Baltimore Activist Alert - October 23 - 24, 2015

42] Palestine and Palestinians – Media, People, Politics – Oct. 23

43] Beyond Tolerance – Oct. 23

44] Peace vigil at White House – Oct. 23

45] Black Lives Matter – Oct. 23

46] Bill McKibben at AU – Oct. 23

47] “Dixie Be Damned: 300 Years of Insurrection in the American South” – Oct. 23

48] "Columbus Day" – Oct. 23

49] Grant submission deadline – Oct. 23

50] Ballroom Dancing – Oct. 23

51] Restorative Justice Circles – Oct. 24

52] Anti-drone vigil – Oct. 24

53] West Chester peace vigil – Oct. 24

54] Immigrant women and children – Oct. 24

55] Energy, Health, & Climate Expo – Oct. 24

56] Concert for the children of the Gaza Strip – Oct. 24

57] Domestic Violence Awareness – Oct. 24

58] Sign up with Washington Peace Center

59] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records

60] Do you need any book shelves?

61] Join the Global Zero campaign

62] Join the Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil

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42] – The Jerusalem Fund, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC on Fri., Oct. 23 from 8 AM to 5 PM will host the Palestine Center’s 2015 conference, Palestine and Palestinians – Media, People, Politics, which will examine multiple aspects of the current situation, focusing on the context and representation of Palestinians in the media, regional and international politics, and the United States. Internationally renowned scholars, activists, journalists, and practitioners will analyze factors on the ground and larger policies in four panels. Pre-Registration is required for all attendees - http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/RegisterForEvent/i/53903. Go to http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/Contents/contenttype_id/23/TPL/TwoColumn/pid/900/cat_id/722/icids/722/order/date/direction/desc/pagesize/20/pagetop/0.

43] --The Washington National Cathedral and the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign proudly present BEYOND TOLERANCE: A Call to Religious Freedom and Hopeful Action is happening on Fri., Oct. 23 from 11 AM to 12:30 PM at the Washington National [Episcopal] Cathedral, 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW, WDC.  The event will feature Rabbi David Saperstein, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and will be a call for public officials to publicly commit themselves to stand proudly for religious freedom and against bigotry, hate, and discrimination. RSVP at http://bit.ly/1Oimmrv.

44] – On Fri., Oct. 23 from noon to 1 PM, join the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in a vigil urging the powers that be to abolish war and torture, to disarm all weapons, to end indefinite detention, to close Guantanamo, to establish justice for all and help create the Beloved Community! This vigil will take place at the White House on Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Contract Art @ artlaffin@hotmail.com or at 202-360-6416. 

45] – There is usually a silent peace vigil on Fridays, from 5 to 6 PM, sponsored by Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings, outside the Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St.  The next scheduled vigil is on Oct. 23. Black Lives Matter. 

46] – The Inaugural Nancy Weiser Ignatius Lecture on the Environment has as its speaker Bill McKibben, author and environmental activist.  He will speak on Fri., Oct. 23 from 6:30 to 7:30 PM in the Atrium, School of International Service, AU | 3400 Nebraska Ave. NW, WDC 20016.  A reception will follow. 

McKibben's lecture in the SIS Atrium, The Road Through Paris: On the Frontlines of the Climate Justice Movement, will focus on the upcoming United Nations climate change conference in Paris this December.  An author and environmentalist who in 2014 was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, an honor that is sometimes called the 'alternative Nobel,' McKibben's 1989 book, “The End of Nature” is rewarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has appeared in 24 languages. He has gone on to write a dozen more books. He is a founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement, which has organized twenty thousand rallies around the world in every country save North Korea, spearheaded the resistance to the Keystone Pipeline, and launched the fast-growing fossil fuel divestment movement. Go to http://www.american.edu/sis/events/Inaugural-Nancy-Weiser-Ignatius-Lecture-on-the-Environment-SIS-Events-American-University-Washington-DC.cfm.

