Baltimore Activist Alert -- December 11 - 13, 2019

40] Climate Action Coffee – Dec. 11

41] Waging Peace in Vietnam Exhibit – Dec. 11 & 12

42] Make wealthy nonprofits pay fair share of taxes – Dec. 11

43] Food Rescue at the Free Farm – Dec. 11

44] Intersection of Climate Change and Security – Dec. 11

45] Discuss the Green New Deal – Dec. 11

46] Progressive Prince George’s Chapter Meeting – Dec. 11

47] Parent Meeting – Dec. 11

48] Speak with Intent – Dec. 11

49] Food Rescue at the Enoch Pratt Free Library – Dec. 12

50] Food Rescue at Dovecote Café– Dec. 12

51] Celebrate the Season – Dec. 12

52] Birddogging Training – Dec. 12

53] Get a political prisoner calendar – Dec. 12

54] Fire Drill Friday – Dec. 13

55] White House vigil – Dec. 13

56] WIB peace vigils – Dec. 13

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40] – On Wed., Dec. 11 from 7:30 AM to 9 AM, get over to Climate Action Coffee with Takoma Park Mobilization at Busboys and Poets Takoma, 235 Carroll St. NW, WDC 20012.  The Climate Action Coffee is an every-Wednesday gathering at Busboys and Poets Takoma, a cooperative production of Busboys and the Takoma Alliance for a Local Living Economy (TALLE), a working group of the Takoma Park Mobilization. It runs through Dec. 18.

This weekly series is meant to provide an organizing workspace with action-oriented discussion circles focused on building the kinds of markets, society, food systems and resiliency that we want for our region; raising watershed and environmental justice consciousness; and following youth climate leaders in taking immediate action to reverse the dramatic disruption of our climate systems. Bring your vision and passion for reshaping our communities and local economies in the service of resiliency, racial equity, and carbon-neutrality. More info at http://tpmobilization.org/talle.  Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2536864976380836/?event_time_id=2536864993047501.

41] – On Wed., Dec. 11 and Thurs., Dec. 12 from 8 AM to 5 PM, visit the Waging Peace in Vietnam Exhibit, hosted by the New Village Press, 1957 E St. NW, WDC 20052-0041.  November 15, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War Mobilization March on Washington, a gathering of over half a million demonstrators against the war. The George Washington University offers a series of events to educate students and the general public about often overlooked facets of the history of US involvement in Vietnam, including the impact that antiwar GIs and veterans had on ending the war. This will continue until December 12. Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/508974299680430/?event_time_id=513544722556721.

42] – Baltimore City needs revenue for schools, housing, healthcare, green spaces, and so much more. And yet every year, Baltimore City loses millions of dollars of forgone revenue from its wealthiest so-called “nonprofit” institutions that are exempt from paying property taxes. Under the current PILOT agreement, institutions like Hopkins Medicine pay 3.6% of their property tax burden on roughly $1.7 BILLION worth of property, while Baltimore City residents pay the highest property tax rate of any county in Maryland. On Wed., Dec. 11 at 9 AM, attend Baltimore City’s weekly Board of Estimates meeting. The Board of Estimates is the committee that originally agreed to a PILOT. Mayor Jack Young also sits on the Board of Estimates.  Show the Mayor that he has the community support to renegotiate PILOT. Get in contact with National Nurses United Organizer Chris Novoa at 818-319-2853.

43] – On Wed., Dec. 11 from noon to 1 PM,  get over to Food Rescue Baltimore at Baltimore Free Farm, 3510 Ash St., Baltimore 21211.  The long-time Wednesday Food Rescue at the Baltimore Free Farm continues. Bring a bag, bring a friend, and take delicious, nutritious, free rescued food. This will continue until February 19, 2020. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2335352913149645/?event_time_id=2335352959816307.

44] –  On Wed., Dec. 11 from 4 to 5:30 PM, get with The Intersection of Climate Change and Security, hosted by the Institute for Policy Studies, 1301 Connecticut Ave. NW, 6th Floor, WDC 20036.  The world faces two grave threats: nuclear war and climate change. The Trump administration has ended four decades of U.S. efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear war, withdrawing from the INF Treaty and preparing to deploy nuclear weapons around the world. At the same time, it denies the existence of climate change and supports leaders around the world who are laying waste to the environment.

But another security policy is possible, and necessary, right now. This seminar sponsored by the Asia Institute and Foreign Policy in Focus, will explore how the US could seize the initiative on arms control and link it to a global rethinking of security in light of climate change. Participants are Larry Wilkerson, William & Mary College; Alice Hill, Council on Foreign Relations; and Emanuel Pastreich, The Asia Institute. Go to https://ips-dc.org/events/the-intersection-of-climate-change-and-security/.

45] – The Sunrise Movement Baltimore will meet on Wed., Dec. 11 at 6:30 PM to discuss the Green New Deal, and to help build the movement. Gather at Memorial Episcopal Church, 1407 Bolton Street (Upper Farnham Hall), Baltimore 21217. 

