Work opportunities at WNYPC; PeaceJam; LASC; Women’s Month! and more
Thursday, February 25th, 2021
We want to remind you that the WNYPC’s Executive Director job is still posted, and applications are due by March 12 (coming right up!). As Vicki Ross starts the process of stepping down from her role as Executive Director, the WNY Peace Center is inviting a highly motivated person, passionate about social justice, dedicated to working for the good of #PeopleAndThePlanet through #PrinciplesAndtheSpirit, to apply for this (part-time) job (20 hours/week). If interested, visit bit.ly/wnypeace_ed for information on the position and how to apply (listed on website).
It’s also time for applications to be a Board member. If the WNYPC’s mission (Peace Thru Justice at Home and Abroad) speaks to you, see a write-up below to check out applying for Board Membership!!
We have resumed our youth program, PeaceJam Buffalo! PeaceJam helps develop a new generation of young leaders committed to positive changes in themselves, their communities, and the world through inspiration, education, and action. If you have children or youth that you’d like to have join us in social justice, learning from Nobel Peace Laureates and from each other, sharing art and fun, please register at bit.ly/wnypeace_peacejam21. PeaceJam meets Thursdays from 4-5pm. Please see below for themes, learning goals, activities, and registration.
Don’t miss the special LASC and ROCLA presentation by Bill Jungels and Tom Potts on Weds, March 3, 7pm: Update on Chiapas (Mexico) & the Zapatistas’ Continuing Struggles. As a documentary filmmaker, longtime WNYPC/LASC member Bill recently co-produced “Maya Voices in a Smoking Mirror,” the culmination of his 15-year focus on Maya struggles in Chiapas. And stalwart WNYPC/LASC member/supporter and dentist Tom Potts founded a clinic in Chenalhó, Chiapas, with the help of a Tsotsil Maya committee. Each year, he volunteers there for 2 months. Tom will share the insights he has gained through his 25 years of volunteering in Chenalhó, and in particular the situation he found there during his recent stay. More info below.
Please 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
EVERY THURSDAY 4-5pm
4 PM – PeaceJam 2021! On Zoom – register here. For youth ages 11-18; will meet Thursdays from 4-5 PM beginning on 2/25. Inspiration, Education, and Action, with Noble Peace Laureates on the PeaceJam Foundation Board. Themes and learning goals include: solidarity, social justice, peaceful conflict resolution, integrity, the lives of the Laureates, and more. Activities will include mindfulness, deep slow breathing, movement (dance/yoga), acting/skits, arts and crafts, and a Global Call to Action service-learning project! Various activists, artists, and community leaders may join us, as will the stellar Confident Girl Mentoring Program. See below to register. See details above and at bit.ly/wnypeace_peacejam21
Sat, February 27 @ 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST
Presenting Afrofuturism // Our Past, Our Present, Our Future
In person at the King Urban Life Center, 938 Genesee St, Buffalo; and livestreaming on Facebook on the page of host The Wakanda Alliance. Re: Presenting Afrofuturism // Our Past, Our Present, Our Future. Free and family-friendly.
Sat, February 27 @ 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm EST
Stop Line 3 Virtual Rally & Live Street Mural Action
On zoom. Join a virtual rally and simultaneous street mural painting in solidarity with Line 3 & DAPL Resistance! At 3PM, please use this link to join the rally – https://sfsu.zoom.us/j/83982476158…. Password is 1234. Join the virtual rally to hear the speakers, musicians and get live updates from the (live) mural painting in solidarity being done in Oakland, CA.
Weds, March 3 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST
LASC/ROCLA: Update on Chiapas (Mexico) & the Zapatistas’ Continuing Struggles
On zoom. Bill Jungels and Tom Potts reporting on Chiapas, COVID, dental projects, and autonomous communities there. This will be a zoom meeting, rescheduled from January 2021. No need to register in advance; link to join meeting will appear on the calendar listing at wnypeace.org soon. Or go to Rochester Committee on Latin America (ROCLA)
Bill and Tom have both spent many years in Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state, where most inhabitants are impoverished indigenous Maya. They will discuss their in-depth knowledge of the 20-year-old Zapatista movement and the situation of the indigenous Maya of Chiapas. Bill and Tom are both longtime members of the Latin American Solidarity Committee of the WNY Peace Center (LASC), who have been immersed in visiting and volunteering in Chiapas for many years.
Fri, March 5 @ 9:30 am – March 7 @ 1:30 pm EST
Great Lakes Indigenous Farming/Hemp Conference
On zoom. We’re glad to announce The 18th Annual Great Lakes Indigenous Farming Conference & 4th Annual Indigenous Hemp Conference will be March 5th-7th, 2021. We’re combining forces and going VIRTUAL!!!! This year we have decided to combine conferences to make it even more convenient for our attendees. This 3-day conference is jam packed with knowledgeable and passionate presenters. So, register today, space is very LIMITED. Giga-waabamininim wayiiba! We’ll see you all soon. Cost is $100 for full conference. To see full agenda and register click the link below
www.welrp.org/conference2021
Sat, March 6 @ 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm EST
Gender Justice Taskforce Meeting
On zoom. Please join us to talk about the upcoming Ain’t I A Woman? Rally on March 8, International Women’s Day; the Circle quilt and materials project(s); the Women’s March and more. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82140346279?pwd=ZW1JU3BDK0QzZUNzT3c3TlRCVVdPUT09Meeting ID: 821 4034 6279 Passcode: 212619 One tap mobile +16465588656,,82140346279#,,,,*212619# US (New York)
Mon, March 8 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST
Ain’t I a Woman? Campaign
This International Working Women’s Day, celebrate with the Ain’t I A Woman?! Campaign by taking up the demand to end the 24-hour workday! There will be an in-person, socially-distant rally in NYC in front of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Here in Western New York, we will enjoy a live virtual watch party of the NYC rally, followed by a discussion on why all workers should follow the lead of home care workers who are fighting to end the 24-hour workday. Register at http://tiny.cc/MAR8ZOOM
Please Contact Mary Lister for more information at qcworkerscenter@gmail.com or 716-316-7772
www.aintiawoman.org
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 at 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.
