Baltimore Activist Alert March 10 - 11, 2019
"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 BNC, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. 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] Buy an
Anti-War Veteran hat
5] “Explore & Live
Palestine” from July 11 through July 25, 2019
6] Lawyers Against War
7] Feeding the Homeless
& Hungry at Terra Cafe Bmore – Mar. 10
8] “What Do You Really Own
Anyway?” – Mar. 10
9] Meeting of the
Montgomery County branch of DSA – Mar. 10
10] Yoga Salutes
Nonviolence – Mar. 10
11] Hinenu Discussion:
Solidarity and Engagement – Mar. 10
12] Homeless
Period Campaign
-- Mar. 10 – Apr. 11
13] Beating Guns Tour – Mar. 10
14] Film GHOST HUNTING – Mar. 10
15] Pentagon Protest – Mar. 11
16] International Nuclear
Policy Conference – Mar. 11 - 12
17] "Less Waste,
Better Baltimore" – Mar. 11
18] Food Rescue – Mar. 11
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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.
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]
– Get a good-looking black
hat which says Anti-War Veteran in the front and Viva House 50th in
the back. The cost is $10. Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001
at Comcast dot net.
5] – Jeff
Ross, an attorney in Maryland, is interested in gathering with other lawyers to
discuss ways in which the legal profession and the law generally can be
conceptualized as a peace-building and war-resisting institution and redirected
to these ends. Areas to explore might include: 1) ways in which this
group could support with legal analysis/writing those lawyers who are
representing peace-builders/war-resisters in criminal prosecutions; 2) ways in
which, from a more theoretical perspective, the law might be grounded in an
ethic of non-violence; and 3) ways in which law students and young lawyers
might be exposed to a non-violent vision of the law. All religious,
philosophical, and critical perspectives on the law are welcome. The group
might want to call itself Lawyers Against War. Jeff can be reached at
443-690-6872 and jross50@hotmail.com.
6] – If you are 18 to
35, don't miss this unique opportunity to visit Palestine! Registration is Now
Open at https://kthps.org/join. For more
information, please visit: https://kthps.org/.
Know Thy Heritage, Inc. is offering a Leadership Initiative “Explore & Live
Palestine” from July 11 through July 25, 2019. This is a program of The
Arab American Institute. Visit http://www.aaiusa.org/.
7]
– On
Sun., Mar. 10 from 10 AM to noon, be a part of Neighbors Without Walls: Feeding
the Homeless & Hungry at Terra Cafe Bmore, 101 E 25th St., Baltimore
21218. Homelessness is by far one of the largest issues that plague our
city and there is something, no matter how small, we all can do to about it.
This event will also happen on Sun., Apr. 14 at 10 AM. Terra Cafe is the proud
sponsor of Neighbors Without Walls. On the 2nd Sunday of each month at 10 AM
Terra Cafe and a group of volunteers, prep, package and distribute meals,
water, clothing and care packages to homeless residents of Baltimore City. See https://www.facebook.com/events/413038186102928/?event_time_id=413038192769594.
8]
– 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., Mar. 10, the platform address is “What Do You Really Own Anyway?” What is it to
“own” something? Is it just to have exclusive access to, or control over, a
resource? How did the concept of “ownership” arise? Is it true that “property
is theft?” How have the concepts of property and money evolved so as to
de-emphasize the shared resources and relationships that don’t fit so easily
into the concept of “ownership”? Hugh Taft-Morales explores different ways that
members of the Baltimore Ethical Society can approach “owning” our community
and our mission. Hugh Taft-Morales joined the Baltimore Ethical Society
as its professional leader in 2010, the same year he was certified by the
American Ethical Union as an Ethical Culture Leader. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.
10] -- On Sun., Mar. 10 from 2 to 3:30 PM, Yoga Salutes
Nonviolence: 108 Sun Salutations. This is hosted by YogaWorks
Columbia, 8325 Guilford Rd.., Columbia 21046. Yoga Salutes Nonviolence
(YSNV) is a charity event to benefit HopeWorks of Howard County, our local rape
crisis & domestic violence center. Students and practitioners gather
together to participate in 108 Sun Salutations (or as many as they can). The
participants, teachers and students alike, are sponsored by family, friends and
students. Whether you're a new student, a regular practitioner, or a teacher,
you have what it takes to help! REGISTER AS A PARTICIPANT, DONATE TO
SUPPORT EVENT or MAKE AN INKIND DOOR PRIZE DONATION. Visit the website to
register or to make an online donation: www.wearehopeworks.org.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2309647632434440/.
11] -- On Sun., Mar. 10 from 3 to 5:15 PM, come for a
Hinenu Discussion: Solidarity and Engagement, hosted by the Baltimore
Justice Shtiebl at Homewood Friends Meeting, 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore
21218. What does our community mean and intend by “Justice Shtiebel”?
Join the Values Committee and other Hinenu members for the first of a
three-part Hinenu beit midrash and discussion series, each with a different
focus, to help us answer this fundamental question! Build relationships and
community with each other, make the way to a collective discernment and
articulation of our community values, and enjoy learning together.
At
this first session focused on “Solidarity and Engagement,” think in terms of
traditional terms for Jewish values such as Hachnasat Orchim (Welcoming
Guests), Tikkum Olam (Improving the World), and Tzedek (Justice). Talk about
how we relate to struggles like racial justice, feminism, economic justice,
queer liberation, disability justice, and immigrant rights; and how we engage
with movements for justice and equality in Palestine/Israel, Baltimore, and
beyond.
