Baltimore Activist Alert January 22 - 24, 2017

Baltimore Activist Alert January 22 - 24, 2017

"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] “Community Solar – Solar Is for Everyone” – Jan. 22

6] Holiday Potluck Social and Legislative Briefing – Jan. 22

7] Challenging Trumpism – Jan. 22

8] Baltimore Green Forum -- Jan. 22

9] Pentagon Vigil – Jan. 23

10] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Jan. 23 – Jan. 27

11] ERA Briefing and Lobby Day -- Jan. 23

12] See a screening of “Agents of Change” – Jan. 23

13] Rally for Healthy Families -- Jan. 23

14] Get Money Out Maryland conference call – Jan. 23

15] Peace vigil in Philadelphia – Jan. 24

16] Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" – Jan. 24

17] Brendan & Willa discuss their book – Jan. 24

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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] – 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., Jan. 22, the Sunday Platform Address is “Community Solar – Solar Is for Everyone” with Gary Skulnik, founder and president, Community Solar.  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.

Gary Skulnik is 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. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org. 

6] – The Prince George's Holiday Potluck Social and Legislative Briefing is happening on Sun, Jan. 22 from  5 to 7 PM, organized by the Prince George's County Group/Sierra Club, at the Watkins Regional Park Nature Center, 301 Watkins Park Drive, Upper Marlboro MD 20774.  RSVP to Janis Oppelt at janis.oppelt@mdsierra.org.    

Celebrate the Group's achievements in 2016 and learn more about local and state environmental issues for 2017. Dr. Matthew Perry will present "The History and Wonders of Belt Woods Natural Environmental Area," located at Central Avenue and Church Road, which risks being trampled by the Department of Natural Resources' decision to allow open hunting season. Chapter Legislative Chair Mark Posner will highlight key environmental legislation before the General Assembly in 2017.  The cost is $5/person if you bring a dish, $10 if you don't, to defray the cost of the venue.  

7] – On Sun., Jan. 22 from 1 to 5 PM, come to "CHALLENGING TRUMPISM, WARS AND MILITARISM," sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, at the American University Kay Spiritual Life Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. It will feature Phyllis Bennis, Judith LeBlanc, Alli McCracken, Kevin Martin. Raed Jarrar and Joseph Gerson.  Engage in a dialogue on building the peace and social justice movement as we build the resistance needed to overcome the Trump regime’s tyranny. In addition to panel discussions, we will have small-group strategy sessions.  See a campus map at http://www.american.edu/aumaps/upload/Main_Tenley_Vicinity.pdf.  There is a shuttle bus from Metro Red Line – Tenleytown Station. 

8] – The BALTIMORE GREEN FORUM, a monthly environmental education and discussion forum, takes place on Sun., Jan. 22.  The presentation and Q&A goes from 4 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 The Youth Perspective on the Problem with Plastics -- and More with Claire Wayner and Mercedes Thompson. Claire Wayner and Mercedes Thompson are high school students at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. They've been involved in environmental work together for a few years, but their motivations to pursue conservation differ. Claire is an avid birder and approaches environmental activism from a natural conservationist's world. Mercedes aspires to be a doctor and addresses environmental problems from the public health perspective.

Claire and Mercedes recently started Baltimore Beyond Plastic, a youth-led, action-oriented organization dedicated to reducing waste in Baltimore City. Plastic is both a public health and environmental concern that threatens the livelihoods of future generations. Sign up for the organization's mailing list, and learn more at http://www.bmorebeyondplastic.org/.

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 Jan., 23, 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] – There is an ERA Briefing and Lobby Day on Mon., Jan. 23 from 10 AM to 1 PM at 325 Russell, 2 Constitution Ave. NE, WDC 20002.  This is an update on where we currently stand on ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. On Jan. 17, Sen. Cardin re-introduced his Remove the Ratification Deadline bill in the 115th Congress as SJ Res 5 with 20 cosponsors. Contact Andrea Miller at andrea@peopledemandingaction.org.

12] –  See a screening of “Agents of Change” at the Lohrfink Auditorium, Rafik Hariri Building, Georgetown University, 37th and O Sts. NW, WDC, on Mon., Jan. 23 from 5 to 8 PM. There is a pre-screening reception at 5 PM, followed by a 6 PM screening (66 minutes) and then a discussion with producers/screenwriters, Frank Dawson and Abby Ginzburg.  From the well-publicized events at San Francisco State in 1968 to the image of black students with guns emerging from the takeover of the student union at Cornell University in April, 1969, the struggle for a more relevant and meaningful education, including demands for black and ethnic studies programs, became a clarion call across the country in the late 1960s. Through the stories of these young men and women who were at the forefront of these efforts, the film examines the untold story of the racial conditions on college campuses and in the country that led to these protests. Email mg1704 AT georgetown.edu. This is part of Georgetown University's "Let Freedom Ring!" Initiative honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visit: president.georgetown.edu/mlk-week-events-2017.

13] -- Many hardworking Marylanders have no access to earned paid sick days. Our neighbors are going to work sick or sending a sick child to school, because staying home means losing needed income or risking being fired.  The Healthy Working Families Act will allow hundreds of thousands of hardworking men and women in our state to earn paid sick days. Join Working Matters for a Rally for Healthy Families. On Mon., Jan. 23 at 7 PM at Lawyers Mall, 100 State Circle, Annapolis 21401. RSVP at http://www.earnedsickdaysmd.org/?page_id=400&link_id=1&can_id=9c5bbb0ed9159a7bb5318410d9b7fb18&source=email-monday-jan-23-rally-in-annapolis-for-earned-sick-days&email_referrer=monday-jan-23-rally-in-annapolis-for-earned-sick-days___155396&email_subject=monday-jan-23-rally-in-annapolis-for-earned-sick-days.

14] – Get Money Out of Maryland has a weekly teleconference, every Monday evening at 8:30 PM.  Call 605-475-6711, and use the Code 1136243#.  Go to http://www.getmoneyoutmd.org/.

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 Jan. 1.  Call 215-426-0364.

16] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. join this ongoing vigil on Jan. 24  from 5 to 6 PM. Call Max at 410-323-1607.

17] -- Writers LIVE: Brendan Walsh & Willa Bickham will discuss their book “The Long Loneliness in Baltimore” on Tues., Jan. 24 at 6:30 PM at the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, 415 Park Ave., Baltimore 21201.

A compilation of essays, stories, poems, parables, and art, the book depicts nearly fifty years’ worth of experiences in Southwest Baltimore (“Sowebo”). Through the establishment of Viva House, Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham are able to restore hope to the hopeless. Viva House, the temporary home and soup kitchen for those living in Sowebo, provides love and community to many. This eye-opening book gives insight into what is it really like to be one of the “powerless” constantly oppressed by the “powerful.” Coming out in a turbulent time for Baltimore City, this book exposes social injustices while promoting the message that hope will prevail.  Writers LIVE programs are supported in part by a bequest from The Miss Howard Hubbard Adult Programming Fund. 

To be continued.

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; 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