Talking Circle, Poor People’s Campaign, Resist Militarism, Elmwood Festival of the Arts and More!

Written by Victoria Ross on August 23, 2018. Posted in Talking Peace News

716-332-3904 716-931-3520 8/23/18

Dear Friends,

Please join us in sending healing thoughts and prayers for Jack Kanack, the Weather Medic, producer of our Talking Peace radio show (Mondays 1-4pm, WBNY 91.3FM), winner of the Stellar Journalism Award and the Peace Education Award last year. Jack is in the Gates Cardio-Vascular ICU after having a major heart attack on Monday (luckily he’d already checked himself in on Sunday due to warning symptoms).

Besides all his radio work, weather forecasting, work and support for the WNY Peace Center (especially the Environmental Justice Taskforce), organizing for American Meteorological Society, etc., Jack is the primary (read one-and-only) caregiver for his mother. Jack has worked way too hard for way too long!

We need to take care of ourselves as we go along, making sure not to go too flat out so we maintain our health and balance for the long haul. That’s not selfish, that’s needed for the good of all. And yes, in the face of dire and compelling issues!

Besides being a fresh reminder about pacing ourselves, this and Frank’s passing are also reminders about loving and caring for each other here and now. Which is why we’re doing the work in the first place. Full circle.

* Many thanks – Nya weh – to the 150 or so who came out for the Indigenous Peoples Day on Thursday, August 9. It was inspiring. We work for the 7th Generation while we appreciate each other and the Creation here and now. As always, there are a lot of events this week, including the regular Wednesday vigil today at the Erie County Holding Center, 4-5:30pm, where the National Prison Strike Aug 21-Sep 9 is being publicized. Please come out (with signs if possible).

Today is even busier, with choices to be made:

– 5-6pm Regular Thurs Vigil to Stop ICE Terror; Delaware & Chippewa, Buffalo;

– 5-7pm Talking Circle led by Agnes Williams, Seneca, Indigenous Women’s Initiative at NACS, 1005 Grant St, Buffalo;

– 6-7:30pm Poor People’s Campaign – WNY Steering Meeting, WNYPC/NRC Bldg, 1272 Delaware Ave, Buffalo (entrance & pkg round back of building);

– 6-7:30pm Resist Militarism! Taskforce/ Veterans for Peace #128 joint meeting; Niagara Porter Public Library, Niagara & Porter Sts, Buffalo.

– 6-7:30pm Environmental Racism Workshop; PUSH, School #77, 429 Plymouth Ave; Puerto Rico is an example of environmental racism – one year later and people are still suffering.

Also, don’t forget to come find us at the Elmwood Festival of the Arts this Sat/Sun, either:

– our WNY Peace Center table at Elmwood 810-814, by Cultural Row (Spot 38);

– our WNYPC Environmental Justice Taskforce table, shared with WNY Drilling Defense; at Elmwood between Lafayette and Lancaster;

– our PeaceJam at 3pm on Saturday at the Kids’ Tent, for drumming, dancing, and dynamic social change for young people.

And please put both the

– Sept 8 Rise Up for Climate Jobs & Justice, 12:30-4pm at Canalside; and

– Sept 20 Peace Justice Nonviolence Festival, 5:30pm (tbd Niagara Sq)

on your calendar. We must #UnitetheStruggles. The time is now, and we are the people we’ve been waiting for. Crisis = Opportunity.

See more at wnypeace.org – either our calendar for more details and events, or the rest of the weekly update 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

Talking Circle

August 23 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

At NACS, 1005 Grant St. Come join with Indigenous Women’s Initiatives organizer/coordinator Agnes Williams, Seneca, for smudging, conversation, and thanks-giving. And our minds will be one.

Poor People’s Campaign Steering Committee Mtg

August 23 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

At 1272 Delaware Ave, Buffalo 14209 (entrance & pkg round back of bldg). Planning meeting for next steps, including voter registration drive, and local responses to statewide and national planning. Also applying for the People’s Assembly which is coming up from October 14-16th (The Assembly will determine the statewide strategy for the Poor People’s Campaign […]

Resist Militarism! Taskforce Mtg

August 23 @ 6:15 pm – 7:30 pm

At the Niagara Porter Library (cnr Niagara & Porter Sts, Buffalo). Come help us plan our trip to the World Beyond War Conference in Toronto, working to stop war crime against Yemen, more.

Elmwood Festival of the Arts

August 25-26 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Come find us tabling on Elmwood near Cultural Row (@ Breckinridge) and/or at our WNYPC Environmental Justice Taskforce table on Environmental Row. We’ll also be at the Kids’ Tent to lead a PeaceJam at 3pm – please bring your children on out for inspiration, education, and action!!

Justice for Migrant Families work party

August 26 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Sunday, August 26 2-4pm, “Rocktivism!” #JFMFrocks a campaign to bring awareness about our organization and undocumented issues in WNY. We hope you will join us at 50 Greenwood Place (garage) to wash and paint rocks, and take rocks home to start planting around the city! Visit the Facebook event page for more info https://www.facebook.com/events/1811575942224090/?notif_t=plan_user_joined&notif_id=1534207807453505

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TASKFORCES

Economic Justice Taskforce

EDUCATION & HUMAN RIGHTS TASKFORCE

PeaceJam at Elmwood Festival

Sat, August 25, 3pm. Come on out with children and youth for a special PeaceJam session at the Elmwood Festival For the Arts. The session, held at the Kids’ Tent, will include a drum circle, as well as inspiration, education and action.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TASKFORCE

No Nuclear Waste over the Peace Bridge

Aug 24 and every Friday @ 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.
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Note: Save the Date – Sept 8 for a big Climate Justice Event!!

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

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

Vigil for Victims of ICE Terror
Thursdays, 5-6pm, ICE building on the corner of Delaware and Chippewa. Bring your signs and spirit of Solidarity. We will not stay silent! #EndICETerror #FamiliesBelongTogether #AbolishICE

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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.

LATIN AMERICAN SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE (LASC)

Venezuela Sanctions Petition

After the attempted assassination of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, your help is requested. Please sign the petition to end US and Canadian sanctions: https://afgj.salsalabs.org/campaigntoendusandcanadasanctionsagainstvenezuela/index.html. The civilians and general populations are the ones to pay for this kind of foreign policy. The US government needs to stop penalizing the common people and destabilizing other countries. Please sign and share. Many thanks to Shontae Cannon-Buckley for her work on this issue!

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

*
PRISONER’S RIGHTS TASKFORCE

Wednesdays 4-5:30pm 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

RACIAL JUSTICE TASKFORCE

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.

RESIST MILITARISM! TASKFORCE

Know about the King’s Bay Plowshares? 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.
–support House Resolution 922 to define presidential wars not declared by Congress as impeachable offenses. These wars include wars of co-belligerency such as the US role in the atrocities in Yemen.

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!

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REGULARLY SCHEDULED EVENTS in the One Movement, One Struggle

Riverside-Salem UCC/DC – Progressive program followed by potluck. Sundays, 4-7pm. Environmental Cottage, 3449 West River Road, Grand Island. Session on Bob Dylan.

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
Next meeting 9:15am, Thurs, Sept 6, 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.

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 😉 Special gathering starting at 11am to honor and celebrate Iris Alexander.

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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.
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(Sorry for occasional delays!)

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