Baltimore Activist Alert -- February 17 - 23, 2023

56] Count the birds -- Feb. 17 - 20

57] Peace vigil at the White House – Feb. 17

58] Women in Black vigil -- Feb. 17

59] Election Protection phone bank – Feb. 17, 19, 20 & 23

60] “MLK: THE LIFE OF A SERVANT” -- Feb. 17

61] Birdwatching Tour of Druid Hill Park -- Feb. 18

62] Get over to the food pantry – Feb. 18

63] Rally for rent striking tenants -- Feb. 18

64] Medical supplies are needed in Ukraine

65] Tell JHU president to renounce nuclear weapons contracts

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

67] Do you need a doctor?

68] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records

69] Do you need any book shelves?

70] Join the Global Zero campaign.

71] Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil

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56] – The National Audubon Society [audubonconnect@audubon.org] hopes you have 15 minutes to spare for the birds.  On Fri., Feb. 17 through Mon., Mon., Feb. 20, get involved in the Great Backyard Bird Count.  Sign up at https://www.audubon.org/conservation/about-great-backyard-bird-count?ms=digital-eng-email-ea-x-engagement_20230205_eng-email_&utm_source=ea&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=engagement_20230205_eng-email&utm_content=.  The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. 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.

57] – The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker will host a peace vigil at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Feb. 17 at noon.  Contact the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker: 202-882-9649 or artlaffin@hotmail.com.

58] – Every Friday from noon to 1 PM, Baltimore Women in Black vigil for peace with men and women who live in Roland Park. WIB invites all to join, and any peace sign is welcome, such as "Defuse Nuclear War."  The vigil takes place outside Roland Park Place at the corner of West 40th Street and Elm Street. Parking is free at RPP or at the Rotunda across the street. Contact Ann Vinup at annvinup@gmail.com.

59] – On Fri., Feb. 17 from 4 to 6 PM, Sun. Feb. 19 from 6 to 8 PM, and Tues., Feb. 21 from 4 to 6 PM & Thurs., Feb. 16 from 5 to 7 PM ET,  there is a Common Cause organized Election Protection phone bank.  These phone banks will continue until April 2, 2023.  Work together to demand bold changes to our democracy to create a government that represents all of us, not big corporations or special interests. Register at https://www.mobilize.us/dfadcoalition/event/376178/?followup_modal_context=organization_newsletter_custom_recommendations. Register for a shift to make calls to recruit poll monitors to support nonpartisan Election Protection efforts in the GA Run-Offs.  Join in to make calls Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and/or Sundays.

60] – On Fri., Feb. 17 from 7 to 8 PM ET, join DC photographer, film producer and social justice activist Phil Portlock and his wife Pat Sloan as they present, “MLK: THE LIFE OF A SERVANT,” a 30 -minute film tribute to the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 94th year of his birth, and the 60th anniversary of the historic March on Washington August 28, 2023. On Sunday, March 31, 1968, a young 26-year-old Phil Portlock was in attendance at DC’s National Cathedral to hear Dr. King deliver a sermon entitled, “Remaining Awake through A Great Revolution,” less than a week before his tragic death in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King's life and tragic death has had an enormous impact on Phil's photography, writing, film production and social justice activism. As we mark the 60th anniversary of the historic march on Washington, when Dr. King spoke to 250, 000 black and white citizens at the Lincoln Memorial and the nation about the inequality faced by millions of black American citizens and his hope to see their lives improved. In early 1965, one of Dr. King’s last and greatest crusades for justice, took place when he and a coalition of religious leaders, social justice organization and voting rights activists, led a successful 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol in Montgomery for Black voting rights. The effort led to the August 6, 1965, signing of the historic Voting Rights Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/548989/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_closest. This event will also take place from 7 to 8 PM on Fri., Feb. 24 & Feb. 28.

61] – Go on a Birdwatching Tour of Druid Hill Park on Sat., Feb. 18 from 8 to 9:30 AM ET. Meet at 3001 East Drive.  Druid Hill Park is Baltimore's oldest large park and is home to 745 acres of forests, fields, and a large lake. 189 species of birds have been documented here, including nesting Baltimore orioles and yellow-crowned night herons. Audubon experts will lead the search for avian friends! No experience necessary. Email baltimore@audubon.org.  Register at https://patterson.audubon.org/events/birdwatching-tour-druid-hill-park-1.

62] – On Sat., Feb. 18 from noon to 2 PM EST, get over to the Food Pantry and Food Donation Center at First and Franklin Presbyterian Church, 210 W. Madison St., Baltimore. This Food Pantry is open every Saturday. Get a grocery bag – breakfast, jelly and peanut butter (a good source of protein) for lunch, the makings for a balanced dinner such as beans and rice, pasta and sauce, soup, vegetables, fruit, and a paper goods. Also added is a little fun food, such as popcorn or cookies, for everyone enjoys a treat.  Contributions of shelf stable foods can be brought to Reid Chapel every Saturday between noon and 2 PM. If shopping is difficult for you, monetary donations earmarked food pantry may be sent to the church.  How else can you help? Volunteers are needed to help collect and distribute food. Contact the church office to volunteer. You can also help by spreading the word to those you know who are facing food insecurity. See https://www.facebook.com/firstfranklinbaltimore.

63] – The Metro DC DSA [info@mdcdsa.org] hopes you will be involved on Sat., Feb. 18 at 1 PM ET in a Rally for rent striking tenants in Brightwood. Tenants at buildings owned by notorious slumlords Khan Properties 16th St. Heights have been rent striking for months to demand fixes to the numerous and longstanding issues in their buildings, including mice and cockroach infestations, poor maintenance, broken AC, leaks, mold and a lack of security, among many others. Tenants across four Khan buildings have been battling management, some for years – and while they’ve won battles, the slum conditions continue. Now the tenants are facing retaliatory eviction notices from management rather than fixes for their units.  Stomp out Slumlords is holding a rally at 1355 Peabody St. NW, WDC 20011 to put pressure on management to stop retaliating, fix the buildings and do right by tenants. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George will be there to meet with tenants and tour the building. Sign up at https://actionnetwork.org/events/rally-for-rent-striking-tenants-in-brightwood/?link_id=46&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-february-3-2023&email_referrer=email_1812866&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-february-10-2023. Email tenants@mdcdsa.org.

64] – If you are able to donate any kind of surplus medical supplies for field hospitals in eastern Ukraine, please email Brendan.walls@seaseton.org or call 410-721-5770 x231.  There is a colleague whose father is a medic on the front line. One container is shipped every month to the Donbass region. Donations can be picked up in Baltimore and Columbia every Thursday, and on other days in Annapolis and Crofton.

65] -- 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.

66] – 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.  

  Dave just printed 50 new copies of For All the Saints, a Protest Primer- 250+ pp w photos-therefore #'s 351-400 making it o so collectable with two Berrigan book reviews added. The books are signed, and the price remains $25. Will send free if need b- he is not in it for the money! If you want one, send him a check: or contact Dave Eberhardt, 4 Hadley Square North, Baltimore, MD 21218 by email at 1941mireille@gmail.com . 

67] – 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.  

68] -- 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.

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

70] -- 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.

71] – 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