Baltimore Activist Alert -- February 12 - 15, 2021

59] Organize a watch party for a film about a Gitmo prisoner – opening Feb. 12

60] Count the birds – Feb. 12 - 15

61] Climate Strikes vs. Chase Bank – Feb. 12

62] Bahrain 10 Years After – Feb. 12

63] Food Rescue – Feb. 12

64] White House vigil – Feb. 12

65] Women in Black VIGILS FOR PEACE on hold? – Feb. 12

66] Facebook's move to equate "Zionist" with "Jew" – Feb. 12

67] Fire Drill Friday looks at pipelines – Feb. 12

68] Peace and justice vigil – Feb. 12

69] Peace Rally -- Feb. 12

70] Support Alabama Amazon Workers – Feb. 12

71] Action Webinar to Demilitarize the Portland Police – Feb. 12

72] Authoritarianism and Right-wing Nationalism Study-- Feb. 13

73] Tell JHU no more nuclear weapons research

74] Beauty Fades /Stupid Lasts Forever and The Trial According to Alan Barysh

75] Read Dave Eberhardt’s book "For All the Saints- a Protest Primer"

76] Ted Glick has written a book

77] New Book: “Confessions of a Radical Academic”

78] Two Berrigan Books still in print

79] Contribute to the Lin Romano Peace and Justice Scholarship

80] Do you need a doctor?

81] Emergency Demonstration against an attack on Venezuela or Iran  

82] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records

83] Do you need any book shelves?

84] Join the Global Zero campaign.

85] Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil

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59] – "The Mauritanian" is an upcoming legal drama film directed by Kevin Macdonald from a screenplay written by M.B. Traven, Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani. The film is based on the 2015 memoir, Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Salahi, a true story of Salahi's experience of being held for fourteen years without charge in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. The film stars Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Shailene Woodley and Benedict Cumberbatch. It is set to be released in the United States on February 12, 2021, and in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2021, by STXfilms. Visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mauritanian?mc_cid=ac9eb294c2&mc_eid=5ae22dbd02#cite_note-awardsrace-7.  Organize a watch party for film.    

60] – The National Audubon Society [audubonconnect@audubon.org] wants you to know that the 24th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) begins Fri., Feb. 12 and continues through Mon., Feb. 15. And when the latest science shows that two-thirds of North American birds are threatened by climate change, there is no better time to get involved.  The GBBC is a free, fun, and family-friendly way to support bird conservation. Here’s how it works: spend as little as 15 minutes on one or more days of the count tallying birds in your community, and then submit your lists online. The data collected by volunteers from around the world powers conservation and helps us better understand how the birds we love are faring. All it takes is 15 minutes to make a difference. Read on to learn how to safely participate in this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count.

Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org. Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world. Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share. Recently, more than 160,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded.

61] – On Fri., Feb. 12 from 9 AM to 9 PM, get with the Climate Strikes vs. Chase Bank Every Friday! Flatten the climate pollution curve together! Help run an online climate strike at Chase Bank--the #1 investor in fossil fuels of any bank in the world--every Friday until further notice. You can post your own virtual climate strike on social media in 4 easy steps: https://www.climatefirst.us/calendar. Contact Ted at tconwell@climatefirst.us/ (301) 589-7598 (mobile). Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/3398894953477457/.

62] – Get with Webinar: Bahrain 10 Years After on Fri., Feb. 12 from 10 AM to 11:30 AM ET.  Email david@worldbeyondwar.org.  Ten years after the Bahraini government violently cracked down on mass pro-democracy protests in February 2011, the country remains riven by levels of unrest, political crisis, and human rights violations. Bahrainis continue to protest and demonstrate almost nightly, continuing their calls for greater political and economic freedoms as well as greater respect for human, civil, and political rights. The government continues to meet these demonstrations with force and violence, arresting dissidents and critics, and filling jails with peaceful protesters. These moves by the government have not led to sustainable peace, but have helped fuel dissatisfaction among many. After four years of the Trump administration's total disregard for human rights in U.S. policy toward Bahrain, this panel will discuss what steps Congress and Biden’s administration should take to address the ongoing crisis in Bahrain. The panel with Husain Abdula, Ali Mushaima, Medea Benjamin, Barbara Wien, and moderator David Swanson will address the efforts to release political prisoners and end the culture of impunity in the country. In addition, the panel will address ways to pressure the Biden administration to end U.S. military support for the Bahraini government.  Sign up at https://actionnetwork.org/events/bahrainwebinar?link_id=3&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-join-this-webinar-with-medea-barbara-husain-ali-and-me&email_referrer=email_1069806&email_subject=three-new-webinars-to-end-wars.

63] – On Fri., Feb. 12 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM EST, come to Grace Baptist Church, 3201 The Alameda to get some food, hosted by Food Rescue Baltimore. This will continue each Friday until March 26, 2021. Bring a bag, bring a friend, and take delicious, nutritious, free rescued food. Look at https://www.facebook.com/foodrescueday/.