47] – On Fri.., Oct. 23 at 7:30 PM @ Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, enjoy an evening of southern history - insurrectionary style.  Neal Shirley and Saralee Stafford, authors of the fascinating new book, “Dixie Be Damned: 300 Years of Insurrection in the American South,” will tell the sordid history. In 1891, when coal companies in eastern Tennessee brought in cheap convict labor to take over their jobs, workers responded by storming the stockades, freeing the prisoners, and loading them onto freight trains. Over the next year, tactics escalated to include burning company property and looting company stores. This was one of the largest insurrections in US working-class history. It happened at the same time as the widely publicized northern labor war in Homestead, Pennsylvania. And it was largely ignored, then and now.

The book engages seven similarly "hidden" insurrectionary episodes in Southern history to demonstrate the region's long arc of revolt. Countering images of the South as pacified and conservative, this adventurous retelling presents history in the rough. Not the image of the South many expect, this is the South of maroon rebellion, wildcat strikes, and Robert F. Williams's book “Negroes with Guns,” a South where the dispossessed refuse to quietly suffer their fate. This is people's history at its best: slave revolts, multiracial banditry, labor battles, prison uprisings, urban riots, and more. Call 443-602-7585.  Go to http://www.redemmas.org. 

48] – The list of cities, states and school districts recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day -- rather than "Columbus Day" -- has grown tremendously in the last year, reflecting an upsurge in the struggle for Native liberation. Join a special presentation by Paige Murphy (Dine'), a Navajo activist with The Red Nation and the PSL, and a leading organizer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at 617 Florida Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Oct. 23 at 7 PM. She will share with us how the movement in Albuquerque was able to abolish Columbus Day and organize the first Indigenous Peoples' Day march with over 1,000 people that named political prisoner Leonard Peltier as their Grand Marshall in a revolutionary gesture for continuing the struggle. Also hear from Sean Blackmon, an organizer with Stop Police Terror Project - D.C. and member of the PSL, on the growing movement locally to oppose Mayor Muriel's Bowser's proposed crime bill that will flood Southeast D.C. with police officers and target returning citizens, as well as a socialist analysis of how to stop racist police terror. Contact the Party for Socialism & Liberation at 202-234-2828 or dc@pslweb.org, and check out www.PSLweb.org. Visithttps://www.facebook.com/events/100160550345175/.

49] – The deadline for Research Associates Foundation (RAF) grant submissions is Fri., Oct. 23.  This is an excellent opportunity for Baltimore-based activists, both individuals and organizations, to get up to $2500 to fund transformative social change projects.  Go to www.rafbaltimore.org to see the guidelines and download applications. Email info@rafbaltimore.org.

50] – There is an opportunity to participate in ballroom dancing, usually every Friday of the month, in the JHU ROTC Bldg. at  8 PM.  Turn south on San Martin Dr. from the intersection of Univ. Parkway and 39th St.  Drive on campus by taking the third left turn. The next dance will be Oct. 23. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725.

51] – On Sat., Oct. 24 from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, the DC Peace Team will do Advanced Training on Restorative Justice Circles.  Peacemaking Circles are a kind of facilitated circle process inspired by Native American and First Nation traditions. They are suited for use in families, schools, organizations, and communities to build relationships, address conflict, celebrate or mourn, and make collective decisions. This workshop will allow participants to learn about and practice Peacemaking Circles, their process and main components, and how they are facilitated by fully experiencing Peacemaking Circles.

Register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1za1eZ4PvpnfanlzuqtRi80JdYlUWmtCTrkSnHdVTpjI/viewform. The workshop is at Catholic University in the Happel Room in Caldwell Hall. The Metro stop is Brookland/CUA on the Red Line. The walk is about 5 min. (See a Campus Map at http://www.cua.edu/res/docs/cuamap.pdf).  Snacks will be provided, but bring a lunch. Food spots are also within walking distance. The cost is on a Sliding Scale ($20-$60), but if you can't pay no one is turned away.

This training is being offered by the DC Peace Team which is an organization committed to cultivating peacemakers through regular peacemaker skills training, peace education, inspiring speakers, restorative justice, and unarmed civilian peacekeeping. See www.dcpeaceteam.com.  The facilitator is Tarek Farouk Maassarani, program director at the Salam Institute.  Contact Eli McCarthy at eli_trinity@hotmail.com or 510-717-8867.

