Baltimore Activist Alert Nov. 8 - 10, 2015

Baltimore Activist Alert Nov. 8 - 10, 2015

"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 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski [at] verizon.net.

1] Books, buttons and stickers

2] Web site for info on federal legislation

3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists  

4] Buy coffee through HoCoFoLa

5] Two friends are looking to buy a house in Baltimore

6] “Manners and Morals" – Nov. 8

7] "Peacemaking, Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament" – Nov. 8

8] Holocaust Survivors Reflect on Genocide in Our Time – Nov. 8

9] Cultural appropriation – Nov. 8

10] Pentagon Vigil – Nov. 9

11] Protest Netanyahu – Nov. 9 - 10

12] Debt collection – Nov. 9

13] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Nov. 9 – Nov. 13

14] Rwanda: Conflict, Justice and Hope – Nov. 9

15] GAZA IN THE NIGHT – Nov. 9

16] Social Justice Writing Workshop – Nov. 9

17] "Nuclear Detonation Effects in an Urban Area" – Nov. 10

18] Fight for Fifteen – Nov. 10

19] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – Nov. 10

20] Colombia’s Peace Process – Nov. 10

21] WPC mailing party – Nov. 10

22] Vigil against JHU’s drone research – Nov. 10

23] PEOPLE MAKE PEACE – Nov. 10

24] Take back democracy – Nov. 10

25] Science Cafe – Nov. 10

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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 410-366-1637.

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 the war in Iraq.

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

THE NOTICES LIST will include only notices of NCNR actions and related information and is open to any interested person to subscribe.  It will be moderated to maintain focus & will include periodic notices about getting involved in NCNR national organizing.  To join the NOTICES List, send an email message to ncnrnotices-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. You will get a confirmation message once subscribed.  If you have problems, please write to the list manager at ncnrnotices-admin@lists.riseup.net.

4] – You can help safeguard human rights and fragile ecosystems through your purchase of HOCOFOLA Café Quetzal. Bags of ground coffee or whole beans can be ordered by mailing in an order form. Also note organic cocoa and sugar are for sale.  For more details and to download the order form, go to http://friendsoflatinamerica.typepad.com/hocofola/2010/02/hocofola-cafe-quetzal-order-form-2010.html. The coffee comes in one-pound bags.

Fill out the form and mail it with a check made out to HOCOFOLA on or before the second week of the month.  Be sure you indicate ground or beans for each type of coffee ordered.  Send it to Francine Sheppard at 5639B, Harpers Farm Rd., Columbia 21044. The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up. Contact Francine at 410-992-7679 or FrancineMSW@aol.com.

5] – Janice and Max are looking to buy a house in Baltimore.  Let Max know if you have any leads—410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at Verizon dot net.

6] – Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St., Suite 102, Baltimore 21201-4661, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion from 10:30 AM to noon. On Nov. 8 the platform address is “Manners and Morals.”  The philosopher and politician Edmund Burke defended manners as fundamental to our ethical lives. He claimed that, “Manners are of more importance than laws. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in.” Is there a connection between the erosion of civility and unethical behavior? What, if anything, does South Park, talk radio, and on-line bullying say about the state of ethics in America? Leader Hugh Taft-Morales tries to explore this without sounding too cranky and old-fashioned. He 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.

7] – On Sun., Nov. 8 from 1:30 to 3:45 PM, Peter Kuznick, American University; Kevin Martin, Peace Action; and Bruce Knotts, United Nations, will address "Peacemaking, Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament" at All Souls Church, 1500 Harvard St. NW, WDC. Melvin Hardy, of the 2020 Vision Campaign / United for Peace and Justice will be moderating. Call 202-332-5266 or go to http://www.nuclearfreefuture.org/events/peacebuilding-nuclear-non-proliferation-and-disarmament/.

