Baltimore Activist Alert -- February 3 - 9, 2023

 63] Refugee Shabbat -- Feb. 3

64] Need a bike lane -- Feb. 3

65] Peace vigil at the White House – Feb. 3

66] Women in Black vigil -- Feb. 3

67] Fire Drill Friday – Feb. 3

68] Election Protection phone bank – Feb. 3, 5, 7 & 9

69] Refugee Shabbat 2023 -- Feb. 3 & 4  

70] Report on El Salvador & Honduras – Feb. 3

71] Progressive Maryland member meeting – Feb. 4

72] Tenant survey -- Feb. 4

73] Get over to the food pantry – Feb. 4

74] Truth Storytelling – Feb. 4

75] Medical supplies are needed in Ukraine

76] Tell JHU president to renounce nuclear weapons contracts

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

78] Do you need a doctor?

79] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records

80] Do you need any book shelves?

81] Join the Global Zero campaign.

82] Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil

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63] – Claire Miller [claire@mdehr.org] wants you to know there are hearings about legislation to make Sustainable Buildings that are Safe for Birds.  The Senate Hearing is on Thurs., Feb. 2 and the House Hearing is on Wed., Feb 8. You can learn more about bird safe buildings on the Safe Skies Maryland website at https://www.safeskiesmaryland.org.  The Maryland Campaign for Environmental Human Rights (MDEHR), in coalition with other environmental advocacy organizations, supports enacting HB6/SB92 the Maryland Sustainable Buildings Act of 2023 to ensure Maryland continues to be a national leader in energy efficiency and biodiversity conservation. This bill would require all newly built, acquired, or renovated buildings receiving 51% Maryland State funding to follow standards for bird-friendly windows and shielded nighttime lighting, which will both conserve energy and save birds. This bill would help fight climate change and prevent the continued loss of one billion birds each year to collisions with window glass in the United States. Healthy bird populations are essential for pollination, seed dispersal, and pest insect consumption.  

64] --Jed Weeks, Bikemore [jed@bikemore.net] hopes you can attend on Thurs., Feb. 2 from 6 to 7:30 PM for a virtual meeting with the Baltimore City Department of Transportation. Discus a separated bike lane on Wabash Avenue between Patterson Avenue and Cold Spring Lane.  Register at https://www.baltimorebikeways.com/wabash-avenue/february-public-workshop/?emci=b18b1b9a-ada0-ed11-994c-00224832eb73&emdi=bf3390af-b4a0-ed11-994c-00224832eb73&ceid=9712492. Wabash Avenue is a six lane road that serves traffic a two lane road could handle. As a result, it is a corridor with a large number of car, bike, and pedestrian crashes. Installing a separated bike lane will reduce speeding, reduce crossing distances for pedestrians, and create a safe biking pathway, making an important first/last mile connection to metro stations.

65] – The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker will host a peace vigil at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Feb. 3 at noon.  Contact the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker: 202-882-9649 or artlaffin@hotmail.com.

66] – 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.

67] – Jane Fonda for Fire Drill Fridays [info@greenpeaceusa.org] wants you to get involved on Fri., Feb. 3 at 2 PM ET and talk about our oceans. They keep our blue planet habitable. They keep us alive. Our health and the health of our oceans are bound up together. 

 Just this past December, world leaders agreed to protect 30% of all oceans by 2030. It was a landmark decision that has implications for every being on Earth! Unfortunately, it was just an agreement. It didn’t actually put in place the mechanisms that are needed to achieve this goal. We hope that’s what will be accomplished in a few short weeks at what could be the very last Global Oceans Treaty negotiations. 

  Hear from FDF’s go-to oceans correspondent and Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director, John Hocevar, and discuss this momentous victory and critical crossroads in the fight to protect the health of our oceans. Go to firedrillfridays.org.

68] – On Fri., Feb. 3 from 4 to 6 PM, Sun. Feb. 5 from 6 to 8 PM, Tues., Feb. 7 from 4 to 6 PM and Thurs., Feb. 9 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.

69] – HIAS [info@hias.org] needs you on Fri., Feb. 3 and Sat., Feb. 4 for Refugee Shabbat 2023. This is a moment for congregations, organizations, and individuals in the United States and around the world to dedicate a Shabbat experience to refugees and asylum seekers. This year, for the first time ever, the total number of displaced persons globally is over 100 million. This is a critical moment for all of us to reaffirm and redouble our support for refugees and asylum seekers. Register at https://hias.org/how/refugee-shabbat/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=hias.org&utm_campaign=221218_CEMulitEvent&utm_content=221218+CEMulitEvent.

