Baltimore Activist Alert -- April 30, 2024

22] Digital Divide documentary – April 30

23] Mobile Bike Shop – April 30

24] Organizing 101 Training – April 30

25] Russia out of Ukraine – April 30

26] Protest David Trone – April 30

27] DSA meeting – April 30

28] Stop weapons going to Israel – April 30

29] Freedom for All Passover Seder – April 30

30] Abolition Working Group is meeting Revisiting Sanctions on North Korea – April 30

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22] – Daniela Santiago [info@mediajustice.org] wants you to know that MediaJustice is proud to present its first documentary! The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that the Digital Divide affects so many people in our communities, preventing our people from staying connected, learning, and working together. Deeper than a Div/de is a short documentary exploring the Digital Divide in the Black Rural South, as the community of Utica, Mississippi navigates a remote, online world post-pandemic. Join in for the World Premiere on Tues., April 30 at 3 PM ET on our YouTube page! Go to https://www.youtube.com/@MediaJustice

23] – There is a Mobile Bike Shop at Lake Montebello, Whitman Drive, Baltimore 21218 on Tues., April 30 from 4 to 7 PM ET. Visit https://secure.everyaction.com/bH49UIqXD06d1uvMk_6sJg2

24] – CCAN [info@chesapeakeclimate.org] on Tues., April 30 at 4 PM ET wants you to learn how to fight climate change by developing a story that communicates values that called you to get involved in the climate movement at this time. Join an Organizing 101 training miniseries this April and May via Zoom.  Did you know that YOU have the power to make real change in the world? Through grassroots organizing, people can motivate others to join in taking action to fight climate change.  

Meet on four consecutive Tuesdays starting April 30 at 6:30 PM ET. The first Tuesday in May you will develop a story that communicates shared values that anchor your community, values that may be at risk, and may also be sources of hope.  The second Tuesday in May you will develop a story that communicates the values that called you to act and lead in this way, in this place, at this time. And the final training in May will get you talking with someone one on one to share your story of self, us and now and move this person to act on climate.  RSVP at https://act.chesapeakeclimate.org/page/65849/data/1?utm_medium=email&utm_source=engagingnetworks&utm_campaign=membership&utm_content=Membership-Organizing+miniseries-0424-c3+A&ea.url.id=2476991

25] – Join the Baltimore Nonviolence Center on Tues., April 30 from 5 to 5:30 PM ET at 33rd and N. Charles Sts. The invasion of Ukraine has the potential to become a war extending throughout Europe.  Putin has destroyed Aleppo and Grozny and has threatened the use of nuclear weapons.  Russian soldiers were sent into the area around the contaminated and still radioactive Chernobyl nuclear plant. Now they are stationed in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.   Contact Max at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or 410-323-1607.

26] -- On Tues., April 30 at 6:30 PM, there is a Baltimore County Meet & Greet for U.S. Senate Candidate David Trone at the Hazelwood Inn, 4937 Hazelwood Ave., Baltimore 21206.  Consider challenging the candidate as to why he contributes to AIPAC and why is there an Israeli flag outside his D.C. office. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/davidtrone/event/615179/?followup_modal_context=organization_newsletter_custom_recommendations

27] – The Northern Virginia Democratic Socialists [novabranch@mdcdsa.org] on Tues., April 30 at 7 PM ET there is a meeting hosted by Tidewater DSA. Join the call to hear about the latest from the VA DSA Charter Committee and Virginia-wide cross-chapter organizing! A link to attend this virtual event will be emailed upon RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/virginia-dsa-meeting-430?clear_id=true&link_id=15&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-nova-branch-dsa-upcoming-actions-and-events-153&email_referrer=email_2290170&email_subject=nova-branch-dsa-upcoming-actions-and-events  If you would like something added to the agenda, please email tidewaterdsa@gmail.com

28] – A group of people working on bringing an end to the genocide ongoing in the Gaza Strip had a productive brainstorming session on April 29 and made a decision to organize a demonstration in front of the State Department on May 7, the day before a report is due from the State Department. Here is a synopsis of NSM-20, issued February 8, 2024, which is the document that Biden signed that requires a report on May 8 by the secretaries of State and Defense [sic].

From the preamble in NSM-20: The Secretaries of State and Defense [sic] are responsible for ensuring that all transfers of defense articles and defense services by the Departments of State and Defense [sic] ... are conducted in a manner consistent with all applicable international and domestic law and policy, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, the applicable “Leahy Law” (22 U.S.C. 2378d, 10 U.S.C. 362), and NSM-18.

 From Section 1. (b)  Upon an assessment by the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense [sic] that the credibility or reliability of assurances provided by the recipient country as required by subsection (a) of this section has been called into question and should be revisited, the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense [sic], as appropriate, shall report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, within 45 days of such assessment and shall indicate appropriate next steps to be taken to assess and remediate the situation.  Such remediation could include actions from refreshing the assurances to suspending any further transfers of defense articles or, as appropriate, defense services.

WHAT:  Demo planning meeting, Tuesday, April 30, 7:00 pm

WHY:     To press for cutoff of U.S. offensive weapons to Israel

WHERE: Meeting on Zoom; Demo at State Department -- https://zoom.us/j/93130662622?pwd=OE15SURJUWdXNHFicW94SDI3c2x3UT09#success

Charlie Cooper and Max Obuszewski met with several activists including Gwen Dubois, Susan Kerin, and Prof. Leonard Rubenstein of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. We are focused on how to support Sen. Van Hollen's effort to cut off offensive weapons to Israel or force them to let in adequate humanitarian aid and stop murdering non-combatants.

We want to plan a demonstration at the State Department on May 7. A critical report is due from secretaries Blinken and Austin on May 8. They have received all the documented info they need to declare that Israel is violating international law by using U.S. weapons to kill civilians and by blocking humanitarian aid. Such a finding could lead to a cutoff of certain U.S. military aid to Israel. Our demo would be designed to garner press coverage and increase the pressure on the Biden Administration to sanction Israel.

We are in touch with several national organizations, and we need you to help us make this effort a success. We are acting with urgency because public health officials have projected that over 85,000 people in Gaza could be dead by August unless there are drastic improvements in the situation.

29] – Get with a Freedom for All Passover Seder organized by IfNotNow on Tues., April 30 at 7 PM ET at the Garfield monument in Washington, DC 20004. This Passover is for recommitting to fighting for true freedom - collective liberation for Jews, Palestinians, and all people. The Seder will take place on the west lawn of the US Capitol Building between the Garfield Monument and the Peace Monument.  Say to the world that the participants stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people because of their Judaism, not in spite of it. For thousands of years across the globe, the Jewish people have celebrated Passover and told the story of Exodus as a reminder that they have not always been free. This year, as we witness continuing violence and destruction of Palestinian life in the name of Jewish safety, we understand that if our freedom is dependent on the oppression of another people, we will never truly be free. Since the massacre of 1,200 Israelis on October 7th, 2023, over 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli military in an unconscionable act of collective punishment that has credibly been described. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/619358/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_more_events_of_type

30] -- The Metro DC DSA Abolition Working Group is meeting on Tues., April 30 at 7 PM ET.  A link to attend this virtual event will be emailed upon RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/abolition-working-group-biweekly-meeting-4302024?link_id=82&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-march-29-2024&email_referrer=email_2269582&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-april-5-2024

Join the Abolition (formerly Defund MPD) Working Group to discuss strategy and planning biweekly on Tuesdays. This event is open to both DSA Members and supporters. Email abolition@mdcdsa.org

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