environmental, social and economic resilience. This summit elevates and supports three core pillars: amplifying green theology, promoting sustainable practice and building power for change. Powerful, inspiring sermons and keynotes from faith leaders driving green initiatives from within their churches will anchor a powerful two days of engagement. Breakout sessions feature education for religious leaders, advocates, social justice ministries and church facility and operations decision makers. The suggested registration donation is $50. Register at http://www.greenforall.org/green_the_church/.

14] – The Human Rights Documentation Toolkit Launch Event is at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1200 New York Ave. NW, WDC, on Tues., Oct. 25 from 2 to 5 PM.  Join the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), on behalf of the Human Rights Documentation (HRD) Toolkit Consortium, as a new tool for human rights documenters is launched. The two panel discussions will feature practitioners documenting human rights abuses in South Sudan, Syria, the Balkans, North Korea, Turkey, Guatemala, and Kenya. The HRD Toolkit is a multidisciplinary, interactive online portal providing human rights documenters with a searchable library of existing documentation resources and tools, practices, and ongoing support from other documentation stakeholders. This virtual toolkit will address the need for a single compilation of resources and information to enable better coordination between documenters.  RSVP https://www.eventbrite.com/e/human-rights-documentation-toolkit-launch-event-tickets-28230325664?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing.

15] – 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 Oct. 25.  Call 215-426-0364.

16] --- JOIN Get Money Out at a Democracy Action Forum on Tues., Oct. 25 at 5 PM at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center, 7246 Cradlerock Way, Columbia, MD 21045.  All major reforms begin with the people, and we are part of a large, growing national democracy movement. Get Money Out and dozens of other citizen-led organizations are squarely addressing why Americans are so disaffected with our national politics: wealthy special interests exerting undue influence and blatant efforts to disenfranchise millions of voters. This event will give us a clear picture of several paths forward. Rep. Chris Van Hollen will lead off the forum to highlight current Congressional and State legislative efforts to counter Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United.  Constitutional Law Professor and State Senator Jamie Raskin will report on the increasing support for the 28th Amendment which would eliminate corporate personhood, reform the current system of unlimited money corrupting elections and policy, and strengthen voting rights.  Rep. John Sarbanes will discuss his small donor financing proposal to empower citizens, and 2014 candidate for Maryland governor Heather Mizeur will moderate a panel discussion, with audience participation, on the We the People Package to outlaw Super Pacs, replace the broken FEC and other reforms advancing in Congress.  

(Get Money Out does not endorse candidates and this is NOT a campaign event so leave your checkbook at home!)  Email getmoneyoutmaryland@gmail.com.

17] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. join this ongoing vigil on Oct. 25  from 5:30 to 6:30  PM. Call Max at 410-323-1607.

18] – On Tues., Oct. 25 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at St. Ann’s Parish, 2201 Greenmount Ave., join the October Prayer Walk with Bishop Denis Madden. He invites all Baltimore Catholics to join him in these prayer walks. This is a critical time for Baltimore as violence continues to rise and the neighborhood around St. Ann’s parish truly needs our support and prayer.  Contact Chuck Michaels at 443-846-5207 (cell).

19] – The UMCP Chapter of NAACP Presents State of Black Leadership: The Movement, Not The Moment in the Colony Ballroom, Adele H. Stamp Student Union, 3972 Campus Drive, College Park, on Tues., Oct. 25 at 6 PM.  The State of Black Leadership is a panel series held every fall where a pre-selected panel of prominent University of Maryland faculty, staff and students, as well as local and national community leaders, join together in a discussion addressing issues that affect the Black community. This year the UMCP NAACP Chapter is welcoming Baltimore City's States Attorney, Marilyn J. Mosby as the keynote speaker. She will address "The Movement Not The Moment." In choosing this theme, they hope to address many of the key issues occurring within the Black community. Guests are asked to bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to the College Park food bank, or $1 to donate toward an annual scholarship award.

20] – Support the farmworkers on Tues., Oct. 25 at 7:30 PM at Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201. Hear about BEHIND THE BRAIDS: BOYCOTTING WENDY'S WITH THE COALITION OF IMMOKALEE WORKERS.  Join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in amplifying the farmworker-led call for the national boycott of Wendy’s! Tens of thousands of national allies are committed to boycotting Wendy’s until the fast-food giant joins the Fair Food Program, a unique partnership between farmworkers, farmers and 14 corporate retailers, including McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Wal-Mart, that is rooting out abuse and sexual harassment in fields from Florida to North Carolina to Maryland. Rather than support an industry setting new standards for human rights, Wendy's took its tomato purchases to Mexico, where workers continue to confront wage theft, sexual harassment, child labor, and even slavery without access to protections. And recently, Wendy’s has published an empty Code of Conduct for its suppliers that lacks the two most essential elements of the Fair Food Program: worker participation and verifiable enforcement mechanisms for standards.

This regional tour is part of the “Behind the Braids” series of six truth tours revealing the ugly reality of farmworker exploitation behind Wendy’s façade of corporate social responsibility and spreading the word about the national Wendy’s Boycott. Call 443-602-7585.  Go to http://www.redemmas.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