Talking Peace; KBP7 Pt 2; #HALTSolitary; Global Days of Listening
May 15th, 2020
We know that many people are starting to feel the effects of digital overload, so this week we are here to offer a highlight of a few important events:
– We want to be sure you know that our radio show, Talking Peace on WBNY 91.3 FM, recently returned after a COVID-related hiatus. Join us for our next show Monday, 5/18 for a special call-in show featuring Clare Grady and Martha Hennessey of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. The first hour will discuss criminal US nuclear militarism and the seven Catholic Workers’ courageous Plowshares action highlighting the omnicidal Trident submarines on the base. They now each face up to 25 years, with sentencing scheduled for 5/28 and 29. We thank them and pray for them, our s/heroes. The second hour will feature cohost and PANYS President Jim Anderson with Corrections Advisory Specialist Heron Simmonds discussing local and national racial justice issues – including video of Buffalo Police beating an unarmed man; Armaud Arbery’s murder in GA; and racial disparities in policing, healthcare, environmental pollution, etc. Our shows also stream online at wbny.buffalostate.edu, – please join us!
– On Saturday, 5/16 at noon, the KBP7 defendants will hold another webinar, Disarm & Divest During COVID-19 Part 2, before their sentencing. Jeremy Scahill, cofounder of the intercept, will host the webinar. Lead attorney Bill Quigley will also join followed by a Q&A. The panel will continue and expand their discussion of 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. If you missed Part 1 of this fantastic webinar – which also featured WNYPC Annual Dinner Keynote Speakers, Dr. Cornel West (2020) and Medea Benjamin (2019), you can catch up here. On Zoom, Meeting ID 816 7974 5485.
– This Sunday, 5/17, you can join the CAIC meeting about getting the #HALTSolitary bill passed using the Zoom link here. (Meeting ID 942 909 6816, Password Aubry; or dial-in at 1-646-558-8656 Mtg ID same, password 551359).
– On Thursday, 5/21, the Afghan Peace Volunteers invite everyone to say #Enough! We’ll build a critical mass of nonviolent relationships for a green and equal world without war. Join the Global Days of Listening beginning at 7:30 AM to celebrate 10 years of active listening to people around the globe, collaborating around each other’s paths of action toward a peaceful world. This month’s topic is What can each of us do now to build a better post-pandemic world? We know this is a topic all of you are considering, and we are particularly looking for youth guests (18-35 in this context) who share the APV’s vision of a Green, Equal, and Nonviolent world.
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)! We update our Event Calendar often as we learn of new events, so please be sure to check back regularly!
*** 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
UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS
SAT, MAY 16 @ 12:00 PM: DISARM & DIVEST DURING COVID-19 PT. 2 (WEBINAR)
See above for details.
TUES, MAY 19 @ 6:30 PM: NEKANEHSAKT CONFERENCE CALL
Indigenous support group working for sustainability, Indigenous rights, and more. This is a recurring meeting (1st & 3rd Tuesdays of the month from 6:30-8:00 PM). Phone Number: 605-475-4825 and Access Number: 1075707. This week, will follow up on ongoing education, outreach, mutual aid, and sustainability, including setting up groups to work on action plans.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 @ 6:00 PPM: RESIST MILITARISM! TASKFORCE MEETING
On the third Wednesday of each month, come be a part of grounding the drones and ending the wars. Planning is in process for moving toward having monuments for Peacemakers and not just warmakers, retracting the AUMF, and more. All are welcome to join the Zoom Meeting using ID 886 4837 5765 and Password 053203.
THURS, MAY 21 @ 7:30 AM: GLOBAL DAYS OF LISTENING WITH THE AFGHAN PEACE VOLUNTEERS
See above for details.
THURS, MAY 21 @ 6:00 PM: IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE JUSTICE MONTHLY TASKFORCE MEETING
Join the Immigrant & Refugee Justice (IRJ/”urge”) Taskforce for its monthly meetings every third Thursday to discuss topics relevant to immigrant and refugee communities, including current campaigns and calls to action. For those who participated in our first #IRJtoRead book club selection, please be ready to discuss your thoughts on Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas. We will also announce the May selection during this meeting. You can find these eBooks/audio books for free on the Libby/Overdrive apps using your library card. Join us on Zoom using Meeting ID 875 2934 0004 and Password 980716.
FRI, MAY 29 @ 7:00 PM: PANYS FRANCES PERKINS VIRTUAL HOUSE PARTY
Celebrate the inspiring woman in the U.S. Cabinet. As FDR’s secretary of Labor from 1933 – 1945, Frances Perkins brought us social security, unemployment compensation, and more. We hope that House Party attendees will take their time (at their leisure) to view filmmaker Mick Caouette’s wonderful one-hour documentary: Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare. As an attendee, you will receive instructions on how to view the film and also support the work of PANYS. Then on 5/29 join us for a lively discussion with Caouette, Blanche Wiesen Cook (Eleanor Roosevelt’s biographer), and renowned labor historian and Columbia Professor Alice Kessler Harris. Current members receive a special discounted ticket price; we also welcome new members who become PANYS members with their ticket purchase.
THURS, JUNE 4 @ 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 in 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.
REGULARLY SCHEDULED EVENTS W/PHYSICAL DISTANCE GUIDELINES (& bring your own signs)
MONDAYS: TALKING PEACE ON WBNY 91.3 FM
See above for details on the upcoming show.
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! We also occasionally share important calls to action (#IRJtoAct) so keep an eye out for those on Thursdays as well!
THURSDAYS: FELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION COMMUNITY GATHERINGS (ZOOM)
In response to COVID-19, FOR has been hosting community gatherings with its Chapters, Religious Peace Fellowships, Faith Allies, Affiliates, staff, and friends on Thursdays at 4 PM. Please join Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson for another conversation in which we check-in with each other, share, offer mutual support, and strategize for a better world. This Zoom gathering is open to all using Meeting ID: 886 743 633
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
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.
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.
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: https://nyimmigrantfreedom.org/let-my-people-go/
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: TheBuffalo 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.
#UNITE | #OneLove | #WeShallOvercome | #SiSePuede!