Baltimore Activist Alert -- August 5 - 9, 2020

24] Farming Hope: Gardening to Feed our Neighbors – Aug. 5

25] Food Rescue – Aug. 5

26] Protect your location security online – Aug. 5

27] Future of the fight for racial justice – Aug. 5

28] Bringing Back Victory Gardens – Aug. 5

29] Film THE VOW FROM HIROSHIMA – Aug. 5 - 7

30] "Fight to Vote" – Aug. 5

31] Force schools to reopen – Aug. 5

32] Annual “Candlelight Vigil” – Aug. 5

33] Meet Sen. Markey – Aug. 5

34] Volunteer with Climate Hawks Vote – Aug. 5

35] 75th Anniversaries Working Group presentations, including a critique of JHU’s weapons contracts – Aug. 6 & 9

36] Protest Lockheed Martin – Aug. 6

37] Police Reform and Accountability – Aug. 6

38] COVID-19 in Refugee Encampments in Mexico – Aug. 6

39] The Death Penalty: The Myth of Public Safety – Aug. 6

40] "Let Them Eat Tweets" – Aug. 6

41] 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima – Aug. 6

42] Hiroshima Commemoration – Aug. 6

43] Documentary about the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- Aug. 6

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24] – On Wed., Aug. 5 from 10 AM to 3 PM, be at Farming Hope: Gardening to Feed our Neighbors, hosted by Maryland Presbyterian Church and North Baltimore Presbyterians - Ministry Group. This is happening at Rockrose City Farm, 3800 Clipper Road, Baltimore 21211. You’re invited to garden this summer to help feed people experiencing food insecurity. Derrick Weston from the Mission team at Ashland Presbyterian Church, and staff member at Hope Springs, will be gardening at the Rockrose City Farm, located at 3999 Clipper Road, Baltimore, MD, 21211. Folks will gather each Wednesday through Sept. 30. All of the food grown will be donated to various food pantries in our area. Please be in contact if you would like to volunteer. This is a great socially distanced, outside activity, but please bring a mask, and water. Derrick can be reached at Dweston@HopeSprings.org or 410-443-5867.  Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/261101788435840/?event_time_id=261101811769171.

25] – On Wednesdays, at noon, get with a Food Rescue at Umar Boxing, 1217 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21217-3535.  This will continue through Nov. 11. Bring a bag, take delicious, high quality, and nutritious free food! Check out https://www.facebook.com/events/446288255935427/?event_time_id=446288312602088.

26] – Consumer Reports is hosting a webinar on how to protect your location security online because it’s more important than ever to keep your personal information safe.  During this pandemic, companies and governments are gathering as much personal geographic data as possible to find out how the virus is spreading. But some countries are considering going even further, using surveillance programs to track people, their whereabouts, and who they come into contact with. While relevant data can help save lives, our data should not be exploited or abused. To join this webinar on Wed., Aug. 5 at noon ET and Thurs., Aug. 6th at 3 PM ET, sign up at https://action.consumerreports.org/august_5_workshop_privacy.  Contact Amira Dhalla at community@cr.consumer.org.

27] – The nationwide protests against police violence and for racial justice now represent the largest, and fastest growing, protest movement in US history. It's an extraordinary moment in the history of movement politics and a huge accomplishment on the part of countless unsung organizers nationwide. Where did the movement come from? Why now? Where is it going? Journalist Melissa Harris-Perry, Nation Justice Correspondent Elie Mystal, Working Families Party National Director Maurice Mitchell, and Nation Editorial Board Member and President of the Center for Community Change Dorian Warren will lead a riveting conversation on the future of the fight for racial justice. It is happening on Wed., Aug. 5 at 1 PM EDT, and one can sign in at https://secure.everyaction.com/N1V_72XOBky-d5YNtTX0pw2?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_campaign=nation-event-racialjusticepanel&sourceid=1062883&ms=EMM073120201A&utm_content=EMM073120201A.

