Sunday, February 7, 2016

Baltimore Activist Alert - February 9 - 10, 2016

27] Support migrant farm workers – Feb. 9
28] Hunt for WMDs – Feb. 9
29] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – Feb. 9
30] Protest JHU drone research – Feb. 9
31] Select labor films – Feb. 9
32] ‘A Boy’s Life in the Age of Mass Incarceration” – Feb. 9
33] Play PRAY FOR THE DEAD – Feb. 9
34] The Right to the City – Feb. 9
35] As Wednesday service at the White Hose – Feb. 10
36] What’s next with Iran? – Feb. 10
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27] – Get over to 4518 14th St. NW, WDC, on Tues., Feb. 9 from 3 to 7:30 PM to hear about the organizing of the migrant farm workers who pick the berries for Sakuma Brothers Berry Farm in Skagit County, Washington, one of the largest berry companies in the U.S. In the summer of 2013, the farm workers at Sakuma went on strike and formed a union, Familias Unidas por la Justicia (United Families for Justice). They continue the fight to end systematic wage theft, racist abuse in the fields and inhumane housing conditions. They want a higher wage, health insurance, and respect on the job. There is a boycott of Sakuma, Driscoll's berries and Haagen-Dazs until the labor dispute is resolved and the workers have a contract recognizing their union. Contact DC IWW at dc.iww.gmb@gmail.com or 202-431-7454.

28] – On Tues., Feb. 9 from 3:30 to 5 PM, Christopher Chivers, New York Times, will tackle "ISIS' Hunt for WMDs: Navigating the Nuclear Underworld" at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW, WDC 20036. RSVP at http://csis.org/event/isis-hunt-wmds-navigating-nuclear-underworld-cj-chivers. Call Sarah Minot at (202) 741-3878.

29] – 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 Feb. 9.  Call 215-426-0364.

30] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. join this ongoing vigil on Feb. 9  from 5:30 to 6:30  PM.  Call Max at 410-366-1637.

31] – On Tues., Feb. 9 from 6 to 8 PM at Busboys and Poets, 235 Carroll St. NW, WDC, help decide what films are shown at this year’s DC Labor FilmFest! They’ll screen and discuss trailers for films under consideration, including "Hard Labor", "Sherpa," "Waydowntown" and more. Delicious food and drink will be available for purchase and all participants will receive a LaborFest t-shirt! Go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dc-labor-filmfest-previews-tickets-21261130614.

32] – There is a book talk about “Slugg: A Boy’s Life in the Age of Mass Incarceration” with author Tony Lewis Jr. at The Potter's House, 1658 Columbia Road NW, WDC, on Tues., Feb. 9 from 7 to 9 PM.  The book is a blueprint for survival and a demonstration of the power of love, sacrifice, and service. The son of a Kingpin and the prince of a close-knit crime family, Tony Lewis Jr.'s life took a dramatic turn after his father's arrest in 1989. Washington D.C. stood as the murder capital of the country and Lewis was cast into the heart of the struggle, from a life of stability and riches to one of chaos and poverty. How does one make it in America, battling the breakdown of families, the plague of premature death and the hopelessness of being reviled, isolated, and forgotten? Lewis' astonishing journey answers these questions and offers, for the first time, a close look at the familial residue of America's historic program of mass incarceration. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/852978711468137/.

33] – Come to the Theater-on-the-run, 3700 S. Four Mile Run Dr., Arlington, VA, on Tues., Feb. 9 at 7:30 PM for the FIRST DRAFT Reading Series which will present a brand new musical--PRAY FOR THE DEAD by Gene Bruskin with music by Gene Bruskin and Tom Smerling.  It is a musical tale of morgues, moguls and mutiny in the best of 'strike play' traditions. Think Sweeney Todd meets Norma Rae in this dark comedy about despairing morgue workers facing collective calamity. PRAY FOR THE DEAD was developed through FIRST DRAFT and will be directed by FD Artistic Associate Richard C. Washer. ENJOY FREE ADMISSION! It's a truism that organizers never really retire and Bruskin proves it. After retiring in 2012 following a 37-year career as a union organizer, he has now written a play. Visit http://www.firstdraft.org/tickets.html.

