Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Baltimore Activist Alert Sept. 25 to 27, 2018


Baltimore Activist Alert Sept. 25 to 27, 2018

"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 mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net.

1] Books, buttons and stickers
2] Web site for info on federal legislation
3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists  
4] Pat Elder for Congress
5] Buy an Anti-War Veteran hat  
6] "North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa – Sept. 25
7] Peace Vigil – Sept. 25
8] No Drone Research DEMO – Sept. 25
9] Phone bank for Ben Jealous – Sept. 25 & 27
10] Freedom Summer Sept. 25
11] How Sanctions Impact the Women's Movement in Iran – Sept. 25
12] Baltimore Voter Education Town – Sept. 25
13] Nuns on the Bus – Sept. 25
14] Film REIVENTING POWER – Sept. 25
15] American Promise Delaware – Sept. 25
16] Nuclear Abolition Day – Sept. 26
17] College Affordability Ideas for the Next Congress – Sept. 26
18] Cyber-Nuclear Weapons Study Group Sept. 26
19] How Can Japan Survive the End of America? – Sept. 26
20] Food Rescue – Sept. 26
21] Film ROCK IN THE RED ZONE – Sept. 26
22] Film PULL OF GRAVITY Sept. 26
23] Immigrants in Delaware -- Sept. 26
24] Phone Bank for Johnny O – Sept. 26 & 27
25] Poor People’s Hearing – Sept. 26
26] Film “They're Killing Us” – Sept. 26
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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 6address 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] – Green Candidate Pat Elder is Running against Democratic House Whip Steny Hoyer -- www.elderforcongress.org/elderforcongress@gmail.com/301-997-3963. Elder is a life-long peace and justice activist, who will be on the ballot in November. He is a great progressive.  Elder calls for shutting down the Chalk Point and Morgantown coal-fired stations in the 5th district. Pat is opposed to Dominion Energy’s terminal at Cove Point and other projects in the 5th. He also demands a cessation of weapons testing in the Potomac and an immediate cleanup of Superfund sites at the Indian Head Naval Warfare Center and Patuxent River Naval Air Station. He calls for subjecting the military’s ongoing environmental degradation to state oversight. 

Pat supports Medicare for all, public financing of elections, free community college. Elder supports a living wage; strong measures to correct racial injustice; eliminating the Social Security taxable maximum of $128,400; He advocates for meaningful cuts in military spending and increasing the top tax for folks making more than $2 million to 50%. That’ll pay for everything. Pat supports non-violent, multilateral solutions to the problems facing our country.

Pat plans to capture 5% of the vote and expects to open the political debate. Pat expects to run the most successful Green Party congressional campaign ever. It shouldn’t be too tough. Hoyer is awful. Spread the message on social media. Send in a dollar or two if you can.

5] – Get a good-looking black hat which says Anti-War Veteran in the front and Viva House 50th in the back.  The cost is $10. Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.

6] –  On Tues., Sept. 25 from noon to 1 PM, hear from Bruce Bechtol, Jr., Angelo State University; and David Maxwell, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, address "North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa: A Book Launch" at the Korea Economic Institute, 1800 K St. NW, WDC. RSVP at http://keia.org/webform/rsvp-event.

7] –  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 Sept. 18.  Call 215-426-0364.

8] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. Join this ongoing vigil on Sept. 25 from 5:30  to 6:30 PM. Contact Max at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or 410-323-1607. 

9] – On Tues., Sept. 25 and Thurs., Sept. 27 at 6 PM, get involved with Baltimore City Phone Banks for Ben Jealous, hosted by the Baltimore City Democratic Party at the 1199 SEIU Maryland/DC, 611 N. Eutaw St., Baltimore 21201.  Call voters across Baltimore, and tell them why Ben Jealous is the best candidate for our City! Phone bank every Tuesday and Thursday from 6 to 8 PM.  You'll have talking points on hand, and plenty of seasoned volunteers to support you as you engage with neighbors across Baltimore. Just bring a cell phone and a charger! Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/2105898316403812/.

10] – On Tues., Sept. 25 from 5:30 to 8 PM, hear about Freedom Summer: Activating & Mobilizing Communities Then & Now, hosted by The Real News Network, 231 Holliday St., Baltimore 21202.  This is an intimate cross-generational conversation with civil rights leaders and organizers around activism and mobilizing communities, as considered through the lens of the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project and illustrated by excerpts of the award-winning documentary “Freedom Summer.” The discussion will be led by Eddie Conway, former member of the Black Panther party, TRNN Executive Producer, and host of “Rattling the Bars.” Conway will be joined by Charlie Cobb, journalist and former activist with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi who was one of the movement’s leaders and is featured in the film; and Cristina Duncan Evans, founder of the Baltimore Movement of Rank and File Educators and lead organizer for Baltimore's first Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools.

Crack Mississippi and you've cracked the South -- that was the strategy employed by civil rights leaders and students who were registering Black voters in that segregationist state in 1964. Freedom Summer, or the Mississippi Summer Project, was a volunteer campaign launched in June of that year to attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi. The project also set up dozens of Freedom Schools, Freedom Houses, and community centers in small towns throughout Mississippi to aid the local black population. This event is part of the Raising Voices Event Series produced by The Real News Network in partnership with the Bertha Foundation. The series is designed to educate, empower and activate the community through a variety of programming. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/250861502213446/.

11 – How Sanctions Impact Women and the Women's Movement in Iran will be discussed on Tues., Sept. 25 at 6 PM at Busboys & Poets, 450 K St. NW, WDC 20001. The second round of US sanctions against Iran will snap back on November 4. These sanctions are being implemented following the unilateral withdrawal of the US from the Iran Deal (JCPOA) despite Iran’s compliance. The Trump administration claims that sanctions aim to pressure the Iranian government, not its people. In fact, the administration has often claimed that it stands with the people of Iran and has used the violation of their rights, including violations of women's rights, as justification for imposing sanctions. But the reality is that sanctions often hurt ordinary Iranians and have an especially negative impact on women. Further increased international tensions and isolation of Iran increases pressures on Iranian civil society, which is working under difficult circumstances to advocate for rights of marginalized groups, including women. Panelists are Medea Benjamin, Co-Founder CodePink, Nazli Fathi, author and Former New York Times Correspondent in Tehran, Fery Malek Madani, film director & producer, Curator and Director Art Cantara and Sussan Tahmasebi, director FEMENA. Contact Caroline Debnam [mailto:caroline@codepink.org].

12] – On Tues., Sept. 25 from 6 to 8 PM, there will be a Baltimore Voter Education Town Hall, hosted by the CCAN Action Fund at Blue Water Baltimore, 2631 Sisson St., Baltimore 21211.  Tickets are at mdlcv.ngpvanhost.com.

This is a public town hall meeting focused on raising the profile of environmental issues in statewide legislative races; educating the public on major environmental concerns that will be facing Maryland in the next legislative term; offering public information on citizen activism, legislative action, voter registration information, election participation, and civic engagement; and, lastly, provide an opportunity for candidates to meet with voters/constituents, and generally learn more about the environmental issues that impact the communities where they live and serve.  Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/538968616551660/.

13] – On Tues., Sept. 25 from 6 to 8 PM, catch up with the Nuns on the Bus: On the Road to MAR-A-LAGO! “Town Hall for Justice” at Grace UMC, 900 N. Washington, Wilmington. See https://networklobby.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/WilmingtonNOTB2018.pdf.

14] – On Tues., Sept. 25 from 7 to 9 PM, see the film, “Reinventing Power,” sponsored by Sierra Club and Pacem in Terris, at Westminster Presbyterian Church’s Meeting Room (adjacent to Rodney Chapel), 1502 W. 13th St., Wilmington 19806. See https://delaware.sierraclub.org/outings/powerfilm.

15] –  On Tues., Sept. 25 from 7 to 8 PM, attend a meeting of American Promise Delaware, which promotes a 28th Constitutional amendment to get Big Money out of politics.  The meeting will be in Rm. 25 at the First Unitarian Church of Wilmington, 730 Halstead Rd. Go to http://www.americanpromise.net/delaware.

16] –    September 26, 2018, will be the fifth International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons -- Nuclear Abolition Day.  Join people around the world in celebrating the vision of a nuclear weapons free world, raising awareness and calling on their leaders to advance nuclear disarmament.

17] – You're invited to Higher Ed 2020: College Affordability Ideas for the Next Congress.  College affordability plans have gained significant momentum in recent years, from statewide free college programs to new debt-free proposals at the federal level. On Wed., Sept. 26 from 8:30 AM to 4 PM, join The Century Foundation in a discussion about the next wave of college affordability reforms with the nation's leading higher education experts and advocates, including Rep. Mark Pocan, the lead House sponsor of the Debt-Free College Act. It will take place at NYU - Washington, D.C., The Abramson Family Auditorium, 1307 L St. NW, WDC 20005. This event is co-hosted by The Century Foundation and New York University.

Higher Ed 2020: College Affordability Ideas for the Next Congress and Beyond will examine federal approaches to tackle the crisis of affordability and rising student debt. Go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/higher-ed-2020-tickets-49382863474?aff=odeimcmailchimp&mc_cid=0007e04197&mc_eid=0f57b5a0fa.

