Baltimore Activist Alert – February 11 to 12, 2024

Baltimore Activist Alert – February 11 to 12, 2024

"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] Need help in archiving activist material    

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

5] Get the book A Bag of Stones

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

7] Brian Barrett is on the road to recovery.  

8] Peace Café takes on Israel/Palestine – Feb. 11

9] Color Line – Feb. 11

10] PG County DSA meeting – Feb. 11

11] D.C. DSA Abolition Working Group workshop – Feb. 11

12] PDA Town Hall – Feb. 11

13] Protest at the Pentagon – Feb. 12

14] Human Trafficking & Migration webinar – Feb. 12

15] Council on American-Islamic Relations news conference – Feb. 12

16] Stand Up against Street Harassment Training – Feb. 12

17] Election Protection – Feb. 12

-------

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] –  Janice Sevre-Duszynska needs some assistance in archiving her activist material.  If you are interested in this project, contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.

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] – Barry Lee Burnside, a gaggle of great writers and copy editors are finishing up “A Bag of Snakes: Selected Writings on Prisons and the Death Penalty by Murphy Davis and Eduard Loring. Edited by Barry Lee Burnside.” Ed indicates the book will be available for sale on April 13, and is asking you to pre-order your copy. Your donation will provide a needed financial boost for the printing costs. The suggested donation is $20 for one copy; and $30 for your copy and an additional copy for a prisoner or someone in need. Any donation is appreciated. More or less you will receive the book.  Barry and the team have spent over two years putting this book together. It begins with outlines and notes found in the boxes of materials Murphy left when she ascended. The work is a work of love, and all involved are proud of the fruit borne by seeds nourished in good soil.

  A Bag of Snakes will be available at a gathering at First Iconium Baptist Church. Celebrate the life of Murphy Davis and The Open Door Community along with presenting the book. Also enjoy an Open Door Supper—vegetarian chili, Willie Dee Wimberly cornbread, salad and chocolate chip cookies.

  To order by postal mail, make your check to Open Door Community.  Send it to Open Door Community, PO Box 10980, Baltimore 21234.  For any questions, contact David Payne at 404-290-2047 or davidpayne@opendoorcommunity.org.

6] – 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.

7] – Brian Barrett Brian is doing better and has wonderful support in the Collins Ave. community. Brian might welcome visitors now that he’s staying in the building behind 512 Collins Ave. If you would like to visit Brian, please let Max know.  I will assist you in the process -- 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.

8] – On Sun., Feb. 11 at 9:30 AM ET, come to Busboys and Poets, 14th & V Sts, NW for the Peace Café at 9:30 AM ET. Jamal Najjab will moderate a discussion about Israel/Palestine.  Contact Mary Neznek <maryneznek@verizon.net>.

9] –  Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 830 E. Pratt St., Baltimore 21202, meets on Sundays, and usually there is a platform address at 10:30 AM ET.  On Feb. 11, the meeting will be hybrid, and the theme is “Color Lines.” E. B. Du Bois famously declared that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line,” which he defined as “the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men.” That line cut deeply into Du Bois, cleaving his body, mind, and soul and—in the process—creating a painful “double-consciousness.” By contrast, Frederick Douglass spoke of the color line as existing primarily outside of himself. He saw it as a boundary drawn between races, dividing the “haves” from the “have nots.” Hugh Taft-Morales explores how those pursuing racial justice can address many types of color lines so as to work more effectively. Taft-Morales serves as Leader of the Philadelphia Ethical Society and the Baltimore Ethical Society and is a member of the Ethical Action Committee of the American Ethical Union (AEU).  To receive a Zoom invitation, please email president@bmorethical.org. Visit https://bmorethical.org

10] –The PG County DSA Branch has a monthly General Meeting on Sun., Feb. 11 from 1 to 3 PM ET.  Learn how you can get involved in local socialist efforts at the Hyattsville Library, 6530 Adelphi Road, Hyattsville 20782. This will be a hybrid event. RSVP at https://actionnetwork.org/events/5e22c577add1e90d3de3d49b285966209b54cc6e?hash=d1bf43af016297ca7534ff9da8498679&link_id=21&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-february-2-2024&email_referrer=email_2200197&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-february-9-2024