28] – On Wed., Aug. 5 from 5 to 7 PM, attend a Health Committee Hearing: Bringing Back Victory Gardens, hosted by Council President Brandon M. Scott. The Health Committee will meet to discuss the efficacy of increasing community gardens within our neighborhoods in order to offset COVID-19 and its ancillary effects as well as generally making our City a greener, healthier, and cleaner place to live.  Watch the meeting online at charmtvbaltimore.com/watch-live or Watch the meeting on CharmTV (Channel 25/1085HD).  Call in to listen live at +1-408-418-9388, Access code: 129 014 1403.   Watch the meeting via Webex: https://bmore.webex.com/bmore/onstage/g.php?MTID=e9c1d798c366d39373d9bbf94239896da. Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/286585736129470/.

29] –  You're invited to a special free online film screening and discussion of the powerful film THE VOW FROM HIROSHIMA. The screening is limited to 100 viewers, so register today to reserve your spot: https://actionnetwork.org/events/free-film-screening-discussion-vow-from-hiroshima?link_id=1&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-free-film-screening-discussion-the-vow-from-hiroshima&email_referrer=email_873222&email_subject=free-film-screening-the-vow-from-hiroshima.

THE VOW FROM HIROSHIMA is an intimate portrait of Setsuko Thurlow, a passionate, 85-year-old survivor of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. Her moving story is told through the lens of her growing friendship with a second generation survivor, Mitchie Takeuchi. Setsuko was miraculously pulled out of a fiery building after the bomb was dropped and unable to save her other 27 classmates who were burned to death. That experience shaped her life forever and she endeavored to keep a pledge she made to her friends - that no one should ever again experience the same horrible fate. The film is a timely exploration of the global dangers of nuclear weapons and provides an insider's perspective as we see Setsuko campaign with ICAN (the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons). The culmination of Setsuko's decades of activism is her acceptance speech at the 2017 Nobel Peace Awards.

100 people can have online access to the film from Wed., Aug. 5 at 6 PM ET to Fri., Aug. 7 at 6 PM ET. When you register, you will get the link to view the film online anytime during that time frame. Then, you're invited to a live online discussion on Fri., Aug. 7 from 7 to 8 PM ET and to share your thoughts about the film and hear from other World BEYOND War members around the world. When you register, you will also receive the Zoom link for joining the discussion.

30] – Chesapeake Climate Action Network’s big climate stimulus and "Fight to Vote" kickoff meeting is on Wed., Aug. 5 at 7 PM.  Join this Zoom meeting by sending an RSVP today to https://act.ccanactionfund.org/page/20860/data/1?utm_medium=email&utm_source=engagingnetworks&utm_campaign=mdce&utm_content=MD-CE-Kickoffreminde0820-c4&ea.url.id=549082.

31] – Those at the top trying to force schools to reopen before it's safe are putting profits and politics ahead of our best interests. Are you a parent wondering how you’ll make distance learning work? Are you a teacher struggling with how to keep your students learning and everyone safe? Please sign up for a LIVE Q&A on Wed., Aug. 5 at 7 PM ET -- Dispatch from the Frontlines: Standing Together to Demand Safe Schools - https://actionnetwork.org/forms/webinar-signup-dispatch-from-the-frontlines-standing-together-to-demand-safe-schools?link_id=1&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-webinar-unemployment-insurance-3&email_referrer=email_879089___subject_1198529&email_subject=webinar-demanding-safe-schools.

32] – On Wed., Aug. 5 at 7 PM, the annual “Candlelight Vigil” will be held at All Souls Unitarian Church, 1500 Harvard St. NW, WDC. Candles will be lit at 7:15 PM, the exact time of the detonation in Hiroshima. Gather at the front steps on 16th Street at 6:45 PM.  Contact Mel Hardy at melvin.hardy@gmail.com.

33] -- Meet Sen. Markey on Wed., Aug. 5 at 7:30pm ET. If you were previously registered, and would still like to attend, you don't need to do anything. You're automatically registered for the new date. If you haven't registered and would like to join Sen. Markey in the discussion this Wednesday, please click here. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3415955188605/WN_3gs-87WFTP2apbN4OYqLpw?emci=689cefb7-c1d5-ea11-9b05-00155d03bda0&emdi=945d32ed-c7d5-ea11-9b05-00155d03bda0&ceid=218683.  Join on Zoom and pose questions to Senator Ed Markey.  If registration fills up, you can still join via Facebook Livestream. https://www.facebook.com/peaceaction/live?emci=689cefb7-c1d5-ea11-9b05-00155d03bda0&emdi=945d32ed-c7d5-ea11-9b05-00155d03bda0&ceid=218683 Senator Markey is in a very tight primary race for reelection.

