Baltimore Activist Alert – December 4 to 6, 2022

Baltimore Activist Alert – December 4 to 6, 2022

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

5] Support the Pratt Workers United

6] Get the book Surely Goodness and Mercy by Murphy Davis

7] Get the book Male Supremacy in the Catholic Church: An Insider’s View by Roy Bourgeois

8] Are you joining Witness against Torture in D.C. in January?

9] Catch a Different Kind of Dialogue – Dec. 4

10] Protest at 7-Eleven – Dec. 4

11] Progressive Town Hall -- Dec. 4

12] DC DSA Area Labor Notes will meet – Dec. 4

13] Election Protection phone bank – Dec. 4 & 6

14] Voting Rights, a film – Dec. 4

15] Protest at the Pentagon – Dec. 5

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1] – Buttons, bumper stickers 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] – 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.

5] – The workers at the Enoch Pratt Free Library have started a drive to organize a union calling themselves Pratt Workers United.  Go to https://www.prattworkersunited.org/. There is a letter of support for community members to sign at https://www.prattworkersunited.org/community-letter-support.

 "Pratt Library workers are forming a union, Pratt Workers United. We are seeking pay equity for all, safer working conditions, benefits for part-time workers, and a voice in decisions that affect our work.” The workers voted to unionize

6] – Consider getting HOSPITALITY, the newsletter of OPEN DOOR: A prophetic discipleship community honoring the Black Jesus, Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. The September/October 2022 issue contains a wonderful review by Claire Schaeffer-Duffy of Surely Goodness and Mercy by Murphy Davis, reprinted from The Catholic Worker, March-April 2022.  Davis, a co-founder of the Open Door Community, died in 2020.   You can subscribe to the newsletter or buy a copy of the book by calling 404-290-2047 or by emailing opendoorcomm@bellsouth.net.

7] – Another book to consider purchasing is Male Supremacy in the Catholic Church: An Insider’s View by Roy Bourgeois. His new book is both memoir and position-paper, and it makes the case that the Roman Catholic Church is a corrupt system that spits out truth-tellers. The crime he was excommunicated for was attending the ordination ceremony of Janice Sevre-Duszynska in Lexington, Kentucky, in August 2008. The ordination was under the auspices of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests.  The Vatican’s response has been to excommunicate any woman who has the audacity to see herself as a priest equal to a male priest. You can purchase a copy from Amazon or by Kindle.

  Here are two quotes to contemplate: “I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men. She is to keep silent.” – Timothy 1, 2:12-13.  “If the patriarchy that dominates the church is not dismantled and women are not treated as equals, the church will continue to diminish and, eventually, die.” – Roy Bourgeois.

8] – Witness against Torture [contact@witnessagainsttorture.com] is announcing that the annual Fast for Justice will be in person in D.C. from January 8 through Jan. 11.  Organizers need to know who is coming. SO IF YOU'RE COMING, SEND AN EMAIL to witnesstorture@gmail.com.  Send your name, dates you will be there (Sun. night Jan. 8, Mon Jan. 9, Tues., Jan. 10 and/or Wed. Jan. 11), and if you need housing.

9] – Catch a Different Kind of Dialogue - A Talk Between Israeli Jew, Rami Elhanan and Palestinian, Bassam Aramin on Sun., Dec. 4 from 11 AM to 12:30 PM by Zoom. Join bereaved fathers Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin as they share their stories of loss and their unique choice of reconciliation amidst the Arab Israeli conflict. Participate in a discussion on the human side of the conflict and why relationship building, mutual understanding of the “other side,” a framework for reconciliation are necessary for any sustainable peace agreement. Rami and Bassam are former co-Directors of The Parents Circle Families Forum, a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization made up of more than 600 bereaved families.

 This program is made possible by a generous grant from the Sabina and Walter Dorn Fund. Register at https://www.bethisrael-om.org/event/a-different-kind-of-dialogue---a-talk-between-israeli-jew-rami-elhanan-and-palestinian-bassam-aramin1.html.

10] – Take action with The Humane League on Sun., Dec 4 at 1 PM ET at the 7-Eleven, 321 York Road, Towson 21204. 7-Eleven is currently failing on fulfilling their promise to END CAGES for hens. Right now, hens suffer in filthy cages and are not able to express natural behaviors. 7-Eleven needs to take animal abuse seriously and report meaningful progress to be a company that follows through on their promises to end this animal cruelty. Please join MD volunteers at a peaceful 7-Eleven Banner holding to create a better world for chickens. Activists all over the country are standing at 7-Eleven locations with a banner urging them to keep their commitment! RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/543192/.

11] – Mike Fox for Progressive Democrats of America [info@pdamerica.org] thinks you will want to join on Sun., Dec. 4 at 4 PM ET a Town Hall: Georgia and the Labor Movement are on Our Minds. Organize to win the Senate Run-off in Georgia and build support for Labor Actions across the land! Discuss the brilliant upsurge in labor actions and organizing around the country and how PDA can best serve as an active ally of the labor movement - both inside and outside the Democratic Party. Sign up at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tceuhrzsvHdymeeZRwb-i7X50FJa-HMR4.

12] – The METRO DC DSA Area Labor Notes will meet on Sun., Dec. 4 from 5 to 8 PM ET at Sonny's Pizza, 3120 Georgia Ave. NW, WDC 20010. Labor Notes is building up to the DC Area Troublemakers School in 2023 by having quarterly Labor Notes Meetups/Happy Hour events! Sonny’s is about half a mile from the Columbia Heights Metro stop. Think about how to bring more rank and file union activists together in the DMV! RSVP at https://actionnetwork.org/events/dc-area-labor-notes-december-meetup/?link_id=62&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-nov-18-2022&email_referrer=email_1749348&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-nov-25-2022. 

13] –Join an Election Protection phone bank hosted by Common Cause on Sun., Dec. 4 from 6 to 8 PM ET & Tues., Dec. 6 from 4 to 6 PM ET.  Demand bold changes to our democracy to create a government that represents all of us, not big corporations or special interests.  Register for a shift to make calls to protect our democracy.  These shifts also always will include training for first-timers before you make calls—so if this is your first time, no worries! Visit https://www.mobilize.us/dfadcoalition/event/376178/?followup_modal_context=organization_newsletter_custom_recommendations.

14] – Voting Rights: The Struggle to Be Counted (a film showing) can be seen on Sun., Dec. 4 from 7 to 8 PM ET organized for the January 6 Hearings. DC photographer, film producer and social justice activist Phil Portlock is presenting his timely 25-minute documentary. With creative use of music, powerful images and narration by his wife Pat Sloan, the film traces the long and often brutal struggle by African Americans to gain and maintain the unrestricted right to be counted at the ballot box. The film is Phil’s response to the U.S Supreme Court’s June 5, 2013 5-4 decision in the Shelby County v Holder Voting Rights Case that declared Sections 4b and 5 of the historic 1965 Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. This decision has led to the enactment of hundreds of voter suppression/restrictive laws that have impacted voting rights all over the nation. REGISTER at https://www.mobilize.us/pfaw/event/540465/?followup_modal_context=organization_newsletter_custom_recommendations.

15] – 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 Dec. 5, 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 begins at 8 AM.  No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds. The restrooms are located inside Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.  

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