Holy-days; Global Day of Listening
Monday, December 21st, 2020
The Western New York Peace Center would like to wish you each a very happy holiday season – including those celebrating today’s winter solstice! We hope everyone had a nice Hanukkah and Shab-e Yalda, and will have a merry Christmas and a happy Kwaanza later this week!
To our current members, please keep an eye out for a holiday greeting card from the WNYPC. If you are not a member, there’s still time to join for 2020 (throughout 2021) here. Our memberships make a great gift and include your choice of lawn signs: Love is Love or #UNITE!
Speaking of gifts, if you need some last minute ideas, there are great local businesses to check out – including Stitch Buffalo, which was just featured on today’s episode of Talking Peace! (If you missed it, check out the video here for a tour of the shop featuring many of their beautiful items!)
We also suggest you tune in tonight from 10:30p to 1:30a EST for the Afghan Peace Volunteer’s monthly Global Days of Listening. Tonight’s episode will be on “build[ing] a critical mass of nonviolent relationships for a green & equal world without war.” See more – including the schedule for other time zones – below.
We would also like to announce that the caroling event at the Erie County Holding Center this week has been canceled – a decision made in order to keep people safe.
Lastly, please review the campaigns section below for great ways to support our community during this holy-day season. See details and much more, including special and regularly scheduled events this week, plus campaigns, fundraisers, and more at wnypeace.org, on our Facebook page, Twitter (@wnypeace), and Instagram (@wnypeace)!
Peace, thanks, solidarity, and yes – love!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS
Find more details and additional special events on our Event Calendar at
MONDAY, 12/21
10:30 PM – 1:30 AM – Global Days of Listening. The Afghan Peace Volunteers invite everyone to say #Enough! Write them at globaldaysoflistening@yahoo.com to request a time to talk. Listen here. SEE SCHEDULE FOR YOUR TIME ZONE HERE.
SUNDAY, 12/27
7 PM – Jazz for Justice. Streamed on YouTube – see the Facebook event page for full details and updates. Please join the Northeast Political Prisoner Coalition and NYC Jericho as they present Jazz for Justice, a virtual benefit concert. Enjoy a night of music, culture, and education to raise funds to support the work to free all political prisoners!
UPCOMING REGULARLY SCHEDULED EVENTS
Find more details and additional weekly/monthly events on our website at
wnypeace.org/wp/regularly-scheduled-events
MONDAYS
1pm – Talking Peace (WNYPC radio show). On WBNY 91.3 FM or streaming online at wbny.buffalostate.edu. Insights on peace and justice with the WNYPC. At the moment, the show is being pre-recorded by Think Twice Radio: The Home of the Future!
WEDNESDAYS
3pm – Weekly Vigil and March Against the Death Penalty. From the Robert L. Jackson Courthouse to the ECHC. Please bring your own signs.
4pm – Prisoners’ Rights weekly vigil: No More ECHC Deaths! at the Erie County Holding Center. Please bring your own signs.
~7:20 PM – Talking Peace taping. Streamed live on FB Live. Featured guests TBA.
THURSDAYS
5pm – Immigrant & Refugee Justice (IRJ) weekly vigil: End Ice Terror! Outside the Delaware North Building. Please bring your own signs.
FRIDAYS
2pm – Environmental Justice weekly vigil: No Nuclear Waste over the Peace Bridge! At Front Park. Signs on hand.
SATURDAYS
12 pm – Women in Black weekly vigil. At Elmwood & Bidwell. Signs on hand.
UPDATED: CAMPAIGNS BY ISSUE AREA
Find more details and additional campaigns and fundraisers at
wnypeace.org/wp/current-campaign
wnypeace.org/wp/organizing-in-wny
Environmental Justice
– Join the West Valley Action Network and support the full cleanup of one of WNY’s most dangerous radioactive pollution problems. Help protect our drinking water, environmental, and community! Join in proactively protecting our region from the long-lasting, deadly nuclear and hazardous waste at the West Valley site. Please also contact all of your legislators – local, state, and federal – to urge full covered cleanup with extensive monitoring!
Policing & Criminal Justice Reform
– City of Buffalo’s Parking Amnesty Program: December 31st deadline! The program allows individuals whose tickets are older (i.e., issued prior to June 30th, 2019) to pay the original amount owed without late fees and clear their records. Contact pvboffice@city-buffalo.com or 716-851-5182 for more information, and please help the Fair Fines + Fees Coalition spread the word about this very important program!
– Please support the Cariol Horne Whistleblower Fund!
– Contact ECDA John Flynn’s office (by phone: 716-858-2424 and by web: https://www2.erie.gov/da/) urging him to:
- drop all charges against Willie Henley! If you are able, please also contribute to Willie’s lawyer fee funds at gofundme.com/f/willie-henley-lawyer-fee
- re-visit the Buffalo 5 case (indictment no. 41-413)! Three of the original Buffalo 5 remain living and are seeking a complete exoneration and clearing of their names. Please also see the change.org petition and GoFundMe.com campaign.
- give Deyanna Davis more freedom while she’s in house arrest! Visit linktr.ee/deyannadavis for a petition, fundraiser, and more information.
– Buffalo needs LEAD now! We recently saw a clear example of how the current way police respond to community members with mental health issues fails our community. This entire situation could have been avoided with Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), a program that offers an alternative to arrest or hospitalization: diverting individuals into intensive management so their underlying needs are addressed. Learn more about LEAD here and SHARE WIDELY!
– Support the demand that the police budget is reallocated to invest in traffic calming infrastructure and take BPD out of traffic enforcement all together. Please fill out the questionnaire shared by Fair Fines + Fees to participate in a budgetary process that aims to make positive changes to the City’s budget. NEW! You can also share your ideas and priorities for changing the Buffalo Police Department through this survey by Free the People WNY.
– If you are a social worker or mental health professional, please sign the WNY Agents of Change open letter to Mayor Brown re: working with the BPD.
#UNITEtheStruggles | #OneLove | #WeShallOvercome | #SiSePuede