64] – The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker will host a peace vigil at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Feb. 5 at noon.  Contact the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker: 202-882-9649 or artlaffin@hotmail.com.

65] – It is unclear if there will be any Women in Black VIGILS FOR PEACE on Fri., Feb. 12 from noon to 1 PM.  The one at the Inner Harbor seems to be suspended. One is at Roland Park Place, 830 W. 40th St., Baltimore.  Free Parking is available. There will be NO LUNCH.   If it doesn't rain, vigil. If it rains, the vigil will be cancelled.  If you arrive for the vigil and don't see someone else, please don't leave. Other folks are on the way.  Email awyattbr@gmail.com.

The other is in Chestertown, Kent County on the Eastern Shore in Memorial Park at Cross Street & Park Row.  This will be a safe-distanced stand for Peace with Justice  & No to War. Email wibbaltimore@peacepath911.org.

66] – On Fri., Feb. 12 at 1 PM ET, hosted by Jewish Voice for Peace’s BIJOCSM Network (Black Jews, Indigenous Jews, Jews of color, Sephardim and Mizrahim), Facebook, we need to talk about dismantling antisemitism.  How does Facebook's move to equate "Zionist" with "Jew" in its hate speech policy undermine efforts to dismantle antisemitism? Join Reuben Telushkin, JVP’s National Campaign and Mobilization Organizer, in conversation with filmmaker and writer Rebecca Pierce, and activist and JVP board member Lina Morales. Go to facebookweneedtotalk.org. This event is part of a Facebook Live Conversation Series and the Facebook We Need to Talk campaign.

67] – Jane Fonda for Greenpeace [info@greenpeaceusa.org] wants you to join Fire Drill Friday on Feb. 12 at 2 PM ET. Fonda will be talking with climate activists Tara Houska and Nalelli Cobo on the frontlines about the history of these pipelines and how the movement can stop them.  Line 3 threatens water supplies and impedes Indigenous rights despite a concerted effort from grassroots activists and water protectors in Minnesota. Indigenous water protectors and grassroots activists continue to take direct action against the construction of Line 3 which has forged ahead in recent months. President Biden can revoke the water and environmental permits granted to Line 3’s parent company, Enbridge, under the Trump administration, but we need your voice. Join the drill at https://greenpeace.zoom.us/webinar/register/6216129734897/WN_7wFYIYAbRmCMYxUkMhKf0w?emci=68a98340-7b6c-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&emdi=f5fc27f1-b76c-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&ceid=1705696.

68] -- There is usually a Quaker Vigil for Racial Justice on Fridays, from 5 to 6:30 PM, hosted by the Baltimore Quaker Peace and Justice Committee (BQPJC) outside the Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St.  The next scheduled vigil is on Feb. 12. From 6 to 6:30 PM strategize. Black Lives Matter. Stop the Killing. Physical distancing applies. Wear your face mask. Email homewoodfriends@gmail.com or call 410-235-4438. Quaker values call us to speak truth and to seek equality for all people. We aim to follow Bayard Rustin’s wisdom that “we need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers” and John Lewis’s call to “make good trouble.” See https://www.facebook.com/events/311508100243529/?event_time_id=311508113576861.3&akid=18263%2E3302379%2Ez6bJVQ.

69] – On Fri., Feb. 12 from 5 to 8 PM EST, get with a Peace Rally - Candlelight Vigil at 222 N. Charles St, Baltimore, hosted by Mark Grey. The slogans are UNITED AGAINST VIOLENCE, STOP THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN & ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BRING YOUR OWN CANDLES & GLOW STICKS. Visit http://streetsmarketcafe.com/.

70] – Support Alabama Amazon Workers [info@supportamazonworkers.org] is inviting you to an organizing meeting on Fri., Feb. 12 at 7 PM ET.  Build solidarity with Amazon Workers unionizing in Alabama, and show support for a Feb. 20 National Day of Action called by the Southern Workers Assembly.  Register at bit.ly/36XRKKq.  Also visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pduqrqDMpGtM7-dVv7x8CLtRdj0DWTCq9.  February 12 is the anniversary of the first day of the historic 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike. It was during Dr. King’s visit to Memphis to support the strike that he was assassinated.

Between Feb. 8 and March 29, approximately 6,000 Amazon workers at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama will begin voting by mail on whether to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale Department Store Workers Union. The harsh working conditions at Amazon warehouses, along with Amazon’s refusal to adopt measures that protect workers from COVID 19, have pushed Amazon and Whole Foods workers every- where to step up organizing and fighting back. The BAmazon Workers Union is on the cusp of launching a history-changing workers organization against one of the biggest and most powerful transnational corporations in the world, and its super rich union busting owner, Jeff Bezos. In addition, these workers are standing up to the racist, anti-union laws that suppress labor across the south. No matter what the outcome of the vote, this fight for a union in Alabama is already rocking Wall Street and energizing a much needed national explosion of worker organizing.

