Baltimore Activist Alert – Aug. 1 – 2, 2021

Baltimore Activist Alert – Aug. 1 – 2, 2021

"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] Volunteer with a Catholic Worker house  

5] Max is looking for tips on a garage or a storage suggestion.

6] House cleaner needed

7] Nonviolence training -- July 31, August 1 & 2

8] Get Out the Vote in Virginia – through Sept. 18

9] Climate crisis stores – Aug. 1

10] Strengthening Democracy – Aug. 1

11] Skills training – Aug. 1

12] Town Hall on COVID-19 – Aug. 1

13] Pentagon Peace Vigil – Aug. 2

14] Nonviolent Moral Direct Action – Aug. 2

15] Justice for Korryn Gaines – Aug. 2

16] Phone bank for Medicare For All.  – Aug. 2

17] Phone bank for the For the People Act! Aug. 2

18] Stand with Chesa – Aug. 2

19] World Conference against A and H Bombs – Aug. 2

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] - Suzanne Fontanesi and Jeff Ross are in the beginning stages of renovating the basement of their house for purposes of bringing in a volunteer (targeting young adults in discernment mode), starting next fall. They are trying to grow a Catholic Worker House in Irvington (West Baltimore). In a nutshell, there is a lot that a volunteer could do in that neighborhood/Baltimore, in addition to prayer and daily community living and in addition to plugging into all the good work that people are already doing in and around Baltimore (and beyond).  If you think you might know of anyone who might be interested in starting a conversation with them about becoming such a volunteer/community member, please contact Jeff/Suzanne at 443-690-6872.

5] – Max is in need of a garage or a storage space.  Any suggestions would be welcome.  Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.

6] – Is there a woman in the Baltimore area who does house cleaning?  This assignment would be on an irregular basis with several hours per week.  Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.

7] – The Poor Peoples Campaign is doing Nonviolent Moral Direct Action Training Part 1 on Sat., July 31 at 3 PM ET. This is a one hour training and will be on Zoom. Do this training if you plan to risk arrest on Mon., Aug. 2: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0uTj-TKpynpl9fj24NrwppvduWned-oJuPEX4tSWi22_WdA/viewform?link_id=0&can_id=e96967e6939a941dbdebb8356ad281a2&source=email-important-information-about-participating-in-nonviolent-moral-direct-action-on-82&email_referrer=email_1246026&email_subject=important-information-about-nonviolent-moral-direct-action-on-82. Direct Action Training Part 2 will be held in person in Washington D.C. on Sunday evening and Monday morning and attending either the Sunday evening or Monday morning training is required in order to participate in the Nonviolent Moral Direct Action portion of the rally and march on Monday. The times and locations of the Sunday and Monday trainings will be shared later this week. Please note that you must be fully vaccinated for Covid 19 if you are planning to engage in Nonviolent Moral Direct Action on Monday. Please review our full Covid 19 Protocols before Monday.  These trainings will ground us in our nonviolent principles and our commitment to building a fusion movement, cover legal and logistical details, and prepare us to engage in Nonviolent Moral Direct Action. Please be sure to register for Saturday’s Zoom training if you would like to receive the detailed information for the Sunday and Monday trainings. Besides the risk arrest scenario, there is the option to join the march and rally. Gather at 10:45 AM ET on Mon., Aug. 2 at the plaza in front of Union Station, 35 Columbus Monument Drive NE, WDC 20002.  The rally for state legislators is Tues., Aug. 3.

8] – Ben Betz, People For the American Way [alerts@pfaw.org] is asking you to Help Get Out The Vote in Virginia by signing up to write letters to voters in Virginia through September 18! Since the Virginia Vote Forward campaign launched last month, 120,000 people have committed to sending letters! The goal is to reach more than 500,000 voters Sign up to write letters to Get out the Vote at https://votefwd.org/pfaw.