34] -- Volunteer with Climate Hawks Vote as the climate election of our lifetime will happen. Get involved with the 2020 Victory Volunteer team and use a fun texting tool where you contact your own friends -- not strangers. Get on Zoom on Wed., Aug. 5 at 7:30 PM ET for a brief training on how to use the tool. Sign up at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYod-ihqDgoEtMMAIiInxUatjdLER6kGLh0?emci=86867aaa-73d3-ea11-9b05-00155d03bda0&emdi=a1ae49b8-07d4-ea11-9b05-00155d03bda0&ceid=1458135.

35] – The 75th Anniversaries Working Group invites you to tune into many presentations on Thurs., Aug. 6 from 11 AM through 9 PM--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_8qpE8RPJo.  The presentations will continue on Sun., Aug. 9 from 2 to 9 PM--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qq7ngF7z4I.  Other ways of watching are at https://www.hiroshimanagasaki75.org/events or bit.ly/stillhere-rsvp.  Finally, you can watch on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/BeyondtheBomb/posts/1416312548563778?utm_source=Hiroshima%20and%20Nagasaki%2075%20Coordinating%20List&utm_campaign=8389e3b83a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_17_07_54_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ceb9d77f32-8389e3b83a-391870346.

This is a listing of all of the virtual presentations on August 6 and 9.  Our event is a critique of Johns Hopkins University’s weapons contracts, and it goes from 1:15 to 1:30 PM. Four peace activists protesting the Johns Hopkins University’s weapons contracts will speak about the long campaign to call for an end to that weapons research. Their comments will include a plea to the university to expand its humanitarian research instead.

Stan Becker is a member of Homewood Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Baltimore and is active in the Quaker national environmental group, Quaker Earthcare Witness. He has been a professor of population studies at Johns Hopkins University since 1987 and before that worked as a demographer in Bangladesh, France, Belgium and at the CDC in Atlanta. Jean Athey is Executive Director of Maryland Peace Action. She has been working for peace with Peace Action for almost 20 years. She previously worked at the Federal Health Resources and Services Administration; taught at the University of Oklahoma; and served in the Peace Corps in Tunisia. She received a Ph.D. in social services policy and administration from the University of Chicago. Max Obuszewski is a Baltimore peace activist, advocating on behalf of the Baltimore Nonviolence Center and believing in”good trouble.” A graduate of Gannon College in Erie, PA, he has a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. Gwen DuBois is an MPH who practiced internal medicine in Baltimore for many years. She earned her bachelor degree at Wellesley College, her medical degree at SUNY-Downstate in Brooklyn, NY and her MPH at Johns Hopkins. In addition to being president of Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, she is co-founder of Prevent Nuclear War/Maryland. Gwen is on the national board of PSR, and was a citizen lobbyist at preparatory meetings for the UN Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons.

36] – On Hiroshima Day, Thursday, August 6, at noon, get onsite in front of Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia, Mall & Goddard Boulevards, behind the King of Prussia Mall, plan to  protest the world's #1 war profiteer, and the U.S.'s #1 nuclear weapons contractor. People are invited to stand or sit with large banners and signs.  Some people, if they can, are also invited for short periods of time to "take a knee" is support of the Black Lives Matter outcry to voice the undeniable connection, especially in this Hiroshima - Nagasaki 75th Anniversary Year, between the evils of white supremacy and nuclear weapons, racial and social justice and peace ("NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE"). People may, if they can, "Die-in" witnessing to the death-dealing criminal reality of Lockheed Martin. See http://www.brandywinepeace.com/event/75th-anniversary-of-the-bombing-of-hiroshima-commemoration-nonviolent-action-at-lockheed-martin-king-of-prussia-pa/.