 Get updates from the rent stabilization campaign and Palestinian solidarity campaign, discuss the potential electoral endorsement of Andrea Crooms in 4th Congressional district, and learn about the structure of running for the branch steering committee. Post meeting there will be a social at a nearby establishment. Email pg@mdcdsa.org

11] –The D.C. DSA Abolition Working Group is holding a Goal Setting Workshop on Sun., Feb. 11 from 2 to 3:30 PM ET at the Shaw Library, 1630 7th St. NW, Meeting Room 1, WDC 20009. Email keelimallory@gmail.com. Bring your laptop.  There is a virtual option, but definitely better in person. Wear a mask! RSVP at https://actionnetwork.org/events/abolition-working-group-goal-setting-workshop?link_id=9&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-february-2-2024&email_referrer=email_2200197&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-february-9-2024

12] – Alan Minsky for Progressive Democrats of America  [info@pdamerica.org] hopes you will join in for the weekly PDA Town Hall on Sun., Feb. 11 at 4 PM ET.  Discuss more than the Chiefs vs 49ers, Taylor and Travis, and TV commercials. We want to know how Progressives can Triumph in 2024 and beyond. RSVP and the machine will email you your secure codes: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tceuhrzsvHdymeeZRwb-i7X50FJa-HMR4#/registration

 A football game is a competition. So are politics. PDA needs to have a game plan designed for victory, just like the Chiefs and 49ers. So, this Sunday Talk Tactics, short and medium term Strategy, and a Vision of what the progressive movement hopes to achieve.  

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 Feb. 12, 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.  This vigil will honor the visit to the area of the anti-nuclear ship the Golden Rule.

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 Marriot Providence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.

14] – The Interfaith Immigration Coalition [media@interfaithimmigration.org] is holding a Human Trafficking & Migration webinar on Mon., Feb. 12 at 11 AM.  Hear a discussion about Breaking the Link between Human Trafficking and Forced Migration: Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. People who are desperate and have few options for their lives can be particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. This is the first webinar in a three-part series to learn about the connection between trafficking and forced migration and how we can address it. RSVP at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3IWCGeD_TTm-7oWFhW75XA#/registration

15] – On Mon., Feb. 12 at noon ET, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) plans to hold a news conference with the sons of Samaher Esmail, an American citizen and grandmother from New Orleans who was recently kidnapped, beaten, and denied access to medicine by Israeli forces in the West Bank. At the CAIR National Office, 453 New Jersey Ave., SE WDC 20003, Esmail’s sons Suliman and Ibrahim Hamed will urge the U.S. government to more forcefully demand her release from Israeli detention and return her home to the U.S. for medical treatment.

 A State Department official contacted Esmail’s family and indicated it will not check on her well-being until early next week. Her Israeli Arab attorney, who managed to visit her reported she was covered in bruises along her wrists, arms, and back. The family has been informed that Israeli forces are denying her access to her prescription medicine, raising fears that she may succumb to injuries and an untreated medical condition.  CONTACT the CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw at 202-999-8292 or rmccaw@cair.com

16] – CREDO Mobile [cs@c.credomobile.com] invites you on Mon., Feb. 12 from 5 to 6 PM ET to a virtual Black History Month event: Stand Up Against Street Harassment Training. Sign up at https://righttobe.org/events/stand-up-against-street-harassment-8/

  Right to Be is offering this free, one-hour, interactive training to train people on how to safely intervene when you witness street harassment — or experience it yourself. During this training you’ll learn a clear, adaptable, and expert-approved set of tools that have been proven to reduce the prevalence of street harassment: Right to Be’s 5Ds of bystander intervention.

17] – Progressive Democrats of America [info@pdamerica.org] want you to participate with the Green Grassroots Emergency Environment and Election Protection (GREEP) Zoom on Mon., Feb. 5 at 5 PM ET. Hear from leading activists, elected officials, and others committed to union organizing as well as cleaning up our elections and the environment, and other critically important issues. RSVP at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqfuygpjIiHtc20uIOxdeqYRiAicjSLWUc#/registration

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