ANNUAL MTG SAT! + Talking Peace & KB Plowshares 7
April 30th, 2020
This is a special edition of the Weekly Update to remind you about the WNYPC 2020 Annual Membership Meeting on Saturday! We invite you all to gather virtually to review the past year, look forward to this upcoming critically important year, elect new board members, and more!
– All are welcome, though only members can vote. If you’re unsure whether your membership is current, call 716-332-3904 or email office@wnypeace.org. You can re-up your membership AND have the funds matched by donating to our GoFundMe Charity Match campaign.
– To join us on Zoom, use Meeting ID 921 863 476 with password 077319. If you’re calling in, first dial 1-646-558-8656.
Meet our amazing selection of 2020 WNYPC Board Candidates! (You can find additional details – including their vision statements – on our website here.)
– Oladipupo Daniel AJIROBA, Action Corps/Network rep and community worker, originally from Nigeria
– Valentino Dixon, artist, community activist, philosopher, and recipient of the WNY Peace Center’s 2019 Emerging Leaders’ Award, exonerated after 27 years of unjust incarceration
– Rosanna Granata, Chemical Engineer, researcher, activist, and artist
– Cariol Horne, former police officer and peace activist
– Kelly Ann Kowalski, Network of Religious Communities’ Food for All Director and food activist
– Franchelle Parker, Executive Director, Open Buffalo; and community leader
Also be sure to tune in to next week’s Talking Peace on WBNY featuring board candidate Franchelle Parker. And take special note of the May 9th event featuring great heroes, the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, before their May 28-29 sentencing. Together, they will speak with a panel of other amazing activists featuring WNYPC Annual Dinner Keynote Speakers Medea Benjamin (2019) and Dr. Cornel West (2020!).
Please see details and much more below, including special events this week, regularly scheduled events, campaigns, fundraisers, and more at wnypeace.org, on our Facebook page, Twitter (@wnypeace), and Instagram (@wnypeace)! *** And lastly, a reminder to pace yourselves – do only what you can without engaging in digital overload. No one call do it all. Let us know what kind of help you might need from the WNYPC; please feel free to reach out!
Peace, thanks, solidarity and yes – love.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
SPECIAL EVENTS
FRI, MAY 1 @ 7PM: MAY DAY VIRTUAL DANCE PARTY
Dance the night away with the WNY Poor Peoples’ Campaign as we celebrate May Day! Suggested donation of $10, though nobody will be turned away! All proceeds will go towards the Buffalo Mutual Aid Network to help community with food, cleaning supplies, and the solidarity fund to help pay for rent, utilities, and the other items people may need. Doors at 7pm and the party doesn’t stop until 10pm. To join the Zoom Meeting, use Meeting ID 98209890796 and password 310903. For more information, please contact Sara Lee Palmer at sarahleepalmer02@gmail.com or 716-427-4933.
SAT, MAY 2 @ 9:00 AM: YOUTH WORLD CONFERENCE
The foundation of this event will be of nuclear war, the climate crisis, and racial and economic justice, with a specific focus on how to build movements in the era of COVID-19 and beyond. This will be done in the most interactive way possible, with interactive panel speakers and breakout sessions based on region. We hope you will be able to join us! In order to make sure we have an accurate count of participants, we ask that you fill out this new registration form.
SAT, MAY 2 @ 1:30 PM: WNY PEACE CENTER ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING (please see details above.)
MON, MAY 4 @ 1:00 PM: TALKING PEACE
On WBNY (91.3 FM). Special re-broadcast with shero and guest Franchelle Parker of Open Buffalo; with co-hosts Jim Anderson and Victoria Ross. They explore COVID-19 effects including on activism. Taped on Earth Day, a #JustTransition to a world valuing #PeopleAndThePlanet is also featured. WBNY is also streamed online at wbny.buffalostate.edu #BlackLivesMatter #PeoplesBailout
MON, MAY 4 @ 5:30 PM: WNYYCC WEBINAR
Learn about the Youth Climate Council and join us in our campaign to declare a Climate Emergency and pass a climate resolution! Register here and don’t forget to take our climate resolution survey! Over the past few months the WNY Youth Climate Council has been working to get Buffalo and Erie County to Declare a Climate Emergency and pass a Climate Resolution. (The Declaration is a nonbonding act which acknowledges climate change as a threat and promises to mobilize to combat it, and the Resolution is the more binding follow up which outlines a commitment for municipalities to take action.) With the help of over 2,000 individuals and over 20 local supporting organizations, we’re moving closer and closer to actually declaring a climate emergency in WNY!
TUES, MAY 5 (ALL DAY): GIVING TUESDAY
Every day, our committed staff works to support the community we serve. Now, they need our help. Our organization is committed to ensuring that our employees are able to maintain financial stability and provide day-to-day necessities for their families during the coronavirus. We kindly ask that you join us in supporting our dedicated employees. Your gift will help provide immediate financial support; help keep our employees safe and healthy so they can continue their work serving our community. Your contribution also applies towards your WNYPC membership! We can’t do this important work without you! THANK YOU! #HelpTheHelpers
TUES, MAY 5 @ 6:30 PM: NEKANEHSAKT MEETING
Indigenous support group working for sustainability, Indigenous rights, and more. This is a recurring meeting (1st & 3rdTuesdays of the month from 6:30-8:00 PM.) For more information on how to join, contact Nate Buckley at BuckleyNate1@gmail.com or 716-361-3578.
WEDS, MAY 6 @ 12:00 PM: PEACEJAM WEBINAR – BUILD THE WORD YOU WANT
Join in the first in this series of powerful conversations hosted by the One Billion Acts of Peace Campaign and four Nobel Peace Laureates with other young people from around the world to talk coping, taking action, and creating a vision for the future. Featured Laureates include: Jody Williams (USA, 1997), Rigoberta Menchu (Guatemala, 1992), Leymah Gbowee (Liberia, 2011) and Shirin Ebadi (Iran, 2003).
THURS, MAY 7 @ 8:00 AM: INTERFAITH PEACE NETWORK (IPN) ZOOM MEETING
You’re invited to the upcoming meeting, now once each month (1st Thursdays). All are welcome! We are intense and transformative times; it makes our faith journeys even more vital. To join the Zoom Meeting, use Meeting ID 6087005163 and password 938401. To call in by phone, dial 1-646-558-8656.
SAT, MAY 9 @ 12:00 PM: DISARM & DIVEST DURING COVID-19 (WEBINAR)
Kings Bay Plowshares 7 will speak with special guests Medea Benjamin, Code Pink co-founder, author, and global activist; Dr. Cornel West, Harvard Divinity School, author, activist, and social critic; and Jeremy Scahill, The Intercept co-founder, investigative journalist, and author. Moderated by Norman Soloman, RootsAction co-founder, author, and political columnist. The panel will discuss the need for civil resistance disarmament actions such as the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, the continued build-up of militarism, and the destitute condition of our world before and during the pandemic. They will also speak on divesting military funding to serve human needs during COVID-19 and beyond.
REGULARLY SCHEDULED EVENTS W/PHYSICAL DISTANCE GUIDELINES (& bring your own signs)
WEDNESDAYS: PRISONERS’ RIGHTS VIGIL – NO MORE ECHC DEATHS!
At the Erie County Holding Center, Delaware Ave between Church & Eagle Streets, Buffalo. Join the Prisoners’ Rights taskforce for their weekly vigil/protests on Wednesday from 4-5:30 PM. The ECHC has significantly higher deaths than similar facilities. The Sheriff’s Department has misreported and been determined to have committee homicide by medical neglect per the DOJ! The Sheriff’s Administration is already a public health emergency, and even more now! #ReleaseInmates *** All are welcome; please practice proper physical distancing and bring your own signs. # *** Also, please call Governor Cuomo at 518-474-8390 to urge him to remove Sheriff Howard as he is clearly not up to the job.
THURSDAYS: IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE JUSTICE – #IRJtoRally
On all social media platforms. Every Thursday, IRJ will rally online to show our support for immigrant and refugee communities! Please take a photo of yourself holding your rally sign with a message of support and share it all over social media using the hashtag #IRJtoRally!