18] – On Wed., Sept. 26 from 9:30 to 11 AM, tune in to Cyber-Nuclear Weapons Study Group, which will tackle "Nuclear Weapons in the New Cyber Age" with former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, former Senator Sam Nunn, former UK Defence Secretary Des Browne, and others at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Suite 600, 1776 I St. NW, WDC. RSVP at https://www.tfaforms.com/4696099.

19] –  On Wed., Sept. 26 from noon to 2 PM, Robert Dujarric, Temple University Japan, will comment on "How Can Japan Survive the End of America as We Love It" at SAIS, Room 806, 1619 Massachusetts Ave. NW, WDC. Dujarric is the director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies (ICAS), Temple University Japan.  In 2016, voters with the help of the Electoral College elected a racist xenophobe as president. Trump's actions demonstrate a desire to wreck the post-1945 US-led international order. See http://www.sais-jhu.edu/events-calendar/events/how-can-japan-survive-end-america-we-love-it.

20] – On Wed., Sept. 26 at noon at the Free Farm, 3510 Ash St., Baltimore 21211, hosted by Food Rescue Baltimore, get some free rescued food.  Bring a bag, bring a friend, and take delicious, nutritious food home. The food rescue will continue every Wednesday until Feb.  6, 2019.

21] –  On Wed., Sept. 26 at 4:15 PM, checkout the film ROCK IN THE RED ZONE, as part of the Israel/Palestine Film Series at The Lang Performing Arts Center Cinema, Swarthmore College. Visit https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/academics/pcs/2018/08/27/ip-film-series-f2018/.

22] – On Wed., Sept. 26 from 5 to 7 PM, see a film, “Pull of Gravity,” an intimate portrait of three men that confronts head-on the gritty details of lives cut short by poverty and drugs, where dealing is seen as the only route to economic prosperity, where using offers an escape from powerlessness, and where prison is too often the next stop. See it at the VCAM Screening Room at Haverford College. Email sdkeene@haverford.edu.

23] – On Wed., Sept. 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, check out DELAWARE IMMIGRANTS & THE AMERICAN DREAM at the Unitarian Universalists of Southern Delaware, 30486 Lewes Georgetown HW (Rte. 9), Lewes, DE 19958. Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sussex-county-immigrants-the-american-dream-tickets-48133471509?aff=ebdssbdestsearch.

24]   On Wed., Sept. 26 and Thurs., Sept. 27 at 5:30 PM and continuing until November 5, do phone banking with Team O!, hosted by Johnny Olszewski for Baltimore County Executive, 4050 North Point Blvd., Dundalk 21222.  Join a people-powered campaign to build a better Baltimore County!  Contact Team O's Brad at 410-371-9731 or at brad@gojohnnyo.com.  Look at https://www.facebook.com/pg/JohnOlszewskiJr/events/.

25] – On Wed., Sept. 26 from 6 to 8 PM, come to Richmond, VA for a Poor People's Hearing, hosted by the Poor People’s Campaign at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 100 Blanton Ave., Richmond 23221. Get tickets at actionnetwork.org. 

The Poor People's Hearing is to lift up the voices of the poor, directly impacted, and faith leaders, to demand that our nation's elected officials take action to fight systemic racism, poverty, the war economy and militarism, ecological devastation, and our nation's distorted moral narrative of Christian nationalism. In this electoral season, politicians will be forces to listen to those who have been traditionally left out of the electoral process in this country; they will learn about the power of a new and unsettling force that is organizing across this country, and they will hear our demands! Can't have another election cycle go by where politicians can run for office without talking out systemic racism, including voter suppression the attacks on immigrant and native communities, and the mass criminalization and incarceration of our communities; without talking about systemic poverty and the necessity of programs of social uplift; without talking about the war economy and ecological devastation that are blighting our people and the places we live; without talking about the distorted moral narrative that ignores the needs of the people.  RSVP at https://actionnetwork.org/events/va-poor-peoples-hearing/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/678716849174641/.

26] – On Wed., Sept. 26 from 6 to 8 PM, see a screening: “They're Killing Us,” hosted by Washington Office on Latin America – WOLA at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St. NW, WDC 20009.  Even though Colombia forged a historic peace deal in 2015, ending about 50 years of civil conflict, human rights leaders remain under threat. Some 342 activists, many from indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, have been assassinated since January 2016. 

Join several Colombian activists and a filmmaking team for a screening and discussion of "They're Killing Us," which documents the ongoing war against human rights leaders in Colombia's ethnic communities. Check out https://www.wola.org/events/colombia-documentary-screening-theyre-killing-us/.

To be continued.

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.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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