Urgent: Please comment on Police Reform proposal by 11am Fri, 3/26; Tonight: State of Our City; support Burmese human rights Sat.
716-332-3904 | Thursday, March 25th, 2021 | wnypeace.org
Dear Friends,
Please take some time in the next less than 24 hours to comment on Mayor Brown’s City Of Buffalo Commission on Police Reform and Social Reconstruction recommendations are now available for public comment. The deadline for commenting is Friday, March 26, at 11am. It’s worthy of note that the only deadline for any action in initiative is the deadline for our comments. The report was made available on Monday. (Sorry for our delay getting it to you with such a short window!!) Image from abc.net.au.
Please note that the Women’s March event scheduled for Saturday is being transformed – please use that time to support our Burmese sisters and brothers as they protest and rally against the violence going on in their country, 10am-Noon, at Bidwell and Elmwood. Meanwhile, please support other Women and Women’s Events here, join our Gender Justice Taskforce by contacting Chair Talia Rodriguez (Rodriguez, Talia E <gender@wnypeace.org>), or join us at our next Gender Justice Taskforce meeting on April 10th.
You can also join us tonight at 7pm for Our City Build’s “The State of Our City” – the real scoop. Registration form is located HERE. OUR CITY is a broad coalition of community-based organizations and people in Buffalo, New York who have come together to create a policy agenda that centers people instead of profits; and believes in building a multi-racial, multi-generational, intersectional movement for justice and equity. Director Vicki Ross is one of the many speakers, and will include a report-back on the trip to Minnesota to #StopLine3, as well as how important it is to #UniteTheStruggles.
While the Executive Director application period is now closed (and the deliberations in process) there’s still time to submit your application 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!!
Our youth program, PeaceJam Buffalo, continues Thursdays (yes today 😉 at 4pm. 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. You can still register youth for the program today at bit.ly/wnypeace_peacejam21.
We remind you that we have many YouTube videos, including sessions of Talking Peace as well as livestreamed segments from the trip to Minnesota, on our YouTube chanel. Of course we welcome your viewing and sharing them!
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
April 2 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm EDT
Immigration under the Biden Administration
On Zoom – register here. On the occasion of “Comunidades Visibles: The Materiality of Migration,” join the Albright-Knox and Journey’s End Refugee Services for a free virtual conversation about changes to immigration policy under the Biden Administration. Hear from the organization’s legal team, resettlement director, and refugees to learn about the United States’ immigration process and how communities can help to welcome new arrivals. Info on speakers is here.
April 7 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT
LASC and ROCLA: talk by Nicaragua’s ambassador to the UN
7pm, Wednesday, April 7, 2021 “Sanctions Kill: Nicaragua in the Era of US Sanctions.” Preregistration will be required to join the event – pre-register here. LASC and ROCLA invite you to our continuing “zoom coffeehouse” series, linking communities across the hemisphere. We hope you can help us spread the news. We are honored to present our next speaker, Mr. Jaime Herida Castillo, who currently serves as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Nicaragua to the UN, and previously was Deputy Permanent Representative of Nicaragua to the United Nations since March 2007.
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
Urgent: Please take some time now (there’s less than 24 hours left) to comment on Mayor Brown’s City Of Buffalo Commission on Police Reform and Social Reconstruction recommendations are now available for public comment. The deadline for commenting is Friday, March 26, at 11am. It’s worthy of note that the only deadline for any action in initiative is the deadline for our comments. The report was made available on Monday. (Sorry for our delay getting it to you with such a short window!!)
– 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:
- 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. 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 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.
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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!
#UNITEtheStruggles | #OneLove | #WeShallOvercome | #SiSePuede