These
initial three sessions are meant for sharing, learning, and listening with each
other to start discovering where we are and where we want to be as a community.
No decisions will be made at this session and no agreement need be reached. All
Hinenu members are welcome to an open, respectful environment. The other
two sessions will be focused on “Religious and Spiritual Practice” (March 27)
and “How We Relate to Each Other in Community” (April 7). Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/251061485769510/.
12]
– On Sun., Mar. 10 through
Thurs., Apr. 11 from 4 to 7 PM, be a part of a Homeless Period Campaign, hosted
by Project PLASE, Inc., 1814 Maryland Ave., Baltimore 21201. Tickets are
at www.firstgiving.com. Join @Project PLASE in
raising awareness and funds to help homeless individuals and their
#homelessperiod. Make a donation at https://bit.ly/2GRF8rM.
Challenge a friend, organization or group to show their support for the
#homelessperiod and to keep the challenge going. Post into your social
media posts to keep the challenge going.
In addition to dealing with the everyday hardships that come with
homelessness, people who menstruate have an additional level of hardship each
month. With the lack of resources to buy menstrual products, they must choose
between spending money on these products, or eating. The #HomelessPeriod
Campaign is a fundraiser organized by Project PLASE in accordance with the Why
Women Cry Conference. It intends to raise funds to create menstrual hygiene
kits that can be given to PLASE clients and homeless people. The kits will be
distributed by Project PLASE staff and volunteers. Homelessness brings trauma
and health issues into one’s life. We believe menstruation care should not be a
secondary choice for people, and that all people deserve equal access to period
product. Please join Project PLASE in the #homelessperiod Campaign to provide
everyone with equitable menstrual care. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/244516872997983/?event_time_id=244516896331314.
13] -- On Sun., Mar. 10 from 5 to 7 PM, get involved
with Beating Guns Tour, hosted by Amazing Grace Lutheran Church, 2424 McElderry
St., Baltimore 21205. America, a country in which mass shootings have
become almost commonplace, is better at protecting guns than protecting people,
say Shane Claiborne and Mike Martin in their new book “Beating Guns: Hope for
People Who Are Weary of Violence.” Holding the shameful record for most gun
deaths at about 38,000 per year, it’s clear that this country is in the midst
of an epidemic. Bestselling author and activist Claiborne, and Martin, a
Mennonite pastor turned blacksmith, offer a Christian response to the crisis,
transcending the rhetoric of “thoughts and prayers” with concrete ways to
address the problem. “We have the audacity to believe that it is not the will
of God for approximately 105 people to die from guns each day in the U.S.,” they
say.
Inspired
by the biblical prophets’ call to “beat swords into plowshares,” Claiborne and
Martin will tour the country this spring with a forge and other blacksmithing
tools. The Beating Guns Tour is a 90-minute event that will feature music, art,
and stories of people impacted by gun violence, culminating with an invitation
for the audience to take the hammer and transform a gun into garden tools.
Claiborne and Martin have also launched the Disarming Network to help people
connect with safe spaces to disable guns according to Federal ATF guidelines.
Addressing
the spiritual dimension of the problem, they point out that violence is not
just about guns. As Christians who practice nonviolence, they believe “Christians
cannot carry a cross in one hand and a weapon in the other.” Rather, they “plot
for peace,” engaging in the practice of de-escalation of everyday interaction.
De-escalation of the small things helps keep the big events from happening.”
Tired
of waiting for legislative action on common sense gun laws, Claiborne and
Martin say "we will not wait on politicians to turn death into life."
The beauty of the prophets’ vision is that the people themselves transform
their weapons: "Peace begins with the people of God, who refuse to kill
and beat their weapons into farm tools. We will make violence extinct by
refusing to kill." See https://www.facebook.com/events/996528230540935/.
14] – On Sun., Mar. 10 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, see the
film "Ghost Hunting," hosted by the Baltimore-Palestine
Solidarity at Homewood Friends Meeting, 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore
21218. Watch a trailer: https://www.akkafilms.ch/en/ghost-hunting-3/.
For more than 25 years, one image has been haunting director Raed Andoni – that
of a boy (18), head covered with a bag and handcuffed, sitting inside a prison
yard. The same sounds always accompany this image: metal doors opening and
footsteps slowly approaching. Through the lower part of the bag, the boy can
see a man wearing white sneakers walking away. A survivor of the prison
experience himself, Raed has fragmented memories that he can’t distinguish as
real or imaginary. In order to confront the ghost that haunts him, he
decides to rebuild the Al-Moscobiya investigation center in an empty warehouse
near Ramallah. A casting call for former prisoners results in an eclectic group
of construction workers, a blacksmith, an architect and an artist. As they
build a copy of their former jail based on their own memories, Raed digs deep
into their memories, triggered by reenactments and roleplaying. For this
purpose, he focuses on the story of Mohammad (50), whom the resistance to the
investigation methods – stoked by laughter and rebellion – made him a hero
among Palestinians.
The
film will be followed by a brief discussion. Homemade Arabic food will be
available before and after the film. The suggested donation is $5. No one
will be turned away for lack of funds. Note this warning: this film
reenacts trauma and torture experienced by Palestinians in Israeli prisons. See
https://www.facebook.com/events/306431326686129/.
15]
– 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 Mar. 11, 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 begin at 8 AM. No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds.
Restrooms are located inside Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S.
Fern and Army Navy Dr.
To
be continued.
"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