8] –  See the play UNEXPLORED INTERIOR: THIS IS RWANDA: THE BEGINNING AND THE END OF THE EARTH by Jay O. Sanders and directed by Derek Goldman in the Atlas Theater, 1333 H St. NE, WDC 20002, through Sun., Nov. 29.  Mosaic Theater launches its inaugural season with a world-premiere epic about the madness and majesty of Rwanda. Raymond, an African film student at NYU enthralled with the mysteries of Alfred Hitchcock, is compelled by a mentor's death to return to Rwanda to uncover a deeper horror story: the roots of violence that have destroyed his family, including his beloved grandfather, a Tutsi master storyteller whose legacy Raymond seeks to redeem. The ghosts of King Leopold and Mark Twain intertwine with other plotlines. Go to https://atlasarts.secure.force.com/ticket#details_a0Si0000007RFegEAG.  Email Mosaic Theater Company of DC at <mosaic@mosaictheater.org>.

 On Sun. Nov 8 following the 4 PM performance, come to a discussion Holocaust Survivors Reflect on Genocide in Our Time In the Lang Theatre.  You can get tickets to this play at https://atlasarts.secure.force.com/ticket/?utm_source=Mosaic+Database&utm_campaign=c4d174056a-10-15-15+V.7+%28gen+pop%29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc7172896e-c4d174056a-98636125#sections_a0Fi000000GxI4GEAV.

9] – Get over to Busboys & Poets, 5th and K Sts., WDC, on Sun., Nov. 8 at 5 PM for performance troupe Chocolate City Burlesque and Cabaret.  The members will discuss cultural appropriation in performance, entertainment, and popular culture. This is a free event, but donations are encouraged to help cover the expense of the event. See https://www.facebook.com/events/1672258632987527/.

10] -- 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 Mon., Nov. 9, 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. 

11] –  Sabeel DC Metro is one of a score of organizations sponsoring one or more of these three events protesting Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to D.C. to get awards and recognition he doesn't deserve. On Mon., Nov. 9 at 9 AM, go to the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC to protest during Netanyahu's meeting with President Obama.

The alleged war criminal has been once again invited to Washington to meet with President Obama and Congressional leaders. Netanyahu is responsible, among other crimes against humanity, for the murderous 2014 assault on Gaza, that took the lives of 2,100 people including 500 children, wounded more than 10,000 and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Netanyahu presides over a racist apartheid system that has jailed, tortured and killed thousands of Palestinians, as Israel confiscates more and more and more Palestinian land every day. All of these crimes are funded by U.S. tax dollars, amounting to more than $3 billion per year. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/913004378775058/.

On Mon., Nov.9 from 5 to 8 PM, gather outside the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW.  Use the Judiciary Square Metro Station--Red Line. Netanyahu is getting an award from the American Enterprise Institute.  Sabeel DC Metro has arranged for dynamic African American clergyman Rev. Graylan Hagler to be one of the speakers. Email jvpdcmetro@gmail.com.

On Tues., Nov. 10 at 8 AM people will gather at the Center for American Progress, 1333 H St. NW. Use the Metro Center Station. Protest the fact that Netanyahu will be speaking at this otherwise liberal-to-progressive think-tank.  Encourage employees to boycott the event. Call 202-332-0994 or email USCAMPAIGN@ENDTHEOCCUPATION.ORG.

12] -- On Mon., Nov. 9 from 9:30 to 11 AM, hear from ProPublica's Paul Kiel and Annie Waldman at New America, 740 15th St. NW, Suite 900, WDC.  They spent a year investigating debt collection in three cities across America, exploring the routine corporate use of lawsuits to pursue millions of people over consumer debts, often as small as a few hundred dollars. What emerged from this investigation—a clear pattern that judgments arising from these suits were massed in black neighborhoods.

Their analysis of five years of court judgments showed that, even accounting for income, the rate of judgments was twice as high in mostly black neighborhoods as it was in mostly white ones. Kiel and Waldman reach beyond simple explanations and point the finger at the complex web woven by generations of discrimination and exclusion that has left black families with a fraction of the wealth held by white families.

Today, the typical black household has a net worth of $11,000, while that of a typical white household has $141,900. This racial wealth gap leaves Americans of color particularly vulnerable in a country with stagnant wages, high levels of debt, rising costs and aggressive collections practices. Please join a panel of experts for a conversation about debt, consumer protection, financial insecurity, the racial wealth gap, and where policy can make a difference. Visit http://newamerica.cvent.com/events/the-color-of-debt-investigating-debt-collection-and-the-racial-wealth-gap/event-summary-594473ed55dd459e869f299dd639aead.aspx?i=4882858e-46b8-4484-a5de-402973e89c8d.

13] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Friday from 10 AM to noon on WEAA 88.9 FM, The Voice of the Community, or online at www.weaa.org.   The call-in number is 410-319-8888, and comments can also be sent by email to steinershow@gmail.com. All shows are also available as podcasts at www.steinershow.org.

14] – See the play UNEXPLORED INTERIOR: THIS IS RWANDA: THE BEGINNING AND THE END OF THE EARTH by Jay O. Sanders and directed by Derek Goldman in the Atlas Theater, 1333 H St. NE, WDC 20002, through Sun., Nov. 29.  Mosaic Theater launches its inaugural season with a world-premiere epic about the madness and majesty of Rwanda. Raymond, an African film student at NYU enthralled with the mysteries of Alfred Hitchcock, is compelled by a mentor's death to return to Rwanda to uncover a deeper horror story: the roots of violence that have destroyed his family, including his beloved grandfather, a Tutsi master storyteller whose legacy Raymond seeks to redeem. The ghosts of King Leopold and Mark Twain intertwine with other plotlines. Go to https://atlasarts.secure.force.com/ticket#details_a0Si0000007RFegEAG.  Email Mosaic Theater Company of DC at <mosaic@mosaictheater.org>.

On Mon. Nov. 9 at noon there will be a talk Rwanda: Conflict, Justice and Hope
at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, featuring playwright Jay O. Sanders and members of the Unexplored Interior cast. You can get tickets to this play at https://atlasarts.secure.force.com/ticket/?utm_source=Mosaic+Database&utm_campaign=c4d174056a-10-15-15+V.7+%28gen+pop%29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc7172896e-c4d174056a-98636125#sections_a0Fi000000GxI4GEAV.

15] – Mads Gilbert will be at the Palestine Center, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC, on Mon., Nov. 9 from 1 to 2 PM. On July 7, 2014, Israel launched a series of aerial attacks on Gaza, followed by the ground phase of the operation ten days later. Gilbert arrived in Gaza on July 13th, and worked day and night for the next two weeks at al-Shifa Hospital, dealing with casualties, repairing serious injuries, and trying to save lives. While helping the wounded, Dr. Gilbert kept a camera in the pocket of his scrubs, enabling him to document some of the human cost paid by the Palestinian people for enduring the Israeli invasion. His “Night in Gaza” is the photo story you will not see on television or in the newspapers. It is also a tribute to the courage, endurance, and almost inconceivably strong spirit of Palestinian health workers and volunteers, a spirit replicated throughout the severely tested society of Gaza.

Gilbert is a medical doctor at the University Hospital of North Norway. Since 1981, he has been going regularly to Palestine as a teacher and emergency care doctor in Palestinian hospitals on behalf of UNWRA, the UN aid agency to Palestinian refugees.  Go to http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/EventDetails/i/54027.

16] – Attend a Social Justice Writing Workshop at the Cove, 1990 K St. NW, WDC, on Mon., Nov. 9 from 6 to 8 PM.  How do you change the way people think and act? In this workshop, there will be discussions on how to write for different audiences (supporters, critics and the uniformed); how to use data and research to build your content; and how to interview people. This class is open to writers of all levels who are interested in creating social change. This will be an intensive writing workshop with in-class writing exercises. Go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/social-justice-writing-workshop-tickets-19223271322.

17] – On Tues., Nov. 10 from noon to 1:30 PM, John Mercier, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, will discuss "Nuclear Detonation Effects in an Urban Area" at Virginia Tech Research Center, 900 N. Glebe Road, Arlington. RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/siren-john-mercier-dnfsb-nuclear-detonation-effects-in-an-urban-area.

18] – See the Peoples' World article-- http://www.peoplesworld.org/rallies-for-15-minimum-wage-to-be-held-nationwide-nov-1/ -- on the importance of these nationwide "Fight for $15" actions on Tuesday. Challenge Amazon at the FIGHT FOR $15 Picket & Press Conference on Tues., Nov. 10 @ 4 PM.  The city and state gave $43 million in tax incentives to Amazon. We got hundreds of temporary jobs with no benefits and no guarantee of full-time employment. We need full-time jobs that pay at least $15 per hour, jobs that help us move ourselves and families forward. Gather at the Amazon Fulfillment Center, 2010 Broening Highway, Baltimore 21224. Go to www.aflcio.org. 

