Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Baltimore Activist Alert -- October 2 - 3, 2019


33] PeaceCon 2019 – Oct. 2
34] Hearing Friends VS BGE Regarding the Granite Pipeline – Oct. 2
35] Between Two Giants: The Korean Dilemma – Oct. 2
36] American Foreign Policy in the Trump Era and Beyond – Oct. 2
37] The history of modern US labor – Oct. 2
38] Commemorate the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi – Oct. 2
39] See film screening of OFFICIAL SECRETS – through Oct. 3
40] Rethinking the Middle East – Oct. 2
41] 43rd Annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards – Oct. 2
42] What should be done with the Bay Bridge? – Oct. 2
43] Domestic Violence – Oct. 2
44] Gandhi’s birthday – Oct. 2
45] Commemorate the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi – Oct. 2
46] DC Working Families Monthly Meeting – Oct. 2
47] PARIS TO PITTSBURGH – Oct. 2
48] Resignation of Vice-President Spiro Agnew – Oct. 2
49] Tree Giveaway – Oct. 3
50] American Foreign Policy – Oct. 3
51] Moms Demand Action – Oct. 3
52] Gender Equality – Oct. 3
53] Black Reconstruction – Oct. 3
54] Progressive Cheverly Forum – Oct. 3
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33] – On Wed., Oct. 2 from 8:45 AM to 5 PM, attend PeaceCon 2019: Seizing the Moment for Peace in a Disrupted World, hosted by the United States Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Ave. NW, WDC 20037.  Tickets are at www.usip.org.  With a global upsurge in violent conflict, environmental degradation, great power competition, and technological change, the challenges facing the peacebuilding community have never been greater or more urgent. In response to these challenges, USIP is pleased to partner with the Alliance for Peacebuilding to host the largest annual gathering of peacebuilding practitioners in the United States: PeaceCon 2019. This critical and timely discussion of today’s complex conflict dynamics will explore conflict prevention amid a rapidly evolving global landscape and offer ways the peacebuilding community can advance innovative efforts amid these disruptions.  RSVP at https://www.usip.org/events/peacecon-2019-seizing-moment-peace-disrupted-world, and see https://www.facebook.com/events/490399648210523/.

34] On Wed., Oct. 2 from 11 AM to 1 PM, attend the Court Hearing Friends VS BGE Regarding the Granite Pipeline, hosted by Friends of Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park at the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Room 236, Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse, 100 North Calvert St. Look at http://www.baltimorecitycourt.org/general-information/directions-parking/.  Information about the lawsuit can be found at https://friendsofgwynnsfallsleakinpark.org/. Additional information may be found at https://friendsofgwynnsfallsleakinpark.org/News.  Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/488549595026467/.

35] – Between Two Giants: The Korean Dilemma within U.S.-China Competition will take place on Wed., Oct. 2 from 12:30 to 2 PM at the Stimson Center, 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW, 8th Floor, WDC 20036. Hear from Byung Kwang Park, Institute for National Security Strategy and Zheng Jiyong, Fudan University.  Go to https://www.stimson.org/content/between-two-giants-korean-dilemma-within-us-china-competition. Lunch will be served.

The intensifying theme of great power competition between the U.S. and China has major implications for the Korean Peninsula, its future unification and the U.S. alliance system in Northeast Asia. Most directly, China could be even more reluctant to change the status quo on the Korean peninsula in the hope of maintaining leverage against the U.S. and its allies during great power competition. These prospects pose significant challenges to the policy of South Korea politically and in terms of its security policy. Complicating matters for South Korea even more is the U.S.-China trade war, which is reshaping supply chains across Asia and poses the risk of aggravating competition on the Peninsula. With U.S.-China relations at a perilously low point, understanding South Korea’s position and dilemma, between an ally and a strategic partner, is central to assessing South Korea’s policy direction. Dr. Byung Kwang Park will discuss the characteristics of U.S.-China competition and how the Korean policy community views the implications of this renewed great power competition on the Korean peninsula.

36] On Wed., Oct. 2 from noon to 7:30 PM, check out American Foreign Policy in the Trump Era and Beyond, hosted by the International Studies Program, JHU Levering Hall- Great Hall, Baltimore 21218.  SAIS professors Hal Brands, Andrew Mertha, Adria Lawrence, and Matthias Matthijs will share their perspectives. These professors will also preview the undergraduate courses they will teach at Homewood during the spring 2020 semester. Lunch will be provided.   Hal Brands is the Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). Andrew Mertha is the George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies, Director of the China Program, and Director of SAIS China at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Adria Lawrence is the Aronson Associate Professor of International Studies and Political Science at Johns Hopkins University, a joint appointment by the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the Political Science Department at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS).  Matthias Matthijs is Assistant Professor of International Political Economy. He teaches graduate courses in International Relations, Comparative Politics and International Economics.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/395170364515260/.