34] –   On Tues., Feb. 9 at 7:30 PM come to Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201, for The Right to the City: What it Takes to Win. In 2007 a hundred organizers met in L.A. to join forces against displacement and inequality and created the Right to the City Alliance.  Since then, while their members have suffered through a financial crisis, skyrocketing rents, and the push of gentrification they have also built a wider and stronger national movement through the Homes for All Campaign.

Hear Right to the City’s Tony Romano and Gilda Haas talk about what the Right to the City means, how we can win it, and why building this movement requires us all to embrace more creative and horizontal models and methods of organizing. The talk is co-sponsored by the Graduate Studies program at Maryland Institute College of Art. Call 443-602-7585.  Go to http://www.redemmas.org.

35] –Join an Ash Wednesday Prayer Service of Repentance at the White House on Feb. 10 from noon to 1 PM on the north side on Pennsylvania Ave. "The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel." (Mk.1:15)

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. Lent is a time for personal and societal repentance, a time for radical conversion, renewal and transformation. Living under the brutal occupation of the Roman Empire, Jesus declared: "The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel." (Mk.1:15) Living in the U.S. Empire, which is responsible for so much needless death and suffering in our world, we need to heed Jesus' proclamation now more than ever.

On Ash Wednesday people from the faith-based peace and justice community in the D.C. area will hold a prayer service in front of the White House to call for repentance and conversion of ourselves, our society and our churches to the Gospel way of justice, nonviolence and a reverence for all life and creation. Seeking to eradicate what Martin Luther King, Jr. called the triple evils of poverty, racism and militarism, we call for an end to corporate domination and systemic exploitation and discrimination; debt forgiveness for poor countries, justice for the poor and all immigrants; an end to torture, indefinite detention and the mass incarceration complex; and for the abolition of war and the conversion of our war-based economy to one centered on serving the common good, alleviating poverty and protecting the earth. We commit ourselves to ending all forms of racial hatred and profiling, and demand accountability for those responsible for acts of violence, especially with respect to the killing of so many blacks by white police. 

During this Lent, we are also mindful of the imperative to be people of mercy, as Pope Francis has declared in this Jubilee Year of Mercy. We, therefore, call on the U.S. to embrace a spirit of mercy and repent for the violence, death and suffering that it has inflicted on other countries, most recently in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Libya. We also call on the U.S. to reject the way of revenge and retaliation as a response to conflict and to find ways to make peace with the Islamic State instead of bombing them. We call, too, on the U.S. to halt all arms sales worldwide and to demand an end to Israel's illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. And we call for the closure of the nearly 1,000 U.S. military bases worldwide, including new bases being constructed in Jeju Island and Okinawa.

As the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist has now moved the doomsday clock to three minutes to midnight, because climate change and the danger of nuclear war pose an ever-growing threat to civilization and are bringing the world closer to doomsday, we call for urgent action to be taken to end the climate crisis, safeguard the environment and abolish all nuclear weapons. We call, too, for an end to all U.S. military intervention worldwide, for an end to the U.S. militarization of space, and for the elimination of all weapons--from guns to killer drones. Ashes will be blessed and distributed. Contact Art Laffin of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker at artlaffin@hotmail.com.

36] – On Wed., Feb. 10 at 5:15 PM, Joseph Cirincione, Ploughshares Fund, will discuss "What’s Next with Iran? The Future of Its Weapons Program and of Its Relations with the West" at the World Trade Center Baltimore, 401 E. Pratt St. RSVP to the BALTIMORE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Members get in free of charge.  A guest of a member pays $10.  The cost for a non-member is $25.

The deal with Iran is truly historic; and questionable as to whether it will be kept, whether it will modify Iran’s foreign policy in any way, whether released funds will abet an expansionist policy pointing toward Iran becoming a regional hegemon, whether it will lead to a long-term U.S.-Iran accommodation and to the United States abandoning its present relationships in the region, and whether it may transform national relationships toward a more cooperative and peaceful order.  These and other elemental questions of politics and policies are lodged within the discussion of the Iran deal.  We are extraordinarily fortunate to be joined by a highly regarded authority who, over the past half dozen years, has been immersed in consideration of the process, policies and theoretical aspects of the extraordinary diplomatic effort.

Mr. Cirincione has served as Vice President for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress and Director for Non-Proliferation and International Security at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  He has been President of Ploughshares Fund since 2008; and teaches at the graduate school of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.  Email info@bcfausa.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 

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