Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Baltimore Activist Alert - Part 4

 

61] March for Homeless Services – May 10

62] A tour of life – May 10

63] Military budget review – May 10

64] Rally to end fossil fuels subsidies – May 10

65] Walt will deliver a lecture – May 10

66] Smart Growth discussion – May 10

67] Moveable Feast – May 10

68] Amazon Watch benefit – May 10

69] Hunks in Trunks – May 10

70] Bernice King at Busboys – May 10

71] El Grupo performs – May 10 & 11

72] Just Peace in Palestine-Israel – May 10

73] Avert climate chaos – May 10 & 11

74] Sponsors needed for Theater of the Oppressed – May 12

75] Job with SOA Watch

76] HELP MAKE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!  

77] Sign up with Washington Peace Center

78] Join Fund Our Communities 

79] Submit articles to Indypendent Reader 

80] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records

81] Do you need a television and/or a computer?

82] Join Global Zero campaign

83] War Is Not the Answer signs for sale

84] Click on The Hunger Site 

85] Fire & Faith  

86] Join Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil

------

61] – There is a March for Homeless Services on Thurs., May 10 from 9 to 10 AM starting at CCNV Shelter, 2nd & D St. NW, WDC.    SHARC (Shelter, Housing and Real Change) is organizing the march that will culminate by joining the "A Day in the Strife" tour. With a $7 million cut to homeless services funding proposed, shelters are at great risk and some may close.  Help say no to the cuts.  Call Janelle Treibitz, campaign organizer for the Fair Budget Coalition, at 646-734-6705. Email MakeOneCityPossible@gmail.com.

62]   A DAY IN THE STRIFE: A Tour of Life on the Poverty Line is happening on Thurs., May 10 from 10 AM to noon at the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC.  Lunch will be provided. Bring your ID to enter the building. Over the last few years the Mayor and DC Council have cut funding to safety net programs like affordable housing, homeless services, TANF, Child Care and more. This year millions more in cuts to these programs are on the chopping block. Meanwhile, DC residents are forced to make impossible choices to make ends meet.

And bring an extra shoe to carry along.  The idea is to ask council members to picture what it's like to walk a mile in your shoes. Call 202-328-1262 or email makeonecitypossible@gmail.com. Visit www.makeonecitypossible.com.

 

63] – On Thurs., May 10 from 10 to 11:30 AM, Steven Kull, Program for Public Consultation, Matthew Leatherman, Stimson Center; and Jeffrey Smith, Center for Public Integrity, will tackle "What Kind of Defense Budget Would the American Public Make?" at the Stimson Center, 1111 19th St. NW, 12th Floor, WDC. RSVP https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDBfeUY4U1ZLWW1YTFZTX0ZGZk8wY3c6MQ#gid=0.

 

64] – On Thurs., May 10 from 11:45 to 12:45 PM, join Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) who will introduce a bill that effectively removes subsidies to coal, oil and gas corporations. The bill is designed to stop the $110 billion in taxpayer money the government hands over to fossil fuel companies that pollute our air, water and atmosphere—and the political system.

 

Rally to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies on the East Lawn of the Capitol Building, by the Senate steps. Go to www.350.org.

65] Stephen M. Walt will deliver the Hisham B. Sharabi Memorial Lecture "Deja Vu All Over Again?: Iraq, Iran and the Israel Lobby" on Thurs., May 10 at 12:30 PM at the Palestine Center.  Dr. Walt will address the pressure on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East from the Israel lobby and the real and perceived effects it has had on decisions throughout the current and past presidential administrations.

He is the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he served as Academic Dean from 2002 to 2006. He wrote his latest book "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" with John Mearsheimer in 2007.
  His daily weblog can be found at http://walt.foreignpolicy.com. Go to http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/EventDetails/i/33612/pid/187.

66] – Enjoy a Smart Growth Discussion, as clean water, funding government services and growing smarter are hot issues. Join a discussion on how these issues are linked and may change the way we plan for growth. Speakers include Geoff Anderson, president and CEO of Smart Growth America, David Costello, deputy secretary for Policy and Planning at the Maryland Department of Environment, and Steve Stewart, Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability, Watershed Management and Monitoring Section. The event takes place on Thurs., May 10 from 4:15 to 6:30 PM at the Mt. Washington Club, 5602 Cottonworth Avenue.  The admission price is $10.