Virginia is a crucial bellwether state vital to America’s political landscape, and its state elections this year will have a serious impact on the 2022 national midterms. People For is gearing up to be very active in this year’s state-level campaign, and it seeks national support to make sure that the progressive gains from 2020 continue in the former seat of the Confederacy this year.  People For is thrilled to announce that we are once again partnering with Vote Forward, an exciting campaign to increase voter participation through letter-writing to key voters in battleground states and districts. Vote Forward’s letter-writing project is incredibly simple, as all you need are stamps, stationery, and a pen!

9] – 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., Aug. 1, the subject is “Climate Crisis ‘StoryCorps.’”  Earth Stories, a Colloquy project launched by the BES Green Team, presents this platform.  Members who have participated in the Earth Story Colloquy events, in the months leading up to the platform, will have a chance to share their very own story around the Climate Crisis. The hope is to have at least 7 to 10 people, each sharing roughly 3 minutes, and then available for questions/comments at the platform’s completion. The questions and comments can be directed at a participant to have them expand on what they shared or to talk about the experience of finding their own personal Climate story and developing it for sharing. The ethical action packed theme here is personal stories as a more accessible way to bring people into the conversation (around the Climate Crisis), versus pushing an audience away with cold, hard facts.

Cathy Eskey is a member of the Baltimore Ethical Society who presents this platform as a part of the “Summer Sundays” when members present on topics of interest to them. The Zoom link and more info can be obtained at PRESIDENT@BMORETHICAL.ORG.

10] – Alan Minsky for Progressive Democrats of America [info@pdamerica.org] wants you to attend on Sun., Aug. 1  at noon ET a panel on Strengthening Democracy at the National NOW Conference.  Register at https://2021conference.now.org/.  Participants include voting rights scholar Penny Venetis (Rutgers Law School), CEO of the League of Women Voters Virginia Case Solomon, student activist and intersectional feminist Joi Dean, and Minsky.   Christian Nunes, President of NOW, will provide closing remarks.

11] – People's Action [info@peoplesaction.org] needs you on Sun., Aug. 1 from 3 to 6 PM ET for skills training by the Deep Canvass Institute and ‘Make the World Better.’  The training will also take place on Mon., Aug 9 from 6:30 to 9 PM EDT and Tues., Aug. 10 from 6:30 to 9 PM EDT. Are you interested in making the world a better place and learning how to build bridges across differences? Sign up at https://www.mobilize.us/peoplesaction/event/362940/?link_id=3&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-make-the-world-better-and-become-a-deep-canvasser-nyt-2&email_referrer=email_1239291&email_subject=join-the-next-deep-canvass-institute-and-make-the-world-better.

12] –Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) is committed to electing champions for a #SinglePayer expanded and improved #MedicareForAll system of healthcare in America. As such, PDA is focused on helping Nina Turner in her race in the special election to fill the vacancy in the U.S. House of Representatives for OH CD-11 which will be over in the evening on Tues., Aug. 3rd. Join in the PDA Healthcare Emergency Town Hall on Sun., Aug. 1 at  4 PM ET and commemorate the 56th anniversary of Medicare, and showcase the PDA National leadership team and their perspective on this pivotal moment in our electoral politics. Visit https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tceuhrzsvHdymeeZRwb-i7X50FJa-HMR4.

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 Aug. 2 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] –In the fourth week of the Season of Nonviolent Moral Direct Action, the Poor Peoples Campaign is calling everyone to Washington, D.C. for a Mass National Moral Monday Action to Save Our Democracy! On Aug. 2 at 10:45 AM during the week of the anniversary of the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, gather for direct action led by poor people, low-wage workers and faith leaders outside Union Station, WDC 20004. Join in at https://actionnetwork.org/events/national-moral-monday-action-in-dc?source=direct_link&&link_id=6&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&email_referrer=email_1243133&email_subject=ppc-aug-2-moral-monday-a-season-of-nonviolent-moral-direct-action.

15] – ACLU of Maryland [info@aclu-md.org] wants your help on Mon., Aug. 2 at 6 PM ET in seeking Justice for Korryn Gaines.  Challenge police brutality in Patriot Plaza, 401 Bosley Ave., Towson 21204.  It has been five years since Baltimore County police killed Korryn Gaines and injured her young son, Kodi Gaines. On August 1, 2016, police arrived at the family's apartment, and when no one answered, they improperly obtained a key from the landlord and entered without consent. Inside, they began an hours-long standoff between themselves and Korryn over a traffic violation. Baltimore County Police Officer Royce Ruby claimed that Korryn pointed a gun at him before he shot her. Later, it came to light that police shot Korryn in her back and shot her son in the arm.

At a protest for Korryn Gaines, speakers will include Rhonda Dormeus, Korryn Gaines' mother, along with Marion Gray Hopkins and Darlene Cain, whose sons, Gary Hopkins Jr and Dale Graham, were both killed by police. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/3034246770223523/. This link will take you to a third-party website, facebook.com.

16] –Progressive Maryland [info@progressivemaryland.org] is seeking phone bankers on Mon., Aug. 2 at 6 PM ET.  The issue is Medicare For All.  Contact Marylanders about the bill in Congress.  The Montgomery County Council passed a strong Medicare for All Resolution. Use this victory to help secure more co-sponsors of the Medicare For All Act of 2021, H.R. 1976. Right now, four of Maryland’s U.S. House Members, Representatives Raskin, Brown, Sarbanes and Mfume are on board. Rep. David Trone is NOT co-sponsor and some of his CD-6 constituents live in Montgomery County where Medicare For All just got that significant endorsement from its local lawmakers. Contact his constituents in MoCo to ask them to urge him to become a co-sponsor.  All you need is a phone and a tablet or computer. RSVP at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpfumurDMtEtXBnZQjNLW53xCriqyiS4ia?emci=2a24ffb3-d7ef-eb11-a7ad-501ac57b8fa7&emdi=aa675b68-deef-eb11-a7ad-501ac57b8fa7&ceid=136680.

17] – Join activists around the country at a virtual phonebank to urge voters in key states to demand their senators’ support of the For the People Act! The August deadline for 2022 is fast approaching! Our democracy is in crisis: with redistricting around the corner and hundreds of voter suppression laws being introduced in states across the country, we do not have time to wait. Every day we’re getting closer to a very real deadline to take action to pass the For the People Act (S.1): If the Senate does not overcome the filibuster and pass S. 1 by late August, states will not have enough time to implement the legislation’s regulations before the 2022 midterm elections! Join activists around the country at a virtual phonebank to urge voters in key states to demand their senators’ support of S. 1! RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/pfaw/event/376178/?utm_source=PFAW to call on Sun., Aug. 1 from 6 to 8 PM ET or Mon., Aug. 2 from 4 to 6 PM ET and 6 to 8 PM ET or Tues., Aug. 3 from 5:30 to 8 PM ET.

18] – Real Justice [info@realjusticepac.org] needs your help on Mon., Aug. 2 from 8 to midnight ET to take on a right-wing, police-backed effort against justice.  Also sign up for Wed., Aug. 4 from 8 to midnight ET. In about three years, the dangerous recall effort targeting Chesa Boudin faces the deadline to turn in 51,325 valid signatures – which would trigger a recall election. Do not let them succeed.  The recall election would attempt to overturn a free and fair election, cost taxpayers at least a million dollars, and turn back historic progress on issues of justice and real public safety solutions.  The best way to fight back is to join a Stand with Chesa virtual phone bank to reach as many San Francisco voters as possible with the truth. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/chesaantirecall/event/399637/?source=em20210721-65792-rj&utm_source=em20210721-65792-rj.

19] – The 2021 World Conference against A and H Bombs starts on Mon., Aug. 2 at 9 PM ET with an international meeting. Join in at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87192635570.

To be continued.

 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/.

"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