Baltimore Activist Alert – October 25 – 26, 2020

Baltimore Activist Alert – October 25 – 26, 2020

"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 Max Obuszewski, BNC, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212.  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] Progressive Democrats of America need your help

5] Remember the Victims of Gun Violence – Oct. 25

6] Film, Emotions, Us, and Them – Oct. 25

7] Mass Media and its Influence on Society Workshop – Oct. 25

8] Dump North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis – Oct. 25

9] SISTERHOOD SUNDAYS – Oct. 25

10] Healthcare Emergency Town Hall – Oct. 25

11] Power in Action online rally – Oct. 25

12] Defending Black Lives & Activists under Attack – Oct. 25

13] Pentagon Peace Vigil – Oct. 26

14] Land of Kush Food Rescue – Oct. 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 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] – Election Day is coming up in less than two months. Progressive Democrats of America need your help now. Sign up at mikefox@pdamerica.org to make phone calls.

5] – In Memoriam 2020: Remember the Victims of Gun Violence, Demand Change will take place on Sun., Oct. 25 from 10 to 11 AM ET.  Join HIAS in remembering and honoring the victims of the Oct. 27, 2018 synagogue shooting. Place the tragedy into a larger context at the intersection of anti-Semitism, anti-immigrant hatred, white supremacy, and the easy availability of guns in our culture, and call for action. Featured participants will include Rabbi Doris Dyen, Makom HaLev; Rabbi Cheryl Klein, Dor Hadash; Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, New Light Congregation; Rabbi Jeremy Markiz, Beth Shalom; Rev. Glenn Grayson, Wesley Center AME Zion Church; Mark Hetfield, President & CEO of HIAS; David Hogg, co-founder and board member of March for Our Lives; Dr. Beth Kissileff, writer and journalist; Dan Leger, injured in the Tree of Life shooting; and Miri Rabinowitz, widow of Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz. Check out https://www.hias.org/get-involved/events/memoriam-2020-remember-victims-gun-violence-demand-change.

 6] - Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 2521 St. Paul St., Baltimore 21218, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion at 10:30 AM.  On Sun., Oct. 25, the platform address is “Film, Emotions, Us, and Them.”  Film has the ability to bring people together and to drive them apart. Ken Burn’s The Civil War portrayed the conflict in a way that highlighted our shared identity as Americans.  Bringing people together is partially what led Burns to become a storyteller.  At the same time, film can accentuate tribal divisions, such as the Nazi propaganda films of Leni Riefenstahl. In our new pandemic reality, as we burn through our Netflix offerings, how should we understand film? As the election nears, and campaigns hurl manipulative political videos at us, how should we process cinema graphic efforts to unite us and divide us? Hugh Taft-Morales joined the Baltimore Ethical Society as its professional leader in 2010, the same year he was certified by the American Ethical Union as an Ethical Culture Leader. See https://bmorethical.org/.

 7] – On Sun., Oct. 25 from 3 to 4 PM EDT, get with a Mass Media and its Influence on Society Workshop, hosted by the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Visit website to RSVP: https://calendar.prattlibrary.org/.../mass_media_and_its.  In the past five decades, the media and its influential effect on the masses have increased exponentially. Initially, the news and media channels were limited to the telegraph, but technological inventions then found many channels to spread the news to the masses such as the radio, newspapers, magazines, television, websites, and now mobile applications as well. Given this reality, the media has a huge impact on society in shaping the public opinion of the masses, which can form or modify the public opinion in different ways depending on what is the objective.  How can we determine which information is credible and not credible? Brittany Oliver will facilitate a workshop on the history of media and share advice on how to be a responsible media consumer in the era of "Fake News". Learn more: http://www.brittanytoliver.com/. 

 8] – North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis supported the nomination of Lawrence VanDyke to the Ninth Circuit Court -- a man who spent his career opposing environmental protections. Help get out the vote in North Carolina. VanDyke supported the expansion of oil and gas on public lands, opposed protecting one million acres of the Grand Canyon watershed from uranium mining, and challenged protections of sage-grouse habitats. Tillis’s support for Justice VanDkye shows that he doesn’t care about protecting our public lands, public health and environment. Now, Tillis is running in one of the most contested Senate races in the country. Help is needed to text pro-environment voters in North Carolina to remind them what is at stake. On Sun., Oct. 25 from 3 to 5 PM ET, RSVP at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrcOmoqD0sG9zhS003zHhRintNkAaC72_K.

9] – You can help engage other women to defeat Trump starting each Sunday from 3 to 5 PM ET, until Nov. 3.  Join these SISTERHOOD SUNDAYS where people will make phone calls to get out the vote. Join this Sunday to make phone calls to other Women’s March members. Sign up at https://act.womensmarch.com/signup/09102020_sisterhood-sunday-form?source=em20200918&t=2&akid=371%2E508952%2EHq5HVp. 

10] – Join a Healthcare Emergency Virtual Town Hall on Sun., Oct. 25 at 4 PM ET. RSVP and receive the secure codes: mikefox@pdamerica.org. There's never been a more dramatic need for comprehensive healthcare reform in this country. Join Dr. Bill and his special guests. As advocates of #MedicareForAll, PDA members were very disappointed to hear its nominee for President, former Vice President Joe Biden, mention only incremental progress from that made a decade ago under Obamacare and which so clearly has been shown to be inadequate under the massive strain of our current public health emergency known as #COVID19. However, it was heartening to hear the words “Healthcare is a Human Right” mentioned, as now seems to be the norm for all Democrats, with YUUUUGE thanks to Sen. Bernie Sanders and others for having making it so.  If Healthcare is in fact a human right, should commercial health insurance and big pharma, also have a right to run their operations on a Mafia model of extortion and a tremendous waste of human capital in the process of satisfying their personal greed? Absolutely not. The town hall will feature special guests Teresa Leger Fernandez (candidate for Congress in NM-03) and Liam O’Mara (candidate for Congress in CA-42).

11] – Join the Power in Action online rally series to find out how you can take action to make an America for all of us.  Ballots are already being cast in what is no doubt the most important election of our lifetimes. It's up to all of us to ensure our votes are cast—and counted. But this election brings unprecedented challenges: We're voting in the midst of climate disasters, the global pandemic, a relentless news cycle, and so many attacks on our communities.  That's why MoveOn is hosting Power in Action, a series of #YourVoteIsPower national organizing livestreams featuring all-star speakers, movement leaders, and grassroots activists. The Power in Action national organizing livestreams will ensure you have everything you need to inspire your community to vote.  Sign up at https://act.moveon.org/signup/power-in-action/?source=mo&t=1&akid=278084%2E37684438%2E90M8P4.  Each Power in Action national organizing livestream will begin on Sunday at 8 PM ET through Nov. 1 and will be viewed on a special page just for this series. When you RSVP, you'll receive a special link and a reminder email to make sure you're able to participate.

12] – Register for this online event Defending Black Lives & Activists under Attack on Sun., Oct. 25 at 4 PM EDT at https://us02web.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_xT8fxhbDTk6CVrak5jUnUQ. This event is hosted by the Peoples Power Assembly. This special webinar will feature activists fighting state repression across the U.S.

13] – There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop.  The next vigil is Oct. 26, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker.  Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649.  The vigil will be outside the Pentagon's south Metro entrance and in the designated "protest zone" behind bicycle fences across from the entrance to the Metro.  By Metro, take Yellow Line and get out at the "Pentagon" stop. Do not go to the Pentagon City stop! Go up south escalators and turn left and walk across to protest area. By car from D.C. area, take 395 South and get off at Exit 8A-Pentagon South Parking. Take slight right onto S. Rotary Rd. at end of ramp and right on S. Fern St. Then take left onto Army Navy Dr. You can "pay to park" on Army Navy Dr.,  and there is meter parking one block on right on Eads St. Payment for both of these spots begin at 8 AM.  No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds. Restrooms are located inside Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.  

14] – On Mon., Oct. 26 from 11 AM to 1 PM, there is a Food Rescue at Land of Kush, 840 N. Eutaw St., Baltimore 21201.  This will continue each Monday through Oct. 26. Get some free vegan and plant-based food for the community. Bring a bag, take what you want as supplies last. Items from The Land of Kush's menu are not included in the give-away but will be available for sale. See https://www.facebook.com/events/950858858703919/?event_time_id=950858865370585.

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