 

67] – The BAKING NIGHT AT MOVEABLE FEAST is Thurs., May 10 from 5:45 to 8 PM.   Moveable Feast will be looking for double the usual number of volunteers to bake cookies for those participating in the Ride for the Feast bike ride; please plan on coming out to help this great organization (www.mfeast.org). Let Lisa Alderson know you are coming to Moveable Feast, 901 N. Milton Ave., Baltimore.  Park on the street in front of building, and enter through the door closest to Ashland Street.

 

68] – On Thurs., May 10 from 6 to 8 PM, be at the Inaugural Amazon Watch DC Benefit Celebration.  It takes place at Busboys and Poets, 5th and K Sts. NW.  Amazon Watch founder and executive director Atossa Soltani will offer insights into the current state of the Amazon rainforest and the grassroots struggles to protect the rights of indigenous stewards therein.  There will be a photo exhibition by award-winning conservation photographer Cristina Mittermeier, featuring her breathtaking photos of indigenous communities along Brazil's endangered Xingu River. Celebrate fifteen years of achievements for the people and rainforests of the Amazon and the launch of new initiatives to advance alternatives to large dams in the Brazilian Amazon, secure land rights for indigenous peoples in Peru, and bring clean water to oil affected communities in Ecuador.  RSVP to rsvp@amazonwatch.org.

 

69] – On Thurs., May 10 at 6:30 PM, see Hunks in Trunks, Baltimore's all-male swimsuit fashion show and charity auction at Red Maple, 930 N. Charles St.  The requested donation is $22, and the proceeds benefit Marylanders for Marriage Equality. Call 410-385-0520.

70] – Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., discusses and signs "Desert Rose: The Life and Legacy of Coretta Scott King" on Thurs., May 10 from 6:30 to 7:45 PM at Busboys and Poets, Shirlington, VA.  The book was written by Coretta King's only sister Edythe Scott Bagley, who died shortly after the book was completed.  For Bagley, the book had become a lifelong quest - to tell the story of her sister's rise from rural Alabama to the heights of American history as the wife of civil rights legend, Martin Luther King Jr.

71] – The Puppet Underground will welcome El Grupo de Teatro de las Oprimidas de El Taller A.C. on Thurs., May 10 at 7 PM at the Latin American Youth Center, 1419 Columbia Rd. NW, WDC.  In English, the name of the group is The Workshop, Theater of the Oppressed Group, and it is from Puebla, Mexico.  Its latest tour is Women Opening Borders: A Journey in Equity, Culture and Art.
 
You have two opportunities to see their Forum Theater show, Camino de Esperanza / Esperanza's Passage.  There will be a performance on
Thurs., May 10 at 7 PM at the Latin American Youth Center, 1419 Columbia Rd. NW and another on Fri., May 11 at 8 PM at La Casa, Community of Christ, 3166 Mt. Pleasant St. NW.  There is a request for a donation from $5 to $15 to support the work of El Taller in Puebla
.  Go to http://eltallerporunavidadigna.blogspot.mx.  

72] – The Role of the US Church in Building a Just Peace in Palestine-Israel is to be discussed by Mark Braverman, executive director of Friends of Tent of Nations North America and the author of "Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land," on Thurs., May 10 at 7 PM at the Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Rd. NW, WDC 20009. Call 202-328-0072.

 

73] – Young people from the iMatter Movement are in D.C. demanding federal government action to avert climate catastrophe. House members must co-sponsor the Save Our Climate Act, H.R. 3242 and senators must sponsor companion legislation.  This legislation would levy a carbon tax on fossil fuels in order to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, spur development of alternative energy, protect consumers from rising energy costs, mitigate climate change, and reduce our deficit.

 

On Thurs., May 10 from 8 to 10 PM, there is a reception and film at Bus Boys and Poets, 1025 5th St. NW (at K St), WDC. Support the youth plaintiffs by joining them and their attorneys for an evening of inspiration before the big court hearing. RSVP on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/events/283979068360205/Facebook.

 

On Fri., May 11 at 8:30 AM, rally outside courthouse featuring Youth Activist/Plaintiff Alec Loorz. Attorneys representing Kids vs. Global Warming in the lawsuit Alec L vs. Jackson will argue that the Federal Atmospheric Trust Lawsuit should not be dismissed in U.S. District Court, Courtroom 17, 333 Constitution Ave. NW, WDC.

 

Our Children's Trust explains, "We stand on the brink of human-induced climate catastrophe … it is the duty of the government to protect the resources that are essential for our collective survival and prosperity…. The government has a legal obligation to preserve trust resources and to manage them for the benefit of everyone, not just for the benefit of the wealthy and politically-connected corporations."

In May of 2011, youth with the iMatter Campaign filed lawsuits against their state and federal governments to hold them accountable for their inaction on climate change. The federal lawsuit, led by 17 yr. old Alec Loorz, founder of Kids vs. Global Warming and the iMatter Campaign, asks the courts to compel the Obama Administration to establish comprehensive climate recovery plans.

The first hearing on this case was April 2, when Judge Wilkins allowed the National Association of Manufacturers, and five other industry groups, to join the case as co-defendants with the federal government. The case is now a story of youth, fighting for their future, against the most powerful nation in the world, and the wealthiest industry leaders in the country.

The Motion to Dismiss filed by defendants will be heard in Judge Wilkin's courtroom this Friday. Email Lucy@kvgw.org.

 

74] – On May 12, there will be a free community event held at Latin Palace--a showing of a Theater of the Oppressed play by El Taller's traveling theater group out of Puebla, Mexico.  This Spanish language interactive play will address issues of social justice and feminism.  The organizers of the event are looking for ways to promote community organizations in Baltimore serving Latino audiences.  If you are interested in sponsoring, helping spread the word or holding an information table at our event please contact Laura at lgudgelgriffin@gmail.com.

 

75] – There is a job opening with SOA Watch.  The organization seeks a full-time Operations and Development

Coordinator in the Washington, DC office. Go to http://soaw.org/about-us/employment#Operations.  The candidate should be someone with background dealing with finances, and with a strong commitment to the grassroots movement to close the SOA. See http://SOAW.org/work for the job description, requirements and information on how to apply.

 

76] – HELP MAKE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST! Since a civil war in 1974 the island of Cyprus has been divided in two with a United Nations patrolled border.  Turkish/Muslim Cypriots are in the north; Greek/Christian Cypriots are in the south.  Animosities and prejudices run deep. Children throw rocks at each other across the border.  Experts believe that Cyprus is at a crossroads between renewed conflict or becoming an example in the Middle East of how two such cultures can live in peace.

 

The Cyprus Friendship Program, based on the successful model that helped build peace in Northern Ireland, brings over a Muslim and Christian teen to stay with an American host family for the month of July (or ½ month if paired with another host family). This bonding experience in a neutral environment almost always results in a strong friendship. Programming here and after their return to Cyprus turns them into peace builders who are trained in how to influence their peers.  The teens are chosen for their maturity, leadership potential, and English speaking ability. You choose the gender and age (from 15 to 17). To learn more contact Tom McCarthy at 301-774-7069 or Thomas.McCarthy@RaymondJames.com.

 

This video is only 3 minutes long but gives a good overview of the program. It was made by the US State Department

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8rSmOKgY_4. This video is about 8 minutes, gives more info on some of their activities while here, and was made in part by the teens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egcM0Fnj2YA.  

                                                                                                      

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

 

78] – Fund Our Communities campaign – is a grass roots movement to get support from local organizations and communities to work together with their local and state elected officials to pressure Congresspersons and senators to join with Congresspersons Barney Frank and Ron Paul, who have endorsed a 25% cut to the federal military budget.  Bring home the savings to state and county governments to meet the local needs which are under tremendous budget pressures.  Go to www.OurFunds.org.      

 

79] – The new Indypendent Reader is seeking articles for its web site at http://www.indyreader.org.  Submit an article. 

 

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

 

81] – Can you use a television set and/or a computer, monitor etc.? Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net. 

 

82] – 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.  

 

83] – WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER signs from Friends Committee on National Legislation are again for sale at $5.  To purchase a sign, call Max at 410-366-1637.

 

84] – The Hunger Site was initiated by Mercy Corps and Second Harvest, and is funded entirely by advertisers.  You can go there every day and click the big yellow "Give Food for Free" button near the top of the page; you do not have to look at the ads. Each click generates funding for about 1.1 cups of food.  So consider clicking.  

 

85] – Go online for FIRE AND FAITH: The Catonsville Nine File. On May 17, 1968, nine people entered the Selective Service Offices in Catonsville, Maryland, and burned draft records in protest against the war in Vietnam. View http://www.prattlibrary.org/digital/.

 

86] – 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

No comments: