Baltimore Activist Alert – September 17 to 22, 2019

Baltimore Activist Alert – September 17 to 22, 2019

"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] Get involved with NCNR   

4] Lawyers Against War

5] SUPPORT AMAZON WORKERS OF CONSCIENCE

6] The Warmth of Other Suns – through Sept. 22

7] New Technologies and Nuclear Risk – Sept. 17

8] DC Statehood Phone Bank – Sept. 17

9] Baltimore City's Fair Elections bill -- Sept. 17

10] The Atomic Soldiers – Sept. 17

11] Food Rescue at YO! Baltimore West – Sept. 17

12] Protest the Air Force Association "Arms Bazaar" – Sept.17

13] Join a flash hug – Sept. 17

14] Peace vigil – Sept. 17

15] Say No to Drone Research at JHU – Sept. 17

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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 U.S. wars.

To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email address to mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.  Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.  

4] – Jeff Ross, an attorney in Maryland, is interested in gathering with other lawyers to discuss ways in which the legal profession and the law generally can be conceptualized as a peace-building and war-resisting institution and redirected to these ends. Areas to explore might include: 1) ways in which this group could support with legal analysis/writing those lawyers who are representing peace-builders/war-resisters in criminal prosecutions; 2) ways in which, from a more theoretical perspective, the law might be grounded in an ethic of non-violence; and 3) ways in which law students and young lawyers might be exposed to a non-violent vision of the law. All religious, philosophical, and critical perspectives on the law are welcome. The group might want to call itself Lawyers Against War. Jeff can be reached at 443-690-6872 and jross50@hotmail.com.

5] -- SUPPORT AMAZON WORKERS OF CONSCIENCE.  We are in a deep struggle to support conscience within the high tech community, which may be the only way to prevent a major leap into artificial intelligence warfare that we see the beginnings of in the expanding global U.S. drone war system.  This may be of particular interest to Johns Hopkins' Navy-funded researchers, some of whom have been working on swarming drone technology.

These are not major asks and can be a powerful reinforcement of conscience at an extremely critical moment.  Please consider circulating this link to your lists encouraging people to sign the linked RootsAction petition - https://www.knowdrones.com/blog/2019/3/6/support-amazon-workers-who-dont-want-to-work-for-war and leafletting Whole Foods in your areas. This is a link to the leaflet -- https://gallery.mailchimp.com/dd110b000ca250d868d4f419b/files/107fc695-8af9-4f7e-a523-ecd1d1dfd28f/Wholefoods_Leaflet.pdf. Should you have interest in circulating the links and possibly leafletting, contact Nick Mottern at  nickmottern at gmail.com.

6] – The Phillips Collection (TPC) in Washington, D.C. has a dedicated mission of addressing contemporary social justice issues of global significance. The museum has recently undertaken an extraordinary exhibition on the urgent topic of immigration and the global migration crisis entitled: The Warmth of Other Suns: Stories of Global Displacement. This important exhibition presents 75 historical and contemporary artists—from the United States as well as Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Iraq, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Syria, Turkey, UK, Vietnam, and more—whose work poses urgent questions around the experiences and perceptions of migration, internal and cross-border displacement, and the current global refugee crisis. Check out https://www.phillipscollection.org/events/2019-06-22-exhibition-the-warmth-of-other-suns.

   In conjunction with the exhibition which is on view through Sept. 22, the museum has also created a slate of dynamic programming including artist talks.  Contact Phillips Director of Communications Miriam Magdieli at MMagdieli@phillipscollection.org for complimentary passes, or to RSVP for Phillips After 5. If you have a group she can also help to arrange a tour with museum staff.  The Phillips Collection is eager to engage in partnerships with organizations working with migrant communities, whether by advocacy, direct action, or support for migrants here in DC.

7] – On Tues., Sept. 17 from  9:30 AM to 12:15 PM, catch a series of talks New Technologies and Nuclear Risk at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, D.C.   The proliferation of new technologies threatens to increase the risks of nuclear use. Discuss two of those risks; precision-strike weapons in the hands of U.S. allies and artificial intelligence. Go to https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/09/17/new-technologies-and-nuclear-risk-event-7180.

8] –  Can you participate in a DC Statehood Phone Bank on Tues., Sept. 17 from 10 AM to 6 PM at the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC 20004 in room G-9. Join the Washington, DC Statehood Office for a DC Statehood Phone Bank. Call state legislatures across the US to raise awareness of DC residents' lack of full and equal voting representation in Congress.   Phones, scripts, materials, and light refreshments will be provided. The Phone Bank continues each Tuesday. See Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/673834763077915/?event_time_id=673834803077911.

9] – On Tues., Sept. 17 from 10 AM to noon at the Baltimore City Hall, 100 Holliday St., Baltimore 21202, join the Jews United for Justice and allies at the first City Council hearing for Baltimore City's Fair Elections bill. The City Council's Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on CB19-0403. Show the Council that Baltimore wants a strong bill that really makes our government accountable to everyone, not just corporate campaign donors. This is the first City Council hearing for the Bill. Attend the hearing to show your support for a city government that's accountable to everyone, not the corporate donors.  See https://jufj.org/event/baltimore-fair-elections-hearing/?link_id=6&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-our-revolution-baltimore-action-alerts&email_referrer=email_619311___subject_806472&email_subject=make-maryland-bernie-blueBaltimore Fair Elections Hearing.

10] – On Tues., Sept. 17 from noon to 1:30 PM, check out The Atomic Soldiers: A Conversation with Filmmaker Morgan Knibbe, hosted by the Nuclear Threat Initiative at 1776 Eye St. NW, Suite 600, WDC 20006.  Lunch is to be provided.  They remember seeing a flash so bright that it felt like they had x-ray vision. They remember watching the mushroom clouds rise into the nighttime sky, uniquely bright and colored from the blast. From 1945-1963, the United States tested more than 200 atomic weapons aboveground and underwater. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers took part in various capacities during these tests, and those still alive hold vivid and at times horrifying memories of the imagery and effects of nuclear explosions.

Filmmaker Morgan Knibbe detailed the experiences of U.S. atomic veterans in his documentary The Atomic Soldiers, which has been featured by The New York Times and The Atlantic. Morgan will screen a 15-minute version of the documentary and discuss his current and future projects involving atomic veterans.  Knibbe is a Dutch director and cinematographer known for his debut feature documentary Those Who Feel the Fire Burning (2014) and his short films Shipwreck (2014), The Atomic Soldiers (2019) and VICE's viral hit What Does a Nuclear Explosion Feel Like? (2018), the latter of which has garnered more than 60 million views online. His films have received more than 30 international awards. Look at https://www.tfaforms.com/4758731.

11] – On Tues., Sept. 17 from noon to 1 PM, and continuing each Tuesday, come to a Food Rescue at YO! Baltimore West, 1510 W. Lafayette Ave., Baltimore 21217.  Enjoy fresh, delicious, and free food. Bring a bag. Bring a friend! Take what you want.  See https://www.facebook.com/events/403785397093000/?event_time_id=403785490426324.

12] --  Protest the Air Force Association "Arms Bazaar" on Tues., Sept. 17 from noon to 1:30 PM at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, 201 Waterfront St., National Harbor 20745 for a Nonviolent Vigil and Prayer Service for Peace and Justice.  Undertake this vigil in solidarity with Campaign Nonviolence, which will be sponsoring a week-long series of actions nationwide through September 22. Nearly 3,000 actions are taking place in the U.S. and abroad as part of this campaign. See https://paceebene.org/campaign-nonviolence/. Meet for the vigil at the corner of Waterfront St. and St. George Blvd., directly across from the Gaylord National Resort.  The vigil is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker.  Contact Art Laffin - 202-360-6416, artlaffin@hotmail.com.

13] – Can you be part of a visit to Capitol Hill on Tues., Sept. 17?  Pat Elder is working with Vidas Viequenses Valen, www.justiceforviequesnow.org  to stop the military from open detonations/open burning on Vieques. AOC introduced an amendment to the NDAA that would allocate $10 million for contamination chambers - for the military to blow up bombs the least environmentally destructive way possible. Republicans are against the measure.

Start at AOC’s office and hug everyone in there and then visit the PR Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez’s office, along with various Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. This is called a flash hug.

Pat will be protesting the Arms Bazaar at the National Harbor.  After that he will go to AOC’s office.  If you can join him, call 301-997-3963.

14] –  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. 17.  Call 215-426-0364.

15] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" at 33^rd and N. Charles Sts. on Tuesday, Sept. 17 from 5 to 6 PM. Contact Max at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or 410-323-1607. 

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