Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Baltimore Activist Alert - March 22 - 23, 2017

29] No to Jay Clayton – Mar. 22
30] Take it to Ryan’s office – Mar. 22
31] Gas too dirty – Mar. 22
32] Avoid Nuclear Tensions – Mar. 22
33] Jam Session at the Wilson Building – Mar. 22
34] Support the Maryland SPCA – Mar. 22
35] No More Heroes ??? -- Mar. 22
36] Civil Rights in the Trump Era: Lessons from History – Mar. 22
37] ADAMS BEAT Choir performance – Mar. 22
38] Change Through Better Facilitation - Mar. 22
39] Book DIRECT ACTION – Mar. 22
40] Development Projects in the Amazon – Mar. 23
41] Defend Our Healthcare rally -- Mar. 23
42] Attend the SAALT Town Hall on Rights -- Mar. 23
43] Come to fundraiser for Casa Ruby – Mar. 23
44] Night of Spoken Word" – Mar. 23
45] Book talk NO MORE HEROES – Mar. 23
----
29] -- Jay Clayton has made a career of representing Wall Street clients like Goldman Sachs when they've broken the rules at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now Donald Trump has nominated him to be the chair of the SEC and enforce their rules. Join Senator Bernie Sanders and the Resist the Hostile Takeover coalition of Our Revolution, Public Citizen, Allied Progress and Good Jobs Nation in opposition to this dangerous Wall Street power grab.  Resist the Hostile Takeover Day of Action at the Our Revolution DC Office, 603 2nd St NE, WDC 20002, on Wed., Mar. 22 from 12:30 to 3 PM. RSVP at https://go.ourrevolution.com/page/event/detail/volunteeractivityormeeting/gpg7cc?source=em170318-dc.

30] – The ‘Trump Ryan Take Care Away’ bill being pushed through Congress is an unmerciful act of meanness. If passed and signed into law by President Trump, 24 million Americans who are currently covered under the Affordable Care Act will lose coverage.  And thousands of them will die. Join interfaith clergy and moral activists in Washington D.C. to march on Speaker Paul Ryan’s office to save health care on Wed., Mar. 22 at 1 PM at the U.S. Capitol Grounds, the corner of First Street SE & Independence Ave SE.  When our elected representatives commit to immoral action, we have no option but to march and resist by all nonviolent means available. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1497871773566124/.  Contact Clinton Wright at cwright@breachrepairers.org.

31] -- Join a webinar, "Too Dirty, Too Dangerous: Why Health Professionals Reject Natural Gas" on Wed., Mar. 22 from 2 to 3 PM.  Hear about the scientific and medical studies that document just how harmful natural gas is to health and to the climate. Are you concerned about fracking and natural gas pipelines? Concerned about climate change? If you are—and you should be—you should join Physicians for Social Responsibility for a webinar: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/255494997792545283.

  Natural gas is worse for health than many people realize. More and more gas is extracted using fracking, and scientific studies now associate fracking with hospital admissions, low-birth-weight babies, and other grave health effects. You'll learn about these studies in the webinar.  Methane, natural gas's primary component, has a disproportionate impact on climate change. And it leaks into the atmosphere from fracking wells, compressor stations, even the distribution pipes that carry it to our homes. This leakage makes natural gas at least as bad for the climate as coal, if not worse, over a 20-year timeframe—which is about how long we have to avoid climate catastrophe 

32] – On Wed., Mar. 22 from 2 to 3:30 PM, the Arms Control Association will host Sergey Rogov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Walter Schmid, former German Ambassador in Moscow, and Steven Pifer, Brookings Arms Control Initiative, will tackle "How U.S. and Russian Leaders Can Avoid Renewed Nuclear Tensions" at the National Press Club, First Amendment Lounge, 529 14th St. NW, WDC. RSVP at https://www.armscontrol.org/civicrm/event/register?id=45&reset=1.

33] – There is a Special Invitation from Councilmember David Grosso to join POLITICS & ART: A Jam Session at the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC 20004 on Wed., Mar. 22 from 5:30 to 9 PM! Washington Performing Arts’ Mars Urban Arts Initiative, in partnership with Councilmember David Grosso, will host the fourth annual event. Come network and celebrate D.C.'s arts scene and its intersections with political life! If you are a performer, we invite you to bring your instrument to help celebrate D.C.’s unique performing arts culture and join our Community Jam led by host, Dior Ashley Brown and The dAb Band! RSVP at http://www.washingtonperformingarts.org/calendar/view.aspx?id=3475.

34] – Support the Maryland SPCA [mailto:give@mdspca.org] dining at the Mountain Branch Country Club,  1827 Mountain Rd., Joppa 21085, on Wed., Mar, 22 from 6 PM to midnight. Choose any 3-course-meal from the pre-fixed menu for $30 that evening, and a portion of the proceeds from the restaurant and bar sales (including tips), karaoke and raffles will be donated back to the Maryland SPCA.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/708227366021142/

35] – No More Heroes: a panel and discussion will take place at The Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Rd. NW, WDC, on Wed., Mar. 22 from 7 to 9 PM. Folks working within and alongside traditional non-profits often face significant internal structural and cultural barriers to shifting power, resources and priorities to do work informed by solidarity.  Trying to shift power and decision making away from a wealthy white Board of Directors towards the leadership and needs of grassroots community leaders? Curious about organizational models of mentorship and leadership development that prioritizes those of us who are People of Color, Trans and queer, immigrants, poor and disabled? The panel will include Jordan Flaherty, author of “No More Heroes: Grassroots Challenges to the Savior Mentality,” Sapna Pandya, MPH, Executive Director of Many Languages One Voice (MLOV), and Stephanie Sneed, Co-Director of DC Fair Budget Coalition.  Contact nora.rasman@gmail.com. The event is co-sponsored by Service 2 Justice Conference, Soteria Community School and The Potter's House.  Go to https://service2justice.splashthat.com/.  

36] – On Wed., Mar. 22 from 7 to 9 PM, Civil Rights in the Trump Era: Lessons from History, hosted by OSI-Baltimore, will be held at the University of Baltimore - Mt. Royal, Moot Court Room, 1401 N. Charles St, Baltimore 21217.  How can a thorough understanding of the African-American-led freedom movement of the 1950s and 60s inform those looking to create a new sustaining civil rights movement to defend communities threatened by new federal and local policies? Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch, author of the seminal trilogy “America in the King Years” and a member of OSI-Baltimore's Advisory Board, discusses what defenders of democracy from America's past can teach today's activists about resisting threats to open society. This is co-presented with the University of Baltimore School of Public Affairs.  A donation of $20 is suggested to support the work of OSI-Baltimore. No one who registers will be turned away.  Register at https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/offices-foundations/open-society-institute-baltimore.

37] -- On Wed., Mar. 22 from 7:30 to 9 PM, the ADAMS BEAT Choir will perform at Children of One World: Celebrating the Cultures of the Excluded at Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage, 1101 6th St. SW, WDC 20024. Go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/children-of-one-world-celebrating-the-cultures-of-the-excluded-tickets-32176813716?aff=es2.

38] -- The DC Trainers Network: Building Change Through Better Facilitation will be at St. Stephen's Church, 1525 Newton St. NW, WDC, on Wed., Mar. 22 at 7 to 9 PM, hosted by the Washington Peace Center.  Have you ever attended a meeting and thought "why am I wasting my time here?" Were you excited about continuing in the movement and then were turned off by attending a meeting? Have you been the facilitator that wanted more tools to have clearer outcomes and goals from a meeting? Are you an activist who loves to organize events and meetings and wants more skills on facilitating more successful meetings? If so this workshop is for you!  The DC Trainers’ Network monthly skillshare is a structured, interactive space where people can share skills and gain confidence in their training abilities and everybody is both a teacher and a learner. It strives to provide an inclusive practice space to experiment with different approaches for learning and teaching. This skillshare is part of our new Resistance Training Series to strengthen the skills of people in the movement. The Metro stop on the Green Line is Columbia Heights.

39] – On Wed., Mar. 22 at 7:30 PM at Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, hear about DIRECT ACTION by L.A. Kauffman. As people take to the streets in record numbers to resist the presidency of Donald Trump, this history of protest offers unique insights into how past movements have won victories in times of crisis and backlash and how they can be most effective today. This deeply researched account, twenty-five years in the making, traces the evolution of disruptive protest since the Sixties to tell a larger story about the reshaping of the American left. Kauffman, a longtime grassroots organizer, examines how movements from ACT UP to Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter have used disruptive tactics to catalyze change despite long odds.  There are hundreds of candid interviews conducted over a span of decades. “Direct Action” showcases the voices to key players in an array of movements- environmentalist, anti-nuclear, anti-apartheid, feminist, LGBTQ, anti-globalization, racial-justice, anti-war, and more- across an era when American politics shifted to the right, and a constellation of decentralized issue- and identity-based movements supplanted the order ideal of a single, unified left.  Call 443-602-7585.  RSVP at http://www.redemmas.org.

40] -- Amazon Watch invites you to a "Green Bag" presentation Development Projects, Community Rights, and the Role of the Church in the Amazon on Thurs., Mar. 23 from 12:30 to  2 PM at the Amazon Watch / CIEL Conference Room, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, #1100, WDC.  Large-scale development projects abound in the Amazon: railroads, mines, climate mitigation projects, and agriculture. These projects threaten land and human rights, and the unique Amazon ecosystem. The Catholic Church, through the new Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM) is partnering with indigenous and campesino communities to defend their rights and territories.  REPAM is in DC with eighteen indigenous, campesino and pastoral leaders.

