Baltimore Activist Alert -- July 21 - 27, 2024

Baltimore Activist Alert – July 21 – 27, 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] Need a cleaning lady

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] Baltimore activist selling her home

8] BES in transition – July 21

9] Knock on doors for Democrats – July 21

10] 2024 War Abolisher Awards – July 21

11] DSA Abolition Working Group meeting – July 21

12] Metro DC DSA meeting – July 21

13] Online Film Salon – July 21

14] Activists Writing Together – July 21

15] PDA Town Hall – July 21

16] Left wing cinema – July 21

17] DSA's Internationalism Working Group meeting – July 21

18] Protest at the Pentagon – July 22

19] The Housing Report – July 22

20] Election Protection Zoom – July 22

21] Film SILENT FALLOUT – July 27

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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] –  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] – Is there a woman in the Baltimore area who does house cleaning?  This assignment would be on an irregular basis with several hours per week.  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 making available “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.

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] – A home in Baltimore is for sale on a dead-end street in the Lauraville neighborhood, with three bedrooms, and one bath. The yard backs into a field and then a forest. There is a serene and quiet setting with an abundance of wildlife. The owner will be asking a reasonable amount for the property but it will not be overpriced. Contact her by text only at 443 500 6733. On the text, leave your name and phone number, and she will get back to anyone that reaches out. 

8] – 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 July 21, however, the subject will be BES in Transition led by BES Board members. This is an opportunity for the BES community to think about its future, prioritizing its changing space needs and Hugh’s retirement plans. This will be a virtual conversation.  Email president@bmorethical.org to get the Zoom link.

9] – Knock on doors in Baltimore City and join the canvass, hosted by MD Victory.  Gather at the Baltimore Office, 2330 N. Howard St., Baltimore 21211. Knock on doors to elect Angela Alsobrooks to be the next United States Senator and Kweisi Mfume to be re-elected as the Congressperson from Maryland's 7th! First time volunteering? No worries. Each canvass shift starts with a training with an organizer who will be there to help you out. You will go out with a buddy so you can knock on doors together.

 You will need a smartphone so you can download the MiniVAN Touch app, the Democratic Party’s canvassing app. Download it on an iPhone or android. Also bring a full water bottle! Canvass on Sun., July 21 from noon to 3 PM ET or 3 to 6 PM ET.  The canvass will continue until Aug. 4 from noon 6 PM ET, RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/646353/

10] – Would you like to meet, hear from, and ask questions of a group of Palestinians and Israelis working together to end war and occupation, members of a student encampment in Ireland that has persuaded a major university to divest from Israeli weapons, the leaders from across Europe of the coalition that pushes back against NATO militarism, and a woman from the United States who has gone to prison in Germany for protesting the illegal and horrifically risky deployment there of nuclear weapons? Yes, of course, Max would want to speak with the above-mentioned folks.  However, where are the Russian voices who are condemning Putin’s pro-war imperialism? The anti-war Russians may be the bravest of them all. David, david@worldbeyondwar.org

The honorees are Combatants for Peace, No to War – No to NATO, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union & Susan Crane. On Sun., July 21 at noon ET, join the presentation of the 2024 War Abolisher Awards at https://worldbeyondwar.org/war-abolisher-awards/?clear_id=true&link_id=1&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-recipients-announced-2024-war-abolisher-awards&email_referrer=email_2391032&email_subject=meet-monday-online-with-top-opponents-of-war-from-around-the-world

11] – Join the Metro DC DSA Abolition Working Group for a mid-summer planning retreat and social on Sun., July 21 from noon to 2 PM ET at the Cleveland Park Bar and Grill, 3421 Connecticut Ave. NW, WDC 20008. Email abolition@mdcdsa.org

 Discuss vibes/plans for the upcoming months and updates to the currently-in-progress Root Causes of Harm Campaign. There's an outdoor patio, food and drinks!  People can bring their headphones and linger together at the restaurant/nearby for the General Body Meeting or head home! RSVP at https://actionnetwork.org/events/abolition-wg-midsommar-planning-retreat?link_id=49&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-july-12-2024&email_referrer=email_2391884&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-july-19-2024

12] – The Metro DC DSA [info@mdcdsa.org] on Sun., July 21 from 2 to 4 PM will hold a virtual General Body Meeting. RSVP to receive Zoom details: https://actionnetwork.org/events/july-general-body-meeting-5?source=direct_link&&link_id=9&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&email_referrer=email_2391884&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-july-19-2024

 Members and attendees will hear reports from the chapter secretary, treasurer and campaigns coordinator, each of the chapter’s three branches, and from the campaigns, working groups, sections and committees. There will also be time for second reads of and debate on chapter business, including a security resolution being considered by the chapter. An in-person happy hour will take place at the Continental Pool Lounge, 1911 Fort Meyer Dr. And N. Moore & 19th St.

13] – You are invited to an Online Film Salon on Sun., July 21 entitled “What is the physical and mental health of the human beings trapped in Gaza?” Watch two short documentaries: Australian Doctor reveals experience inside Gaza and Gaza’s War through a Child’s Eye when convenient. Then join with your thoughts and questions for the speakers at a Q&A discussion on at 3 PM ET. Join the Q&A conversation with Alice Rothchild:  author; filmmaker & assistant professor, Harvard Medical School (Ret’d); Walaa Sabah:  Journalist, activist, & director of operations, We Are Not Numbers; and Catherine Baker: author, Steering Committee member of Voices from the Holy Land.

