Lifeguards needed, Camp Peaceprints; & cu@Celebration4Change! Thurs 7/12

716-332-3904       716-931-3520               7/4/18

Dear Friends,

What a wonderful Families Belong Together Rally & March we had last Saturday! Many thanks to all who supported and participated. An estimated 1,500-2,500 came out, because the City of Good Neighbors will stand up for Humanity over Oppression every time! Si, se puede!

If you want to sign a petition in support, you could sign this one calling on governors to refuse to send the National Guard to militarize the Mexican border.. at https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/dont-let-your-governor.

And as a next step, please plan to join us for the Celebration For Change: a Poor People’s Campaign Event Thurs, July 12, 5:30 til 7:30pm at MLK Park. We’ll celebrate the 40 Days of Action and the many more to come as we #UnitetheStruggles. Music will include a Community Jam Sessions with Ismail & Co, and with the Women’s Resistance Revival Chorus; food (hot dogs and potluck); and great information and inspiration from supporting groups. Voter registration also included, and our #LoveisLove signs will also be on hand as membership gifts.

At the Celebration For Change,  we’re excited that you will also meet our new Assistant Director, Gabrie’l Atchison – a longtime activist and organizer. We are thrilled to have her on board! If you’re associated with a group that wants to cosponsor, that means to publicize and table, just let us know at 332-3904, silverlight143@ymail.com or staceysm@buffalo.edu. You can also join us for a planning meeting on Thursday, July 5, 3:15, at the WNYPC, NRC Bldg, 1272Delaware Ave, Buffalo (entrance & pkg round back behind building). #UnitetheStruggles.

On this 4th of July, let’s remember the message of renowned peace activist, author, and historian Howard Zinnprogressive.org/howard-zinn-s-july-4-wisdom-stands-test-time/?utm_source=THE+PROGRESSIVE+UPDATED+LIST&utm_campaign=579ea26c32-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_03_21_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_194f0c7083-579ea26c32-186688709&mc_cid=5

Also please go to our website to see another July 4th illumination, as well as a number (3) Environmental Justice Taskforce events in the next two days.

Camp Peaceprints is also fast approaching. IF YOU ARE A LIFEGUARD AND ARE WILLING TO WORK 1-2PM ON TUES & THURS, with travel time and expenses also covered, IE, JULY 17, 19, 24, & 26, PLEASE CONTACT US AT 716-931-3520(CALL OR TEXT)!

Lastly don’t forget to sign your 8 to 13 year olds for Camp Peaceprints, now in its 11th year, July 16-27, M-F 10am-3pm; with swimming (4 times); field trips to new Underground Railroad Museum in/and Niagara Falls, as well as Tifft’s Nature Preserve. We’ll also be meeting with Mayor Brown. Sign them up with registration form accessible at wnypeace.org/education&humanrights

Many Thanks, Peace, Solidarity, and yes Love.

Go to wnypeace.org to see our calendar for more details and events! as well as the rest of this post.

And remember to tune in: DEMOCRACY NOW! IS NOW BEING BROADCAST MONDAY-FRIDAY, 8AM-9AM (LIVE) ON WBNY 91.3FM. Hear it over the radio or streaming live at wbny.buffalostate.edu or http://tunein.com/radio/WBNY-913-s27549/.  #UniteTheStruggles  #PowerWITH-NOTPowerOver #LoveisLoveBUF

Below are
– more event listings (see also calendar & facebook page);
– Taskforce items and campaigns; and
– regularly scheduled events – all in that order.
And be sure to go to wnypeace.org/calendar for more event listings – there’s plenty more and additions are frequent! …..

No hate, no fear as we are #StillResisting.  #UnitetheStruggles !

Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love.    #loveisloveBUF   <3

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EVENT LISTINGS

Environmental Justice Taskforce/WNY Drilling Defense Mtg

July 5 @ 6:00pm – 7:30pm

Niagara Branch Library, Niagara/Porter Sts, Buffalo NY Charley Bowman will give an update on the bomb train issue in Upstate NY; make plans for a train-watch; more.

No Nuclear Waste over the Peace Bridge

July 6 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Join us every Friday from 2 PM to 3 PM at the corner of Busti Ave and Vermont St. in Buffalo NY. Vigil against the shipment of high level LIQUID radioactive spent fuel from Chalk River Ontario to Aiken South Carolina. If any of it spills out, it will be next to impossible to clean.

Vigil for the Victims of the Lac Megantic Rail Disaster

July 6 @ 7:00 pm

LASC fundraiser: 3 Saturdays in July

July 14 ; 21, and 28 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

LASC fundraisers for three successive Saturdays in July at local homes!

Honoring the memory of Father Joseph Bissonette, a strong fighter for a just U.S. policy towards Latin America, and we’ll be encouraging you to donate to the funds that LASC channels to organizations aiding people in need in Latin American countries.

Three weeks of opportunities to hang out with people who share your interests in a friends back yards with informal discussion and information on LASC projects; and you can stay for an educational film, with strong echoes in and relevance to contemporary issues.

July 14 at home of Gigi Hetzner, 67 Lancaster Ave. (Strawberry and Chocolate)

July 21 at home of Terry & Mary Bisson, 372 Voorhees Ave. (El Norte)

July 28 at home of Maxine Insera, 74 Wellington Rd. (Missing)

Bring a lawn chair if you can. Some basic snacks and drinks will be available, but bring your own contributions if you can.

 

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TASKFORCES

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EDUCATION & HUMAN RIGHTS TASKFORCE

CAMP PEACEPRINTS 2018, “The Language of Peace”

M-F July 16 – July 27 @ 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Note: IF YOU ARE A LIFEGUARD AND ARE WILLING TO WORK 1-2PM ON TUES & THURS, IE, JULY 17, 19, 24, & 26, PLEASE CONTACT US AT 716-931-3520 (CALL OR TEXT)!

Announcing the eleventh annual Camp Peaceprints, brought to you by the Interfaith Peace Network, the SSJ Sister Karen Klimczak Center for Nonviolence, and the WNY Peace Center. The Camp, for youth ages 8 to 13, provides exposure to a diverse community while introducing and exploring communication, social justice issues, peaceful conflict resolution – and did we say swimming (4x), field trips (2x), and learning signing? At St. Mary’s School for the Deaf, 2253 Main St.

We learn how to listen, express ourselves, cooperate, deal with feelings, and problem-solve; as well as exploring and hopefully being inspired toward Nonviolence. Students from St. Mary’s School for the Deaf will join us in camp activities and teach us American Sign Language, sharing their universal language of peace with the entire Camp Peaceprints community. We’ll have wonderful guest presenters – activists and artists from the Buffalo area. We’ll also play games, have recreation (yes swimming!), do art projects and go on field trips.

Registration is $125 per week (discount $240 for the two-week period), with sliding scale and scholarships available. For registration forms and further info, please go to sisterkarencenter.org or click here–>  CPP18+Registration+and+Consent (3).

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASKFORCE

Environmental Justice Taskforce/WNY Drilling Defense Mtg

July 5 @ 6:00pm – 7:30pm

Niagara Branch Library, Niagara/Porter Sts, Buffalo NY Charley Bowman will give an update on the bomb train issue in Upstate NY; make plans for a train-watch; more.

No Nuclear Waste over the Peace Bridge

July 6 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Join us every Friday from 2 PM to 3 PM at the corner of Busti Ave and Vermont St. in Buffalo NY. Vigil against the shipment of high level LIQUID radioactive spent fuel from Chalk River Ontario to Aiken South Carolina. If any of it spills out, it will be next to impossible to clean.

Vigil for the Victims of the Lac Megantic Rail Disaster

July 6 @ 7:00 pm

Bidwell and Elmwood Ave in Buffalo NY. Five years ago, 47 people lost their lives when a Bakken oil train derailed in downtown Lac Megantic Quebec. In addition to the loss of lives, the downtown infrastructure was essentially destroyed. We will read the names of the victims as we do each year at this time.

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Action Alert re Stone Dam Road Pipeline: go to wnypeace.org/environmental-justice/

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GENDER JUSTICE TASKFORCE

If you believe that discrimination against all women should be eliminated, please support enacting the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in the city of Buffalo. Follow this link for more information: https://cities4cedaw-buffalo.org/ and contact your district’s councilperson to urge them to support this ordinance too.
Darius G. Pridgen- Ellicott District- 716-851-4980
Christopher P. Scanlon- South District- 716-851-5169
David A. Rivera- Niagara District- 716-851-5125
Joel P. Feroleto- Delaware District- 716-851-5155
Richard A. Fontana- Lovejoy District- 716-851- 5151
David A. Franczyk- Fillmore District- 716-851-4138
Joseph Golombek, Jr.- North District- 716-851-5116
Ulysees O. Wingo, Sr.- Masten District- 716-851-5145
Rasheed Wyatt- University District- 716-851-5165
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IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE JUSTICE TASKFORCE

Calls are still needed to your NYS Assembly Members to ask them to support NYS ASSEMBLY Bill #4050. IF SEAN RYAN IS YOUR ASSEMBLYPERSON, PLEASE CALL HIM! 716-885-9630! ALSO CO CLERK MICKEY KEARNS (716) 858-8785.

The GreenLight NY program restores access to drivers’ licenses to all community members, to avoid abusive immigration enforcement.  For more info, please come out to above mentioned event, or go to
https://www.facebook.com/GreenLightNY/; Green Light Petition

Vive la Casa, shelter for people awaiting documents and/or sanctuary, still desperately needs personal hygiene products and of course, CASH.
jrchc.org/vive
(Checks to Jericho Road/VIVE) 50 Wyoming St., Buffalo, NY 14211, 892-4354.

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LATIN AMERICAN SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE (LASC)

LASC fundraiser: 3 Saturdays in July

July 14 ; 21, and 28 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

LASC fundraisers for three successive Saturdays in July at local homes!

Honoring the memory of Father Joseph Bissonette, a strong fighter for a just U.S. policy towards Latin America, and we’ll be encouraging you to donate to the funds that LASC channels to organizations aiding people in need in Latin American countries.

Three weeks of opportunities to hang out with people who share your interests in a friends back yards with informal discussion and information on LASC projects; and you can stay for an educational film, with strong echoes in and relevance to contemporary issues.

July 14 at home of Gigi Hetzner, 67 Lancaster Ave. (Strawberry and Chocolate)

July 21 at home of Terry & Mary Bisson, 372 Voorhees Ave. (El Norte)

July 28 at home of Maxine Insera, 74 Wellington Rd. (Missing)

Bring a lawn chair if you can. Some basic snacks and drinks will be available, but bring your own contributions if you can.

 

Stand with Sen. Sanders: Rebuild Puerto Rico
The situation is still dire in Puerto Rico. Please go to the link below to see what you can do to Stand with Puerto Rico (and Sen Sanders).
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/sanders_puerto_rico?t=8&akid=26241%2E8770573%2Evra5l7

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As you know, people desperately need our help because of the continuing devastation caused by “natural” disasters (read fossil-fuel-burning-generated Climate Catastrophe) as well as other factors. You can contribute as follows:
Puerto Rico—Go to hispanicheritagewny.org for a full report on ways to help.
We also recommend:

Mutual Aid Community Soup Kitchens Paypal address:  cdpecpr@gmail.com run by Giovanni Roberto, friend of MaryAnne Grady Flores (UpstateDroneAction.org and Puerto Rico activist].

The Mariafund.org is another fund governed by many grassroots community groups.
Cuba—Alliance for Global Justice/Irma Relief, 418 W. 145th St.. New York, NY 10031 (for tax deductible). Not tax deductible, IFCO/Irma Relief (same address) Phone: 212-926-5757                   Please give generously – the situations continue to be terrible for many!!

Chenalhó, Chiapas—Humanitarian crisis
This article in the National Catholic reporter gives a brief overview of the situation.
https://www.ncronline.org/news/world/enough-deaths-mexican-clergy-reiterate-chiapas-crisis

If you would like to help, go to weaving-for-justice.org

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PRISONER’S RIGHTS TASKFORCE

Wednesdays 4-5pm protest/vigils at the Erie County Holding Center (Delaware & Church). All are welcome. Please bring signs.

Please join us in promoting the H.A.L.T. Solitary Confinement campaign. Please call your State Senators and ask them to cosponsor and vote for the bills S. 4784. (You can also thank the representatives who passed it in the Assembly!)
Other Ways you can help:

Sign the petition to support the HALT Solitary Confinement Act: https://goo.gl/HLwqbK

Encourage your organization to endorse the HALT Solitary Confinement Act: https://goo.gl/forms/FM2F6DZAcPZp1co32

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RACIAL JUSTICE TASKFORCE

Racial Justice Taskforce Mtg

July 22 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Please join us at the WNY Peace Center (NRC Bldg, 1272 Delaware Ave; entrance & pkg round back of bldg) to work on: racism and harassment in Kenmore Public Schools/township(?); getting coverage of the Community Police District meetings (5 districts, monthly); petition to name new police headquarters for Officer Edward Obertean (killed working to stop the KKK).

 

THE CARIOL HORNE WHISTLEBLOWER FUND
The Western New York Peace Center has created a fund for the purpose of supporting police officers who face reprisals from their department from choosing to strictly uphold their oath to protect and serve the community.  gofundme.com/cariol-horne-whistleblower-fund. The Peace Center has named this fund after Cariol Horne who saved the life of a citizen, but was fired just prior to earning her 20-year pension.  Our goal is to encourage good police officers in following their moral conscience if and when it conflicts with the infamous blue wall of silence.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_wall_of_silence
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Join the #BuffaloLLEP movement. It’s easy.

Join the hundreds of Buffalonians who make up the #BuffaloLLEP movement, asking Mayor Byron Brown to make low-level marijuana arrests Buffalo’s lowest level enforcement priority (LLEP).
People across the U.S. recognize what a destructive failure the 40-year “war on drugs” has been. In Buffalo, the news hasn’t sunken in yet, though, as those living in communities of color & low-income areas are still disproportionately targeted by law enforcement for marijuana arrests. Join the #BuffaloLLEP movement to stop these unfair & harmful enforcement tactics!
Learn more.
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Each Police District has a Chief and Community Police Meeting. We encourage people to go to them and communicate freely on issues of concern. See wnypeace.org calendar for listings, and/or call your District and ask when & where the next Chief and Community Police Meeting will be held.

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RESIST MILITARISM! TASKFORCE

Know about the King’s Bay Plowshares? Seven (7) courageous and compassionate Catholic Workers who went to largest submarine base in the world – Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in St. Mary’s, Georgia on April 4th, 2018.  They went to make real the prophet Isaiah’s command to “beat swords into plowshares”. Read their story at https://www.kingsbayplowshares7.org/  . Donate, help us organize on their behalf, and agitate and pray for their acquittal. They face very serious charges of up to a decade of prison time, just for reminding our government of the illegal and foolhardy nature of our nuclear weaponry.

Please call your Senators and Congresspersons to urge them to vote in favor and cosponsor if possible Senator Markey’s Bill # 200 and House Bill, Rep Lieu # 669, to Restrict First Strike with Nuclear Weapons.

If you’d prefer to send an email to your senators, you can do so here.

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Our tax dollars are funding massive civilian casualties and the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The U.S. military is providing midair refueling to warplanes, sharing intelligence for targeting assistance, and selling U.S. bombs to the aggressors. U.S.-supported airstrikes target schools, hospitals, and water and sanitation infrastructure. As a result, millions of Yemeni people are on the brink of starvation and are facing the fastest-growing cholera crisis ever documented.

Every day that the war on Yemen continues, America is complicit in aiding war crimes. Call your U.S. Senators today at 1-833-786-7927 and urge them to stop fueling war on Yemen!

Please let us know if you’d like to be involved with our Infringement Festival activities which will be focused on Yemen. We’d love to have your help. Please call Russell Brown 716-570-5200 or email Marie Schuster mariemschuster@gmail.com.

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REGULARLY SCHEDULED EVENTS in the One Movement, One Struggle

Riverside-Salem UCC/DC Sunday. Progressive program followed by potluck. Sundays, 4-7pm. Environmental Cottage, 3449 West River Road, Grand Island. All are Welcome!

Talking Peace with the WNY Peace Center Radio Show on 91.3FM, WBNY. Mondays, 1-4pm. Call-in show! Go to wbny.buffalostate.edu or http://tunein.com/radio/WBNY-913-s27549/.

Buffalo Supports Standing Rock Water Protectors/Nekanesakt. Indigenous support group/allies. 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month, 6:30-8pm. At Burning Books, 420 CT Ave. All are welcome!!

Prisoners’ Rights Taskforce. Wednesdays 4-5pm protest/vigils at the Erie County Holding Center (Delaware & Church). All are welcome. Please bring signs.

Interfaith Peace Network
On hiatus in July. Next meeting 9am, Thurs, Aug 2, at NRC, 1272 Delaware Ave, Buffalo NY 14209 (entrance and parking round back).

Environmental Justice Taskforce
Vigil to Protest the Shipments of VERY Dangerous Radioactive Liquid from Canada coming over the Peace Bridge. Fridays 2-3pm, Front Park at Vermont & Busti, Buffalo. Sign welcome and also usually available.

Fridays – 1st and 3rd of the month; 6pm: Stop The Violence Coalition,
United Way Building, Delaware and Summer Sts. NO MTG on 7/15.

Saturdays, Noon-1pm: Women In Black. Nonviolence vigil, Bidwell and Elmwood. Signs also available. (and you don’t need to be a woman or dress in black 😉

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More listings on website (wnypeace.org) and in previous email posts.
To subscribe, write to weeklynews@wnypeace.org with “subscribe” in subject line.
To unsubscribe, write to weeklynews@wnypeace.org with “unsubscribe” in subject line.

(Sorry for occasional delays!)

Please submit possible listings for consideration to weeklynews@wnypeace.org.
Many thanks, peace, solidarity, and yes – Love. We shall overcome!!