52] – On Sat., Oct. 24 from 10 to 11:30 AM, join the monthly anti-drone vigil and leafleting at the Air and Space Museum to help educate fellow citizens on some of the many detrimental effects of the use of military drones around the world.  The protest is sponsored by Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore and other area peace groups. Join in at the Mall side entrance of the Air and Space Museum.

53] –  Each Saturday, 11 AM – 1 PM, Chester County Peace Movement holds a peace vigil in West Chester in front of the Chester County Courthouse, High & Market Sts. Go to www.ccpeace.org. Email ccpeacemovement@aol.com. 

54] – On Sat., Oct. 24 from 3 to 5:15 PM attend Domestic Violence and Immigrant Women and Children – What Can We Do To Protect the Most Vulnerable? This discussion will be with Immigrant Rights Lawyer Kevin Rosenthal of the Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center, who will address the situation of unaccompanied minors that arrived in the country in large numbers in 2014 and other issues regarding refugees from South and Central America.

This will be held at the Central Branch Library, 10375 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia 21044, and is sponsored by the Howard County Friends of Latin America.  Call 410-381-4899 or email cuba_is_hope@comcast.net. 

55] – Come to the next Maryland Climate Coalition at the Energy, Health, & Climate Expo: Renewing Maryland Together on Sat., Oct. 24 from 1 to 5 PM at the Suitland Community Center, 5600 Regency Lane, Forestville, MD 20747.  RSVP at http://baltcoexpo.eventbrite.com (optional). 

The Baltimore Green Forum is an enthusiastic partner in this Expo. The Expo will feature dozens of organizations and green businesses that can help you save energy and money by going green at home, including: The Empowers: energy-saving superheroes! * Mom’s Clean Air Force * Groundswell clean energy purchasing groups * Ranger Rick & The National Wildlife Federation * Breathe Easy Home * ZeroDraft Energy Efficiency * Blue Water Baltimore * Baltimore Green Forum * Physicians for Social Responsibility * Gunpowder Valley Conservancy * Interfaith Power & Light * Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake * Maryland Sierra Club * Pearlstone Center’s Community Sustainability Program * Baltimore Metropolitan Council’s Air Quality and Bike Safety Program * Maryland Working Families * Institute for Policy Studies * and more!

56] – On Sat., Oct. 24 at 7 PM, join the United Palestinian Appeal in a concert benefiting children in the Gaza Strip. A child's path to a bright future begins with a healthy body and healthy mind. The UPA Healing through Feeling program focuses on supporting the emotional well-being of children in Gaza traumatized by war and subsequent living conditions. Tickets for the event at Ss. Peter and Paul Antiochan Orthodox Church, 10620 River Road, Potomac, are $50 and $5 for students. Call (202) 659-5007 or email events@helpupa.org.

57] – Go to the Everlasting Life Vegan Restaurant, 9185 Central Ave., Capital Heights, MD on Sat., Oct. 24 from 7:30 to 10 PM, as October is Domestic Violence Awareness month.  Reconnect the Mic has partnered with DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) to support this organization in helping the many women who are faced with this.  Since 1972, DC Rape Crisis Center has been making a significant contribution to the health, economic, social and cultural well-being of Washington, DC. Dedicated to creating a world free of sexual violence through conscience and action, DCRCC’s call to action obliges us to build the capacity of the Washington, DC community to respond to survivors of sexual assault with compassion, dignity and respect, regardless of race, class, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, immigration status, ability, age or religious affiliation. In addition to prevention activities, DC Rape Crisis Center programs ensure the provision of crisis intervention services for adult and child survivors of sexual assault –helping to eliminate the long term effects that rape can have on the well – being and health of an individual.  See http://heyevent.com/event/u3jbjfnio6g4oa/reconnect-the-mic-open-mic-night.

58] -- The Washington Peace Center has a progressive calendar & activist alert! Consider signing up to receive its weekly email: info@washingtonpeacecenter.org.

59] -- If you would like to get rid of books, videos, DVDs or records, contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.

60] -- Can you use any book shelves? Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net.

61] -- 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.

62] – 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 the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.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