37] Bill Barry will be teaching the history of modern US labor history (20th/21st century) for Towson-Osher on Wednesdays from 1 to 3 PM, starting October 2.  The course will cover the early AFL unions, the rise of the CIO and the IWW, and will cover right up to today--Red for Ed, the BSO strike and the UAW strike at General Motors.  The course will also discuss why we were 37% of the workforce in 1947, and now are down to around 11%, and will look at why there were no open shop states in 1947 and now there are 27--more than half of the country. For a full course description, go to page 14 of the Osher catalog: https://www.towson.edu/campus/partnerships-research/osher/documents/osher-catalog-fall-2019.pdf.  Contact Barry at mailto:billbarry21214@gmail.com.

38] On Wed., Oct. 2 from 1 to 2 PM, Commemorate the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, hosted by CODEPINK at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, WDC 20037.  1:14 PM on October 2, 2018 was the last time Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was seen alive. Join CODEPINK, CAIR, American Muslims for Palestine and Nonviolence International to mark the first anniversary of his murder.  The CIA concluded that this savage murder was done at the behest of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. The UN special rapporteur found credible evidence that high-level Saudi officials were responsible. Yet one year later, not a single Saudi official has been found guilty or punished. Join to demand Justice for Jamal. See https://www.facebook.com/events/2427063930721747/.

39] – One day in 2003, in the lead up to the Iraq War, British intelligence specialist Katharine Gun receives a memo from the NSA with a shocking directive: the United States is enlisting Britain's help in collecting compromising information on U.N. Security Council members to blackmail them into voting for war with Iraq. OFFICIAL SECRETS is a cinematic pleasure, which explores the deceitful past to remind us that we must resist in the present government deceitfulness, malfeasance and brutality.  Katherine Gun will always be a hero, unlike Colin Powell who lied to the world about weapons of mass destruction.  All involved in this decision to attack Iraq under false pretenses should face criminal charges.  This includes Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden who voted for Cheney’s war.  It can be argued that the invasion of Iraq might be the greatest foreign policy disaster ever made by a U.S. president with the help of Congress. Don't miss the film version of one person having the courage to blow the whistle while facing intense and severe pressure to be quiet. 

  Director Gavin Hood showcases Keira Knightley as Gun.  The film will be at the Charles Theatre in Baltimore at 3:45 PM, 6:20 PM and 9 PM at least through Thurs., Oct. 3.

40] – On Wed., Oct. 2 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, get with Rethinking the Middle East: Reality vs Rhetoric, hosted by Johns Hopkins SAIS Middle East Studies Program, 1740 Massachusetts Ave. NW, WDC 20036.  Insights from on-the-ground experts that challenge the foundations of US policy and investigate stories beyond the headlines. RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rethinking-the-middle-east-reality-vs-rhetoric-tickets-73164782835.  The participants’ recent, on-the-ground experiences will be presented as fresh, provocative perspectives on the region. What dynamics do policymakers mistakenly overlook? If you should share one experience from the Middle East with members of Congress, what would it be? What are the biggest misconceptions the American public has regarding the region? Where do we see economic, human rights, or social innovation in the region? Contributors will draw on their experiences on the ground in countries such as Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Syria while commenting on the dynamics shaping the region as a whole.  Look over https://www.facebook.com/events/1615501205259827/.

41] – On Wed., Oct. 2 from 5:30 to 8 PM, be at the 43rd Annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards, hosted by Institute for Policy Studies and FUSICOLOGY at the Carnegie Institution for Science.  Tickets are at secure.ngpvan.com. Honor Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt, with an incredible evening of food, drinks, and celebrating human rights!  Enjoy an amazing performance by DC-native hip hop artist Tarica June and celebrate the revolutionary grassroots work of youth climate group Zero Hour and Honduran environmental and human rights organization Comité Municipal en defensa de los bienes comunes y naturales del Municipio de Tocoa. Presenting the awards to these organizations will be by Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota’s 5th District!

If you qualify for a student or young nonprofit professional discount, or need special accommodations, please contact Violeta Curiel at violeta@ips-dc.org or at (202) 787-5237.  Visit ips-dc.org/lm2019 or https://www.facebook.com/events/529653357810811/.