46] – Progressive Prince George’s Chapter Meeting is on Wed., Dec. 11 from 6:30 to 8:20 PM at 9221 Hampton Overlook, Capitol Heights, MD.  Help the group continue to grow and build a grassroots movement of people who want to take Prince George's County on a progressive course.

47] – There will be a Parent Meeting on Wed. Dec. 11 from 6:30 to 8 PM in Rockville at the MCEA office at 12 Taft Court. Hear a conversation led by some MCEA staff and parent organizers about communication and other critical issues facing MCPS.  Contact local MOCO organizer Patty Snee at pattysnee@gmail.com.

48] – On Wed., Dec. 11 from 7 to 9 PM, Speak With Intent: Telling Your Story will happen, hosted by the Greenbelt Climate Action Network, in the Greenbelt Community Center, Room 114, 15 Crescent Road, Greenbelt. Check out https://www.facebook.com/events/448094359226874/. Take these activating emotions and your personal experiences and weave them in a way to present to congress, county council, city council, strangers on the street, or just your family. This is Part Two of the workshop series in learning to Speak with Intent.

49] – There is a Food Rescue at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 1303 Orleans St., Baltimore 21231 on Thursdays from noon to 1 PM.  Food Rescue Baltimore partners with Baltimore’s esteemed Enoch Pratt Free Library at the Orleans Street Branch. Come to the library, bring a bag, and take home delicious free food. It continues until February 13, 2020. Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/567424937414955/?event_time_id=567425064081609.

50] – On Thursdays from 4 to 5 PM, Food Rescue Baltimore is working with Dovecote Café, 2501 Madison Ave., Baltimore 21217.  Bring a bag, bring a friend, and take delicious, nutritious, free rescued food.  See https://www.facebook.com/events/2095151417235683/?event_time_id=2095151543902337.

51] – On Thurs., Dec. 12 from 4 to 7 PM, Our Revolution MoCo will Celebrate the Season, as the December meeting will be a Happy Hour at Bar Louie,150 Gibbs Street, Rockville 20850 (Rockville Town Center). Help build a vital local progressive community! Visit http://ourrevolutionmd.com/local-chapters/montgomery-county/.

52] – Jews for Justice is holding a Birddogging Training on Thurs., Dec. 12 from 6 to 8:30 PM. There is a dinner at 6 PM. The training will begin at 6:30 PM.  Birddogging is the art of asking questions that hold decision makers (i.e. elected officials, agency leaders, & corporate CEOs) accountable. Learn how to create questions, and what tactics will get the questions answered.  Julia Peter of the Center for Popular Democracy will lead the training. Email zach@jufj.org.

53] – On Thurs., Dec. 12 from 7 to 9 PM, get a copy of the Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar, which is required reading for radicals, leftists, and all who support political prisoners and advocate the end of mass incarceration. The Certain Days calendar is filled with radical historical dates, and 12 thought-provoking articles and beautiful artwork each month throughout the year. All proceeds support prisoners and grassroots organizations. Get over to Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 1225 Cathedral St., Baltimore 21201. Go to http://redemmas.org/.  

54] – Inspired by the Swedish student, Greta Thunberg, the student strikers and Naomi Klein's new book "On Fire: The Burning Case for the Green New Deal," Jane Fonda decided to upend her life, left her comfort zone and move to Washington, D.C. for four months to focus on climate change. As Greta said, "This is a crisis. We have to act like our house is on fire, because it is.”  So, every Friday Jane will host an action called — Fire Drill Friday.  On Dec. 13 at 11 AM, meet near the Capitol steps across from the Supreme Court and speak out for Jobs & Just Transitions.

Here’s the deal: We are living at the last possible moment in human history when we can do something about climate change or fail to do so, thereby denying hundreds of millions of people a livable future. Last year, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its regular report which stated in no uncertain terms that given the worsening disasters we’re already seeing and the additional warming that is already baked in because we didn’t act 30 years ago, we do not stand a chance at changing course in time without profound, systemic economic and social change in the next 11 years. Visit https://www.codepink.org/firedrillfridays.

55] – The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker will host a peace vigil at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Dec. 13 at noon.  Contact the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker: 202-882-9649, artlaffin@hotmail.com.  

56] – Women in Black VIGILS FOR PEACE take place on Fri., Dec. 6 from noon to 1 PM.  One is at McKeldin Square, corner of Light and Pratt Sts., in the Inner Harbor, Baltimore.  Use the purple circulator line.  Enjoy an AFTER VIGIL LUNCH from the food trucks in the Inner Harbor.  Bring Your Own Sandwich or stop by one of the food trucks in the McKeldin Square.

Another is at Roland Park Place, 830 W. 40th St., Baltimore.  Free Parking available. Vigil from noon to 1 PM. Lunch in the Bistro at 1 PM. If there's a storm, there is no vigil, but there will be lunch. Contact Anne: awyattbr@gmail.com.  The final vigil is in Chestertown, Kent County on the Eastern Shore at Memorial Park at Cross Street and Park Row. Email wibbaltimore@peacepath911.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: 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