THURSDAYS: IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE JUSTICE VIGIL – END ICE TERROR!
Outside of the Delaware North Building (which houses the Buffalo ICE field office), NW corner of Delaware and Chippewa from 5-6 PM. Show support for immigrants and asylum seekers detained by ICE at the Batavia Federal Detention Facility, especially in the times of COVID-19. Bring your signs and spirit of solidarity (and remember to practice proper physical distancing!) – we will not stay silent! ##DetentionisDeadly #ReleaseThemNow #FamiliesBelongTogether #AbolishICE #CloseTheCamps #NeverAgainIsNow
FRIDAYS: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE VIGIL – NO NUCLEAR WASTE OVER PEACE BRIDGE!
At Front Park (Vermont & Busti), Buffalo. Join the Environmental Justice taskforce every Friday from 2-3 PM to protest shipments of VERY dangerous radioactive liquid transported from Canada over the Peace Bridge. Due to the public health emergency, please practice proper physical distancing and bring your own signs. You can also call Governor Cuomo’s office to DECLARE A CLIMATE EMERGENCY! Phone: 518-474-8390, press 1 when the recording begins. Script: “Governor Cuomo, please declare a climate emergency for the state of New York, which means an immediate ban on all new fossil fuel infrastructure. I’m calling from zip code xxxxx.”
FRIDAYS: WNY YOUTH CLIMATE COUNCIL #DIGITALSTRIKE
Due to the public health emergency, the WNYCC had to cancel their in-person Buffalo Climate Strike on March 20th. The goal of the strike, to ask our Common Council members of Buffalo, is to pass a Climate Resolution. The strike has now become a weekly (every Friday!) digital strike – please join them by sharing selfies and pictures with your rally signs and posters for the Buffalo Climate Strike to Declare a Climate Emergency on social media, and use the hashtags #DIGITALSTRIKE #WNYYOUTHCLIMATE #DECLAREACLIMATEEMERGENCY
SATURDAYS: WOMEN IN BLACK VIGIL
Nonviolence vigil at Bidwell & Elmwood; Saturdays, noon – 1 PM. All are welcome; you don’t need to be a woman or dress in black. Please practice proper physical distancing and bring your own signs due to the current public health emergency.
FUNDRAISERS
WNY Peace Center: We work hard for the community and give virtually everything away for free. We support many other organizations as well, and work to serve the community. Donating will also re-up your membership.
Network of Religious Communities (NRC) Food Pantry, an organization of religious communities (denominations, congregations and religious organizations) serving Western New York. They represent Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Unitarian communities. Please support their food pantry, a mainstay for many Buffalo families. Please write a check payable to NRC with “Food Pantry” in the memo. 1272 Delaware Ave, Buffalo, 14209.
FeedmoreWNY is working diligently to react to the ever-changing developments of the COVID-19 outbreak and to prepare for the potential expansion of illness throughout our community. You can donate and/or volunteer!
Fight COVID-19 in Erie County by Providing Critical Aid to Incarcerated People: This unprecedented time emphasizes the already egregious conditions of our county jails and failure of the Timothy Howard to care for people in the custody of his office. We are showing support for people who are incarcerated by raising funds for all of their commissaries and continuing to call for these groups to be released. Organized by SURJ with WNYPC and others cosponsoring.
Friends of Democracy Now! WNY: Democracy Now! is an independent news show hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Amy Goodman was the speaker at our 50th annual dinner and we are actively working to support independent news stations like Democracy Now! who focus on news stories that do not get airtime in popular media. We desperately need this type of journalism and are thrilled that Democracy Now! is being broadcast in Buffalo! M-F, 8-9am on WBNY 91.3FM. You can catch it streaming online at wbny.buffalostate.edu or http://tunein.com/radio/WBNY-913-s27549/. Go to their website and donate, subscribe to their daily digest, and call local stations to encourage them to pick up Democracy Now!
#NYUnitedFund: Help the NY Immigration Coalition to ensure the health and safety of NY’s 4 million immigrants, a critically important task.
CAMPAIGNS
TELL CONGRESS TO DOUBLE THE CDC BUDGET & #MOVETHEMONEY: The spread of COVID-19 has exposed a rot at the center of American society: that we siphon 55% of our discretionary budget into the Pentagon — $738 billion — while we allocate only 1.5% of that — $11 billion — to the Centers for Disease Control. Tell Congress to double the CDC’s budge by cutting money to the Pentagon.
END SANCTIONS: #SANCTIONSKILL: At least 1,800 Iranians DEAD. Over 23,000 INFECTED. AN ESTIMATED 3.5 MILLION MAY DIE. Urge Congress to introduce COVID19-related legislation to lift sanctions on Iran. And please urge your congresspeople to end all sanctions! #SanctionsKill #SanctionsSpreadCOVID19
PEACE AND DIPLOMACY LOBBYING: Demand peace, diplomacy, and sane domestic and foreign policies from your Senators and/or House Representatives.
RELEASE AGING PEOPLE IN PRISON: Join RAPP and concerned community members across New York State for a day of action and virtual press conference. New York State has the eighth highest rate of people serving a life sentence in the country—roughly 9,200 people. More than 1,000 of them are serving Life Without Parole or virtual life without parole—with a minimum sentence of 50 years—sentences. 75 percent are People of Color. Long and life sentences combined with few opportunities for release have created a crisis of aging, sickness and death in New York State prisons. There are now more than 10,000 people in NYS prisons—20% of the prison population—aged 50 or older; most are Black and Latinx. While the prison population in NYS fell by 27% between 2000 and 2016, the number of incarcerated older people more than doubled. Older people, especially those who have been convicted of the most serious crimes, pose little if any risk to public safety. In fact, when released, many formerly incarcerated older people engage in work that enhances public safety and community health. COVID + PRISON = DEATH! #CUOMOLETTHEMGO
#DEMANDJUSTICE #HOUSINGJUSTICE: Hold District Attorneys across New York accountable to ending mass incarceration, plus fighting against tenant abuse, homelessness, environmental violence, and racist housing policies.
LET MY PEOPLE GO: Support the campaign to free our immigrant and refugee neighbors from detention facilities during the current public health crisis.
FAIR FINES + FEES JUSTICE CENTER Policy Recommendations and Reform Tracker on COVID-19: Support evidence-based policies that jurisdictions around the country should take
to help stem this public health and economic crisis.
RESOURCES AND INFORMATION
Buffalo Mutual Aid Network: Buffalo Mutual Aid Network is a social action group for peer-to-peer organizing, humanitarian assistance, and reliable information sharing developed in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health (WNYCOSH) provides occupational safety and health services through information, education/training and outreach to eliminate health and safety hazards in the workplace. For up-to-date information on the response to coronavirus (COVID-19), and what workers can do to protect themselves, their coworkers and families.
International Institute of Buffalo’s Resources for Vulnerable Populations: This list has informational resources, community need resources, and resources to help students who are out of school continue to learn! We will continue to update these lists as more information becomes available. If you have resources to add, please send them to us at: awhitehorne@iibuff.org Remember that we are stronger when we work together!
Headspace for A NY State of Mind: New York has been hit hard by the current global crisis. In partnership with Governor Cuomo, Headspace wants to be here for you — to help you find some time and space as you weather this storm. From Buffalo to Long Island, Albany to the Lower East Side, this special NY collection of meditation, sleep, and movement exercises are here to support you through stressful and challenging times. Helping you — and your fellow New Yorkers — stay strong and be kind to yourselves, with a New York state of mind.
Afghan Peace Volunteers’ Global Days of Listening: Fear is widespread across the globe – there is a pandemic. Medical supplies and needed equipment are in very short supply. In war zones like Afghanistan, food and job security are even more at risk. The Afghan Peace Volunteers ask for: Deeper relationships and peace during a pandemic. During our Global Days conversation, we’ll continue to explore global responses to the COVID-19 as a human family. Listen via thelivestream monthly on the 21st or 22nd. (You can also check out their website at ourjourneytosmile.com.)
#UNITE | #OneLove | #WeShallOvercome | #SiSePuede!