71] – Join the Action Webinar to Demilitarize the Portland Police on Fri., Feb. 12 at 8:30 PM ET.  Join grassroots organizers for an action-oriented online gathering where you will learn about the ways in which the US military and private companies provide military weapons, equipment and training to our local law enforcement agencies - putting community safety at risk. Participate in directly contacting local City and County officials to encourage their endorsement.  Look at https://www.codepink.org/02122021. RSVP at bit.ly/PDXdemilitarize.  You may join the webinar, but the action will be for Portland area people.

72] –‌ On Sat., Feb. 13 from 2 to 3:30 PM EST, get involved with a Study/Action Group: Authoritarianism and Right-wing Nationalism.  An armed insurrection in Washington on January 6 threatened our democracy, with open encouragement from Donald Trump.  While Trump was defeated in November due to his bungling of the COVID pandemic and his general incompetence, he assaulted the rule of law, whipping up his reactionary, racist base with ever more explicit threats and falsehoods. Trump was defeated, but a portion of the electorate is refusing to accept his defeat.  Is the United States threatened by fascism and right-wing nationalism, and if so what should the peace and progressive movement do to answer the threat?   What are the international dimensions of the situation and what historical precedents are applicable?

The Authoritarianism and Right-wing Nationalism Study/Action Group, initiated by Massachusetts Peace Action, invites you to join the group. We have been meeting regularly on Zoom to study and discuss these important questions. Consider the following readings before the event: Timothy Snyder’s The American Abyss-- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/magazine/trump-coup.html or https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_j2St3RCsvMhnmZoeHC5HY1KJzLDUcxQ/view; and Eric Foner’s “What Reconstruction teaches us about white nationalism today“-- https://www.vox.com/22241397/reconstruction-white-nationalism-eric-foner-trump or https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TJhRb7t6nhW45-4Hik8NOqe0kXNioy0T/view.RSVP at http://masspeaceaction.org/event/study-action-group-authoritarianism-and-right-wing-nationalism/?emci=c2bd0555-266a-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&emdi=1cdd7d4e-406a-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&ceid=269591.

73] – This is A PLEA TO CONVINCE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY TO OBEY INTERNATIONAL LAW. The world reached a historic milestone on January 22, 2021: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons [TPNW] entered into force and become binding international law -- https://www.icanw.org/the_treaty.

   Prevent Nuclear War/Maryland has called attention to the growing danger of nuclear war and the outrageous $1.7 trillion dollars we are spending to upgrade the nuclear arsenal. On July 18, 2017, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, a U.S. Navy - affiliated research center received a seven-year, $92 million contract to continue its systems engineering and research-and-development services for the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. Help convince JHU to renounce nuclear weapons contracts. Contact the president, Ron Daniels, to urge him to reject all nuclear weapons contracts: Office of the President, 242 Garland Hall, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, Maryland 21218.  Call his office at (410) 516-8068 or email president@jhu.edu.

74] – Bad Attitude Publishers Announces the release of Beauty Fades /Stupid Lasts Forever and The Trial According to Alan Barysh. In light of the fascist/Q Annon/Truther/Alex Jones and Trump-inspired attack on the capital, Bad attitude Publications has released a photo essay by Alan Barysh. In the follow-up book to Sorry Truther, it was an OUTSIDE JOB Beauty Fades.... gives the reader an upfront look at the reactionary forces and the deadly beliefs these folks uphold. In pictures and texts, one gets a good look at the faces and ideas that pose a real threat to this country. The Trial According to Alan Barysh is a rewrite of the Kafka Classic The Trial. With pictures from the original movie, Alan Barysh rewrites this scathing satire with just a tad more cutting edge satire, and a different ending. The appendix to the book talks about the lonely uphill struggle of Tawanda Jones to get justice for her brother. This afterthought is included, because of the real Kafkesque struggle of the West Family to get justice for her brother. Both books can be purchased on Amazon.com. For every purchase of The Trial, Alan Barysh will give all of his royalties to the West Family. Just text a picture of the book to 443-239-5325.

75] – David Eberhardt was a member of the Baltimore Four with Father Philip Berrigan, Tom Lewis and Rev. James Mengel.  The group poured blood on draft files on October 27, 1967.  They would be convicted and sentenced to prison. Dave has written a book "For All the Saints- a Protest Primer"- documenting the Baltimore Four action and many others up to and including the most recent Plowshares action – Kings Bay Plowshares 7.  Phil Berrigan’s wife, Elizabeth McAlister, is a member of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. 