7:15 (approx.) – Talking Peace with the WNY Peace Center, livestreaming on Facebook (and subsequently broadcast on WBNY 91.3FM on Mondays 1-3pm). Two session each just under an hour. This week the first will be on De-Escalation with Cheney Brockington, plus; and the second on Peacemaking/Peacekeeping.
THURSDAYS
4pm-5pm – PeaceJam Buffalo – For Children and Youth; see above. Register here
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.
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 & Indigenous Rights
– Call MN Governor Tim Walz at 651-201-3400 to urge him and other officials (e.g., Congressman Keith Ellison) to stop Line 3. Visit the Water Protectors website for information on needed donations and coming out to put your body on the line to protect Mother Earth, the waters, and the creation. Donations (physical items and/or monetary) also gratefully received at Burning Books (420 Connecticut St, Buffalo, 14213 – open daily, 11am – 7pm) or to Nekanehsakt’s PayPal. #DefendTheSacred #WaterIsLife
– 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
Tell Erie County: Take police out of mental health response
Below is a sample comment you can copy and paste into the public comment box. Please feel free to edit or submit your own comment.
Comments can be submitted here, https://www3.erie.gov/policereform (where you can also review the draft plan).
Comments must be submitted by next Monday, March 1. Comments will be compiled as a part of the Police Reform plan and sent to the Erie County Legislature for their review and consideration. The Legislature will act on the plan by April 1.
Daniel Prude. Willie Henley. A 9 year old getting pepper sprayed. These three incidents in the Western New York region could have all been handled differently if each individual was interacting with a mental health counselor and not a police officer.
Thank you for taking the time to plant a seed for monumental change in Erie County!
We have the opportunity before us to change how 911 calls for a mental health crisis are handled in Erie County. This week, a draft Police Reform plan was released for public comment. We need to use this public comment process to show Erie County we do not want police handling mental health crisis calls. Will you take two minutes to submit a comment?
Sample Comment:
“On Page 22, the second recommendation on the page discusses the need for a Crisis Services Response Team . This is much needed, but it is vital that this effort is spearheaded by the Commissioner of Mental Health. This Crisis Response Team should have jurisdiction over all 911 calls for a mental health crisis. The Crisis Services Response Team should be exclusively made up of mental health professionals. The Crisis Services Response Team should be a division of the Department of Mental Health and that department should be provided the resources and capacity to be the primary first responder to all mental health crisis calls in Erie County. Erie County Sheriff’s Office and other police agencies should only continue to respond to mental health calls until the Crisis Services Response Team’s creation is complete. Once the mental health team is complete, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and all other Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies in Erie County should only respond to mental health calls in a backup capacity, just as they may for other medical service calls. The Department of Central Police Services is a vital component to the creation of a Crisis Services Response Team and they should be provided improved training to assess and handle mental health crisis calls to ensure that 911 calls for a mental health crisis are dispatched to the Crisis Response Team once it is created.”
– 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 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 org petition and GoFundMe.com campaign. Call especially if you can’t make it to render Court Support this Tuesday (see above).
- give Deyanna Davis more freedom while she’s in house arrest! Visit 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.
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Board Membership Opportunity
Hi, Community Leaders and S/Heros! How would you like to have a hand in deciding on actions and other aspects of the WNY Peace Center going forward, and share your skills in making it all happen?
You’re invited to submit your application to become a Board Member of the WNY Peace Center. We hope that, with your deep devotion to Justice, to Principles and the Spirit in caring for #PeopleAndThePlanet, you’ll want to help serve our communities and the common good in this way.
Current requirements for a board member are (per bylaws):
- attendance at monthly Board meetings, 2nd Monday of month, 7pm- (roughly) 8/8:30pm, Sept thru June/July. Due to the COVID, rather than meeting at the Network of Religious Communities building, where the WNYPC has an office (1272 Delaware Ave., Buffalo), we’ve been meeting on zoom.
- absences from same not to exceed 3 in a given year
- attendance at the Annual Meeting (Sunday, April 25 at 2pm on zoom) and at least one quarterly membership meeting
- being on (and possibly chairing) at least one committee (Finance; Fund-Raising/Annual Dinner; Personnel; Membership); and/or participation in at least one of the 9 WNYPC taskforce and/or other WNYPC efforts
- becoming a member (annual membership $50; with $10 and up also acceptable).
- A term is 3 years.
If you’d like to be on WNY Peace Center board, we need:
- a resume and/or bio
- as brief statement of interest and/or vision (why would you like to be on the board? what would you like to do/offer?)
Please let us know by April 1! You can send your info to Marie Schuster – copied, Hi, Marie – email above (marieforpeace@gmail.com).
As noted above, our annual meeting will be Sunday, April 25 at 2pm on zoom, when we’ll be presenting board candidates to the membership for approval.
Please check out our website to see the kinds of things we do and are involved in. And please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions! Looking forward!