37] – There is a Police Reform and Accountability Workgroup Meeting #2 Watch Party on Thurs., Aug. 6 from 1 to 4 PM ET.  Join Jews United for Justice to listen to testimony presented to the Maryland legislators in the Police Reform and Accountability Workgroup.  You will receive call-in instructions via email after you RSVP at https://jufj.org/event/md-police-workgroup-2/.

38] – Physicians for Human Rights will hold an online discussion on Thurs., Aug. 6 at 1 PM: COVID-19 in Refugee Encampments in Mexico.  Tune in at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Qw_9Dpl6TOycFDngyfG6HQ?utm_campaign=535902_FY21%20July%20COVID-19%20Webinar%20Invitation%205_08032020&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Physicians%20for%20Human%20Rights&dm_i=4GV7,BHI6,1TO2EP,1712B,1.  Since the onset of the pandemic, public health experts and human rights advocates have sounded the alarm that people in under-resourced refugee encampments and shelters along the U.S.-Mexico border face disproportionate threats from COVID-19. In June, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed at the refugee encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, where more than 2,000 asylum seekers wait for U.S. immigration court hearings. Submit questions for consideration at webinar@phr.org. Panelists will answer selected questions during the question and answer portion of the webinar.  Pre-registration for this call is required.

39] – Registration is open for The Death Penalty: The Myth of Public Safety, featuring Denver District Attorney: Beth McCann and San Francisco District Attorney: Chesa Boudin on Thurs., Aug. 6 from 1:15 to 1:45 PM ET.   Go to https://deathpenaltyfocus.salsalabs.org/webinar2signuppage/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=b3209a4c-089c-44f0-b158-37a723404d48.

40] – To keep the gravy train going for mostly white To prop up the plutocracy, political leaders are using toxic populism with a racially infused culture-war strategy to stay in power—a strategy led by Trump and playing out daily in his tweet storms, according to political scientists and authors of Let Them Eat Tweets Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson. On Thurs., Aug. 6 from 3:30 to 5 PM, join the authors for a discussion about their book.  Register https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kWLjT-mBT7GzZhJ_2jvIrA?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=2b4c202126-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_10_02_06_32_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e7c5826c50-2b4c202126-59830565&mc_cid=2b4c202126&mc_eid=72ea77dbdd.

41] – The United States is planning to spend over a trillion dollars to maintain and enhance its nuclear weapons arsenal for decades to come. The Trump administration is abandoning hard-won agreements aiming to reduce chances of nuclear war. Seventy-five years later, what must be done to make sure the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are never repeated? Hear from the Friends Committee on National Legislation’s Anthony Weir and Diane Randall for an online discussion marking the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. It will happen on Thurs., Aug. 6 at 4 PM EDT. Join via Zoom: www.fcnl.org/thursdayswithfriends.

42] – On August 6, The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, Baltimore Nonviolence Center and other partnering organizations will hold its “36th Annual Hiroshima & Nagasaki Commemorations,” Baltimore MD (33rd Street & North Charles Street), from 5:00 – 6:30pm (EST). Attendees will gather adjacent to Johns Hopkins University, the #1 nuclear weapons contractor among educational institutions. Bring signs, banners, peace ribbons and other artwork to condemn the research being done on nuclear weapons and call for the ratification of the UN Ban Treaty. For more information contact Max Obuszewski at mobuszewski2001 at comcast dot net or (410) 323-1607.

43] –  On August 6 at 7 PM, the 39th annual National Capital Area Hiroshima Virtual Commemoration will feature, “Lost Generation,” a color documentary about the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Following the film, Leslie Susan, author of Choosing Life, will discuss how her father, Herbert Sussan, directed the filming of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and 46 and spent the remainder of his life trying to get the footage released. Professor Peter Kuznick and Dennis Nelson, a Downwinder, will join the discussion. To register for the virtual event visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvc-CpqDgrHtTkQN_Td2VWxybzCDqLZbBB. Contact John Steinbach at johnsteinbach1@version.net or (703) 822-3485.

To be continued.

Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Baltimore, MD 21212.  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