Saturday, September 24, 2022

Baltimore Activist Alert – September 25 - 30, 2022

Baltimore Activist Alert – September 25 - 30, 2022

"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 Obuszewski 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] Get involved with NCNR   

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

5] Support the Pratt Workers United

6] Get a copy of HOSPITALITY, the Open Door newsletter

7] Knock on doors with the MD Dems – Sept. 25 - 27  

8] Phone bank for Brooke – Sept. 25 – Oct. 1

9] Knock on doors for Brooke – Sept. 25 – Oct. 1

10] Knock on Doors for Johnny O – Sept. 25

11] Skatepark Baltimore – Sept. 25

12] Canvassing operation in support of DC Ballot Initiative 82 – Sept. 25

13] Blue Wave by phone banking – Sept. 25

14] Global Town Hall -- Sept. 25

15] Write to voters -- Sept. 25

16] Make calls for Beto – Sept. 25, 27 and 30 

17] Write letters for Beto --Sept. 25, 27 & 30   

18] Stomp out Slumlords Cookout – Sept. 25

19] PDA Town Hall -- Sept. 25

20] Internationalism Working Group meeting – Sept. 25

21] The Abortion Struggle Today – Sept. 25

22] NoVa DSA meeting – Sept. 25

23] Protest at the Pentagon – Sept. 26

24] Nuclear Abolition Day – Sept. 26

25] Challenging the Contractors for Nuclear Weapons – Sept. 26

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1] – Buttons, bumperstickers 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] – THE ORGANIZING LIST will be the primary decision-making mechanism of the National Campaign of Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR].  It will be augmented by conference calls and possibly in-person meetings as needed.  It will consist of 1 or 2 representatives from each local, regional, or national organization (not coalitions) that wishes to actively work to carry out the NCNR campaign of facilitating and organizing nonviolent resistance to U.S. wars.

  To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email address to mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.  Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.  

 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] – The workers at the Enoch Pratt Free Library have started a drive to organize a union calling themselves Pratt Workers United.  Go to https://www.prattworkersunited.org/. There is a letter of support for community members to sign at https://www.prattworkersunited.org/community-letter-support.

"Pratt Library workers are forming a union, Pratt Workers United. We are seeking pay equity for all, safer working conditions, benefits for part-time workers, and a voice in decisions that affect our work.”

6] – Consider getting HOSPITALITY, the newsletter of OPEN DOOR: A prophetic discipleship community honoring the Black Jesus, Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King, Jr.  You can call 404-290-2047 or emailopendoorcomm@bellsouth.net.

7] – Baltimore City - Knock on doors with the MD Dems Coordinated Campaign, hosted by the Maryland Democratic Party through Fri., Sept. 30.  Meet at 415 N. Howard St., Suite G-1, Baltimore 21201.  Knock on doors and talk to our neighbors to make sure voters are engaged and excited to vote for Wes Moore, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Brooke Lierman, Anthony Brown, and the rest of the democratic slate. The canvassing shifts are on Sun., Sept. 25 from 1 to 4 PM & 4 to 7 PM, Mon., Sept. 26 and Tues., Sept. 27 from 10 AM to 1 PM, 1 to 4 PM and 4 to 7 PM ET.  Sign up at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/498322/.

8] – On Sun., Sept. 25 through Sat., Oct. 1 from 10 AM to 8 PM ET, phone bank for Brooke Lierman for comptroller.  Can you spare a few hours to phone bank for Brooke? You can do it from your home and you will be sent a list and a script!  Once you sign up, an organizer will reach out directly to you and get you your phone book and a training if you need it! Register at https://www.mobilize.us/brookeliermanforcomptroller/event/489251/?followup_modal_context=organization_newsletter_custom_recommendations.OTH_VirtualConventionSignup_080822&t=4&akid=16578%2E508952%2EHQOuGi.

9] – Do some Door Knocking for Brooke in Your Neighborhood, hosted by Brooke Lierman for Comptroller.  Sign up for Sun., Sept. 25 through Sat., Oct. 1.  The door knocking takes place from 10 AM to 8 PM ET. Canvass in your community and share Brooke's vision to transform the Comptroller's office to work for every Marylander. YOU CAN DO THIS ON YOUR OWN TIME. Once you sign up, the team will follow up with everything you will need to knock doors including materials, a t-shirt, stickers, and a quick training. Register at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/484676/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_custom_marketing.

10] – Join a Day of Action and Knock on Doors for Johnny O and Statewide Candidates on Sun., Sept. 25 from 10 AM to 1 PM ET.  Meet at the Bedford Elementary School, 7407 Dorman Drive, Pikesville 21208. Join Baltimore County Executive Johnny O to canvass voters in Baltimore County! Help build support for outstanding candidates including Brooke, Wes, Aruna, and Anthony! You will receive all the training and materials you need to be successful upon arrival. Go to https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/495798/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_more_events_from_org.

11] – Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 2521 St. Paul St., Baltimore 21218, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion at 10:30 AM.  On Sun., Sept. 25, the platform is “Skatepark Baltimore.”  Photographer Saskia Kahn will present her collaborative photo project, about a self-created youth community that grew to make a Baltimore skateboard park a more inclusive space. Skaters who felt uncomfortable using the park alone realized the need to work cooperatively in order to claim this space as safe—particularly those who identified as transgender, gender-nonconforming, Black-femme, women, and/or queer. The portraits in Skatepark Baltimore celebrate the young people who fight for their access to joy. This art project also used the social-work methodology of Photovoice, which uses photography to spark conversation around social issues.  Kahn is a photographer from the Manhattan Beach section of Brooklyn, NY. Her work features portraits of youth, a fascination that stems from the stories of her grandmother surviving WWII during her teenage years. Kahn also works in collaboration with the people she photographs. She teaches free photography programs in Baltimore, MD, Hudson, NY, and Yaoundé, Cameroon, and received her MFA from MICA and lives in Baltimore, MD. Email President@BEMOREthical.org for ZOOM login information.

12] – Canvassing operations in support of DC Ballot Initiative 82 started this weekend. Volunteers organized through Metro DC DSA will be talking with voters in Columbia Heights about the need to end the tipped minimum wage in DC. Earlier this year, 50 DSA volunteers collected over 1,500 signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. Now, the DSA is rolling out a public outreach and canvassing operation to box out the corporate-backed opposition campaign against the measure.  Canvassing will take place on Sun., Sept. 25 from 11 to 1 PM ET at 1345 Park Road NW, WDC 20010 (Giant Supermarket). There will be a happy hour after each canvass. Try to have miniVan and Signal downloaded onto your phone ahead of time. Newcomers are welcome — fresh literature will be available for canvassers. To participate, email aparna.l.raj@gmail.com.

13] – Join Maryland Democrats in Baltimore County to ensure a Blue Wave by phone banking on Sun., Sept. 25, Mon., Sept, 26 and Tues., Sept. 27 from 1 to 4 PM and 5 pm to 8 PM ET through October 31. Make sure voters are engaged and excited to vote for Wes Moore, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Brooke Lierman, Anthony Brown, and the rest of the democratic slate. In addition to phone from home options, there will also be in-person phone banks at the same time at the office, located at: 301 Allegheny Ave., Towson 21204. If you would like to come into the office to make calls, please bring your cell phone and a laptop, if possible. After you sign up, one of our organizers will reach out with further details. Register at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/506547/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_closest.

14] – Metta Spencer [project@tosavetheworld.ca] is inviting you to a Global Town Hall on Sun., Sept. 25 from 2 to 4 PM ET. Sign up at https://zoom.us/j/9108970203.

15] – Vote Forward wants you to write letters to voters on Sun., Sept. 25 from 2 to 3 PM ET. Keep making more Good Trouble for a letter & postcard writing event using award-winning proven tactics to reach potential voters in these incredibly important Midterms!  You can go to votefwd.org and make an account; download twenty letters; and you will be shown how to write them at the event! Letters to underrepresented voters are a fun, easy, and highly effective way to strengthening our democracy by encouraging citizens from underrepresented communities to vote. Sign up at https://www.mobilize.us/pfaw/event/506820/?followup_modal_context=organization_newsletter_custom_recommendations.

16] – Beto for Texas [info@betoorourke.com] needs your help phone banking to help elect a new governor in Texas.  Sign up for a shift on Sun., Sept. 25 from 3:30 to 4:30 PM, Tues., Sept. 27 from 7 to 9:30 PM and Fri., Sept. 30 from 6 to 7:30 PM ET, and help make direct, personal contact with as many Texans as we can. You can join in from anywhere. Sign up at https://www.mobilize.us/betofortexas/event/438569/?utm_source=ema20220727-200206.

17] – Sign up to join a Beto for Texas Letter Writing Party on Sun., Sept. 25 from 3:30 to 4:30 Tues., Sept. 27 from 7 to 8 PM and Fri., Sept. 30 ET. Letter writing parties are a great opportunity to meet other Beto for Texas volunteers and get trained on the letter writing process. After a brief training, write letters together! Register at https://www.mobilize.us/betofortexas/event/427673/?utm_source=ema20220817-203416.

18] – There is a Stomp Out Slumlords Cookout on Sun., Sept. 25 at 4 PM ET at the Petworth Rec. Center, 801 Taylor St. NW, WDC 20011. Come join tenants and organizers with Stomp out Slumlords to end the summer and kick off the fall with a cookout in the park! Celebrate the victories and actions from the past few months. This is also a great opportunity for returning organizers to reconnect with folks they haven’t seen in a while and for interested folks to get to know people! Folks are welcome to bring and share their own dishes. Sign up at https://actionnetwork.org/events/stomp-out-slumlords-cookout?source=direct_link&&link_id=5&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&email_referrer=email_1675834&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-sep-23-2022.

19] – Progressive Democrats of America [info@pdamerica.org] on Sun., Sept., 25 at 4 PM will host the Sunday Town Hall on how we defeat Trumpists with progressive candidates like Jamie McLeod-Skinner. RSVP at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tceuhrzsvHdymeeZRwb-i7X50FJa-HMR4! Jamie McLeod-Skinner has already produced one of the great results of the 2022 election cycle. Back in May, she defeated incumbent Kurt Schrader, one the most conservative Democrats in the House, in the Democratic Primary. And PDA is proud to have been a part of that victory. Now help her bring home the win in the general in this tough swing district. It's rare to have a qualified progressive like Jamie running in a swing district, and now's the time to prove that the progressive agenda resonates with rural and small town voters.

20] – DC DSA is holding a monthly Internationalism Working Group meeting on Sun., Sept. 25 at 5 PM ET. RSVP at https://actionnetwork.org/events/internationalism-working-group-monthly-meeting-4.  There will be a political education discussion on the Chilean referendum, joined by a comrade with experience organizing on this issue. Find some articles and videos to review before the meeting here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/1kvwavernokajw5npcd90/h?dl=0&rlkey=pn7ezqpcn9amwtbrhc9mgm88n.

21] – Join a Speak Out Now Online Town Hall on Sun., Sept. 25 at 7 PM ET -- The Abortion Struggle Today — Our Right and Our Fight.  Ever since Roe v Wade legalized limited access to abortion in 1973, it has been under attack across the country. The nationwide assault on abortion rights has many looking at this problem and questioning what we can do? Jenny Brown, the author of the book Without Apology: The Abortion Struggle Now will discuss the fight for reproductive rights, both the lessons from the past and strategies for today.  She is an organizer in the women’s liberation movement, and works with the feminist group National Women’s Liberation and has written or coauthored several books on feminism, reproductive rights, and labor, including Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight over Women’s Work.

  See the review that Speak Out wrote about Brown’s latest book: Without Apology: The Abortion Struggle Now: https://speakoutsocialists.org/without-apology-the-abortion-struggle-now-a-book-for-this-time/. The ZOOM Link for the Town Hall is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82158800683?pwd=N2J6UjgxNWhNak1WRWdUdm9CUit4QT09. The Meeting ID is 821 5880 0683, and the Passcode is 340756.

22] –  The NoVA DSA branch is launching an electoral workgroup with a meeting on Sun., Sept. 25 at 7 PM ET and continues to organize for teachers and other unions, as well as solidarity in the fight to defend LGBTQ+ students under attack. The branch continues tenant organizing and promoting tenant unions as a steady practice, as well as setting up its first Game Night. RSVP at https://actionnetwork.org/events/novadsa-electoral-monthly-mtg-sun-sept-25-7pm?link_id=7&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-sep-16-2022&email_referrer=email_1675834&email_subject=metro-dc-dsa-weekly-newsletter-for-sep-23-2022. Email novabranch [at] mdcdsa.org.

23] – 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 Sept. 26 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 Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.  

24] – The Basel Peace Office [info@baselpeaceoffice.org] wants you to get involved on Mon., Sept. 26 at 2 PM ET on Nuclear Abolition Day. Join the Gorbachev/Shultz Legacy Youth Award Ceremony.  On the United Nations International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons honor Youth Fusion. Recognize "their leadership in advancing inter-generational cooperation on peace and disarmament, human rights aspects of the nuclear arms race, innovative and interactive methods to engage youth in nuclear disarmament issues, and for building connections and cooperation between peace, nuclear disarmament, climate action and public health." Sign up at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R5iHpsZuQG2d-EEup0IKeQ.

25] – There is a webinar Challenging the Military Contractors Building Nuclear Weapons on Mon., Sept. 26 at 2 PM ET. Susi Snyder is an expert on nuclear weapons, with over two decades experience working at the intersection between nuclear weapons and human rights. She currently works as the financial sector coordinator for ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.  Susi coordinated the Don’t Bank on the Bomb research and campaign from 2013. In addition to the annual Don’t Bank on the Bomb reports, Susi has published numerous reports and articles, including Squandered: 2021 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending (2022), 101 investors say no to nuclear weapons (2022), Perilous Profiteering: The companies building nuclear arsenals and their financial backers (2021) among others.  Register to attend: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYld--qqzkoGdcoqoyRLjqeDObgq3dDPj2J.

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

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