19] – Each Tuesday from 4:30 - 5:30 PM, the Catholic Peace Fellowship-Philadelphia for peace in Afghanistan and Iraq gathers at the Suburban Station, 16th St. & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine.  The next vigil is Nov. 10.  Call 215-426-0364.

20] – Come to 3166 Mt. Pleasant St. NW, WDC, on Tues., Nov. 10 from 6 to 8 PM for a presentation by Colombian agrarian leader Oscar Gutiérrez.  Oscar will talk about Colombia’s Peace Process: Proposals and Concerns of Colombian Farmers.  The event is sponsored by the Colombia Human Rights Committee, United Workers of Washington, DC, and Three Part Harmony Farm. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/959753117414851/.

21] – Help out at the WPC Fun Mailing Party, 1525 Newton St. WDC, on Tues., Nov. 10 from 6:30 to 9 PM. The mailing will go to donors who help sustain the organization and support the larger grassroots movement in D.C.  Meet local activists and get free food! RSVP to Darakshan Raja at Darakshan@washingtonpeacecenter.org.

22] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. Join this ongoing vigil on Nov. 10  from 5:30 to 6:30  PM.  Call Max at 410-366-1637.

23] – At 1658 Columbia Rd. NW, WDC, on Tues., Nov. 10 from 7 to 9 PM, meet the contributors to the book “People Make Peace,”--Alex Hing, Myra MacPherson and John McAuliff. The moderator will be Dr. Robert K. Musil, president and CEO of The Rachel Carson Council, Inc. and Senior Fellow, Adjunct Professor for The Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, School of Public Affairs at the American University.

As young adults in the 1960s and 1970s, the nine people featured in this book—including co-editor Frank Joyce, Rennie Davis, Judy Gumbo, Alex Hing, and others—worked to end the U.S. war in Vietnam. Independently of each other, while the United States was still at war, nearly all of them travelled to North Vietnam, risking physical harm and charges of treason back home. In 2013, they all revisited Vietnam in a trip organized by the editors of this book. See http://pottershousedc.org/event-blog/2015/11/10/people-make-peace-book-event-author-talk.

24] – Take back democracy in Howard County and beyond.  On Tuesday voters in Maine and Seattle overwhelmingly supported fair elections. These voters passed ballot referendums that strengthened small donor matching fund programs for elected officials in their states. We have a chance to move these initiatives right here in Maryland! Join a Howard County TeleTown Hall on Tues., Nov. 9 at 7:30 PM for a conversation about reclaiming our democracy – from Howard County to Congress! Public funding programs give power back to the voters and every day donors like you or me. They leverage your donation and give you the same voice as a wealthy special interest.

In 2014 the Montgomery County Council established a Public Election Fund that will help take big money out of politics and give individual voters a stronger voice. They are on their way to cleaner and fairer elections. Our democracy can be better represented when elected officials are voted into office without special interest money. Howard County can be the next county in Maryland to make this change. On Nov. 9 hear from Congressperson Sarbanes about his federal legislation, and learn about what advocates are doing to advance these reforms right here in Howard County. Register to get your personal call-in information: http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/CC6HR9ETK8IQIJ5.

25] – On Tues., Nov. 10 at 7:30 PM @ Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, catch the Science Cafe: The New Horizons Mission’s Challenging Encounter with the Pluto System.  Mark Holdridge, Pluto Encounter Mission Manager, is the speaker.  He led the overall planning and the navigation to the July 2015 deep space flyby of Pluto by the New Horizons spacecraft built and operated by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Note this is a tiny percentage of the research at the APL.  Most of the research is war-related.

Holdridge will describe the Pluto system, its potential for hazards, the challenges of the mission and how the team overcame those including navigation to Pluto. Call 443-602-7585.  Go to http://www.redemmas.org. 

To be continued.

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/.

"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