Women’s March: Thanks to All!; Police shooting townhall tomorrow; No War W Iran Sat Noon; lots of warm calling to do too!

Written by Victoria Ross on January 22, 2020. Posted in Recent Activities, Resist Militarism!, Talking Peace News, Urgent Appeal

716-332-3904      1/22/20                  wnypeace.org

Dear Friends,

Many, many thanks to the well over 300 who came out in wind chills of ~15° as  #WomenRiseUp for People and the Planet, and of course to Defend the Sacred. You all were truly inspiring! And that means the wonderful Onondawaga Protectors, our Indigenous mothers and sisters, our great speakers and singers, chanters and marchers, sign-makers and participants – including a special shout-out to the men who came! We need all of us! We also got excellent media coverage. Many thanks to newspeople and interviewees alike! See lots of pictures on our Facebook page!

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s Birthday Celebrations were also awesome. And so – onward! We Shall Overcome!

IRAN

We need to remain proactive re No War With Iran. are grateful to Congressman Higgins and others for Congress’s passing the War Powers Act, and grateful that the Administration has backed off at least for the moment. However, War with Iran still looms ….

Please be sure to call our Senators to thank them for supporting the War Powers Act stopping any war on Iran, (Gillibrand: 202-224-4451; Schumer: 202-224-6542) and urge them to support both the Kaine and the Sanders resolutions (SJ69 and S3159 respectively).

Please join us too at Noon on Sat, 1/25 for No War With Iran at NFTA’s Main & Perry station near Canalside. You can also go to codepink.org to sign an apology to the People of Iran/Trump does not represent us!

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#HALTsolitary Act – many thanks to all who went on the exhilarating/exhausting trip to Albany to urge the act’s adoption. For those who didn’t go, please call your state assemblypersons and state senators (see our website wnypeace.org, and you’ll find Gov’tal Contacts on the dropdown menu Get Involved!), as well as Gov Cuomo at (518) 474-8390, and urge them all to support the #HALTSolitary!

Please call Prosecutor Sara Rosborough at 202-252-6837, and urge her to drop the charges against the four defenders of the Venezuelan Embassy in DC. They were merely trying to get our government to follow the law (I.e., civil resistance), and should be thanked rather than charged. See full info on longer post on our website, or go to DefendEmbassyProtectors.org.

Other very significant events this week:

– Tomorrow, Thurs, 1/23, 5:30pm, there’ll be a Town Hall Meeting with Councilman Wingo at the Delavan-Grider Community Center, 877 E. Delavan, on a police shooting in the Masten District on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, at Northland Avenue and Lonsdale Road.

– Mon, 1/27, at 7pm, don’t miss the Peace Coffeehouse with Rev. Nancy Rosas, pastor at Pilgrim St. Luke’s UCC, the one actively Sanctuary church in Buffalo. Her leadership in defending immigrants and refugees is inspiring and awesome. Come on out to Canisius College Science Hall Lounge for a very special evening. Light refreshments.

As always, more below, including regularly scheduled events & vigils, and more at wnypeace.org, and on our facebook page, twitter (@wnypeace), and Instagram (wnypeace)!

Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love.

#Unite! #OneLove
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Events this week:

End the ICE Terror weekly vigil

January 23 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Join the Immigrant & Refugee Taskforce every Thursday from 5:00-6:00 PM for an End the ICE Terror vigil in front of the ICE Field Office at the Delaware North Building (250 Delaware Ave at the corner of Chippewa). Bring your signs and spirit of solidarity. We will not stay silent!

Immigrant & Refugee Justice (IRJ) Taskforce Mtg

January 23 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

At SPoT Coffee, 227 Delaware Ave. Join us every third Thursday from 6:00 – 7:00 PM for an IRJ taskforce meeting to discuss topics relevant to immigrant and refugee communities. We currently meet at SPoT Coffee just after and across the street from our weekly vigil at Delaware North.

Town Hall Meeting about Police Shooting

January 23 @ 5:30 pm

At Delavan-Grider Community Center, 877 E Delavan Ave, Buffalo, NY 14215. Masten District Councilperson Ulysses Wingo will hold a town hall meeting about the incident below that happened in the Masten District. From the Buffalo News: Police shot a man following a traffic stop late Sunday night…, Two Northeast District police officers pulled over a vehicle at about 10:40 p.m. Sunday on Northland Avenue, near Lonsdale Road, Buffalo Police Capt. Jeff Rinaldo said in a statement released Monday. The scene Monday morning of a police-involved shooting that took place Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, at Northland Avenue and Lonsdale Road. The driver, identified only as a 30-year-old Buffalo man, got out of the vehicle and became involved in “some type of altercation” with the police officers “resulting in the suspect being shot,” Rinaldo said in the statement.”

Buffalo Organizing Boot Camp

January 24 @ 5:00 pm – January 25 @ 4:30 pm

At 1199 SEIU, 2421 Main St., Buffalo, NY 14214. You are invited to join the VOICE Buffalo and VIBE regional boot camp. MUST REGISTER FOR FOOD AND CHILDCARE AT: http://voicebuffalo.org/event/bootcamp/ With our partners at 1199 SEIU and The Healthcare Education Project we will have this safe space to talk about local issues

Global Day of Protest: No War on Iran, US Out of the Middle East

January 25 @ 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

At NFTA Special Events Station (Main & Perry Streets, Buffalo 14203). Rally against the US war threats against Iran. Co-Sponsored by WNY Peace Center, Green Party of Erie County, Workers World Party Buffalo, US Peace Council in Buffalo, Veterans for Peace Chapter 128. Initiators for this call include CODEPINK, United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC),

Sanctuary for Refugees (LASC Coffeehouse)

January 27 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

At Canisius College (Main & Jefferson), Science Building Lounge. Speaker Rev. Nancy Rosas is the pastor at Pilgrim St Luke’s UCC, the only active sanctuary church in Buffalo. The church has hosted numerous families who are threatened with deportation. The families are afforded a comfortable and safe place to stay while they need one.

Great Law of Peace Reading Group – last session

January 28 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

At Burning Books, 420 Connecticut St, Buffalo. The reading group on the Great Law of Peace, the Kayanerenko:wa as put forth by Kayanesenh Paul Williams, will have its final session.

Justice for Migrant Families Visitor Training

January 29 @ 5:30 am – 7:30 pm

At Pilgrim St. Luke’s Church, Richmond @W Utica, Buffalo 14222. Immigrant Detention and Volunteer Opportunities training  (snow date of January 30th).  In this training you will learn how to be an effective and ethical volunteer in the immigrant detention system.

Forum on eliminating suspensions in NYS

January 30 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

At Northland Workforce Training Center, 683 Northland Avenue, Buffalo 14211. An event of the WNYPC Education & Human Rights Taskforce and Community Action Organization (CAO) of WNY. This event is open to the public; more information to come.

For Future Generations: A Plastic Pollution Study of Lake Erie’ Opening

At CEPA Gallery, 617 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203. Opened January 17, 2020; exhibit is up through February 15, 2020. Artist Alexis Oltmer (b.1990) has spent 3 years creating For Future Generations : A plastic pollution study of Lake Erie, an environmental and conceptual body of artwork which elevates plastic pollution imagery, data &

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REGULARLY SCHEDULED EVENTS in the One Struggle, One Vision, One Love:

Talking Peace with the WNY Peace Center Radio Show on 91.3FM, WBNY. Mondays, 1-3pm. Call-in show with Jim Anderson and Vicki Ross co-hosting. Also streaming on-line at 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 will meet on the last Tuesday of January for its final session on the Kayanerenko:wa as put forth by Kayanesenh Paul Williams.

Prisoners’ Rights Taskforce – NO MORE Deaths! Vigil/protest Wednesdays 4-5:30pm at the Erie County Holding Center (Delaware & Church). The Sheriff’s Administration is a Public Health Emergency!! All are welcome. Please bring signs.

Resist Militarism! Taskforce – Regular monthly planning meeting third Weds of the month, Jan 15; 5-6:30pm. at Isaías González-Soto Branch  (formerly Niagara Branch) Library, 280 Porter Ave, Buffalo 14201.

Interfaith Peace Network – in January only, 4th Thursday of the month, ie, January 23, with special presentation on Sufism; 9:15am at 1272 Delaware Ave, Buffalo NY 14209 entrance and parking round back.) Breakfast potluck, and discussion.

End ICE Terror – Thursdays, 5-6pm, vigil in front of the 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. On 1/23 will be followed by Immigrant & Refugee Justice Taskforce Meeting at Spot Coffee (kitty-corner to Vigil site of Delaware North Bldg) at 6pm. All are welcome!

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) Special gathering on Jan 4 for National Day of Action: US out of Iraq!!!

Riverside Salem Environmental Cottage & UCC/DC – Various progressive spiritual activist and naturalist programs, Sundays, 4-6pm followed by a pot-luck. 3449 West River Road, Grand Island, NY 14072.

Of note: Little Africa Culture Club, 356 S. Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY. African Drumming Sundays, 12-2pm.

We shall overcome #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 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. 
And don’t forget to support it to keep it on the air: donations should go to the WNY Peace Center with a memo to us (on the check or with a note on the on-line contribution) the Friends of Democracy Now in Buffalo! Many Thanks!

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Si, se puede! We shall overcome. #Unite

Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love.

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Below are

– more event listings (see also calendar & facebook page); and

– Taskforce items and campaigns.

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COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

* ECONOMIC JUSTICE

The WNY Poor People’s Campaign meets 3rd Mondays, 6pm at Raqs Solidarity, 322 Amherst St., Buffalo, NY.

* EDUCATION & HUMAN RIGHTS

Forum on eliminating suspensions in NYS

January 30 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

At Northland Workforce Training Center, 683 Northland Avenue, Buffalo 14211. An event of the WNYPC Education & Human Rights Taskforce and Community Action Organization (CAO) of WNY. This event is open to the public; more information to come.

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.

World Hijab Day
On
Saturday, February 01, 2020
At
Walden Galleria Mall Buffalo NY
Walden Galleria, Buffalo, NY 14225
From 10 AM – 6 PM
We invite everyone, Muslims & Non-Muslims, to wear and experience the Hijab for a day.
We highly appreciate the community support, which plays an important role in maintaining our strong foothold in the area of WNY. Your generous financial support will enable us to further enhance the horizons of our goals related to community development and make our dreams come true, In sha Allah, through awareness, diversity, and service.

* 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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Ask Gov. Cuomo to Declare a Climate Emergency

Capitol district resident and longtime activist Sandy Steubling is organizing a

state-wide call-in effort. Please help out, and let me know if you did! Wish Gov.

Cuomo a happy new year.....and then:

"Governor Cuomo, Please declare a climate emergency for the state of New York and

immediately ban all new fossil fuel infrastructure."

Tel: 518-474-8390, press (1) or Tweet: @NYGovCuomo

Why? From a recent UN report:

- levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2018.

- We are on track for a temperature rise of over 5.7°F by the end of the century.

- We have to reduce emissions by 7.6% each year between 2020 and 2030 to limit

global temperature rise to 1.5°C (2.7°F).

- The G20 countries are responsible for 78% of global GHG emissions.

Ref:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/26/science-screaming-un-report-warns-only-rapid-and-transformational-action-can-stave

*GENDER JUSTICE

Many thanks for the many who made the Women’s March WNY all that it was – standing up with determination for our principles and with tremendous Spirit!! We will definitely have an event on Sunday, March 8, International Women’s Day – and much more to come. The Gender Justice Taskforce continues organizing. Please see our taskforce page on the wnypeace.org website. The Chair is Denise Robinson. 

* 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.
On 1/23 the foregoing Vigil will be followed by Immigrant & Refugee Justice Taskforce Meeting at Spot Coffee (kitty-corner to Vigil site of Delaware North Bldg) at 6pm. All are welcome!

Justice for Migrant Families Visitor Training

January 29 @ 5:30 am – 7:30 pm

At Pilgrim St. Luke’s Church, Richmond @W Utica, Buffalo 14222. Immigrant Detention and Volunteer Opportunities training  (snow date of January 30th).  In this training you will learn how to be an effective and ethical volunteer in the immigrant detention system.

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Vive la Casa, shelter for people awaiting documents and/or sanctuary, still desperately needs more resources for their already overstretched facility. Please give generously.

jrchc.org/vive

(Checks to Jericho Road/VIVE) 50 Wyoming St., Buffalo, NY 14211, 892-4354.

* LATIN AMERICAN SOLIDARITY

Sanctuary for Refugees (LASC Coffeehouse)

January 27 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

At Canisius College (Main & Jefferson), Science Building Lounge. Speaker Rev. Nancy Rosas is the pastor at Pilgrim St Luke’s UCC, the only active sanctuary church in Buffalo. The church has hosted numerous families who are threatened with deportation. The families are afforded a comfortable and safe place to stay while they need one. Come out and learn more. All are welcome. Light refreshments.

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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

Please help us defend the defenders of the Venzuelan Embassy in DC.

– Cuba—IFCO/Pastors for Peace (same address) Phone: 212-926-5757. Please give generously – the situations continue to be terrible for many!! We’ll have a Pastors For Peace representative here on April 5! Save the date!

-Chenalhó, Chiapas—

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

* PRISONERS’ RIGHTS

#HALTsolitary Act – many thanks to all who went on the exhilarating/exhausting trip to Albany to urge the act’s adoption. For those who didn’t go, please call your state assemblypersons and state senators (see our website wnypeace.org, and you’ll find Gov’tal Contacts on the dropdown menu Get Involved!), as well as Gov Cuomo at (518) 474-8390, and urge them all to support the #HALTSolitary!

Prisoners’ Rights Taskforce – NO MORE Deaths! Vigil/protest Wednesdays 4-5:30pm at the Erie County Holding Center (Delaware & Church). Another Death! 4 in 2 ½ months! The Sheriff’s Administration is a Public Health Emergency!! All are welcome. Please bring signs. This week is a special **Radical Love Holiday Candle Vigil** with VOICE and SURJ.

Lastly please call Gov Cuomo at (518) 474-8390 to urge him to remove Sheriff Howard as he clearly is not up to the job.

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* RACIAL JUSTICE

Monthly meetings announced on our website calendar.

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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.

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!

Special Resist Militarism! Taskforce Mtg

Resist Militarism! Joint Meetings with Veterans For Peace #128, are 3rd Wednesdays of the month, 5-6:30pm. November 20. At Isaías González-Soto Branch Library (formerly Niagara Branch Library, 280 Porter Ave, Buffalo 14201).

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Know about the King’s Bay Plowshares? 7 courageous and compassionate Catholic Workers who were just found guilty after their trial this past week, facing potentially 25 years each. They 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”. Now is the time to write letters to Judge Lisa Godbey Wood regarding her sentencing of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7.

Please Donate

Thanks to your support, we have mobilized thousands of people around the world to speak out for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Please help with expenses, housing, and supporting defendants’ families following the verdict and the upcoming sentencing.

• Send checks to: Plowshares, PO Box 3087, Washington, DC 20010
• Donate online: GoFundMe

EMAIL: Media: kbp7media@gmail.com

            General: kingsbayplowshares@gmail.com

WEBSITE: www.kingsbayplowshares7.org

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Kingsbayplowshares

TWITTER: https://www.twitter.com/kingsbayplow7

INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/kingsbayplowshares7

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkSCM4dxIJxAolsl2oMP72Q/

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#Unite #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 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. #Unite

Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love.

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