  Participate in a Refugee Shabbat Kabbalat Service Live Stream on Fri., Feb. 3 at 6:30 PM ET. Join the HIAS community to participate in a Shabbat service featuring Mark Hetfield, HIAS President and CEO.  Register at https://hias.org/events/refugee-shabbat-friday-night-service-live-stream/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=hias.org&utm_campaign=230130_RefugeeShabbatInvite_e3&utm_content=230130+RefugeeShabbatInvite+e3.

70] – Join a Clarification of Thought session on Fri., February 3 at 7:30 PM ET at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House, 503 Rock Creek Church Road NW, WDC.  Learn about and support communities and organizations engaged in the defense of human and environmental rights in El Salvador and Honduras from Delegates on the December 2022 Share Foundation/LCWR Delegation to El Salvador and Honduras, including Yesenia Portillo, Program Director, CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador), Susan Gunn, Director, Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns, Paul Fitch, delegate on several pilgrimages walking in solidarity with Central American Peoples, Merwyn De Mello, Peacebuilder, with experience working with refugees and migration, Sr. Maria Orlandini OSF, Director of Advocacy, Franciscan Action Network (FAN), Jean Stokan, Justice Coordinator for Nonviolence at Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and Scott Wright, former director of the Columban’s Center for Advocacy and Outreach

  In El Salvador, for example, they honored the four US Churchwomen - Jean, Maura, Ita, and Dorothy by participating in the 42nd anniversary of their martyrdom. In Honduras, heeding the call “Let's join together and continue with hope defending and caring for Madre Tierra and the spirits,” they commemorated Berta Cáceres, assassinated Honduran Indigenous water protector, and walked with women religious and Jesuit ministries, water and land rights defenders, and the communities they accompany. They will address the following questions: How do migration, the environment, and human rights interconnect between the US, El Salvador and Honduras? What can we do as activists, advocates, and particularly Americans whose governmental policies are often detrimental to the peace and security of the people of El Salvador and Honduras? Email Kathy Boylan <kathyboylan5@gmail.com>.

71] – The Progressive Maryland Team [info@progressivemaryland.org] hopes you will become a Progressive Maryland member and attend on Sat., Feb. 4 from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM ET to the Annual Membership Assembly. At the Membership Assembly, Progressive Maryland members will have the chance to meet like-minded Marylanders, hear the official 2023 legislative agenda, hear from members of the legislature and so much more! Sign up at https://www.progressivemaryland.org/join?emci=89149c2a-cea0-ed11-994c-00224832eb73&emdi=1c875da7-9da1-ed11-994c-00224832eb73&ceid=136680.

72] – Join the Montgomery County DSA [montgomerycountydsa@gmail.com] and the MORE Network for a tenant canvass at the Yorkshire Apartments, 1516 December Drive, Silver Spring 20904 on Sat., Feb. 4 at 11 AM ET. Tenants in this complex have reported large rent increases and maintenance issues. Talk to them about rent stabilization, and a member of the Montgomery County Council will be on hand to talk directly to renters. RSVP at https://actionnetwork.org/events/rent-stabilization-canvass-3?link_id=3&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-january-20-2023&email_referrer=email_1798616&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-january-27-2023.

73] – On Sat., Jan. 28 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.

74] – Truth Storytelling takes place on Sat., Feb. 4 at 4 PM ET. This storytelling gathering blossomed in January 2021 with a possible purpose to co-create and co-construct the role of digital and visual Truth Storytelling in the global project of peacebuilding and empowering a culture of peace. Truth Storytelling engages with grassroots efforts to enact a cabinet level United States Department of Peacebuilding and is part of the worldwide movement to bring peace and positive purpose to being alive on this planet in community with all living beings and the earth. Each month on the first Saturday participants are invited to discuss topics related to peace and truth.  The Peace Alliance [info@peacealliance.org] can be reached at www.peacealiance.org.

75] – 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.

76] -- 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.

77] – 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 . 

78] – 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.  

79] -- 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.

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

81] -- 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.

82] – 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