Hear from some of these representatives on both the challenges faced by the communities and the partnership with local, regional and international representatives of the Catholic Church. Jakelyn Vasquez Díaz is a pastoral leader who is accompanying indigenous communities, Afro-Brazilian communities, and peasant farmers to stop the expansion of the Carajás train that carries iron ore from the Carajás mine, the largest mining project in the world. The railroad and mine are in the Mariñhao state in Brazil. Rosildo Da Silva is an indigenous leader from the Jaminawa Arará tribe. The Jaminawa Arará are opposing the climate mitigation REDD project (Reduction in Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) that would provide carbon offsets to California in the form of carbon credits. The REDD project threatens land rights and indigenous rights for local people. Luis Rodrigo Sanchez Zhiminaycela is a Shuar indigenous leader in the Cascomi community of Ecuador. They are opposing the large-scale Condor-Mirador open pit copper mine financed by Chinese investors. The mine would be the first mega-project in Ecuador. Marco Martinez Quintana is a campesino leader from el Chaparrito, Colombia in Meta state. They are opposing an African palm oil project used to make biofuels. The community is composed of former displaced people from Colombia’s internal conflict. They now face displacement again for the biofuels project.

41] – On Thurs., Mar. 23 is the seventh anniversary of President Obama signing the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. For many Communities United members, the ACA has meant new or improved healthcare. We have to stop Trump and the Republican Congress from taking our healthcare away via their proposed repeal and “replace” legislation – which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will uninsure 24 million people! A vote in the House of Representatives has been scheduled for March 23.

Come to a Defend Our Healthcare rally and march on Thurs., Mar 23 at 1 PM in Freedom Plaza, 14th St. & Pennsylvania Ave, NW, WDC.  To reserve your seat on the bus, call 410-775-6673 or email nabeehah@communitiesunite.org! Baltimore bus departure locations are as follows: location #1 at 10:30 AM, Bank St and S Caroline St or location #2 at 11:15 AM at McCulloh St. and Dolphin St. Go to http://www.communitiesunite.org/.

42] -- Attend the SAALT Town Hall on Rights at the AFL-CIO, 815 16th St. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Mar. 23 from 6 to 9 PM.  SAALT invites all D.C., Maryland, and Virginia residents to attend the first in a series of national community town halls in 2017. The recent spike in hate violence aimed at South Asian, Muslim, and Sikh communities is part of a dangerous trend electrified by the 2016 election cycle and now the current administration. Come listen to community leaders discuss the latest executive orders on immigration, the impact of these on communities, local organizing efforts to support our communities, and participate in a know your rights training. SAALT promises a rich discussion and food.  It will be in the Gompers Room (1st floor), 815 16th St. NW, WDC.  Use the Metro (Red line – Farragut North and Dupont Circle).  RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/saalt-town-hall-on-rights-tickets-32854982136 (free event but please register}!  Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1243534195743993/.

43] – Come to a Benefit for Casa Ruby LGBTQ Community Center at JR's Bar, 1519 17th St. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Mar. 23 from 7 to 9 PM.  As many of you might have heard Casa Ruby was vandalized and an employee was attacked.  It would be great to raise enough money to make sure they have a proper security door so this never happens again. Please come out and support a great cause. Casa Ruby helps homeless LGBTQ people who have no place to go. Ruby is an amazing person and RJ's would like to help anyway they can.  To donate, get over to https://www.gofundme.com/casa-ruby-benefit.

44] –  “Night of Spoken Word" is Part I of a series of events organized by a collective of artists in Baltimore for the purpose of raising funds for the Peoples Power Assembly. On Thurs., Mar. 23 at 7 PM, come to the Harriet Tubman Solidarity Center, 2011 North Charles St., Baltimore 21218. Funds will cover the running cost of educational events, protests against Trump as well as the fight against police brutality, racism, and crimes against the LGBTQI community.   You are invited to be a part of this evening of performance by extremely talented local artists who are donating their time. The suggested donation is $5.Light refreshments will be provided.                                                                                                                                                               
45] – On Thurs., Mar. 23 at 7:30 PM at Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, hear NO MORE HEROES: GRASSROOTS CHALLENGES TO THE SAVIOR MENTALITY from activist-journalist Jordan Flaherty. Jordan asks: How can we build a better world? And he tries to make the case why do so many people with privilege end up making things worse when they try to help? It’s called the savior mentality.  Then he goes way out on a limb by claiming the saviors are FBI informants, anti-sex-work crusaders, Teach For America corps members, and out-of-touch journalists. That is a tough sell. Call 443-602-7585.  RSVP at http://www.redemmas.org.

To be continued.

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



No comments: