Let’s Stop Gun Violence; ECHC Abuse; Militarism in Kashmir – Together!
(photo: by Activists of Buffalo, of March For Our Lives 3/18 – Many Thanks!)
716-332-3904 8/13/19 wnypeace.org
Dear Friends,
We ask for your help in drawing attention to deep injustice and violence in our
society – locally, nationally, and internationally. There are lots of
opportunities this week – so please pace yourself and we’ll see you out there!
Tomorrow, after two more deaths at the Erie County Holding Center (ECHC)
bringing it to 26 during Sheriff Howard’s abominable administration, please
come out at 4:00 (to 5:30pm) to the ECHC facility (at Delaware & Eagle) to
stand up for dramatic change. We’ll be privileged to stand with sister Monica
Lynch whose brother Connell Burrell died in Sheriff’s Dept custody in ECHC.
About 100 people came out last Monday. We need to keep the pressure on.
There are also two rallies to stop gun violence we’re co-organizing:
– Gun Control Rally: Friday, 5pm-6:30pm, at
Niagara Sq. Originated by Ruweyda Salim.
– Recess Rally: Sunday, 2pm-4pm, again at
Niagara Sq. Originated by Moms Demand Action.
The vast majority of the US public wants universal background checks,
elimination of assault rifles, and more. We demand action! Paraphrasing the
Parkland students, no more BS.
We
are thrilled to bring you Dahr Jamail, renown author and reporter, speaking on
his book, The End of Ice, and climate disruption, also this Sunday at 7pm
(-9pm) at Burning Books (420 CT St). He’ll tell the story of his journey his
journey across the world, of the catastrophic reality of our situation, and of
the incalculable necessity of relishing this vulnerable, fragile planet while
we still can.
India has now outdone itself in human rights atrocities in Kashmir! Please sign
the petition http://chng.it/wM9vpdRSYz
Nya weh – Many thanks to the about 100 people who came out for Indigenous Peoples’ Nuclear-Free Future Day. And to the many people working every day on those issues. Yes, we mean you: Agnes, Kelly, Charley, and many more.
There are plenty more events on the website (wnypeace.org) calendar (eg Igniting Hope Conference Fri/Sat; Garvey Community Day Sat; Taste of Cuba BBQ in Fort Erie Canada Sunday, etc), campaigns in the website posts, and info on our facebook page.
Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love.
Events this week:
Talking Peace w/ WNYPC on WBNY 91.3FM
August 5 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Radio Show on 91.3FM, WBNY. Mondays, 1-3pm. Go to wbny.buffalostate.edu to hear streaming online. Today: current events – local, national, and international. Vicki Ross hosting. Call-in show.
ECHC Vigil
August 14 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
At the Erie Co Holding Center, (50 Delaware; between Church & Eagle). Come out to protest the 26 lives lost in the custody of Sheriff Howard’s administration; to stand vigil with Monica Lynch for her brother Connell Burrell who just died after being at the ECHC; to draw attention to the dire need for dramatic change; at the Holding Center and in the Sheriff’s Dept. Cosponsored by Black Love Resists in the Rust. (Also is a weekly vigil of the WNY Peace Center). Please brings signs.
Gun Control Rally
August 16 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
At Niagara Sq (opposite Buffalo City Hall). The United States has the highest gun violence rates than any other developed country yet there is little being done about it. This rally is to educate people on the political structure that allows these massacres to continue happening with little to no change but also educate them them on the gun violence that happens right here in Buffalo. We, as citizens/residents, of the United States have the power to enforce the changes we want.
The goal of this rally is to empower the individuals and bring awareness to the community organizations that are making positive changes in Buffalo. There will be a number guest speaker(s), chants/music, and a small prayer service for those who lost their lives to gun violence. Organized by Ruweyda Salim and the WNY Peace Center.
Recess Rally – Stop Gun Violence
August 18 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Niagara Square, Buffalo. During this congressional recess, we need to remind our legislators that we need them to respond to our dire need to have them enact legislation that will help stop gun violence!! This is Short Notice so Please Help Spread the Word! … and please Wear RED!!! and bring signs.
Dahr Jamail – The End of Ice – Climate Disruption
August 18 @ 7:00 pm
Join us at Burning Books, August 18 at 7 pm to hear Dahr Jamail speak on the emergency nature of climate change and his new book, The End of Ice.
A Taste of Cuba Summer BBQ (Canada)
August 18 @ 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Fort Erie, Canada NPC Pavilion
Enjoy a family social afternoon of Cuban
music, dancing and solidarity. Bring a lawn chair!
Nekanesakt – Friends of the Ekewehwe
Aug 20 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
At Burning Books, 420 Connecticut St. Indigenous peoples’ support group. Nya weh.
We shall overcome #Unitethestruggles
#Loveislove #PowerWITH-NOTPowerOver
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More listings on calendar and in previous email posts.
To subscribe, go to http://wnypeace.org/wp/weekly-news-sign-up/ or 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.
The time is now, and we are the people we’ve
been waiting for.
And remember to tune in: DEMOCRACY NOW! IS
NOW BEING BROADCASTMONDAY-FRIDAY, 8AM-9AM (LIVE) ON WBNY 91.3FM. Hear it over
the radio or streaming live at wbny.buffalostate.edu.
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Below are
– more event listings (see also calendar & facebook page);
– Taskforce items and campaigns; and
– regularly scheduled events – all in that order.
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COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
* ECONOMIC JUSTICE
The WNY PPC meets 2nd Mondays, 6pm at Raqs Solidarity, 322 Amherst St., Buffalo, NY.
Upcoming Events:
Visit us on facebook to stay up to date on events. https://www.facebook.com/wnypoorpeoplescmpgn
The Poor People’s Campaign confronts the four
evils of poverty, racism, militarism, and ecological devastation, as well as
the distorted moral narrative of this country. Stay tuned to the Poor People’s
Campaign online: www.poorpeoplescampaign.org and on facebook (locally,
statewide and nationally): Poor People’s Campaign WNY, NYS Poor People’s
Campaign, Poor People’s Campaign.
* EDUCATION & HUMAN RIGHTS
New York State’s Dignity for All Students Act
(aka DASA or The Dignity Act) seeks to provide the State’s public elementary
and secondary school students with a safe and supportive environment free from
discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying on school
property, a school bus and/or at a school function. More information at:
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/dignityact/
BOE Meetings
Board of Education meetings begin at 5:30 pm and are held in room 801 at City Hall, unless a venue change is previously announced. These sessions are open to the public. A schedule of upcoming board of education meetings can be found at https://www.buffaloschools.org/Page/85931.
More information on Buffalo Public Schools can be found at https://www.buffaloschools.org.
* ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
No Nuclear Waste over the Peace Bridge
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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Action Alert re Stone Dam Road Pipeline: go to wnypeace.org/environmental-justice/
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– NAPL/Northern Access Pipeline (proposed to take fracked gas from PA through WNY) is looming again, as the fossil-fuel-profiteers never give up!! However, si, se puede! SeeNorthern Access Pipeline Information for more info.
* IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE JUSTICE
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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Vive la Casa, shelter for people awaiting documents and/or sanctuary, still desperately needs personal hygiene products and of course, CASH. The recent large influx of refugees has put the facility under real stress. Please give generously.
jrchc.org/vive
(Checks to Jericho Road/VIVE) 50 Wyoming St., Buffalo, NY 14211, 892-4354.
* LATIN AMERICAN SOLIDARITY
Latin American Solidarity Committee website: http://www.lascwny.org/ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/LASC-wny/143873822377380/
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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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Other Latin American Solidarity news:
Invest in the children of farmworkers! A
donor has agreed to match gifts given through Rural and Migrant Ministry board
members through the end of the year. Contact the Rural and Migrant Ministry for
more details. www.ruralmigrantministry.org.
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!
– Cuba—IFCO/Irma Relief (same address) Phone:
212-926-5757. Please give generously – the situations continue to be terrible
for many!!
-Chenalhó, Chiapas—Humanitarian crisis
If you would like to help, go to weaving-for-justice.org
* PRISONERS’ RIGHTS
Wednesdays 4-5:30pm protest/vigils at the Erie County Holding Center (Delaware
& Church). All are welcome. Please bring signs. Special vigil with sister
Monica Lynch this Wednesday.
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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
Monthly meetings announced on our website calendar. Stay tuned.
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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.
We are glad that Mayor Brown has made marijuana arrests the lowest law enforcement priority, so people are no longer being arrested for small amounts of marijuana! Thank you, Mayor Brown!! This will go a long way to improving racial justice!
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!
Resist Militarism! Meetings are 3rd Wednesdays of the month, 5-6:30pm at Niagara Porter Library (at the corner of Niagara & Porter Sts);
(Future dates unless otherwise stated: 8/21,
9/18, 10/16, 11/20, 12/18.)
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India
has now outdone itself in human rights atrocities in Kashmir! Please sign the
petition http://chng.it/wM9vpdRSYz
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Stand Up for Global Peace
The world is facing a 25-year peak in violent conflict. It is the main cause of human suffering today – trapping millions of civilians in conflict and uprooting 66 million people from their homes. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, violence containment costs the world $14.3 trillion each year. There must be another way.
Over the past two years, a coalition of peacebuilding, humanitarian, and faith-based organizations have drafted a bill that would address the root causes of violence and fragility. The resulting legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate as the Global Fragility Act (H.R. 1580/S.727). This bill would require the U.S. government – in collaboration with civil society – to develop a 10 year strategy to enhance stability and to reduce violence and fragility around the world.
We know that too much foreign assistance and Pentagon spending is spent on treating the symptoms of violence instead of its causes. By passing this law, the U.S. will be able to more effectively prevent violence around the world and reduce its enormous cost on families.
Today, hundreds of faith advocates will lift up the Global Fragility Act as part of their lobby day ask for the annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days. It is important for YOU to add your voice as well. Together, we CAN build a more Just and Peaceful World for All! Take action today to support the Global Fragility Act of 2019! https://p2a.co/Mc4rH0c
For more information: Global Fragility Act
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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 athttps://www.kingsbayplowshares7.org/. Also https://www.facebook.com/Kingsbayplowshares/.
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 our Senators and Congresspersons to urge them to make sure that the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act includes the amendments passed by the House to . . .
repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.
prohibit military force in or against Iran.
support an end to the Korean War.
prohibit support to and participation in the war on Yemen.
prohibit the sale of air-to-ground munitions, used in the conflict in Yemen, to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
prohibit funds from the Special Defense Acquisition Fund to aid Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates if such assistance could be used to conduct or continue hostilities in Yemen.
prohibit funding the transfer of weapons to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates under the emergency authority of the Arms Export Control Act.
prohibit funding for missiles noncompliant with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
support extending the New START Treaty, and prohibit the use of funds to withdraw from New START.
require that the U.S. military provide Congress with the cost and the national security benefits of every foreign military base or foreign military operation.
require the EPA to designate all PFAS (chemicals with which military bases poison ground water) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
require the EPA to revise the list of toxic pollutants under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to include PFAS.
prohibit DoD funding to house any foreign nationals who are in the custody of and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
study potential cost savings with respect to the nuclear security enterprise and force structure.
study cost increases for the W80-4 nuclear warhead life extension program and prevent $185 million from being obligated or expended until the study is completed.
prohibit the use of funds for an exhibition or parade of military forces and hardware.
prohibit the use of funds from being obligated or expended at properties owned by the President or that bear his name.
amend the current statutory prohibition on members of Congress contracting with the federal government to include the President, Vice President, and any Cabinet member.
codify a Department of Defense policy to report to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System service members who are prohibited from purchasing firearms.
If you’d prefer to send an email to your senators, please do so.
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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. All are welcome.
Talking Peace with the WNY Peace Center Radio Show on 91.3FM, WBNY. Mondays, 1-3pm. Call-in show! Go to wbny.buffalostate.edu.
Buffalo Nekanesakt. Indigenous support group/allies. 1st & 3rd Tuesdays, 6:30-8pm. At Burning Books, 420 Connecticut Ave. All are welcome!! Reading group for the Great Law of Peace meets on the last Tuesday of the month.
Prisoners’ Rights Taskforce – Wednesdays 4-5:30pm protest/vigils at the Erie County Holding Center (Delaware & Church). All are welcome. Please bring signs.
Resist Militarism! Taskforce – regular monthly planning meeting third Weds of the month, at Niagara Porter Library, 5-6:30pm. Including update re Speaking Verse to Power (Infringement Festival event Aug 2, 4-5pm at El Museo, ), and more.
Interfaith Peace Network, August 8 (ltd summer sched), 9:15am at 1272 Delaware Ave, Buffalo NY 14209 entrance and parking round back.) Breakfast potluck, planning/publicizing, & discussion.
Vigil for Victims of ICE Terror – Thursdays,
5-6pm, ICE building on the corner of (@250) Delaware and Chippewa. Bring your
signs and spirit of Solidarity. We will not stay silent! #EndICETerror
#FamiliesBelongTogether #AbolishICE #CLOSETHECAMPS #NeverAgainIsNow
Buffalo Youth Climate Strike – all are welcome 2-3pm at Niagara Square for a
youth-led rally to stand up for People and the Planet, and radical change to
mitigate and avert climate catastrophe. Bring signs! See you there!
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. Signs welcome and also usually available.
Stop The Violence Coalition – 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month; 6pm, United Way Building, Delaware and Summer Sts.
Women In Black – Nonviolence vigil, Bidwell and Elmwood. Saturdays, Noon-1pm. Signs also available. (and you don’t need to be a woman or dress in black)
Of note: West African Drumming Sundays, 12-2pm, Little Africa Culture Club, 356 S. Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY.
#Unitethestruggles #Loveislove #PowerWITH-NOTPowerOver
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More listings on calendar 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.
The time is now, and we are the people we’ve been waiting for.
And remember to tune in: DEMOCRACY NOW! IS NOW BEING BROADCASTMONDAY-FRIDAY, 8AM-9AM (LIVE) ON WBNY 91.3FM. Hear it over the radio or streaming live at wbny.buffalostate.edu.
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Si, se puede! We shall overcome. #UnitetheStruggles
Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love.