You must register to join the discussion & receive links to the videos: Tinyurl.com/VFHL-July2024 Once you register, you will get a confirmation email from Zoom with a link to the meeting and a link with to watch the film. Save this confirmation letter as the meeting link is unique to your email and you must have this to participate.  Visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpf-GtrTgrHdfcL4IxWSuZgJmIdsIQRqEx?ct=t%28EMAIL_CAMPAIGN+May+2024_COPY_04%29&mc_cid=d99ee40841&mc_eid=84804f14c0#/registration

14] – Join Activists Writing Together, hosted by Be the Change Bmore on Tues., July 21 from 4 to 6 PM ET at Stony Run Friends Meeting, 5116 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21210. Write letters that make a difference!  Write postcards/letters to voters in swing states · Text unregistered folks with information on how to register to vote.  The next session will be on Sun., July 21 from 4 to 6 PM ET.  The last session will be on Sun., Oct. 20 from 4 to 6 PM ET. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/632414/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_closest

15] – Progressive Democrats of America [info@pdamerica.org] at the Town Hall on Sun., July 21 at 4 PM ET want you to learn How to defeat MAGA and Project 2025. There will be a prompt about securing victory in the November elections.  There are progressive candidates, from the top of the ticket to City Council and School Board, who are better choices for the general health and wellbeing of our communities than any Republican adherent to the horrific Project 2025. Here from Professor Harvey J. Kaye, PhD.—celebrated historian, FDR expert, and co-author of the 21st-Century Economic Bill of Rights—and Board Member of Young Progressive Democrats of America, Hartzell Gray, as they discuss why gloom and doom should not rule the day. Get an update on plans for Progressive Central 2024, PDA’s inspiring event for Progressives during DNC week.  RSVP at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tceuhrzsvHdymeeZRwb-i7X50FJa-HMR4#/registration

16] –  CCP is a monthly, Sunday film series dedicated to presenting politically left-wing cinema, currently hosted by Suns Cinema, 3107 Mount Pleasant St. NW, WDC 20010. It covers a vast array of socialist, communist, anarchist, trade unionist, anti-imperialist, and other revolutionary movements featured in lesser-known left-wing films. As a belated Bastille Day celebration, on Sun., July 21 will feature two greats of French leftist cinema. At 6 PM, see On Strike!: Be Seeing You & Class of Struggle, by director Chris Marker & the Medvedkin Group, 1968-69, French, 76 mins. Between 1968 and 69, French New Wave director Chris Marker documented two separate strikes which broke out in the French city of Besançon, producing two short documentaries, Be Seeing You and Class of Struggle. This will be followed at 8 PM  by Jean Renoir’s Popular Front-inspired French Revolutionary historical epic La Marseillaise, 1938, French. This is a fictionalized depiction of the march to Paris by the Marseillaise Fédérés, the volunteer revolutionary militia famous for popularizing the eponymous anthem, and who were largely responsible for the Tuileries Insurrection that led to the final overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy in 1792. Tickets are available at https://sunscinema.com/2024-07-21?link_id=38&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-july-12-2024&email_referrer=email_2391884&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-july-19-2024

17] – The Metro DC DSA's Internationalism Working Group will meet virtually on Sun., July 21 from 7 to 8:15 PM ET. A link to attend this virtual event will be emailed upon RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/mdc-dsa-internationalism-july-2024-monthly-meeting?link_id=52&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-july-12-2024&email_referrer=email_2391884&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-july-19-2024  A link to attend this virtual event will be emailed upon RSVP.  Share updates on international solidarity work in the DMV and continue to solidify the Working Group.

18] – 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 July 22 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 Marriot Providence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.

19] – La ColectiVA [info+la-colectiva-info@email.actionnetwork.org] on Mon., July 22 is asking you to first attend a Press Conference at 4:30 PM, and later at 5:30 PM the Arlington County Board Meeting, Bozman Government Center, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 307, Arlington, VA 22201. At the press conference, t a housing report titled "The Right to Remain: Arlington County Residents Confronting and Challenging Displacement." This report, a collaboration between La ColectiVA, For Us Not Amazon, and the Athena coalition, reveals the alarming threats migrant communities face in Northern Virginia, particularly following Amazon's announcement to open a second headquarters in Arlington County in 2018. The housing report will be deliver to the board.  RSVP to attend the press conference and the board meeting at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtZ9i9fUULCcmBWQ2Dm0Fj5HBhltVlJ3oVJI5eREMcd9gGpA/viewform

20] – Progressive Democrats of America [info@pdamerica.org] wants you to participate with the Green Grassroots Emergency Environment and Election Protection (GREEP) Zoom on Mon., July 15 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

21] – From accredited Japanese director Hideaki Ito comes SILENT FALLOUT which tells the untold stories of the victims of nuclear testing in America. The documentary will be at Towson University on July 27 at 1 PM.  I will be on the panel. Unfortunately, the US nuclear arsenal is stealing billions of tax dollars from numerous social programs. This documentary could lead to discussions about why is the US government wasting funds on weapons of mass destruction?  Check out this list of upcoming screenings: https://us.fallout22.com/tour/?emci=730c6b43-12c9-ee11-85f9-002248223794&emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&ceid=#schedule

 Director Hideaki Ito chronicles the story of radiation exposure and harm in the U.S., and the previously untold story of those who tried to expose it. In 1951, nuclear weapons testing began on the US mainland. Hundreds of miles away in St. Louis, Dr. Louise Reiss began collecting baby teeth from other mothers in her community. Through studying these teeth, Reiss found that American children—not just the so-called “Utah Downwinders”—had been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. Silent Fallout traces these stories and others, journeying from Salt Lake City, to Virginia, to Missouri, to the United Kingdom, and to Japan, exposing the government deception behind the bomb.  Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski201 at Comcast dot net

To be continued

Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, and 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