Thursday, March 10, 2016

Baltimore Activist Alert - March 10 - 30, 2016

38] Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Exhibition - through Mar. 30
39] Rally to Register – Mar. 10
40] Occupation, Inc. – Mar. 10
41] Stand Your Ground – Mar. 10
42] Emily’s List – Mar. 10
43] Labor History Book Club – Mar. 10
44] Art + Activism – Mar. 10
45] Mayoral debate – Mar. 10
46] The Islamophobia Industry – Mar. 10
47] Fair Budget -- Mar. 11
48] "Breaking Through in the Media" – Mar. 11
49] Peace vigil at White House – Mar. 11
50] WIB peace vigil – Mar. 11
51] Philadelphia "Reach-Out" – Mar. 11
52] Black Lives Matter – Mar. 11
53] First Hand Refugee Talks – Mar. 11
54] John LaForge’s book talk “Nuclear Heartland, Revised” – Mar. 11, 13 & 14
55] Ballroom Dancing – Mar. 11
56] Global Warming Walking Tour of DC – Mar. 12
57] Sign up with Washington Peace Center
58] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records
59] Do you need any book shelves?
60] Join the Global Zero campaign
61] Join the Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil
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38] – Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Exhibition is a project that began as a call from Beau Beausoleil in 2007 for writers which quickly moved on to incorporate artists, artist books and now includes printmakers all who are responding to bear witness to a tragic loss of a center of literacy and humanity in Iraq. One of the purposes of this project is to let those in the Iraqi Arts Community know that we will not let them endure the destruction of Iraqi culture in silence, that we have a collective voice and we will use it. This was a street of booksellers, printers, and readers. This was a street where people still felt "safe" among all the words and books. How can we not see the commonality between al- Mutanabbi Street and any street in the world that holds a bookshop or cultural institution? This is the starting point: where language, thought, and reality reside; where memory, ideas, and even dreams wait patiently in their black ink.

A diverse coalition of DC-area universities and arts and literary organizations will present Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here DC 2016, a book arts and cultural festival through Sat., Mar. 5 throughout the Washington, D.C., area. Major exhibitions, programs, and events will commemorate the 2007 bombing of Baghdad’s historic bookselling street, celebrate the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, and stand in solidarity with the people of Iraq. Exhibitions of artwork created in response to the bombing will be featured at multiple venues, including the George Mason University School of Art Gallery, Atrium, Fenwick Library and the Workhouse Art Center, Gelman Library and the Corcoran School of Art and Design at The George Washington University, the Brentwood Arts Exchange, Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, McLean Project for the Arts, Northern Virginia Community College, Olly Olly Gallery, and the Smithsonian American Art/Portrait Gallery Library.

 The exhibitions that are featured at the School of Art Gallery, the Fenwick Library, the Mason Atrium Gallery, and the Workhouse Art Center (plus partners) include three components: Letterpress Printed Broadsides; Artist Books; and Absence and Presence (a call to printmakers). Additionally, each gallery provides new interpretive documentary materials, hands-on workshops, and panels and conversations that will be built around the exhibitions. For a complete list of sites and dates and times go to http://www.amsshdc2016.org/contact-us.html

This is a list of some of the sites.  You can see the exhibit, for example, at the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, 1632 U St., WDC, through Wed., Mar. 30.  It is entitled “Night and the Desert Know Me,” and the curators are Shanti Norris and Spencer Dormitzer.  The exhibit at the Brentwood Arts Exchange, 3901 Rhode Island Ave., Brentwood, MD 20722, runs through Sat., Mar. 12 -- “Selections from Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here.” The curator of the exhibit is Phil Davis.  Also see the exhibit at the Tyler Gallery, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, 500 17th St. NW, WDC, through Sun., Mar. 20--“Al-Mutanabbi Street in Books, Prints & Poetry.”  Also you can see this exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art/Portrait Gallery, 750 9th St. NW, Room 2100, WDC 20001-4505 through Wed., Mar. 30 -- “Come Together: American Artists Respond to Al-Mutanabbi Street.” The curator is Anne Evenhaugen.

39] – On Thurs., Mar. 10, you can vote if you are out of prison. It is just that simple. Join a rally at 10:30 AM to register ex-offenders to vote outside the Baltimore City Board of Elections, 417 E. Fayette St. Newly enfranchised voters will register to vote and issue a rallying call to registration. Find an online portal to register at www.communitiesunite.org. Maryland's registration deadline is April 5. Are you willing to volunteer with Communities United to register voters? Contact Perry Hopkins at perry@communitiesunite.org to sign-up. Or come out to a members meeting on Sat., Mar. 12 at 10 AM at Douglas Memorial Community Church, 1325 Madison Ave., Baltimore. At least 20,000 Baltimoreans get their voting rights back on Thursday. Help get as many as we can back into the active electorate in time for city elections. Communities United is looking to hire a new field organizer. Go to http://www.communitiesunite.org/.   April 14 - 21 are early voting days. Same day registration is now available. Register and vote at the same time! Finally April 26 is the primary election day.

40] – There is a Panel Discussion of Human Rights Watch's new report "Occupation, Inc.: How Settlement Businesses Contribute to Israel's Violations of Palestinian Rights" in 441 Cannon House Office Building, WDC, on Thurs., Mar. 10 from noon to 1:30 PM.  The Foundation for Middle East Peace, Human Rights Watch and Americans For Peace Now are hosting the event. “Businesses should stop operating in, financing, servicing, or trading with Israeli settlements in order to comply with their human rights responsibilities,” Human Rights Watch said in the press release for their report. “Those activities contribute to and benefit from an inherently unlawful and abusive system that violates the rights of Palestinians. “

Discussing the report will be its author, Sarah Saadoun, who is the Leonard H. Sandler Fellow at Human Rights Watch, and Lara Friedman, the Director of Policy and Government Relations for Americans for Peace Now. The discussion will be moderated by Matthew Duss, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace.  Because space is limited, the Foundation for Middle East Peace is asking that you RSVP to Philip Sweigart at psweigart@fmep.org. A light lunch will be served. Go to http://fmep.org/?can_id=a392f278b6b1083f18ba20d764d479f6&source=email-event-310-occupation-inc&email_referrer=event-310-occupation-inc&email_subject=event-310-occupation-inc&link_id=3.

41] –  Stand Your Ground is an Author Talk with Kelly Brown Douglas at The Potter's House, 1658 Columbia Rd. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Mar. 10 at 7 PM.  On the Sunday morning after the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer, black preachers across America addressed the questions his death raised for their communities: “Where is the justice of God? What are we to hope for?” In this timely and compelling book, Douglas examines the myths and narratives underlying a “stand-your-ground” culture, taking seriously the social as well as the theological questions raised by this and similar events, from Ferguson, Missouri to Staten Island, New York. But the author also brings another significant interpretative lens to this text: that of a mother.  She is an Episcopal priest and professor of religion at Goucher College. Her books include “The Black Christ,” “What’s Faith Got to Do with It?” and “The Black Body and the Black Church/A Blues Slant.” Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1532283720404083/

42] – Hear a book talk by Ellen Malcolm about “When Women Win: Emily's List And The Rise Of Women In American Politics” at Politics & Prose Bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Mar. 10 at 7 PM. With co-author Craig Unger, Vanity Fair contributing editor, co-founder of Opentopic, and the author of books including “The Fall of the House of Bush.” Malcolm, founder, chair, and former president of EMILY’s List, one of the country’s most successful political action committees, with Unger looks at the dramatic rise in the number of women in public office since 1985. The year EMILY’s List was established, just ten Democratic women served in the House—and none in the Senate. As the organization has mobilized women voters and made funds available to women candidates, prominent leaders including Barbara Mikulski, Tammy Baldwin, Elizabeth Warren, Claire McCaskill, and Hillary Clinton have held important national offices. Go to http://www.politics-prose.com/event/book/ellen-malcolm-when-women-win-emilys-list-and-rise-of-women-american-politics.

43] –  The Labor History Book Club is meeting on Thurs., Mar. 10 at 7 PM at Red Emma's in the Free School room. Discuss Thomas Bell’s “Out of This Furnace: A Novel of Immigrant Labor in America.”   If you want some early discussion, go to http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/133404.Out_of_This_Furnace. Contact Bill Barry [mailto:billbarry21214@gmail.com]. 
44] – On Thurs., Mar. 10 from 7 PM to 8:30 PM at Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21201, attend Art + Activism, moderated by Board Trustee Lionel Foster, with artist Tania Bruguera, based in New York, New Haven, and Havana, and Baltimore-based producer and author Eddie Conway. The panel will explore the ways in which activism manifests itself through the art, cultural, and political work of two prolific individuals.  Talking Shop partners acclaimed artists and professionals from various disciplines to discuss the nexus of art, science, medicine, technology, politics, and more. Where are the intersections of these practices? How can society utilize these disciplines in collaboration as catalysts for creative thinking? Each evening will begin with short presentations by the invited participants which will set context for moderated group discussion. Talking Shop is made possible with generous support from The Aaron and Lillie Straus Foundation.

   Tania Bruguera is one of the leading political and performance artists of her generation. Bruguera researches ways in which Art can be applied to the everyday political life; focusing on the transformation of social affect into political effectiveness. Her long-term projects have been intensive interventions on the institutional structure of collective memory, education and politics.

   Eddie Conway is a former member of the Black Panther Party Baltimore chapter. Convicted of murder in 1970, he served nearly forty four years in the Maryland prison system. During his incarceration, he played a leading role in a variety of prisoner support initiatives including, a Prisoner’s Labor Union, a ACLU’s  class action lawsuit that reduced the prison population by 700 beds,  he implemented  dozens of  educational  programs that connected  prisoners with the outside  communities and Co-founded  the AFSC-Friend of a Friend program, a mentoring project that helps prisoners survive incarceration. Conway earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Coppin State University and attended graduate studies at California State University-Dominguez Hills.

   Foster is writer, editor, and the communications manager for the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute. For his work in urban communities he was named a Maryland Daily Record VIP.  Get  tickets at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/talking-shop-art-activism-tickets-21678421743?aff=eswgnotif&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email&utm_term=checkoutbtn&utm_content=EBnotification&ref=eswgnotif.

45] –   On Thurs., Mar. 10 at 7 PM at Morgan State University, Murphy Fine Arts Center, 2201 Argonne Drive, Baltimore 21218, attend the Baltimore Mayoral Debate 2016.  It is held by WEAA 88.9FM, The Baltimore City Paper, The Baltimore Afro Newspaper, MSU's The Spokesman.  This moment in Baltimore’s legendary political history is one of the most pivotal and defining transitions of the last century. With no incumbent in the running this will change the face and mindset of the long running political machine and influence the tone, cadence, stature and unification of prideful and reverent Baltimoreans. Join us, on March 10, 2016 to hear the candidates first hand share their Solutions and Strategies for the Future of Baltimore.

46] – Join Jewish Voice for Peace- DC Metro Chapter in welcoming writer and scholar Nathan Lean, author of the award-winning book "The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims” for a talk and public discussion on Thurs., Mar. 10 from 7:30 to 9 PM at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill, Baxter Hall, 301 A St. SE, WDC 20003. Islamophobia plays a key role in building and sustaining public and U.S. government backing for Israel.  Right-wing Christian and Jewish groups dedicated to denying the fundamental rights of Palestinians deliberately fuel fear of Muslims and Arabs (commonly assumed to be Muslims) to push their agenda in the Middle East.  Unwavering support of Israeli policies contributes to the characterization of Muslims and all Arabs as the “enemy” and to the perpetuation of Islamophobia, or the failure to speak out against it. Go to http://tinyurl.com/IslamophobiaIndustry or https://www.facebook.com/events/1538669976431659/.

47] -- With just a few weeks before Mayor Bowser releases her FY2017 budget on March 24, join DCFPI and The Fair Budget Coalition for a forum on Fri., Mar. 11 at 9:30 AM at DCPFI, 820 First St. NE (near Union Station Metro, WDC, on what you can expect in the fiscal year 2017 budget! Mayor Bowser’s first budget made important commitments to affordable housing and addressing homelessness. And she has committed to maintaining those investments in 2017, while also adding funding for schools and meeting other pressing needs. Yet budgets also require choices because there is never enough money to meet all of the resident’s priorities.   
Staff from the Fair Budget Coalition and DCFPI also will offer comments on the upcoming budget. Coffee and pastries will be available starting at 9 AM. RSVP to Francine Richards at frichards@cbpp.org.

48] – Get over to a Communications Skillshare: "Breaking Through in the Media" at SEIU, 1800 Massachusetts Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Mar. 11 from 11:30 AM to 1 PM.  In this skillshare, the Advancement Project will highlight successful traditional and digital media strategies to break through in the media and elevate your work. The facilitators will examine tactics and tips to garner favorable media coverage – especially in a crowded news cycle.  To capture ideas from the brilliant minds in the room, the event will include a “30 Ideas in 30 Minutes” exercise where attendees will have the option of naming their favorite tip for securing favorable media attention. Visit http://www.advancementproject.org/page/s/breaking-through-a-communications-skill-share.

49] – On Fri., Mar. 11 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, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Contract Art @ artlaffin@hotmail.com or at 202-360-6416. 

50] – On Fri., Mar. 11 from noon to 1 PM, join Women in Black peace vigil. This vigil will take place at the corner of Light and Pratt Sts.  Stay for as long as you can. Wear black. Dress for who knows what kind of weather. Bring your own poster or help with the "NO WAR IN MY NAME" banner.  When there are others to stand with, you don't need to carry the burden alone. Do this to be in solidarity with others....when everything around us says Be afraid of the stranger.

51] – The Philadelphia "Reach-Out" is a protest against drone terror and the drone war command center in Horsham,  It alternates between 15th & Market and the 30th Street Train Station at 30th & Market Sts. The next "Reach-Out" will be Fri., Mar. 11 from 4 to 5 PM at the Train Station.  Contact the Brandywine Peace Community at 610-544-1818 or www.brandywinepeace.com/events

52] – 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 Mar. 11. Black Lives Matter. 

53] – First Hand Refugee Talks will take place at 733 Euclid St. NW, WDC, on Fri., Mar. 11 from 7 to 9 PM.  The talks feature dynamic speakers who will share their first-hand experiences as refugees now living in the DMV.  They will share their stories of what drove them from their homes, how they made it to the US, and what they learned along the way. Speakers include Mohy Omer, a vibrant young man from Sudan; and Amal, who is blessed with a beautiful singing voice.  There will be a Q&A session where you can ask questions and find out more about the current crisis.  This is the first in a series of talks and events that promote refugee voices and create a space for dialogue.  RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/192745564424517/. Go to http://www.ecacollective.org/.

54] –  John LaForge, co-editor with Arianne Peterson of “Nuclear Heartland, Revised: Guide to the 450 Land-Based Missiles in the United States,” will discuss the new book, its detailed maps of the three nuclear missile fields, recent high-level recommendations for their elimination, anti-nuclear protests that were inspired in part by the original "Nuclear Heartland" and the series of frightening blunders committed by the bored, distracted, and accident-prone “missileers" who still stand ready to launch the uncontrollable weapons on a moment's notice. As Lt. Gen. James Kowalski said in 2014, it isn't Russia or China but, "The greatest threat to my force is an accident. The greatest risk to my force is doing something stupid." Come hear about what Dr. Helen Caldicott calls "one of the most frightening books I have ever read" on Fri., Mar. 11 at 7:30 PM at Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, 503 Rock Creek Church Rd. NW, WDC 20010. Call 202-882-9649 or email artlaffin@hotmail.com.

The new book is available. Order at 715-472-4185 or nukewatch@lakeland.ws.  The cost is $25 plus $5 shipping/handling.    John will also speak on Sun., Mar. 13 from 10 to 11:30 AM at the Jonah House, 1301 Moreland Ave., Baltimore.  Also on Mon., Mar. 14 from 7 to 9 PM at Busboys and Poets, Guillén Room, 235 Carroll St. NW, WDC. Go to http://www.nukewatchinfo.org/Nuclear%20Heartland%20Redux/.

55] – 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 Mar. 11. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725.

56] – There is a Global Warming Walking Tour of DC, starting at the National Zoo, 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW, WDC, on Sat., Mar. 12 from 10 AM to 12:30 PM.  Join the Chesapeake Climate Action Network for a guided tour that will change the way you see your city - and your role in it - forever! The group will take a tour on foot through several critical forests and key neighborhoods in Northwest DC, joined by local climate activists, naturalists, and scientists. All who tag along will have the opportunity to learn about how climate change is impacting DC, and what you can do about it. RSVP at http://org.salsalabs.com/o/423/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=85336.

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

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

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

60] -- 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.

61] – 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  

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