42] – What should be done with the Bay Bridge?  MDTA has scheduled an open house for public review and comment on Wed., Oct. 2 and Thurs., Oct. 3 from 6 to 8 PM.  The Wednesday event will be at Anne Arundel Community College, Student Union Dining Hall, 101 College Pkwy., Arnold. Parking available in Lot A. The Thursday event is at Talbot County Community Center, 10028 Ocean Gateway, Easton. Look at https://patch.com/maryland/annapolis/bay-bridge-crossing-options-public-hearings-run-sept-24-oct-9.

43] – On Wed., Oct. 2 from 6 to 8 PM, get with the NOT ONE Campaign Against Domestic Violence, hosted by Aisha Braveboy at Prince George's Community College, 301 Largo Road, Largo 20774. October is Domestic Violence month. It affects millions of people, women and men alike. It touches every race, religion, culture and social status. It’s not just hits, punches and slaps. It's humiliation, stalking, manipulation, threats and isolation. One out of 10 people personally know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence.

Come support survivors and speak out against domestic violence at the "Not One Campaign Against Domestic Violence" this Wednesday with SA Braveboy, domestic violence survivors and special guest speakers.  See https://www.facebook.com/events/446572979322128/.

44] – On Wed., Oct. 2 from 6 to 7:30 PM, BE THE CHANGE - An evening of Peace on Gandhi's 150th Birthday, hosted by the International Association for Human Values in Meridian Hill Park, WDC 20009. See https://www.facebook.com/events/541974959941628/.

45] –   On Wed., Oct. 2 from 6:30 to 7:30 PM, commemorate the One-year anniversary of Khashoggi’s murder with a candlelight vigil, hosted by the Committee to Protect Journalists at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, WDC 20037. Saudi officials at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, killed Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, last October in a murder that the CIA concluded was done at the behest of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. In June, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, concluded there was credible evidence warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including that of the crown prince. Yet one year after Khashoggi’s murder, there has been no justice and the mastermind remains at large.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/541295089974287/.

46] – On Wed., Oct. 2 from 6:30 to 8 PM, come to a DC Working Families Monthly Meeting at 1730 M St. NW, WDC 20036-4541. Tickets are at actionnetwork.org. Help build a movement of individuals developing their skills as activists, working collaboratively to recruit, support, and elect the next generation of progressive candidates in DC. Use new tools alongside tried-and-true methods of organizing to get out the vote and win campaigns that mean real change for DC.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/2271862679794274/?event_time_id=2271862686460940.

47] – Get with Climate Community and You: A Film Series, hosted by One Montgomery Green at Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton 20902.  The first film will be shown Wed., Oct. 2 from 6:30 to 9 PM -- “Paris to Pittsburgh.” This is a National Geographic Documentary.  As the weather grows more deadly and destructive, citizens are demanding solutions to climate change and they aren’t waiting on Washington to act. Check out https://www.facebook.com/events/383084785710879/?event_time_id=383084792377545.

48] – Join the Church of the Redeemer for their VOICES Series. All events start at 7 PM and will be held at the Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21210.  On Wed., Oct. 2 from 7 to 8:30 PM.  The Investigation, Prosecution, and Resignation of Vice-President Spiro Agnew: A Talk by Tim Baker, one of the prosecutors.  On October 10, 1973, in the midst of Watergate, Spiro Agnew resigned and pled to a tax felony based on over $250,000 in bribes and kickbacks he had received as County Executive, Governor, and Vice President. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barney Skolnik, Tim Baker, and Ron Liebman developed and prosecuted the case under George Beall, the U.S. Attorney for Maryland. Tim Baker’s talk will detail how the investigation began and progressed and how Elliot Richardson, the U.S. Attorney General, conducted the plea bargaining which achieved his overriding objective: the corrupt Vice-President’s removal from his position a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Visit http://www.redeemerbaltimore.org/event/tim-baker-the-investigation-prosecution-and-resignation-of-vice-president-spiro-agnew/.

49] – On Thurs., Oct. 3 from 9 AM to noon, get with the Robert W. Coleman Tree Plantings, hosted by Blue Water Baltimore and Herring Run Nursery.  Tickets are at bluewaterbaltimore.org. Planting trees is good for the water, good for the air, and good for the soul. Come get your hands dirty for clean water and a greener community! Help add 80 new street tree pits and trees to beautify the neighborhood and cool and clean the air for all residents.  The tree planting projects are rain or shine, so wear proper clothes and sturdy (closed-toe) shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty or wet. Please bring a reusable water bottle. We will provide the trees, gloves, tools, training, and lots of fun! Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/759131874556876/.