 Dave just printed the 5^th edition of the book which is available for $25 by sending him a check: Dave Eberhardt, 4 Hadley Square North, Baltimore, MD 21218. You can contact him at mozela9@comcast.net. He prefers that you DO NOT order the book from Amazon.

76] –  Ted Glick has written a book about his years of active draft resistance during the Vietnam War, and published by PM Press! It’s entitled “Burglar for Peace: Lessons Learned in the Catholic Left’s Resistance to the Vietnam War. The book is part history, part autobiography and may be a valuable source of ideas and inspiration for today’s organizers against injustice, oppression, war, ecological devastation and the bad guys! Frida Berrigan has written a wonderful intro. The paperback book, all 220 or so pages, will cost $20, but if you order it now, you can get a 20% discount if you use the code “Burglar” when you do so.  Go to: https://www.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1093 and click 'Add to Cart'. In the coupon code area be sure to put: Burglar to get the discount.

77] – Check out a New Book: “Confessions of a Radical Academic: A Memoir by Fred L. Pincus,” now available from Adelaide Books (https://adelaidebooks.org/collections/latest-releases/products/confessions-of-a-radical-academic) or from Amazon.  Fred taught sociology at UMBC for more than 40 years and is on the board of Research Associates Foundation.  His memoir details his struggles to have a successful career while keeping true to his radical principles and activism.  One major theme is his struggle with race and racism both on and off campus. Go to www.fredlpincus.com.

78] –Two books by Fred Wilcox are still in print.  The first one is “Fighting the Lamb's War Skirmishes with the American Empire” by Philip Berrigan and Fred A. Wilcox with a FOREWORD by Tripp York.  It can be purchased by Wipf and Stock: https://wipfandstock.com/fighting-the-lamb-s-war.html.  It is a Memoir in paperback/ISBN: 9781532660078/240 pages/republished 8/21/2018/ Retail Price: $26.00/and Web Price: $20.80.

  The second one is “Uncommon Martyrs The Berrigans, the Catholic Left, and the Plowshares Movement” by Fred Wilcox, who profiles members of this anti-war movement, whose Christianity compels them to acts of civil disobedience against the military industrial complex.  The ISBN is 0201522314/$6.50 for a hardcover, and it can be purchased at Powell's Books.  See https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/view/7094/uncommon-martyrs.

79] – Consider making a donation to a scholarship in her honor that would be most welcome.  Contributions to the Lin Romano Peace and Justice Scholarship can be made online via https://www.ndm.edu/lin-romano-peace-and-justice-scholarship or by check made out to Notre Dame of Maryland University (Memo line: Lin Romano Peace and Justice Scholarship) and mailed to Notre Dame of Maryland University, Office of Institutional Advancement, 4701 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21210.

80] – Yousef Zarbalian [mailto:yzarbali@gmail.com] started his own medical practice in December before the pandemic hit. It is called East-West Medicine and Rheumatology, and its website is EastWestMD.com.  Yousef is licensed in Maryland and Virginia. He is doing primary care as well as rheumatologic care (focusing on joint problems and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and sjogren's).  He is offering telemedicine visits, and he has very reasonable rates for uninsured individuals.  He makes use of herbs (which can be sent directly to patients from the herbal dispensary) as well as prescribing medications to their local pharmacy if needed.  

81] – The Trump Administration is again beating the war drums.  Most recently, the target is Iran.  Should the Trump administration initiate an act of war against Iran, consider joining us. It is a violation of U.S. law for the Trump Administration to attack a country that has not attacked us, as only Congress can declare war. The Trump administration is nevertheless beating the war drums for war against Iran and Venezuela. Should a war criminal, John Bolton, convince Trump to attack either of these countries, such a military strike would demand an immediate and unequivocal response from us to show that we will not tolerate his abuse of power.

   Let's mobilize to show that we the people will not tolerate another military adventure, which would be bound to have profound negative consequences. If a military strike against Iran or Venezuela takes place, then meet at 33rd and N. Charles St., Baltimore 21218. If the attack is before 2 PM local time, then the event will begin at 5 PM, local time. If the attack occurs after 5 PM local time, then the event will begin at 5 PM, local time, the following day. Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.   

82] -- If you would like to get rid of books, videos, DVDs, records, tarps and table cloths, contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at comcast.net.

83] -- Can you use any book shelves? Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at comcast.net.

84] -- Join an extraordinary global campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons: http://www.globalzero.org/sign-declaration. A growing group of leaders around the world is calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and a majority of the global public agrees.  This is an historic window of opportunity.  With momentum already building in favor of Zero, a major show of support from people around the world could tip the balance. When it comes to nuclear weapons, one is one too many.

85] – A Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil takes place every day in Lafayette Park, 1601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 24 hours a day, since June 3, 1981. Go to http://prop1.org; call 202-682-4282.

Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.

“One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better" - Daniel Berrigan