50] – On Thurs., Oct. 3 from 3 to 4 PM, check out Challenges Facing American Foreign Policy: Do We Have One, Many, or None?  This is hosted by the School of International Service, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, WDC 20016. Join a dialogue between Ambassador Akbar Ahmed and Ambassador Ronald Neumann as they discuss the challenges that American foreign policy faces today. The former diplomats will consider America’s priorities in Afghanistan, America’s policy toward Russia, and the turbulent trade relationship between the US and China. The ambassadors will accept questions from the audience following their discussion. Ambassador Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University and is considered the "world's leading authority on contemporary Islam" by the BBC.  Neumann was US ambassador to Algeria, Bahrain, and Afghanistan and a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East. See https://www.facebook.com/events/511603432932276/.

51] – On Thurs., Oct. 3 from 6 to 9 PM, get over to the Training Class by MOMS Demand Action, hosted by the Domestic Violence Wears Many Tags Organization (DVWMT) at the Johnson Memorial Baptist Church, 800 Ridge Rd. SE, WDC 20019. This is education, encouragement, and empathy to support domestic violence awareness month. REGISTRATION IS FOR SERIOUS INQUIRES ONLY at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/moms-demand-action-community-domestic-violence-training-class-tickets-69325844467.  See https://www.facebook.com/events/1209418755911855/.

52] – On Thurs., Oct. 3 from 6:30 to 8 PM, hear about Gender Equality: A conversation with Zuleika Rivera, Macarena Sáez and Mercedes D'Alessandro, hosted by Latin America and Caribbean Society at Dupont Underground, 19 Dupont Circle NW, WDC 20036. The feminist and LGBTQI+ movements have had many advances in recent years. However, much more remains to be done. Join Zuleika Rivera and Mercedes D'Alessandro in a conversation about key moments in the fight for LGBTQI+ rights and gender equality. Mercedes D’Alessandro was born in Posadas. She has a PhD in Economics and is currently based in New York City. She taught for over 15 years at the University of Buenos Aires and was head of the Political Economy department at the National University General Sarmiento. Macarena Sáez is the Faculty Director of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and a Fellow in the International Legal Studies Program at Washington College of Law. She teaches in the areas of Gender and Sexuality, Family Law, Comparative Law, and International Human Rights. Zuleika Rivera is a Puerto Rican feminist lawyer and human rights defender. See https://www.facebook.com/events/2573751389340869/.

53] – On Thurs., Oct. 3 from 7 to 9 PM, check out “Black Reconstruction and its Legacies in Baltimore, 1865-1920” at Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 1225 Cathedral St, Baltimore, Maryland 21201.  In “A Brotherhood of Liberty,” Dennis Patrick Halpin shifts the focus of the black freedom struggle from the Deep South to argue that Baltimore is key to understanding the trajectory of civil rights in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the 1870s and early 1880s, a dynamic group of black political leaders migrated to Baltimore from rural Virginia and Maryland. These activists, mostly former slaves who subsequently trained in the ministry, pushed Baltimore to fulfill Reconstruction's promise of racial equality. In doing so, they were part of a larger effort among African Americans to create new forms of black politics by founding churches, starting businesses, establishing community centers, and creating newspapers. Black Baltimoreans successfully challenged Jim Crow regulations on public transit, in the courts, in the voting booth, and on the streets of residential neighborhoods. They formed some of the nation's earliest civil rights organizations, including the United Mutual Brotherhood of Liberty, to define their own freedom in the period after the Civil War.

Halpin shows how black Baltimoreans' successes prompted segregationists to reformulate their tactics. He examines how segregationists countered activists' victories by using Progressive Era concerns over urban order and corruption to criminalize and disenfranchise African Americans. Indeed, he argues the Progressive Era was crucial in establishing the racialized carceral state of the twentieth-century United States. Tracing the civil rights victories scored by black Baltimoreans that inspired activists throughout the nation and subsequent generations, the book highlights the strategies that can continue to be useful today, as well as the challenges that may be faced.

Dennis Patrick Halpin teaches history at Virginia Tech. Reverend Alvin C. Hathaway, Sr., the 10th pastor of Union Baptist Church, will be there. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/2122824121344672/ or http://redemmas.org/.

54] – On Thurs., Oct. 3 at 7 PM, attend a Progressive Cheverly Forum -- Immigration: Counteracting the crisis here in PG County in the multipurpose room at Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary School, 3324 64th Ave., Cheverly.  Direct access to the multipurpose room is available via the 63rd Avenue entrance. Speakers are Trent Leon-Lierman, Lead Regional Organizer for CASA, and Tana Stevenson of the Maryland Immigrant Rights Coalition. Check out https://www.progressivecheverly.org/weekly-bulletin.

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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